Prose
今天美文看点：第一篇，诺贝尔文学奖获得者的散文，对老师的美好的回忆。顺便说一下，这个老师的教法在中国大陆估计也不会被接受的；第二篇，我最爱的电影之一《时间机器》的梗概，我的脑子里总在空闲的时候有它的情节，还有一部是《时间旅行者的妻子》；第三篇，时间那么大，我想去看看。但别急，去看看也得掂量一下自己。
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为师之道
〔美〕约翰•斯坦贝克
作者：（1902—1968），美国小说家，曾获1962年诺贝尔文学奖。
……
[2] I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. It might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.
〔2〕如今我相信一位良师就是一名大艺术家，而且良师就像任何其他大艺术家一样地难得。教书甚至可以说是一门最伟大的艺术，因为这门艺术的媒体是人的思想和精神。
[3] My three had these things in common: They all loved what they were doing. They did not tell, they catalyzed([ˈkætəlaiz]，催化，这里转义为激发。) a burning desire to know. Under their influence, the horizons sprung wide and fear went away and the unknown became knowable. But most important of all, the truth, that dangerous stuff, became beautiful and very precious.
〔3〕我的三位良师有如下共同之处：他们全都热爱自己的工作；他们并不灌输知识，而是激起学生求知的热望。在他们的影响下，我的眼界豁然开朗，忧虑消失了，未知变成了可知。可最为重要的是，我们所寻求的真知，不再是令人望而却步的东西，而是变得美好而珍贵了。
[4] I shall speak only of my first teacher because in addition to the other things, she brought discovery.
〔4〕现在我只想说一说我的第一位良师，因为她不仅教了我别的东西，还教了我如何去发现。
[5] She aroused us to shouting, bookwaving discussions. She had the noisiest class in school and she didn't even seem to know it. We could never * stick to(停留，坚持，固守。stick to a post, 坚守一个岗位。stick to the point, 紧扣要点。)the subject. Our speculation ranged the world. She breathed([briːð], v. 呼吸，这儿转义，作注入、灌输解：breathe new life into sb. 向某人注入新的生命。) curiosity into us so that we brought in facts or truths shielded in our hands like captured fireflies.
〔5〕她激发我们手挥书本、高声嚷叫地进行争论。她的课堂是全校最吵闹的，而她甚至好像毫不察觉似的。我们从不拘泥于课程内容上，而可以任凭思绪翱翔天地。她把好奇之心注入我们心中，使我们获得事实与真理，把它们像捕捉到的萤火虫一样掌握在手里。
[6] She was fired and perhaps rightly so, for failing to teach fundamentals. Such things must be learned. But she left a passion in us for the pure knowable world and she inflamed me with a curiosity which has never left. I could not do simple arithmetic but through her I sensed that abstract mathematics was very much like music. When she was relieved, a sadness came over us but the light did not go out. She left her signature on us, the literature of the teacher who writes on minds. I have had many teachers who told me soon-forgotten backs(意思为过去教过的旧课程。) but only three who created in me a new thing, a new attitude and a new hunger.(n. 饥饿，转义为渴望，这儿为求知欲。) I suppose that to a large extent I am the unsigned manuscript of the high school teacher. What deathless power lies in the hands of such a person.
〔6〕她被校方辞退了，这也许不无理由，因为基本的知识她没有教，而那些东西是不可不学的。然而她在我们心中留下的，是对纯粹的可知世界的强烈兴趣，她为我点燃的好奇求知的热情从未消失。我当时连简单的算术也做不来，然而通过她我能感觉到，抽象的数学很像是音乐。她被辞退时，我们心里一片悲伤，但是那光明并未熄灭，她把署名留在我们身上，那是老师写在我们心灵上的作品。我有过不少教师，他们教给我的，不久便忘却了；只有这三位老师使我生发了新的东西，新的态度，新的求知欲。我认为自己在很大程度上就是那位中学老师的未署名的手稿。这样一个人的手里蕴藏着多么不朽的力量啊！
[7] I can tell my son who looks forward with horror to fifteen years of drudgery that somewhere in the dusty dark a magic may happen that will light up the years... if he is very lucky.
