“Once upon a time， there was a king who had a daughter as beautiful as a blooming rose. To all the suitors who came to the king's palace to ask for the hand of the princess, the old king assigned three tasks to be accomplished, each next to impossible. One day, into the king's palace came a handsome young prince…" Well, you know the rest. The three tasks may be different in different versions, but the main plot is always the same, with the prince claiming the princess's hand triumphantly.
And the ending is always the same, finishing with the line "And they live happily every after."
Why aren't we tired of something so fanciful, so unrealistic, and, I would say, so unimaginative? How can a story like that endure generations of repetition`? Because, I think, it is a typical success story. It is highly philosophical and symbolic. By implication, we see a 4-step definition of success: 1 ） a goal to be set. as represented by the beautiful princess; 2 ） challenges to be met, as represented by the three tasks; 3 ） the process of surmounting difficulties, as represented by the ordeals the youth goes through; and 4 ） the reward of success, as represented by the happy marriage.
The story not only caters to everyone's inward yearning for success, but also emphasizes the inseparability of the process and the result. The reward of success will be much amplified if the path leading towards it is treacherous, and vice versa. If a person inherits his father's millions and leads an easy life, he is not a successful person even in material terms, because there are no difficulties involved in his achieving affluence. The term "success", to be sure. will not sit still for easy definition. But as I understand it, the true meaning of success entails a combination of both the process and the satisfactory result of an endeavor. To clarify my view, let me give another analogy.
If we changed the rules of football, greatly enlarged the goal and sent away David Seaman or any other goal keeper, so that another David, namely David Beckham, could score easily, then scoring would not give him the thrill of accomplishment and the joy that it brings. If we further changed the rules by not allowing Arsenal's defenders to defend, so that Beckham needed only to lift a finger, actually a toe, to score, then there would be no game at all, because the meaning of winning would have disappeared. In accepting the challenge, in surmounting the difficulties and in enduring the hardship, success acquires its value. The sense of attainment varies in proportion to the degree of difficulties on overcomes.
The concept of success is not constant but relative because the nature of difficulty is also relative. Something you do effortlessly might pose a great difficulty for a handicapped person. In acquiring the ability to do the same as you can, he or she achieve success. That's why we greatly admire Stephen Hawking, because, though confined to a wheel chair, he has contributed greatly to the field of science.
I myself, a rather shy person by nature who easily suffer from stage fright, had to pluck up great courage to take part in a speech contest like this. I could have stayed away and had an easy time of it by not entering the university level contest.But I chose to accept the challenge and to face the difficulties. Now here I am. If I come out first, it will be a great success for me. If I come out last-I hope this will not be the case-but if I come out last, I will not call my attempt a failure, but will also celebrate it as a true success, because part of my goal is my own character training-to do more assertive, to be brave in face of difficulties. For me, it is a meaningful step forward, small as it is, in the long journey toward the final success in my life, because I have truly gained by participating.
Let us return to our handsome young prince and the 4-step definition of success. You my have noticed that the usual worldly criteria of wealth, position and fame were not mentioned as part of the story, but rather, it emphasized the process of overcoming difficulties. The ancient wisdom had already defined the meaning of success, and this is my definition, too.
Thank you.
譯文：成功之我見
“很久以前，有個國王，他的女兒貌美如花。老國王向所有來求婚的男士提出了三個任務作為挑戰，而每一項任務都異常艱巨，幾乎不可能完成。一天，來了一位年輕英俊的王子……”好了，下面的故事你們都知道了。三項任務在不同的版本中各不相同，但關鍵部分的情節都如出一轍：王子成功地過關，得到了公主的芳心。而故事的結局也都一樣，最後一句都寫道：“從此他們幸福地生活在一起。
為什麼我們對如此美妙、如此不切實際，而我要說，如此缺乏想像力的東西這么樂此不疲呢？這樣的故事又如何能夠經歷幾代人的重複？我想，因為它是典型的成功的例子。故事的思想性很強，具有代表性。通過故事帶給我們的啟示，我們認識到了成功定義中的四個步驟；第一，目標的設定，有如故事裡美麗的公主；第二，所遇到的困難和挑戰，就像三大任務；第三，克服困難的過程，故事中青年經歷重重難關可以作為象徵；第四，就是成功的果實，如同幸福的婚姻。
這個故事不僅迎合了人們內心深處對成功的嚮往，也強調了過程和結果的不可分離。如果通往成功的道路崎嶇曲折，那么成功的回報必然碩果纍纍，反之亦然。如果一個人繼承了父輩的百萬家產而生活得輕鬆富足，那么，即使在物質上，他也不能算是個成功人士，因為，他的財富並沒有經過艱難困苦而獲得。確切地說，“成功”這個詞，不是個靜態簡單的定義。在我的理解中，真正意義上的成功是奮鬥的過程和經歷了奮鬥之後贏得的滿意的結果。請讓我另舉一例來闡明我的見解。
如果我們試著改變足球的比賽規則，將球門放得很大，換下大衛·希曼或其他任何的守門員，這樣，隨便哪個“大衛”，比如說，“大衛·貝克漢姆”，就可以輕鬆進球，然而這樣進一球卻不能給他帶來成功的震顫與喜悅。如果我們再改一改比賽規則，不讓阿森納隊的防守來守門，那么，貝克漢姆只要動動手，其實就是抬抬腳就能進一球，那樣的話實際上也沒有什麼比賽可言了，因為贏球的意義已經不存在了。在接受挑戰、克服困難和經歷磨難的過程中，“成功”的價值才得以豐滿。取得成果的意義和所克服的艱難的程度成正比。所謂成功的概念不是一成不變的。而曇相對而言的，因為困難的性質也是相對意義上的。
正常人不費力氣做成的事對於一個殘疾人來說也許相當困難。獲得了同正常人一樣的能力，這個殘疾人就獲得了成功。這便是我們為什麼崇敬史蒂芬·霍金的原因—雖然行動不便，受到了輪椅的限制，他依然為科學界作出了巨大的貢獻。
就我自己而言，生性羞澀，容易怯場，不得不鼓起非常大的勇氣來參加此次的演講比賽。我完全可以待在一邊，不參加大學級別的比賽，而落得輕鬆自在。可是，我還是選擇了接受這一挑戰來面對困難。現在我來了，如果我能夠得第一的話。這對我來說就是巨大的成功。如果，我是最後一名—我希望情況不是這樣—但如果我真的是最後一名，我也不會認為這次的嘗試是一次失敗，反而我要把它當作一次真正的成功來慶賀，因為我一部分的目標是對自己性格的鍛鍊—更加堅強、勇敢地面對困難。對我來說，這標誌著我在通向成功人生的漫漫征途中又向前邁進了一步，儘管是很小的一步，但是我確實通過參與真正地獲得了收益。
回到我們年輕英俊的王子和對“成功”的四步驟定義上吧，您也許已經注意到了財富、地位和名譽等這些世俗的標準在故事中並未提及，相反故事強調了克服重重困難的過程。古代的智慧已經對成功的意義下了定義，這也是我的定義。
謝謝！