決心與毅力

如果你到紐約去，一定不會錯過橫跨紐約東河，雄偉的布魯克林大橋。這座大橋建造之初被認為是“天方夜譚”;過程艱辛，工程師羅布林父子之中，父親甚至為它獻出了寶貴的生命，兒子也因它落下殘疾。但什么樣的困難也無法剝奪人們夢想的權利，因為對夢想的不懈堅持，這座“不可思議”的大橋而今得以傲然挺立。

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.

這是工程師約翰·羅布林的真實故事。羅布林于1870年開始建造美國紐約的布魯克林大橋，大橋在時隔13年后的1883年才竣工。

約翰·羅布林是一位富有創造力的工程師，1870年他受到靈感激發，想建造一座大橋將紐約和曼哈頓島相連。然而，全世界的橋梁專家卻認為這是個不可能完成的壯舉，并勸說羅布林放棄這個念頭。這根本不可能，完全是天馬行空，連個先例都沒有。

羅布林無法抹去腦海中這座已成形的大橋。他無時無刻都在想著它，深信這座橋能夠建成。他必須和別人分享一下自己的這個夢想。在和兒子華盛頓做了大量討論和說服性工作后，他最終讓這位即將出師、前途光明的工程師也確信這座橋實際上是可以建成的。

父子首次合作，兩人研究出修建大橋的方法以及攻克難題的途徑。伴隨著極大的興奮和鼓舞，加之對戰勝眼前這個巨大挑戰的執拗，父子倆雇來一隊人馬開始著手修建他們的夢想之橋。

一開始工程進展順利，但數月后施工現場發生了一次慘重事故，約翰·羅布林因此而喪生。華盛頓也受了傷，部分大腦受損，導致他無法說話和行走。

“早知今日，何必當初。”“癡人說夢。”“好高騖遠，愚蠢至極。”

人人都對此報以負面評論，都認為應該停止修建大橋的工程，因為羅布林父子是唯一知道該如何修建這座橋的人。

面對殘疾，華盛頓從未灰心喪氣，他仍舊懷揣著滿腔熱情想要把橋修完，同時他的思維依舊敏銳。他試圖用自己的熱情感染幾位朋友，但他們都因為這個任務的艱巨而退縮了。

他躺在醫院的病床上，看到陽光透過窗戶流淌進來，一陣微風將白色的薄布窗簾吹起，有那么片刻他看到了窗外的天空和樹冠。

這似乎是給他傳遞一個信念不要放棄。突然間他有了一個想法。他能動的只有一根手指，于是他決定對其進行充分利用。通過動手指，他逐漸發明出一套用來和妻子交流的編碼。

他用那只能動的手指碰了碰妻子的手臂，示意她給工程師們再打個電話。然后他用相同的辦法敲敲她手臂，讓她告訴這些工程師該如何行事。看似不可思議，但修建大橋的工程因此得以繼續。

13年來，華盛頓通過用手指敲擊妻子手臂的方法來做出指示，直到大橋最后竣工。如今這座大橋挺立在世人面前，它的雄偉展示了一個人不屈不撓的精神的勝利，以及他那不為逆境所打倒的決心。大橋同時也向工程師們和他們的團隊協作獻禮，贊頌他們對一個人的信任，即便大半個世界都認為這人是發瘋了。大橋也是華盛頓妻子對他的愛和奉獻的紀念碑，13年來妻子耐心地將丈夫給她的這些信息解碼后再傳達給工程師們。

或許這就是永不言棄的最佳典范，這樣的態度不但克服了嚴重的身體殘疾，而且還實現了一個不可能完成的目標。

通常我們在生活中面臨的阻礙和其他人的困難相比，看起來都極其微不足道。布魯克林大橋告訴我們，只要有決心和毅力，看似無法企及的夢想也能實現，不論可能性有多么微乎其微。