〔7〕我的儿子正心怀恐惧地面临着15年的上学苦役。我可以告诉他，在混沌黑暗之中，也许在某处会有神异出现，照得岁月一片光明——倘若他很幸运的话。
时间机器
〔英〕H. G. 威尔斯1
李冀宏 译注
注：单词后标有数字说明在文后都有解释。
[1] In the waning year of the nineteenth century, the Time Traveler is entertaining some friends after dinner with a discussion of time as * the fourth dimension.2 All things, he says, exist not only in length, breadth, and thickness, but in time as well. The only reason we cannot properly perceive the dimension of time is that we ourselves are moving in it.
在19世纪末叶，一天晚饭后，时间旅行家为给朋友们助兴，谈论起时间作为第四维度的问题。他说所有事物不仅存在于长度、宽度与厚度之中，而且也存在于时间之中。我们无法确切觉察时间的维度的唯一原因是由于我们自己也在时间当中运动。
[2] To correct this condition and to test his theories, the Time Traveler has constructed a machine designed to help him move backwards or forwards through the centuries. He jolts3 his skeptical guests (a politician, a doctor, and a psychologist) when he shows them an actual model of the machine, which has taken him two years to construct. He persuades the psychologist to press a lever, and suddenly the model disappears. The Time Traveler tells his astonished guests that as soon as his machine is perfected he hopes to launch himself into the future.
〔2〕为了纠正这一状态并检验他的理论，时间旅行家制造了一架机器，它能帮助他穿越许多世纪逆时或顺时旅行。、一位医生和一位心理学家）展出他花费两年时间制造的这架机器的实际模型，使他们大吃一惊。他劝说心理学家按一下操纵杆，那模型便突然消失了。时间旅行家告诉那些瞠目结舌的客人们，一旦他的机器完善后，他希望将自己发射到未来去。[3] The next week the same group gathers at the Time Traveler's house, joined by a newspaper editor. Their host is late for dinner, and his guests wonder what is keeping him. Can he actually have traveled into the future?
〔3〕第二周，同一伙客人在时间旅行家住宅聚会，还有一位报纸编辑加入了他们当中。主人迟迟未来吃饭，客人们感到奇怪不知是什么事使他耽搁了。他真的已经去未来旅行了吗？[4] Suddenly the door bursts open and the Time Traveler appears, * dirty, disheveled, and bedraggled,4 with a nasty cut on his chin. After he has cleaned up and dressed and they have all dined, he tells the guests his extraordinary story.
〔4〕突然，门猛然开了，时间旅行家出现，他十分肮脏，衣冠不整，满身泥污，下巴颏被严重划伤。待他洗刷干净，穿好衣服，大家一起吃过晚餐后，他向客人们讲述了他的离奇经历。
[5] In the week after demonstrating his model, the Time Traveler perfected his machine. That very morning, strapping himself into the time machine, he took off like a rocket into the future. Travel was very uncomfortable, for the days and nights sped past in such rapid succession that his eyes hurt * from the alternating light and dark.5 Eventually, in the misty, strange world of the future, he brought his machine to a jolting halt and found himself in the year AD 802,701.
〔5〕在客人们看过机器模型以后的那一周里，时间旅行家完成了他的机器。就在那天上午，他用皮带将自己捆扎在时间机器里，然后像火箭一般发射进入未来。旅行极不舒适，因为日夜连续不断地飞逝而过，光亮与黑暗的交替使他眼睛感到刺痛。终于在朦胧而奇异的未来世界里，他使时间机器颠簸着停了下来，发现他自己来到了公元802,701年。[6] Hoping to find a greatly advanced civilization, the Time Traveler sees in the misty, warm air only * an ominous, giant white sphinx on a huge pedestal.6 Before long, some men approach. They are frail and delicate and only about four feet tall. One of them, childlike, asks the Time Traveler if he has come from the sun in a thunderstorm. Then these feeble creatures deck the Time Traveler with * garlands of flowers7 and sing and dance around him. They are mildly curious about his time machine, and he allows them to touch it after taking the precaution of removing the operating levers. Together they dine on fruit and vegetables—animals have become extinct8—and the Eloi,9 as they are called, teach the Time Traveler the rudiments10 of their language.
