1.When I left a 20-year-career in the Coast Guard to become a freelance writer , i had no prospects at all.

当我离开了在海军护卫队工作了20余年的事业而成为一名自由撰稿人时，我的前途实在是一片渺茫。

2.I wasn't going to be one of those people who die wondering ,what if ?

我不想成为那种到死都还在寻思“如果当初如何如何，现在就会怎么怎么样”的那种人。

3.On the phone was an old acquaintance from the Coast guard , now stationed in San Francisco. He had once lent me a few bucks and liked to egg me about it.

电话那边是一个我在海军护卫队的老同事。现在在圣佛朗西斯科。他曾经借过我一些钱，现在催我还给他。

4.What's more , i could write on the side. As the dollars were dancing in my head , sth cleared my senses . From deep inside a bull-headed resolution welled up.

而且，我可以利用业余时间写作。当钞票在我眼前跳舞，一些东西开始在我的感觉中变得清晰起来。在我的内心，一个固执的决定涌了出来。

5.There's everything you've made of yourself so far.

所有的这些就是目前为止你为自己创造的一切。

6.Rumor had it that if a customer order steak the singer would dash to a supermarket across the street to buy one . His name was Harry Belafont.

谣言曾传说：如果一位顾客要一份牛排，那么这个歌手就会以最快的速度冲到马路对面的超级市场去为顾客卖牛排。而这个歌手，正是海瑞`不拉冯特。

7.It was a long, slow climb out of the shadows.

走出阴影是一个漫长的过程。

8.Instantly I had the kind of fame and success that few writers ever experience. The shadows had turned into dazzling limelight.

很快，我就拥有了只有很少一部分作家才可以体会到的声望和成功。那些曾经的不堪回首的阴影便成了耀眼的镁光灯。 

9.And I said to myself, The things in this bag are part of my root too. I can't forget that.

我对我自己说道：这些在包里的东西也是我的根。我不能忘记这些。

10.I'd be hard pressed to say which means the most to me.

我很难说清哪个对我最为重要。