决心与毅力

如果你到紐约去，一定不会错过横跨纽约东河，雄伟的布鲁克林大桥。这座大桥建造之初被认为是“天方夜谭”;过程艰辛，工程师罗布林父子之中，父亲甚至为它献出了宝贵的生命，儿子也因它落下残疾。但什么样的困难也无法剥夺人们梦想的权利，因为对梦想的不懈坚持，这座“不可思议”的大桥而今得以傲然挺立。

This is a real life story of engineer John Roebling building the Brooklyn Bndge in New York， USA back in 1870. The bridge was completed in 1883， after 13 years.

In 1870， a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Manhattan Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington， an up and coming engineer， that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time， the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration， and the headinessi of a wild challenge before them， they hired their crew and began to build their dream bndge.

The project started well， but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was also injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage， which resulted in him not being able to talk or walk.

“We told them so.” “Crazy men and their crazy dreams.” “Its foolish to chase wild visions.”

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built.

In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a buming desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever. He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusi-asm to some of his friends， but they were too daunted by the task.

As he lay on his bed in his hospital room， with the sunlight streaming through the windows， a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside forjust a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this， he slowly developed a code of communicafon with his wife.

He touched his wifes arm with that finger， indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wifes arm， until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bndge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one mans indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work， and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die at-titude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life， our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence， no matter what the odds are.

這是工程师约翰·罗布林的真实故事。罗布林于1870年开始建造美国纽约的布鲁克林大桥，大桥在时隔13年后的1883年才竣工。

约翰·罗布林是一位富有创造力的工程师，1870年他受到灵感激发，想建造一座大桥将纽约和曼哈顿岛相连。然而，全世界的桥梁专家却认为这是个不可能完成的壮举，并劝说罗布林放弃这个念头。这根本不可能，完全是天马行空，连个先例都没有。

罗布林无法抹去脑海中这座已成形的大桥。他无时无刻都在想着它，深信这座桥能够建成。他必须和别人分享一下自己的这个梦想。在和儿子华盛顿做了大量讨论和说服性工作后，他最终让这位即将出师、前途光明的工程师也确信这座桥实际上是可以建成的。

父子首次合作，两人研究出修建大桥的方法以及攻克难题的途径。伴随着极大的兴奋和鼓舞，加之对战胜眼前这个巨大挑战的执拗，父子俩雇来一队人马开始着手修建他们的梦想之桥。

一开始工程进展顺利，但数月后施工现场发生了一次惨重事故，约翰·罗布林因此而丧生。华盛顿也受了伤，部分大脑受损，导致他无法说话和行走。

“早知今日，何必当初。”“痴人说梦。”“好高骛远，愚蠢至极。”

人人都对此报以负面评论，都认为应该停止修建大桥的工程，因为罗布林父子是唯一知道该如何修建这座桥的人。

面对残疾，华盛顿从未灰心丧气，他仍旧怀揣着满腔热情想要把桥修完，同时他的思维依旧敏锐。他试图用自己的热情感染几位朋友，但他们都因为这个任务的艰巨而退缩了。

他躺在医院的病床上，看到阳光透过窗户流淌进来，一阵微风将白色的薄布窗帘吹起，有那么片刻他看到了窗外的天空和树冠。

这似乎是给他传递一个信念不要放弃。突然间他有了一个想法。他能动的只有一根手指，于是他决定对其进行充分利用。通过动手指，他逐渐发明出一套用来和妻子交流的编码。

他用那只能动的手指碰了碰妻子的手臂，示意她给工程师们再打个电话。然后他用相同的办法敲敲她手臂，让她告诉这些工程师该如何行事。看似不可思议，但修建大桥的工程因此得以继续。

13年来，华盛顿通过用手指敲击妻子手臂的方法来做出指示，直到大桥最后竣工。如今这座大桥挺立在世人面前，它的雄伟展示了一个人不屈不挠的精神的胜利，以及他那不为逆境所打倒的决心。大桥同时也向工程师们和他们的团队协作献礼，赞颂他们对一个人的信任，即便大半个世界都认为这人是发疯了。大桥也是华盛顿妻子对他的爱和奉献的纪念碑，13年来妻子耐心地将丈夫给她的这些信息解码后再传达给工程师们。

或许这就是永不言弃的最佳典范，这样的态度不但克服了严重的身体残疾，而且还实现了一个不可能完成的目标。

通常我们在生活中面临的阻碍和其他人的困难相比，看起来都极其微不足道。布鲁克林大桥告诉我们，只要有决心和毅力，看似无法企及的梦想也能实现，不论可能性有多么微乎其微。