〔6〕时间旅行家希望找到一个高度发达的文明世界，但在薄雾笼罩的温暖空气中，他看见一尊高大的呈不祥之兆的白色斯芬克斯塑像，坐落在一个巨大的基座上。不久，有些人走上前来。他们身体虚弱、纤细，大约只有4英尺高。其中一个孩子般的人询问时间旅行家是否乘着雷暴来自太阳。然后，这些虚弱的人用花环打扮时间旅行家，并围着他载歌载舞。对于他的时间机器，他们有点好奇，他在谨慎地卸去操纵杆之后，才允许他们触摸机器。他们一起就餐，吃水果和蔬菜（动物已经灭绝），他们被称呼为埃洛伊人，并向时间旅行家传授他们的基础语言。
[7] The Eloi, he decides, are an overcivilized race. Easily fatigued, like children they rapidly lose interest in things. They are extremely lazy, but beautiful, peaceable, and friendly. The Time Traveler realizes that this is the end of human evolution. In a world freed from the struggle for existence by better and more efficient machinery, the people have become unambitious and unassertive. Because the Eloi are no longer struggling with nature, which has long since been entirely subdued, they have become reasonable and cooperative. Having achieved the apparent goal of civilization, they seem to be leading a happy if uneventful life.
〔7〕时间旅行家断定，埃洛伊人是一种过度文明的人种。他们极易疲倦，跟小孩子一样，很快就会失去对各种事物的兴趣。他们极端懒惰，但美丽、平和与友好。时间旅行家意识到这是人类进化的尽头。在一个非常先进而又有高效率的机器的社会里，由于摆脱了生存竞争，人类变得胸无大志和缺乏自信。由于埃洛伊人不再跟早已被完全征服的大自然作斗争，他们变得通情达理，乐于合作。他们显然已经达到了文明的目标，似乎过着一种平静却很幸福的生活。
[8] As night falls, the Time Traveler is dismayed when he discovers that his machine has disappeared. He tries to awaken the Eloi, but they are terrified of the dark and refuse to help him search for his machine. Uneasy, the Time Traveler finally falls asleep. The next morning he finds a path leading to the huge white sphinx, and realizes that his time machine is inside the statue. He tries vainly to open the door of the sphinx. The Eloi are uncooperative. The Time Traveler begins to despair of ever getting back to his own century.
〔8〕夜幕降临后，时间旅行家十分惊愕地发现他的机器不见了。他试图唤醒埃洛伊人，但他们害怕黑暗，拒绝帮助他寻找机器。时间旅行家心神不安地终于进入了梦乡。次日早晨，他发现一条小径可通往那座巨大的白色斯芬克斯塑像，他认为他的时间机器就在这座塑像的内部。他试图打开斯芬克斯的门，但毫无结果。埃洛伊人不愿合作。时间旅行家对能否回到自己生活的世纪中去开始感到绝望。
[9] At this point, however, the Time Traveler makes a special friend among the Eloi, Weena,11 an affectionate, childlike girl whom he saves from drowning. Like the other Eloi, Weena is easily fatigued and fearful of the dark, but she loyally joins the Time Traveler in his adventures.
〔9〕然而就在这时，时间旅行家在埃洛伊人当中交上一个特别的朋友，她是维纳，一位温柔、亲切、天真烂漫的姑娘，他从水中救过她使她免于溺死。维纳跟其他埃洛伊人一样极易疲倦，害怕黑暗，但她十分忠实地参加了时间旅行家的冒险活动。
[10] On the fourth day of his sojourn,12 the Time Traveler understands why the Eloi are terrified after nightfall. In the dark ruins of an ancient building, he becomes aware of strange eyes staring at him. Following them, he discovers that they belong to a loathsome, ape-like creature that lopes13 along before him, eventually disappearing down a ladder into a shaft. The Time Traveler cannot believe that this creature is as human as the Eloi until he realizes that * the Morlocks,14 as they are called, are also descended from the human beings of his time. The world has been divided between the fragile, helpless Eloi, who inhabit the surface of the earth, and the fierce, obscene Morlocks, who clamber about in the darkness of their underground tunnels, like human spiders, emerging only at night. The Eloi, obviously the masters, are descended from the nineteenth-century ruling class in England. The Morlocks, descended from the working class, do all the physical labor, but their brutality and savagery keep the Eloi in mortal terror of the day these servants will revolt.
