8 Chapter 7 Following the Equator

Chapter 7 Following the Equator "There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: when he can't afford it, and when he can." —Mark Twain Mark Twain had started his own company in order to publish The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn himself. While Charles L. Webster & Company (named after Mark's nephew and business manager) took orders for the book, Mark went on a four-month lecture tour to earn money. Webster & Company didn't plan to publish books by other authors. But then Mark learned that former president and Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant was writing his memoirs. Mark offered Grant twice as much money as another publisher had. That clinched the deal. Grant put the finishing touches on his book just days before he died of cancer in 1885. The book was an instant

“人的一生中有两次不应该投机:当他买不起的时候，和当他买得起的时候。” 马克·吐温为了出版《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》，马克·吐温创办了自己的公司。 当查尔斯·l·韦伯斯特公司(以马克的侄子和业务经理的名字命名)接受这本书的订单时，马克进行了为期四个月的巡回演讲来赚钱。 韦伯斯特公司不打算出版其他作者的书。 但后来马克得知，美国前总统、南北战争将军尤利西斯? 格兰特正在写回忆录。 马克给格兰特的钱是其他出版商的两倍。 这就敲定了这笔交易。格兰特在1885年死于癌症的几天前完成了他的书的最后润色。 这本书是瞬间写成的

hit. Mark paid Grant's widow nearly $500,000 in profits. Grant's bestselling memoirs made Mark rich, too. "It seems to me that whatever I touch turns to gold," Mark marveled. America's most famous author turned fifty that year, and his future had never looked brighter.

打击。马克付给格兰特的遗孀将近十万美元的利润。 格兰特的畅销回忆录也让马克变得富有。 “在我看来，无论我摸到什么，都能变成金子，”马克惊叹道。 那年，这位美国最著名的作家50岁了，他的未来从未如此光明。

The family lived very well. They held elaborate dinners for important guests, including generals William T. Sherman and Philip Sheridan of Civil War fame. On Friday evenings, Mark's friends gathered in his third-floor study to drink, smoke cigars, and play Mark's favorite game, billiards.

这家人生活得很好。 他们为重要客人举行了精心准备的晚宴，其中包括威廉? 谢尔曼和菲利普·谢里登的内战。 周五晚上，马克的朋友们聚集在他三楼的书房里喝酒，抽雪茄，玩马克最喜欢的游戏——台球。

The wild success of Grant's memoirs convinced Mark Twain that book publishing was a better way than writing to make lots of money. He signed Sherman, Sheridan, and others to write books for Charles L. Webster & Company. But none of those books became bestsellers like Grant's.

格兰特回忆录的巨大成功使马克·吐温相信，出版书籍比写作更能赚钱。 他签下了谢尔曼、谢里丹和其他人，让他们为查尔斯? 韦伯斯特公司。但这些书都没有像格兰特的书那样成为畅销书。

Mark Twain was a brilliant writer, but he was a terrible businessman. It was the age of new inventions; but unfortunately, Mark Twain invested thousands of dollars in all the wrong ones—a steam pulley, a marine telegraph, a mechanical organ, and about one hundred others. Alexander Graham Bell gave Mark Twain the chance to invest in the telephone, but he said no. He didn't think the telephone would catch on with many people.

马克·吐温是个杰出的作家，但他是个糟糕的商人。 这是一个新发明的时代;但不幸的是，马克·吐温在所有错误的项目上投资了数千美元——一个蒸汽滑轮，一个海上电报，一个机械风琴，以及大约100个其他项目。 亚历山大·格雷厄姆·贝尔曾给马克·吐温投资电话的机会，但他拒绝了。 他认为电话不会在很多人中间流行起来。