介绍:
At Cornell, I&`&d work on preparing my courses, and I&`&d go over to the library a lot and read through the Arabian Nights and ogle ) the girls that would go by.
在康奈尔，我除了备课，还经常跑到图书馆去读《一千零一夜》，顺带“欣赏”一下从我身边经过的女孩子们。
But when it came time to do some research, I couldn&`&t get to work.
而到了做研究的时候，我却无法工作。
I was a little tired; I was not interested; I couldn&`&t do research!
我有点儿累，我没有兴趣，我做不了研究了！
This went on for what I felt was a few years,
那时我觉得这种状况持续了有好几年，
but when I go back and calculate the timing, it couldn&`&t have been that long.
但当我回过头去计算时间时，却发现不可能有那么久。
Perhaps nowadays I wouldn&`&t think it was such a long time, but then,
或许现在我也不会觉得有那么久，但在那时，
it seemed to go on for a very long time.
那种状况让我觉得好像持续了很长一段时间。
I simply couldn&`&t get started on any problem:
我就是无法开始着手研究任何问题：
I remember writing one or two sentences about some problem in gamma rays and
我记得有一次我研究关于伽马射线的某个问题，
then I couldn&`&t go any further.
刚写了一两句我就没法写下去了。
I was convinced that from the war and everything else (the death of my wife)
这让我相信，因为战争(编注：指二战)和其他所有事情(包括我妻子的去世)，
I had simply burned myself out ).
我已经完全筋疲力尽了。
During this period I would get offers from different places
在这期间，我总会收到来自不同地方的邀请，
—universities and industry—with salaries higher than my own.
其中有大学也有企业，而且薪水都比我当时的高。
And each time I got something like that I would get a little more depressed.
每次我收到那样的邀请时，我就会变得更沮丧一点。
I would say to myself, "Look, they&`&re giving me these wonderful offers,
我会对自己说：“瞧，他们给我开出了这么好的条件，
but they don&`&t realize that I&`&m burned out!
但他们却不知道我已经疲惫不堪了！
Of course I can&`&t accept them.
我当然不能接受这些邀请。
They expect me to accomplish something, and I can&`&t accomplish anything!
他们期望我有所建树，但我却什么也做不成！
I have no ideas ..."
我脑子里一片空白……”
Then I had another thought: Physics disgusts me a little bit now,
然后我有了另一个想法：现在我有点儿讨厌物理，
but I used to enjoy doing physics.
但我以前很喜欢研究物理。
Why did I enjoy it? I used to play with it.
我以前为什么喜欢它呢？我过去把物理当成游戏。
I used to do whatever I felt like doing
我那时常常是想研究什么就研究什么，
—it didn&`&t have to do with whether it was important for the development of nuclear physics,
与这个问题是否对核子物理的发展很重要毫不相关，
but whether it was interesting and amusing for me to play with.
而是看它是不是有趣、好玩，能否让我玩起来。
When I was in high school, I&`&d see water running out of a faucet ) growing narrower,
上高中时，我看到水龙头里流出来的水越流越细，
and wonder if I could figure out what determines that curve.
就会想我是否能弄清楚水流的这种弧线是由什么决定的。
I found it was rather easy to do. I didn&`&t have to do it;
我发现这很容易，我原本都没必要这么做，
it wasn&`&t important for the future of science;somebody else had already done it.
它对科学的前景又不重要，而且其他人已经做过这方面的研究了。
That didn&`&t make any difference:
但这些对我没有任何影响：
I&`&d invent things and play with things for my own entertainment.
我还是会发明创造、游戏科学，只为自娱自乐。
So I got this new attitude.
就这样，我有了这个新的心态。
Now that I am burned out and I&`&ll never accomplish anything,
既然我已经筋疲力尽，永远也做不出任何成绩来了，
I&`&ve got this nice position at the university teaching classes
同时我已经有了这份在大学教书的好工作，
which I rather enjoy, and just like I read the Arabian Nights for pleasure,
而且我也很喜欢这份工作，那么就像我为了消遣而读《一千零一夜》一样，
I&`&m going to play with physics, whenever I want to,
我打算把物理也当成游戏来玩，什么时候想玩就玩，
without worrying about any importance whatsoever.
不用担心任何重要性之类的问题。
Within a week I was in the cafeteria and some guy, fooling around ), throws a plate in the air.
此后不到一周，我在学校餐厅里时看到，某个干蠢事逗乐的人将一个餐盘抛到空中。
As the plate went up in the air I saw it wobble ),
当盘子向上飞时我看见它在摆动，
and I noticed the red medallion ) of Cornell on the plate going around.
我注意到盘子上红色的康奈尔校徽也在旋转。
It was pretty obvious to me that the medallion went around faster than the wobbling.
我看得很清楚，校徽的旋转速度超过了盘子的摆动速度。
大家还在听