〔10〕在他旅居生活的第四天，时间旅行家明白了天黑以后埃洛伊人为什么会害怕。在一座古建筑的黑暗废墟里，他发觉有一些奇怪的眼睛在盯着他。他跟随他们，发现他们属于一种令人厌恶、形体似猿的动物，在他前面阔步慢跑，最后沿着一架梯子进入一个井穴中消失了。时间旅行家意识到，被称呼为莫洛克人也是他那个时代人类传下的后代，直到这时他才相信，他们与埃洛伊人一样具有人的属性。世界已分裂为居住在地球表面虚弱无力的埃洛伊人和那些在黑暗的地下通道里到处爬行、凶狠可恶的莫洛克人，他们如同人形蜘蛛，只是到了夜晚才出现。显然，埃洛伊人是社会的主人，他们是19世纪英国统治阶级的后代。莫洛克人则是工人阶级的后裔，从事所有的体力劳动，但他们的残暴与野蛮使埃洛伊人终日处于极度恐慌之中，。
[11] Certain now that the Morlocks, and not the Eloi, are responsible for hiding his machine, the Time Traveler determines to follow them into their * subterranean caverns,15 despite Weena's warnings. Clambering laboriously into one of the caves, the Time Traveler sees a group of the creatures gnawing at * a chunk of meat.16 He is attacked by them, but by lighting matches before their eyes, he manages to escape above ground. Later the horrible realization comes to him that the Morlocks live on Eloi meat, carrying off their victims at night.
〔11〕这时时间旅行家弄清了是莫洛克人藏了他的机器，而不是埃洛伊人，他不顾维纳的警告，决定跟踪他们，进入他们的地下洞穴。时间旅行家艰难地爬进其中一个洞穴，看见一群莫洛克人正在啃咬大量的肉食。他受到他们的攻击，但他在他们眼前擦亮了火柴，设法逃到了地面。后来他十分恐惧地发现莫洛克人是靠吃埃洛伊人的肉过活的，总在夜晚捕获他们的受害者。
[12] The only safeguard against these obscene creatures is light, which they fear as much as the Eloi fear darkness. As the Time Traveler is * running out of17 matches, he goes exploring the next day with Weena to find some other sources of light. He discovers an ancient palace of green porcelain, apparently a science and natural history museum long forgotten by the Eloi. There he fortunately finds some matches and wax from which he can fashion a candle.
〔12〕惟一能对付这些可恶的动物的防身武器是光亮，他们害怕光亮，正如埃洛伊人畏惧黑暗一样。由于火柴行将用完，时间旅行家次日与维纳一道探索，去寻找其它光源。他发现了一座用绿色陶瓷修建的古老宏伟的建筑物，显然是一座长久为埃洛伊人所遗忘的科学与博物学陈列馆，在那里他十分幸运地找到了一些火柴以及能制做一根蜡烛的蜡。
[13] Weena is exhausted after the long trek18 to the museum, so the Time Traveler decides to camp out with her that night, building a fire to keep the beasts away. But when he sees some Morlocks crouching in the woods, he decides it would be safer to spend the night up on a hill where he builds a new campfire. During the night he awakens to discover that his new fire has gone out, his matches are missing, and Weena is no longer there. Fearing that she has been abducted by the Morlocks, he searches for her without success. He finds that his first fire has spread through the forest, * killing thirty or forty Morlocks.19
〔13〕经过去陈列馆的艰难跋涉之后，维纳已是精疲力竭。因而时间旅行家决定与她当晚在外露宿，并生起一堆火以便赶走野兽。但当他发现一些莫洛克人正蜷伏在树林里时，他决定在一座小山上过夜会更安全些，于是就在山上点燃了新的篝火。夜间醒来，他发现新燃的火已经熄灭，他的火柴不见了，维纳也已不在那里。时间旅行家担心她是被莫洛克人绑架了，便到处寻找她，但没有成功。他发现第一次生起的火已蔓延过森林，烧死了三、四十个莫洛克人。
[14] * Sleeping by day and traveling by night,20 he makes his way back to the sphinx, which he is determined to open with a crowbar21 from the science museum. The door, however, is already open when he gets there, and, not suspecting a trap, the Time Traveler enters.
〔14〕他日宿夜行，赶回到斯芬克斯塑像处，决定用在科学陈列馆里找到的一根撬棍打开它。然而当他赶到那里时，那扇门已经敞开，时间旅行家并没有怀疑这是一个圈套，便走了进去。
[15] Inside he discovers his machine. But at that instant a group of Morlocks * pounce upon22 him, and it is all he can do to fend them off while he starts the machine. Just as the Morlocks are about to carry him off to suffer Weena's fate, the machine hurtles him out of their grasp and far into the future.
