1927年在 巴黎開設(shè)自己第一家服裝設(shè)計 沙龍，追求設(shè)計的創(chuàng)造性，她第一個設(shè)計了毛皮織 物,并將拉鏈染成和衣服相同的顏色。她和當(dāng)時很多藝術(shù)家，比如著名畫家 達(dá)利等人聯(lián)系密切，并聘請他們參與紡織品的設(shè)計，把 超現(xiàn)實主義風(fēng)格引入服裝設(shè)計中。 二戰(zhàn)之后，她的事業(yè)虧損。在1935年后宣告破產(chǎn)，前往 美國，并在美國同樣獲得巨大的事業(yè)成功。

《通往廣場的路不止一條》這篇課文是美國作家伊爾莎·斯奇培爾莉?qū)懙�，主要是寫小時候父親帶她到教堂塔頂，教導(dǎo)她“通往廣場的路不止一條。生活也是這樣”。長大后，當(dāng)她遇到困難時，能夠不懈地堅持目標(biāo)，并且做到了“此路不通走彼路”，從而獲得成功，實現(xiàn)理想。這只是一篇閱讀課文，看似簡單，但在實際教學(xué)中所出現(xiàn)的狀況，卻是令我始料不及。 按照慣例，讀通課文、理解詞語之后，要求學(xué)生理解句子含義，當(dāng)討論“我大喜過望，腳下仿佛踩著一朵幸福的云”時，有學(xué)生說道：“因為有人向她訂購了40件毛衣，她能夠掙到大錢了，所以大喜過望。”學(xué)生中發(fā)出一陣竊笑。從表面上看，這個答案也不算錯，但也絕對不“標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”，我補充道：“她的夢想是當(dāng)一名時裝設(shè)計師，當(dāng)她能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)夢想時當(dāng)然是大喜過望�！� 在討論到“一條時裝的河流，源源不斷地從我的時裝店里流了出來”時，又有學(xué)生引申到她“源源不斷地掙錢”，在討論“通往廣場的路不止一條”的含義時，還是有學(xué)生發(fā)揮到“掙錢的方法不止一個”。我疑惑地問：“你們?yōu)槭裁措x不開錢呢？難道有錢就有一切了么？”一個學(xué)生很認(rèn)真地回答“當(dāng)然”，一些學(xué)生哄堂大笑，還有幾個學(xué)生順著老師的語氣回答“不是”�？磥韺W(xué)生對課文的理解確實存在著許多問題，我給他們分析，“廣場”實際上象征著一個人的理想或目標(biāo)，通往廣場的路不止一條，是指我們達(dá)到目標(biāo)的方法不止一個，這個方法不行，可以換一種方法，這不但是一種積極的人生態(tài)度，也是一種思維方式。掙錢并不是生活的全部，賺了大錢也未必幸福。這時下課鈴響了，我只好草草收場，告訴學(xué)生，這個問題留待以后討論。 回到辦公室，我不禁想起上學(xué)期講《為中華之崛起而讀書》時的情景來，當(dāng)時在導(dǎo)入課文時，也曾問過學(xué)生為什么而讀書，學(xué)生的回答五花八門，以為考大學(xué)、掙大錢、找個好工作等答案居多，所以在講課文時著力突出了個人的命運是和國家的強盛聯(lián)系在一起的，并列舉了李四光等愛國人士的例子加以說明。可是在寫課后練筆《我為什么而讀書》時，仍然有一部分學(xué)生寫“為金錢而讀書，因為賺了錢可以住大房子、娶媳婦、讓父母過舒服的生活……”，有的寫“為上大學(xué)而讀書。因為媽媽說，大學(xué)畢業(yè)后可以找到又輕快、掙錢又多的工作……”�？吹竭@些作文，我頗感無奈：講了半天，課文是課文，生活是生活，還是沒有扭轉(zhuǎn)學(xué)生的觀念，聊以自慰的是我的學(xué)生在寫作文時能夠?qū)懗鲎约旱恼鎸嵪敕�，還沒有學(xué)會撒謊來迎合老師。 當(dāng)今社會、家庭對金錢的態(tài)度，已經(jīng)嚴(yán)重影響到孩子的價值觀，也難怪學(xué)生一提到獲得成功、實現(xiàn)理想時就想到金錢，在我們的生活中，確實存在著許多片面的宣傳，比如在提到比爾·蓋茨時，我們往往會在前面加上一個詞語——“世界首富”，我們似乎只看到了他的財富增長得是多么的快，卻很少宣傳他奮斗的經(jīng)歷。一說起周杰倫可能就會想到媒體上大肆渲染的鮮花、掌聲、片酬，乃至他的緋聞逸事……卻很少報道他是經(jīng)過了許多磨難、挫折，從最底層做起的。還有一些賣房廣告，公然打出了“富人區(qū)”這樣的噱頭……這些宣傳往往會給我們單純的孩子們，留下以金錢論英雄的印象。這種耳濡目染的熏陶，不是靠學(xué)習(xí)幾篇課文、靠老師幾節(jié)課的灌輸所能夠改變的。 不可否認(rèn)，學(xué)校、老師在學(xué)生世界觀、人生觀、價值觀的形成中起著重要的作用，但社會和家庭也必須承擔(dān)起應(yīng)負(fù)的責(zé)任！

