Cows have to be milked twice a day, so work on a farm never stops. But every Christmas, we nine Gardner children let Dad sleep in. We woke before dawn in the Wyoming cold to do the chores. My brother and I would argue ― and sometimes wrestle ― over who had to do what. One year he fed the calves ― a ten-minute job, while I had to herd the cows into their stalls to be milked. They can knock you over, and while you’re down 20 of them will escape. That morning I decided I wasn’t going to run from work that had to be done. I wanted to say I did my best. By myself, I pushed them all into the milking pens.

The same determination helped me win a gold medal in Sydney, and kept me alive when I drove my snowmobile into a frozen Wyoming creek in February 2002. I was lost outside in sub-zero weather from 4:30 in the afternoon until the next morning. When the rescuers found me, they had to saw my boots off. I should have died that night but willed myself to stay alive by focusing like I did on herding the cows, like I did on facing an opponent. Even if I didn’t make it, I wanted to know I had done my best.

I did make it. Doctors amputated a toe and I had several skin grafts, but I can still wrestle. That first Christmas after the accident meant a lot to me. My nieces and nephews did the farm chores, so I got to sleep in. I woke up viewing the day, and any that followed, as a bonus.

【助读词汇】

◇chore n. 家务杂事，零工

◇will vt.（用意志的力量）驱使

◇amputate v. 切断，截，锯掉

◇graft n. 移植

◇bonus n. 奖金，红利，意外的好处

【参考译文】

一头奶牛一天需挤两次奶，所以农场里的活总是干不完。但是每个圣诞节，我们9个加纳家的孩子都会让爸爸睡懒觉。在怀俄明州寒冷的天气下我们在破晓前就开始干活。我和哥哥总是为谁去干什么吵架――有时候还打起来。有一年他喂小牛犊――只需十分钟的活，而我却要把牛赶进牛棚里面给它们挤奶。它们可能会踢翻你，并且当你摔倒在地的时候，这20头奶牛就是全部逃跑掉。那天早上我决定不再躲避该干的活，我想说我的确是尽全力了。结果，我自个儿把它们全赶时了挤奶的围栏里。

同样的决心让我在悉尼赢得了金牌，不仅如此，2002年2月当我将雪地车误驾入怀俄明州一条冰冷刺骨的小河里时，也是决心让我活了下来。在零度以下的天气里，我在野外迷了路，从四点半一直撑到第二天早上。当援救队找到我，他们不得不把靴子从我的脚上锯下来。那一晚我有可能被冻死了，但是意志力让我活了下来，就像让我赶奶牛去挤奶的时候一样，就像我在赛场上面对对手的时候一样。即使不能成功，我也想知道我的确是尽全力了。

我最终还是挺了过来。医生截掉了我一根脚趾头，给我做了几处植肤，但是我还能摔跤。那次意外的后的第一次圣诞节对我来说很有意义。我的侄子和侄女负责农场里的农活，所以我可以睡懒觉。我醒来的时候把这一天，和往后的每一天，视为额外的恩赐。

【人生启迪】

这篇文章的作者是美国运动员鲁伦・加德纳。在2000年悉尼奥运会上他被人们认为是最不可能成为焦点的人；然而，这位名不见经传的选手竟摔倒了有“西伯利亚熊”之称的三届奥运会冠军卡列林(Aleksandr Karelin)，创造了奥运会古罗马式角力的奇迹。这就是决心的力量。