〔15〕在里面他发现了他的机器。可是就在这时，一群莫洛克人朝他猛扑过来，他一面发动机器，一面挡开他们。正当那些莫洛克人要抓住他使他遭受维纳的命运时，机器猛然地飞起来，使他摆脱了他们的纠缠，进入了遥远的未来。
[16] Millions of years later, the earth has stopped rotating on its axis. The machine lands on a desolate beach where the Time Traveler discovers the only inhabitants are giant, evil-looking crabs. He sets the machine in motion again, and now, thirty million years after leaving the safety of his laboratory, he finds the world a cold, still hulk,23 faintly lit by a dying sun.
〔16〕数百万年之后，地球已经停止了在轴线上旋转。时间机器降落在一片荒凉的海滩上，时间旅行家发现那里唯一的栖居动物是些身躯庞大、相貌凶恶的螃蟹。他重新使机器运行起来，这时，离开他那安全的实验室已达3000万年以后，他发现世界已成为一个寒冷而寂静的庞然大物，受到快要熄灭的太阳的微弱照耀。
[17] Horrified, the Time Traveler sets the machine back for the return journey, and eventually reaches home where he tells his story to his friends. Disillusioned though he is with the future, the Time Traveler has not lost his scientific curiosity. The next day he sets off again on a journey through time. Three years later he has still not returned, and his friends can only speculate about what misadventure has overtaken him in the depths of time.
〔17〕时间旅行家非常恐惧，开动机器掉头返航，终于到达了他的家，他向朋友们讲述他的经历。尽管时间旅行家对未来大失所望，但他并没有失去对科学的好奇心。第二天他再度出发，登上了穿越时间的旅程。三年以后他仍未返回。至于他在时间的深渊里遇到了什么意外事故，他的朋友们只能做出推测而已。
From A Student's Guide to 50 British Novels
译自《50部英国小说阅读指南》
Notes
1．威尔斯（1866—1946）是英国著名作家，尤以科幻小说而著称。他出生于一个小商人家庭。他在伦敦大学获得生物学理学士学位。威尔斯虽有条件从事科研工作，但他却选择了文学创作的道路。他是一位多产作家，毕生共发表100多部著作。其作品以科幻小说为主，重要的有《莫洛博士岛》、《隐身人》、《当睡眠者醒来的时候》、《未来事物的面貌》等。威尔斯享有科幻小说“开山鼻祖”的盛誉。其作品基于幻想又不脱离现实，通过大胆的想像、精巧的构思和怪诞离奇的描写，提出尖锐的社会问题，抨击人类丑恶现象，具有一定的思想深度和社会意义。《时间机器》出版于1895年，是使他一举成名的科幻小说的处女作。，写一个科学家驾驶他自己发明制造的时间旅行器，来到公元802,701年的未来世界，看见人类已演变为两种互相捕捉、残杀的生物。它与《隐身人》一样，说明科技发明提供了机会，但如果应用不当，会给社会造成危害。
2．第四维度。指物体不仅存在于空间，而且存在于时间之中。物体的长、宽、高为其三个维度，加上时间便是第四维度。
3．使吃惊。
4．十分肮脏，衣衫不整，满身泥污。形容词词组作无动词分句（verbless clause），起状语作用。例：He passed by them, cold and indifferent.
5．由于光亮与黑暗交替。介词from表原因。例如，The two explorers died from exposure to the cold.
6．一座硕大的，呈不祥之兆的白色斯芬克斯塑像，坐落在一个巨大的基座上。
7．花环。
8．绝种的，灭绝的。
9．埃洛伊人，想像中的未来社会的统治阶层。
10．基础；初步，入门。
11．维纳，埃洛伊人中的一个小姑娘，成了时间旅行家值得信赖、十分可爱的伴侣。12．[ˈsɔdʒəːn] 旅居，逗留。
13．（能持久的）大步慢跑。
14．莫洛克人，想像的未来社会的奴仆阶级。
15．地下洞穴。
16．一（厚）块肉或相当大数量的肉食。
17．用完。
18．艰苦跋涉。
19．现在分词短语用作状语，表结果。如：The long brown hair came out by roots, leaving her bald.
20．句首的现在分词短语作状语，表行为方式。这样用时也可置于句末。例如，After that they headed north, travelling by horse-drawn sleds.
21．撬棍。
22．pounce (on, upon): 猛扑，突然袭击。
23．大而笨的物体，庞然大物。
【哈佛商评】做自由职业之前要问自己的七个问题
7 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Going Freelance
Who hasn’t thought about quitting their full-time job and going out on their own? Being your own boss is certainly tempting. But is giving up your status as a regular employee the right choice for you?