有一次，父親帶著我，爬上 教堂高高的塔頂。腳底下，星羅棋布的村莊環(huán)抱著 羅馬，如蛛網(wǎng)般交叉的街道，一條條通往城市廣場。

“好好瞧瞧吧，親愛的孩子，”父親和藹地說，“通往廣場的路不止一條。生活也是這樣，假如你發(fā)現(xiàn)走這條路不能到達(dá)目的地的話，就可以走另一條路試試！”

此后，我一直把父親的教導(dǎo)記在心間。

我的夢想是做一名時裝設(shè)計師。

有一天，我遇到了一位朋友。她的毛衣顏色很素凈，卻編織得極為巧妙。

“多漂亮的毛衣呀！是自己織的嗎？”我問道。

“不是，”她答道，“是維黛安太太織的，她在美國學(xué)的。”

突然，我的眼睛一亮，一個大膽的念頭在腦海閃現(xiàn)：我為什么不從毛衣入手，自己設(shè)計、制作和出售時裝呢？

我畫了一張黑白蝴蝶花紋的毛衣設(shè)計圖，請維黛安太太先織了一件。為了觀察別人的反應(yīng)，我穿著這件毛衣，參加了一個時裝商人的午宴。結(jié)果，一家大商場的經(jīng)理當(dāng)場就向我訂購了四十件，約定兩星期內(nèi)交貨。我大喜過望，腳下仿佛踩著一朵幸福的云。

“兩個星期要四十件？這根本不可能！”當(dāng)我站在維黛安太太面前時，她說，“你要知道，織這么一件毛衣，我?guī)缀跻�花上整整一個星期時間啊！”那朵幸福的云突然消失了，我只好垂頭喪氣地與她 告辭。半路上，我猛然停住腳步，心想：這種毛衣雖然需要特殊技能，但在巴黎，一定還會有別的婦女會織的。

我跑回維黛安太太家，向她講了自己的想法。她覺得有道理。我同維黛安太太想盡辦法，終于找到了二十位心靈手巧的婦女。兩個星期以后，四十件毛衣從我新開的時裝店裝上開往國外的貨輪。從此，一條時裝的河流，源源不斷地從我的時裝店里流了出來。

后來，我計劃舉辦一次大型時裝展，但在離展出只有十三天的時候，縫紉姑娘們在另一家時裝店的挑撥下跑光了。這回該從哪兒找到一條出路呢？看來，我的時裝展不得不推遲了——不然，就只有展出未縫成的衣服了。對呀！我為什么不可以搞一個不是成衣的時裝展呢？

時裝展如期開幕。這真是一個與眾不同的展覽會——有的衣服沒有袖子，有的只有一只袖子，有的還是一片布樣。雖然我們展出的時裝不是成衣，但從中仍然可以看出這些時裝縫成后的顏色和式樣。這次展覽，激發(fā)了顧客的興趣，前來訂貨的人絡(luò)繹不絕。

父親的教導(dǎo)讓我一生受用不盡——通往廣場的路不止一條！

More Than One Way to the Squareb]We were standing at the top of a church tower. My father had brought me to this spot in a small Italian town not far from our home in Rome. I wondered why.

