英语 英语 日语 日语 韩语 韩语 法语 法语 德语 德语 西班牙语 西班牙语 意大利语 意大利语 阿拉伯语 阿拉伯语 葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语 越南语 越南语 俄语 俄语 芬兰语 芬兰语 泰语 泰语 泰语 丹麦语 泰语 对外汉语

破碎的信任

时间:2013-01-18 05:12来源:互联网 提供网友:laura6688   字体: [ ]
特别声明:本栏目内容均从网络收集或者网友提供,供仅参考试用,我们无法保证内容完整和正确。如果资料损害了您的权益,请与站长联系,我们将及时删除并致以歉意。
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

   It's never good news when your business adviser1 calls out of the blue and says, "Wes, we need to talk."That's what happened to me one spring morning not long after I'd arrived at my office. I own a small agency that handles speaking engagements and literary rights for Christian2 entertainers, authors and leaders. I started the business in my 20s and it grew to about a dozen employees, earning me enough to provide a comfortable living for my family and to send my kids to college.

  That year, though, the company hit a rough patch, so I'd hired a business consultant3 to give me some ideas for improvement. He's the one who called that April morning.
  "Wes," he said, "your company is in more trouble than you know. We need to get together. Soon."Before I could ask what was wrong he told me he had already been in touch with my banker and my accountant. "How about we meet at your house tonight?" I stammered4 out an okay and spent the rest of the day in a knot.
  That evening, Ken5, the consultant, Ed, my banker, and Tom, my CPA, sat down in my living room. Normally they were laid-back Southern guys. Tonight they looked deadly serious. Tom pulled out some spreadsheets and other documents. "Wes," he said, "do you realize how deeply your company's in debt?"My eyes widened. A while back I'd transferred much of the day-to-day running of the company to two people I trusted. One was my chief operating officer. The other was Tim, my vice6 president. Tim had joined the business eight years earlier soon after graduating college. The COO had been with me 14 years. We were a team and close friends besides. Most weeks we spent far more time with each other than we did with our families.
  Ed, the banker, said, "Wes, I've been getting these phone calls from Tim asking questions about the company's accounts I didn't think were proper.""Did you know about this line of credit?" Ed continued, pointing to a paper with my signature authorizing7 the loan for a substantial sum of money. I didn't remember agreeing to borrow that much.
  "Take a look at these expenses," Ken said, indicating high-priced hotel rooms and restaurant bills Tim and the COO had charged to the company.
  I felt the color drain from my face. What on earth was going on? Yes, the past year had been difficult at work. I was in my 50s and eager to dial back, but I often disagreed with where Tim and the COO wanted to take the company. Still, none of our arguments ever suggested either of them wanted to deceive me.
  "The bottom line, Wes," said Ken, "is it's pretty clear these guys are taking advantage of you. We need to do some more research, but at the very least you're going to have to let these guys go. Legal charges may even be in order."I was stunned8. The three of them went over some more figures then told me to lie low till we'd gathered enough documentation to make a clear case for dismissal. "In the meantime we're going to have to figure out how to get your company's finances back in order," said Tom. "You're in a pretty deep hole and it'll take some doing to climb out."They left and I stumbled upstairs. My wife, Linda, was getting ready for bed. I told her everything. Her face turned ashen9. "Wes," she said, "I can't believe it. Those guys are our friends. They betrayed you! Why?"I shook my head. Until Linda used that word I hadn't thought of it as betrayal. These men were among my best friends. For some reason they'd taken advantage of my trust and drained money from the business we'd worked so hard to build. Maybe there was some explanation. Maybe it wasn't so utterly10 awful.
  The next morning in the office I knew it was that awful. Shock and dismay must've been written all over my face because the minute I said hello to Tim and the COO they stiffened11 and gave each other a look. The company's offices were small, a two-story brick building in a complex outside Nashville. My office was downstairs. The other two guys worked on the second floor. That day and the days following I sat at my desk listening to the profound silence upstairs. The office was unbearably12 tense.
  A stream of shocking revelations came from my advisers13. They compiled paperwork on Tim first. The day I let Tim go I called him into the conference room with Ken and me, laid out the evidence and said, "Tim, we've come to the end of the road here. I know what's been happening and the company's in real trouble. I need to fire you, effective immediately." Tim didn't say a word except that he needed to get some things from his desk. On the way out he surreptitiously turned off his computer, effectively locking it since only he knew the password. He didn't say goodbye.
  With the help of a computer expert, we got into Tim's computer and discovered the full extent of what he and the COO had been up to. They'd aimed to drain resources and clients from my company into a new shadow company they'd created. They intended to put me out of business then walk away with my clients. I now had enough evidence to fire the COO. The day I planned to let him go, he resigned. I immediately went to see a lawyer. The lawyer, surprisingly, told me that though I could sue both men successfully, he wouldn't recommend it.
  "It'll eat up years of your life when you should be working to repair your company," he said. A lawyer, willingly turning down business! Maybe it was a sign from God.
  Except I didn't want to hear from God. I was over the initial shock and now I was just angry. Bitterly angry. Tim and the COO even had the nerve to set up their new company right across the parking lot from my office! What had I done to deserve this?
  I thought back over all our years together, our good times in the office, our celebrations when we landed a particularly big client. I knew they chafed14 at my authority, especially when I started handing them more responsibility. They didn't like me weighing in on all their decisions. But it was my company! I'd built it and I had a right to say where it should go. No, I simply needed to admit that this was the reality of human relationships, especially in business. People were cutthroat, kindness was an illusion and trust was for fools.
