40 Fundamental<基本的> Techniques in Handling<处理> People处理人际关系的基本技巧1. On the morning of April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln lay dying<奄奄一息地躺在> in a hall bedroom of a cheap lodging<寄住的，暂住的> house directly across the street from Ford's Theater, where John Wilkes Booth had shot him. Lincoln's long body lay stretched<伸展> diagonally<adv斜线地，对角地> across a sagging<下陷的，下垂> bed that was too short for him. A cheap reproduction<复制品，仿制品> of Rosa Bonheur's famous painting The Horse Fair hung above the bed, and a dismal<adj阴暗的，阴沉的，凄凉的>gas jet<煤气喷嘴，煤气火焰>flickered<发出> yellow light.1.1865年4月15日清晨,亚伯拉罕.林肯奄奄一息地躺在福特戏院对面一家廉价客栈的卧房里。
约翰·威尔克斯·布斯枪杀了他。
那张下陷的床对身材修长的林肯而言实在太短了。
床的上方，挂着一件罗莎·邦赫的名画《马市》的廉价仿制品，一盏阴暗的煤气灯发出惨淡的黄晕。
2. As Lincoln lay dying, Secretary of War Stanton said, "There lie s the most perfect ruler<元首，统治者> of men that the world has ever seen."2.当林肯奄奄一息地躺着时，陆军部长斯坦顿说：“躺在这里的，是世界上有史以来最完美的元首。
”3. What was the secret of Lincoln's success in dealing with people? I studied the life of Abraham Lincoln for ten years and devoted<投入>all of three years to writing and rewriting<润色> a book entitled<书名叫做> Lincoln the Unknown. I believe I have made as detailed and exhaustive<adj透彻的，彻底的，无遗漏的，详尽的> a study of Lincoln's personality<个性，人格，人品> and home life as it is possible for any being to make. I made a special study of Lincoln's method of dealing with people. Did he indulge in<热衷于，沉湎于>criticism? Oh, yes. As a young man in the Pigeon Creek<n小溪，小河> Valley of Indiana, he not only criticize d but he wrote letters and poems<诗> ridiculing<vt嘲笑，奚落 n揶揄，嘲笑，奚落> people and dropped these letters on the country roads where they were sure to be found. One of these letters aroused<引起> resentments<n怨恨，愤恨>that burned for a lifetime.3.林肯待人方面成功的秘诀是什么？我花了十年的时间研究亚伯拉罕·林肯的一生，并投入(devote to + n. / doing sth)了整整三年的时间写作和润色一本叫做《林肯不为人知的一面》的书。
我相信我已经尽了人类一切的可能，对林肯的个性和他的家庭生活，做了详尽和透彻的研究。
关于林肯待人的方法我还做了特别的研究。
(make a study of v.仔细研究)林肯热衷于批评吗？是的，年轻时，他住在印第安纳州的鸽溪谷；他不但批评他人，还写信做诗揶揄别人，他把写好的信扔到乡间街道上故意让人看到，其中有一封信所引起的怨恨，延续了一辈子。
4. Even after Lincoln had become a practicing<开业的，在工作的> lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, he attacked<攻击> his opponents<对手> openly<公开地>in letters published in the newspapers. But he did this just once too often.4.林肯在伊利诺斯州的春田镇，挂牌做了律师后，甚至投书给报社，公开攻击他的对手。
虽然他多次做这样的事都得以幸免，但这次他却遭殃了。
5. In the autumn of 1842 he ridiculed<讥笑>a vain<自负的>, pugnacious<adj好斗的> politician<政客>by the name of James Shields. Lincoln damned<v讽刺，谴责>him through an anonymous<匿名的>letter published in Springfield Journal. The town roared with laughter<捧腹大笑，哄堂大笑>. Shields, sensitive<敏感的> and proud, boiled<怒火中烧，沸腾> with indignation<n愤怒>. He found out who wrote the letter, leaped<跳> on his horse, started after Lincoln, and challenged him to fight a duel<n/v决斗>. Lincoln didn't want to fight. He was opposed to dueling,but he couldn't get out of<退出> it and save his honor. He was given the choice of weapons<武器>. Since he had very long arms, he chose cavalry<n骑兵>broadswords<n大砍刀，阔刀，腰刀>and took lessons in sword fighting<刀术>from a West Point graduate; and, on the appointed day, he and Shields met on a sandbar<n沙洲> in the Mississippi River, prepared to fight to the death; but, at the last minute, their seconds<助阵者，助手> interrupted and stopped the duel.5.1842年秋季，林肯讥笑一个自大好斗的政客，这人叫詹姆斯·西尔滋。
林肯在春田的报上，刊登出一封匿名信讽刺他，令镇上的人都捧腹大笑起来。
西尔滋是个敏感和骄傲的人，怒火中烧。
他查出写这封信的人是谁，跳上了马，去找林肯(start after sb. )，要和他作一次决斗。
林肯不想打架，反对决斗，可是为了自己的面子又不能退出。
对方给他选择武器的自由。
林肯手臂特别长，就选了骑兵用的大砍刀，他向一位西点军校毕业生学习刀术。
到了指定的日期，他和西尔滋在密西西比河的河滩上碰头，准备决一死战，就在最后一刻，他们双方的助阵者介入并阻止了决斗。
6. That was the most lurid<adj可怕的，苍白的，耸人听闻的，血红的> personal incident<事件，小插曲> in Lincoln's life. It taught him an invaluable<无价的> lesson in the art of dealing with people. Never again did he write an insulting<侮辱的，无礼的> letter. Never again did he ridicule<取笑> anyone. (两句由Never 引导的倒装句。
) And from that time on<从那时起>, he almost never criticized anybody for anything.6.在林肯的一生中，这是件最可怕的个人事件。
在做人的艺术方面，林肯学到了无价的一课。
他再没有写过侮辱人的信，也没有取笑过任何人。
从那时起，他几乎没有因任何事而批评任何人。
7. Time after time<屡次>, during the Civil War, Lincoln put a new general<n将领，上将>at the head of the Army of the Potomac<波托马可河>, and each one in turn-McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker, Meade-blundered<v犯错误，弄糟，跌跌撞撞地走n大错，失误>tragically<悲剧地，悲惨地>and drove Lincoln to pacing<踱步于，走动> the floor in despair<绝望>. Half the nation savagely<野蛮地，残忍地，粗暴地> condemned<vt谴责，判刑，处刑，声讨>these incompetent<无能力的，不能胜任的> generals, but Lincoln, "with malice<n怨恨，恶意，预谋，蓄意犯罪> toward none, with charity<仁爱，宽容> for all," held his peace. One of his favorite quotations<格言，引用> was "Judge<批评> not, that ye<别人> be not judged". And when Mrs. Lincoln and others spoke harshly<adv粗糙地，严厉地，刺耳地>of the southern people, Lincoln replied: "Don't criticize them; they are just what we would be under similar circumstances<情况，境遇>." He had learned by bitter<痛苦的> experience that sharp criticisms and rebukes<n/vt 指责> almost invariably<adv总是，不变地>end in futility<n无益的事，无益，无用，轻浮的言行>.7.美国内战的时候，林肯屡次委派新将领（依次有麦克克林、波伯、伯恩赛德、胡克、米德），统帅“波多马克”军队，可是他们都相继惨败而归，使林肯绝望地在地板上踱步。