“Look down, Elsa,” Father said. I gathered all my courage and looked down. I saw the square in the center of the village. And I saw the crisscross of twisting, turning streets leading to the square.

“See, my dear,” Father said gently. “There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can’t get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another.”

Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful lunches that were served at school. But she refused because she could not believe the lunches were as bad as I said.

When I turned to Father for help, he would not interfere. Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson. By the time we reached home, I had a plan.

At school the next day, I secretly poured my luncheon soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I talked the cook into serving it to Mother at dinner. The plan worked perfectly. She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered, “The cook must have gone mad!” Quickly I told what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would take up the matter of lunches at school the next day!

In the years that followed I often remembered the lesson Father taught me. I knew where I wanted to go in life. I wanted to be a fashion designer. And on the way to my first small success I found the road blocked. What could I do? Accept the roadblock5 and fail？Or use imagination and wits to find another road to my goal？

I had come to Paris, the center of the world of fashion, with my sketches6. But none of the famous fashion designers seemed interested in buying them. Then one day I met a friend who was wearing a very beautiful sweater. It was plain in color, but it had a lovely and unusual stitch.

“Did you knit that sweater?” I asked her.

“No,” she answered. “It was done by a woman here in Paris.”

“What an interesting stitch!” I continued.

My friend had an explanation. “The woman her name is Mrs. Vidian—told me she learned the stitch in Armenia, her native country.”

Suddenly I pictured a daring design knitted into such a sweater. Then an even more daring idea came to me. Why not open my own house of fashion? Why not design, make and sell clothes from the house of Schiaparelli! I would do it, and I would begin with a sweater.

I drew a bold black and white butterfly pattern and took it to Mrs. Vidian. She knitted it into a sweater. The result, I thought, was wonderful. Then came the test. I wore the sweater to a luncheon which people in the fashion business would attend. To my great pleasure, the sweater was noticed. In fact, the representative of a large New York store wanted 40 sweaters to be ready in two weeks. I accepted the order and walked out on a cloud of happiness.

My cloud disappeared suddenly, however, when I stood in front of Mrs. Vidian. “But it took me almost a week to knit that one sweater,” she said. “Forty sweaters in two weeks? It is not possible!”

I was crushed to be so close to success and then to be blocked! Sadly I walked away. All at once I stopped short. There must be another way. This stitch did take special skill. But surely there must be other Armenian women in Paris who knew how to do it.

I went back to Mrs. Vidian and explained my plan. She really didn’t think it would work, but she agreed to help.

We were like detectives, Mrs. Vidian and I. We put ourselves on the trail11 of any Armenians who lived in Paris. One friend led us to another. At last we tracked down women, each of whom could knit the special stitch. Two weeks later the sweaters were finished. And the first shipment from the new house of Schiaparelli was on its way to the United States!

From that day a steady stream of clothes and perfumes12 flowed from the house of Schiaparelli. I found the world of fashion gay13 and exciting, full of challenge and adventure. I shall never forget one showing which was really a challenge. Once again Father’s advice helped me. I was busy getting ready to show my winter fashions. Then just 13 days before the presentation the sewing girls were called out on strike. I found myself left with one tailor and woman who was in charge of the sewing room! I was as gloomy14 as my models and salesgirls. “We’ll never make it,”one of them cried.

Here, I thought, is the test of all tests for Father’s advice. Where is the way out this time? I wondered and worried. I was certain we would have to call off the presentation or else show the clothes unfinished. Then it dawned on15 me. Why not show the clothes unfinished?

We worked hurriedly. And, exactly 13 days later, right on time, the Schiaparelli showing took place.

What a showing it was! Some coats had no sleeves; others had only one. Many of our clothes were still in an early stage. They were only patterns made of heavy cotton cloth. But on these we pinned sketches and pieces of material. In this way we were able to show that what colors and textures the clothes would have when they were finished.

All in all, the showing was different. It was so different that it was a great success. Our unusual showing caught the attention of the public, and orders for the clothes poured in.

Father’s wise words had guided me once again. There is more than one way to the square always.