more than one way to the square.doc

more than one way to the squareWe were standing at the top of a church tower. My father had brought me to this spot in a small Italian town not far from our home in Rome. I wondered why.“Look down, Elsa,” Father said. I gathered all my courage and looked down. I saw the square in the centre of the village. And I saw the crisscross of twisting, turning streets leading to the square.“See, my dear, ” Father said gently. “There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you cant get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another.”Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful lunches that were served at school. But she refused because she could not believe the lunches were as bad as I said.When I turned to Father for help, he would not interfere. Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson. By the time we reached home, I had a plan.At school the next day, I secretly poured my luncheon soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I talked the cook into serving it to Mother at dinner. The plan worked perfectly. She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered, “The cook must have gone mad!” Quickly I told her what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would take up the matter of lunches at school the next day!In the years that followed I often remembered the lesson Father taught me. I knew where I wanted to go in life. I wanted to be a fashion designer. And on the way to my first small success I found the road blocked. I was busy getting ready to show my winter fashions. Then just 13days before the presentation the sewing girls were called out on strike. I found myself left with one tailor and woman who was in charge of the sewing room! I was as gloomy as my models and salesgirls. “Well never make it,” one of them cried.Here, I thought, is the test of all tests for Fathers advice. Where is the way out this time? I wondered and worried. I was certain we would have to call off the presentation or else show the clothes unfinished. Then it dawned on me. Why not show the clothes unfinished?We worked hurriedly. And, exactly 13 days later, right on time, the Schiaparelli showing took place.What a showing it was! Some coats had no sleeves; others had only one. Many of our clothes were still in an early stage. They were only patterns made of heavy cotton cloth. But on these we pinned sketches and pieces of material. In this way we were able to show that what colors and textures the clothes would have when they were finished.All in all, the showing was different. It was so different that it was a great success. Our unusual showing caught the attention of the public, and orders for the clothes poured in.Fathers wise words had guided me once again. There is more than one way to the square always.通往廣場的路不止一條當(dāng)時我們正站在一個教堂塔樓的頂上，是父親把我從羅馬的家里帶到這個離家不遠的意大利小鎮(zhèn)樓頂上來的，我不明白他要做什么?！跋蛳驴?，埃爾莎，”父親對我說。我鼓足勇氣向下看去，看到了村子中央的廣場，還看到蜿蜒曲折的街道交錯著通向這個廣場。爸爸語氣溫和地對我說：“明白了吧，親愛的，通向廣場的路不止一條，生活也是如此，如果一條路走不到想去的地方，就試著走另一條?！爆F(xiàn)在我明白我為什么會到這兒來了。那天早些時候我請求媽媽為學(xué)校提供的難吃的午餐想點辦法，但她拒絕了我的要求，她不相信學(xué)校的午餐會像我說的那樣糟。我轉(zhuǎn)向爸爸求援，他不想干預(yù)此事，卻把我?guī)У竭@個高塔上，給我上了一課。到家時，我已經(jīng)有了主意。第二天在學(xué)校吃午餐時，我偷偷地把我的那份午餐湯倒進一個瓶子，把它帶回了家，然后說服廚師，讓她在晚餐時把湯端給媽媽。我的計劃進行得很成功。媽媽喝了一勺湯，就吐了出來，說：“廚師一定發(fā)瘋了！”我馬上告訴媽媽這是我安排的，媽媽斬釘截鐵地表示第二天就去學(xué)校就午餐問題提出交涉。隨后的這些年里，我時常記起爸爸給我上的這一課。我知道我的人生目標(biāo)：我想當(dāng)時裝設(shè)計師！就在我走向第一個小小的成功之路時，卻遇到了阻礙。我正忙著準備展覽冬季時裝，就在時裝表演開始前13天，縫紉女工們被叫去參加罷工，我發(fā)現(xiàn)只剩下我自己、一個裁縫和一個縫紉車間的女主管！我像我的模特和女售貨員一樣沮喪，有一個女售貨員哭道：“我們絕對趕不上了！”我想，此時是對父親的忠告最嚴峻的考驗。這次的出路在哪兒呢？我滿腹狐疑，心急如焚。我確信只有兩條路可走：要么取消時裝表演，要么展出沒有完工的時裝。就在這時，我茅塞頓開：為什么不把沒有做完的衣服拿出來展覽呢？我們緊張匆忙地工作著。正好13天以后，斯基亞帕雷利的時裝展覽準時開幕了。這是一次什么