  I went on like this for months. One day I found myself driving along I-40, returning to Nashville after dropping off my daughter at college in Knoxville. The rolling green hills unspooled out the window and it seemed like I was heading from nowhere to nowhere. I felt weighted down and alone. Alone with my anger.
  I often stayed up late at night poring over financial documents. Sometimes I screamed at the wall. My relationship with Linda was strained. I was terse15 and grim at the office too. It was no way to live, but what was I supposed to do when every day I pulled into work and saw my former friends' cars parked right across the lot? Surely no one expected me to forgive them?
  The moment that thought entered my mind I felt a kind of stilling of my heart. Forgiveness. I'd heard plenty of sermons about forgiveness. Heck, I'd scheduled plenty of speakers on the topic. But senseless betrayal by close friends? Who could forgive something like that?
  The hills rolled by, silent and serene16. I heard no voice, felt no presence—indeed, I'd never felt emptier. Yet all of a sudden a prayer came unbidden to my lips: "Lord, fill my emptiness with your presence." I spoke17 those words and it was as if a film was immediately lifted from my eyes. Not only was forgiveness possible, it was required. It was the only way to fill the emptiness and stop the anger. Forgiveness was the presence of God. I would have laughed except I was so dismayed. I knew what I had to do. I just didn't know how to do it.
  In fact, it took me three years, a Christian men's retreat and a final face-to-face meeting with Tim to reach that place of forgiveness. Along the way I let go of my self-righteousness and admitted that I'd been unfair, expecting two subordinates to take the reins18 as I neared retirement19 and yet still follow my direction. That didn't excuse their betrayal, but it felt right to acknowl-edge my own role in our failed relationship.
  I read those powerful words in Matthew, "Love your enemies," and I realized that in the end I had to forgive both men whether or not they ever apologized. I opened my heart to reconciliation20.
  Sometime later Tim got in touch with me (I still haven't heard from the COO). By that point their new business had foundered21 and Tim was at loose ends. I didn't offer him a job, though my company's back on sound financial footing. What I offered was friendship. We're still in touch and I can honestly say I hold no bitterness toward either man.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 adviser HznziU     
n.劝告者,顾问
参考例句:
  • They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
  • Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。
2 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
3 consultant 2v0zp3     
n.顾问;会诊医师,专科医生
参考例句:
  • He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
  • Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来,加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。
4 stammered 76088bc9384c91d5745fd550a9d81721     
v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠,结结巴巴地说,“你是什么意思?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
5 ken k3WxV     
n.视野,知识领域
参考例句:
  • Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
  • Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.
6 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
7 authorizing d3373e44345179a7862c7a797d2bc127     
授权,批准,委托( authorize的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Letters of Marque: Take letters from a warning friendly power authorizing privateering. 私掠许可证:从某一个国家获得合法抢劫的证书。
  • Formal phavee completion does not include authorizing the subsequent phavee. 阶段的正式完成不包括核准随后的阶段。
8 stunned 735ec6d53723be15b1737edd89183ec2     
adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
  • The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。
9 ashen JNsyS     
adj.灰的
参考例句:
  • His face was ashen and wet with sweat.他面如土色,汗如雨下。
  • Her ashen face showed how much the news had shocked her.她灰白的脸显示出那消息使她多么震惊。
10 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
11 stiffened de9de455736b69d3f33bb134bba74f63     
加强的
参考例句:
  • He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去,这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
  • She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。
12 unbearably 96f09e3fcfe66bba0bfe374618d6b05c     
adv.不能忍受地,无法容忍地;慌
参考例句:
  • It was unbearably hot in the car. 汽车里热得难以忍受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She found it unbearably painful to speak. 她发现开口说话痛苦得令人难以承受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 advisers d4866a794d72d2a666da4e4803fdbf2e     
顾问,劝告者( adviser的名词复数 ); (指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授
参考例句:
  • a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
  • She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。
14 chafed f9adc83cf3cbb1d83206e36eae090f1f     
v.擦热(尤指皮肤)( chafe的过去式 );擦痛;发怒;惹怒
参考例句:
  • Her wrists chafed where the rope had been. 她的手腕上绳子勒过的地方都磨红了。
  • She chafed her cold hands. 她揉搓冰冷的双手使之暖和。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
15 terse GInz1     
adj.(说话,文笔)精炼的,简明的
参考例句:
  • Her reply about the matter was terse.她对此事的答复简明扼要。
  • The president issued a terse statement denying the charges.总统发表了一份简短的声明,否认那些指控。
16 serene PD2zZ     
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的
参考例句:
  • He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
  • He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多,只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。
17 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
18 reins 370afc7786679703b82ccfca58610c98     
感情,激情; 缰( rein的名词复数 ); 控制手段; 掌管; (成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的)保护带
参考例句:
  • She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
  • The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。
19 retirement TWoxH     
n.退休,退职
参考例句:
  • She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
  • I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。
20 reconciliation DUhxh     
n.和解,和谐,一致
参考例句:
  • He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
  • Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。
21 foundered 1656bdfec90285ab41c0adc4143dacda     
v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Three ships foundered in heavy seas. 三艘船在波涛汹涌的海面上沉没了。 来自辞典例句
  • The project foundered as a result of lack of finance. 该项目因缺乏资金而告吹。 来自辞典例句
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎点击提交分享给大家。
------分隔线----------------------------
TAG标签:   英语美文
顶一下
(0)
0%
踩一下
(0)
0%
最新评论 查看所有评论
发表评论 查看所有评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:
听力搜索
推荐频道
论坛新贴