|
回复
Sonia_n:
Q: What's it like to come from a billion-dollar family? 出生于亿万家庭是什么感觉？ Answered by John H. Hillman, V, sorry about the Roman numeral. J.H.希尔曼五世应答，抱歉给出这么个罗马字母！ In my case it is pretty normal. To be clear, I am not "of the wealth" that flows through my family, I benefit from a minor tributary of the original fortune. I am not a poor person by any means, and I am super grateful for my family history, tradition, and the regional respect given towards us. Something that not only I, but the patriarch and matriarch Hillmans, have always tried to repay. The reality is: the city that helped us, comes first. 对我来说这相当正常！首先要澄清的是我并不继承家族的全部财富，对家族财富我只受益一小部份。无论如何我都不是一个穷人，我对家族的历史、传统和出生等方面所给予我们的恩惠都极度感恩！不光我，也包括我们希尔曼家族的长辈们都在一直尽力回馈。事实是：这个曾经帮助过我们的城市总是被摆在第一位。 Without giving a full family history — which has already been done way better than I could — the gist of it is: I had a relative seven or eight generations ago who did very well cooking iron in Kentucky/Tennessee in the 1850s. A generation continued that success though the U.S. Civil War with some pitfalls until around the 1900s when some southerner Hillmans traveled to a city which was a perfect fit for industrial steel revolution: Pittsburgh. When the U.S. steel industry began to slump beginning in the 1960s my great-uncle Henry diversified into many things, notably an early Kleiner Perkins investment, international real estate, and others. I believe he has been on the Forbes 400 since the first list, though I may be wrong. The rest can be found via Google. 在此我无需给出家族全部历史，现已存有的详尽记录好过我所能介绍的。大概就是：在十九世纪五十年代，我的一个前七代或前八代亲戚在田纳西和肯塔基一带成功经营着烹具用钢材。虽然在南北战争期间经历了一些困难，但新一代还算成功继承家业，直到大约二十世纪初，一些南方希尔曼族人才迁到最适合发展钢铁业的城市：匹兹堡。十九世纪六十年代，钢铁业开始不景气时，我的叔（伯）祖父转向多元化经营。值得一提的是早期的凯鹏华盈投资，它涉及了国际房地产和其它等。我相信从福布斯排行400首创以来他就一直位列其中，虽然也有可能我弄错了。剩下的历史通过GOOGLE都能查到。 How does it feel for me? Aside from knowing that I come from solid stock, which I try to live up to, I have constant reminders such as the Hillman Library, which was named after my great-grandfather and is the main library of the University of Pittsburgh. The question I most often hear about that building is: "Don't you like, own a library or something?" other than that there is The Hillman Cancer Center, which is a fantastic facility, every once in awhile, I have misguided people thanking me because their cancer was "cured." I don't like that at all, it makes me feel uncomfortable. 我感觉如何？除了知道我有尽可赖以生存的固定股份，还有不断提醒我的诸如以我曾祖父名字命名的也是匹兹堡大学主要的图书馆---希尔曼图书馆等建筑。我最经常听到的有关图书馆的问题就是：“拥有一座图书馆什么的，你喜欢吗？”除此之外就是希尔曼癌症中心，它的设施相当不错。每隔一段时间，我总误导别人来感谢我，因他们的癌症被治愈了。我根本不喜欢那样，那令我极不自在！ The Hillman Center for Future Generation Technologies part of Carnegie Mellon University(卡内基-梅隆大学)is cool-looking (inside and out) and is a great partnership with Gates and CMU, but not something the average person cares about, including me. Then there are things like Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems, part of the Carnegie Museum of natural History that are so amazing, but also made me feel awkward as a first grader visiting with my school. Kids can be tough. I could name over fifty other really important buildings/endowments/things our family's success has benefited, but most people don't care. And it can all be found without me telling you. 卡内基-梅隆大学的“未来时代科技希尔曼中心”从内到外都非常酷，它也是盖茨和卡内基-梅隆大学伟大合作的象征，但普通人对此并不关心，也包括我。还有一些象希尔曼矿物和宝石大厅---它是很棒的卡内基自然历史博物馆的一部份，在我上一年级和学校同学参观时，它也同样令我感到不自在。孩子们会很讨厌（可能这和美国崇尚草根出英雄的文化有关，在中国，别的孩子肯定会羡慕并讨好他）。我能点出起码超过五十个其它确实重要的建筑、捐赠和我们家族成功者施惠的事情，但绝大多数人对此并不在乎。不用我告诉你，这些全能查得到。 I have great friends. I can't clarify that enough. They are all lifelong friends who know me well. It isn't like I have hangers-on or people who want to be in my life because of a perceived wealth, though I believe others in my family might have that problem. 我有很棒的朋友，对此我怎么说都不过份。他们都是完全了解我的毕生的朋友。他们不是一群阿谀者或因我有众所周知的财富就想结交我的人，虽然我相信我家族中其他人会有此问题。 Every month, I get a stranger that says "Hey, are you related to the Hillmans . . . ?" or something like that. Basically I just go with the flow. I am modest, live a modest life, and it's all just fun and respect. Respect for my family and respect for people that are interested in "us." When I think of my family's fortunes I think of how much has been given back to Pittsburgh, and that is mainly how I identify with it. 每个月我都会碰到陌生人问我：“嗨，你和希尔曼家族有关吗？”或者其他类似的事情。我基本上是个随大流的人，为人谦和，过着朴素的生活。而这一切都因于好玩和尊重，尊重我的家族，尊重那些对我们感兴趣的人。当我想我们家族有多少财富时就会想起我们家族已回馈给匹兹堡的那些，那是我确认这个答案的主要依据。 ps 我最怕欠作业什么的，晚上咬牙匆匆弄得，有的表达不是很顺，欢迎高手指正～～ |
|
|
