princeton

　　1963，sunday

　　my dear：

　　you left this cheque on the table in the livingroom.you will recall that as soon as you asked foryour allowance，i went to my study and wrote outthe cheque and brought it in and gave it to you，because you were going to need it the next day innew york.

　　this cheque is for a larger amount than myentire allowance any year that i was in boarding school.in 1963 it represents approximately the royalty after taxes on the sale of nearly 1000books.it is almost twice as much as i earned as areporter on the herald tribune，and i supportedmyself on that salary.that is，i paid for all myroom，board，clothes，and fun on that salary.i hadno other income.i therefore take a rather dim viewof your casual attitude toward a cheque for ＄275.

　　this is，i suppose，your swinging year，and iwant you to have a good time.nevertheless i want you from time to time to give mature thought tocertain matters.every cent，every single cent，thatis spent on you，and that you spend，comes out ofmoney that i have earned by hard，hard work.notone single cent of your mother's or grandmother'smoney had been touched.your car，for instance，cost me as much money as i have，after taxes，fromthe sale of four new yorker stories.your year atbennett will have cost me as much as i netted，aftertaxes，on the sale of a family party.

　　as authors go，i am，as i told you，a rich man.but there are not many authors who make nearlyas much money as i do，and i do it because i amgood and because i work very hard.in the midst ofyour good time i want you to stop and think oncein a while about where the money comes from；notonly because it has come from my hard work，butbecause it is absolutely necessary for you yourselfto get some perspective on your own financialposition.when you have finished your educationyou are going to have to go to work，to earn asalary.i will be 59 in january，and it is just kiddingmyself to think that i can go on working this handand earning this kind of money，and i do not oftenkid myself.at 21 you will be coming into somemoney，but as i have often told you，it is not goingto be enough to make you miss richbitch or topermit you to live as miss richbitch.i am lettingyou have a good time now，because this is the timeto have it，when you are young.but i would bedoing you no favor if i failed to remind you of thehard realities.one of the hardest realities is moneyand the handling of it.another is the fact that untilyou marry，and possibly even after，you are goingto be a working-girl i am very fond of most of yourfriends，but you must not get into the habit oftaking for granted that i am as rich as some oftheir fathers.i'm not.i have earned as much in oneyear as you will inherit from your mother's estate.and you will only get the income from your grandmother's trust fund；the principal is held intrust for your children.

　　now，and during the months ahead，i want youto direct your thoughts toward your own future，the kind of work you want to do，the kind of manyou want to marry，the contributions you can maketo your marriage，and the future wellbeing of yourchildren.i assure you that if you do this you willenjoy yourself more than if you enjoy yourselfaimlessly.

　　love，

　　dad
 

　　親愛的女兒：

　　你把這張支票忘在了起居室的桌子上。當你想要津貼的時候，你就會想起這張支票了。當時這張支票是我去書房填好后帶來給你的，因為你第二天去紐約時需要它。

　　這張支票比我當年讀寄宿學校時任何一年的全部津貼的數額都大。在1963年，它大約相當于賣掉近1000本書扣除稅收后所能得到的版稅。它幾乎是我在《民權先驅報》當記者時所掙工資的兩倍，而我當時就靠這份工資生活。也就是說，我用這份工資支付所有的衣食住行以及娛樂費用。我沒有其他的收入。因此，你對這張價值275美元的支票的隨意態度，使我深感失望。

　　我估計，今年是你生活中豐富多彩的一年，我希望你過得愉快。但不管怎樣，我希望你能時常對某些事情深思熟慮地想一想。每一分錢，花在你身上的每一分錢以及你所花掉的每一分錢，都是我辛辛苦苦地工作掙來的。我沒有動用過你母親和你祖母留下的一分錢。比如說，你的小汽車，用掉了我出售四部關于紐約人的小說所得的所有稅后收入。你在本內特一年將花掉我出售《一個家庭聚會》所得的所有稅后純收入。

　　如同我告訴你的，在作家中我是比較富有的。但并非許多作家都能掙到我這么多的錢，我之所以能做到這一切，是因為我有能力并且我勤奮工作。在你度過美好時光之時，我希望你能停下來想一想錢是從哪里來的。不僅僅因為它來自于我的勤奮工作，而且因為它對你自己建立獨立的經濟地位觀是完全必要的。當你完成學業后，你將參加工作，將去掙工資。到一月份我就59歲了，要想我能繼續如此勤奮工作，掙這么多的錢，簡直是自欺欺人，我極少欺騙自己。你到21歲時，將能繼承一筆錢，但正如我常常告誡你的，這筆錢并不足以使你成為富家小姐或過像富家小姐那樣的生活。現在，我使你過著愉快的生活，因為你還小，正是享受快樂生活的時候。但是，如果我未能讓你認識到這些嚴峻的現實，對你是沒有任何好處的。在這些嚴竣的現實中，其中之一就是錢以及如何使用錢。另一個就是，在你結婚之前，甚至可能在結婚之后，你都得工作。對你多數的朋友，我都很喜歡，但你不能養成這樣的習慣，想當然地以為我和他們中某些人的父親一樣富有。我并不富有。我一年所掙的錢與你將從你母親的遺產中所能繼承的錢一樣多。而且，你只能得到你祖母的托管金的收入 部分，而本金是給你的子女的。