What the Experts Say
“There are many reasons why people choose to go freelance,” says Steve King, partner at Emergent Research. “We’ve studied this for many years, and it really boils down to autonomy, control, and flexibility: the autonomy to work in the way they want to, control over what they do, and the flexibility to work when and where they want.” No matter the reason behind the decision, people generally don’t look back,” says Sara Horowitz, the head of the Freelancers Union and author of The Freelancer’s Bible. In fact, a study by the Freelancers Union found that 88% of people say they wouldn’t return to a full-time job. Horowitz says that most are happy to be done with “the brutal schedule, the way work is organized, and office politics.” Still, freelancing isn’t without its challenges. What people envision and reality are often very different. Here are the questions to ask yourself before making the leap.
Do you have a marketable skill?
Do you have a robust network?
Do you have the right temperament?
Do you have a financial cushion?
Are you disciplined about work?
Can you try it out?
If you’ve answered yes to all the questions above, Horowitz suggests experimenting with freelancing before you quit your day job. “It doesn’t have to be an on/off switch” — one day you’re a full-time employee and the next you’re on your own, she says. You can ease your way into the freelance life. In fact, “most people explore on the side” to get a taste of what the work will be like and test out their business plan, King says. If you decide to go for it, you’ll already have your business set up and some clients in the queue. But do make sure you’re not violating any of your current company’s policies or your employment contract.
Can your current employer be your first client?
Principles to Remember
Do:
Make sure you have a strong network of people who can help you find work
Give yourself a financial cushion before going out on your own — you need to be able to weather any dry spells
Be prepared to take on tasks that aren’t directly related to your work, such as handling IT issues, sending invoices, and selling your services
Don’t:
Assume that your skills and experience are something that clients are willing to pay for — consider testing the market before officially going freelance
Go freelance if you’re not self-directed or comfortable with ambiguity
Leave your job until you have a plan in place, even if it’s not 100% certain
有谁不曾想过辞掉自己的全职工作，自己闯一番事业？ 做自己的老板，当然诱人。但是，放弃你作为普通职员的身份，是不是你正确的选择？
专家的看法
“人们选择做自由职业，有许多原因。”Emergent Research 合伙人Steve King说。“我们研究这个现象有好多年，而这一切归结为自由、控制权、以及灵活性：以自己所要的方式工作的自由，控制自己所做的事，以及在任何时间、任何地点工作的灵活性。”不管这个决定背后的原因是什么，人们通常不会回头。”自由职业者联盟主席兼《自由职业者》（The Freelancer’s Bible）作者Sara Horowitz说道。事实上，自由职业者联盟进行的一项研究显示，有88%的人说他们不会回到全职工作。Horowitz说，大多数的人很高兴不再需要面对“残酷的时间表、工作组织的方式、。”尽管如此，自由职业不无它的挑战。人们的想象和现实，往往很不一样。在跨出这一步之前，要先问自己这几个问题。
你有一个市场需要的技能吗？
你有一个强大的人际网络吗？
你拥有正确的性格吗？
你拥有财务缓冲吗？
你对工作有纪律吗？
你能去尝试吗？
以上的问题，如果你全都答“是”的话，Horowitz 建议在辞职之前先实验做自由职业。她说：“它不需要是黑白分明的”——你在某天是个全职职员，第二天就是自由身。你可以渐进地进入自由职业的生涯。事实上，King说，“大多数的人会私下地探索”，以便尝尝工作的感觉，同时试探他们的业务计划。如果你决定放手一搏的话，你的生意就会已经建立起来，你也会拥有几个客户。但是你也要确保你不会违反你的现任公司的政策或者你的雇佣合同。
你的现任雇主可否当你的第一个客户？
必须铭记的原则
要：
确保你有一个强大的人际网络，能帮助你寻找工作
在独自去闯之前，先为自己提供财务缓冲，因为你必须能够度过低潮期
要准备好接手一些跟你的工作没有直接关系的任务，如处理信息技术问题、发送单据、推销你的服务
不要：
假设你的技能和经验是客户愿意花钱换取的——要考虑在正式开始自由职业之前，先试探市场
做自由职业，如果你不会自我指导，或者能够接受模糊性
离开工作，直到你已经计划妥当，即使它并非百分之百肯定