在李小龍(Bruce Lee)短短33年的人生中，他是如何創(chuàng)造出輝煌的成就，集武術(shù)大師、武術(shù)哲學(xué)家、武道改革先驅(qū)以及功夫電影先驅(qū)的名頭為一身，以至于在他逝世多年后的今天，仍有數(shù)億影迷對(duì)他無(wú)限敬仰，把他當(dāng)成心目中的英雄和偶像？或許讀了下面的故事，你便能找到答案。

Bruce had me up to three miles a day， really at a good pace. We''''d run the three miles in twenty-one or twenty-two minutes. Just under eight minutes a mile [Note: when running on his own in 1968， Lee would get his time down to six-and-a-half minutes per mile].

So this morning he said to me， \"We''''re going to go five.\" I said， \"Bruce， I can''''t go five. I''''m a helluva2) lot older than you are， and I can''''t do five.\" He said， \"When we get to three， we''''ll shift gears3) and it''''s only two more and you''''ll do it.\"

I said， \"Okay， hell， I''''ll go for it.\" So we get to three， we go into the fourth mile and I''''m okay for three or four minutes， and then I really begin to give out4). I''''m tired， my heart''''s pounding5)， I can''''t go any more and so I say to him， \"Bruce， if I run any more，\"—and we''''re still running—\"if I run any more， I''''m liable6) to have a heart attack and die.\"

He said， \"Then die.\" It made me so mad that I went the full five miles.

Afterward I went to the shower and then I wanted to talk to him about it. I said， you know， \"Why did you say that?\"

He said， \"Because you might as well be dead. Seriously， if you always put limits on what you can do， physical or anything else， it''''ll spread over into the rest of your life. It''''ll spread into your work， into your morality， into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus7)， but you must not stay there， you must go beyond them. If it kills you， it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.\"

布魯斯每天都要叫我一起跑3英里(編注：約4.8公里)，跑得真的很快。我倆用二十一二分鐘就能跑完全程，相當(dāng)于不到八分鐘就能跑1英里[注：1968年李小龍自己跑的時(shí)候，只用六分半就能跑完1英里]。

這天早上，他對(duì)我說(shuō)：“咱們要開(kāi)始跑5英里(編注：約8公里)了。”我回答他：“布魯斯，我不行。我年紀(jì)比你大那么多，我可跑不了5英里?！彼f(shuō)：“咱倆跑到3英里處再重新開(kāi)始計(jì)算，這樣就只剩下2英里了，你就能跑下來(lái)了?！?/p>

我只好說(shuō)：“好吧，該死的，那我就跑吧?！庇谑?，跑完3英里后，我們開(kāi)始跑第四英里。剛開(kāi)始三四分鐘還行，后來(lái)我真覺(jué)得自己開(kāi)始筋疲力盡了。我累得不行，心臟怦怦直跳，實(shí)在跑不動(dòng)了。我便對(duì)他說(shuō)，“布魯斯，我要是再繼續(xù)跑下去，”——說(shuō)這話時(shí)我們還在繼續(xù)向前跑——“要是我再繼續(xù)跑下去，我很可能就會(huì)因心臟病突發(fā)而死的?！?/p>

他回答道：“那就死吧?！彼脑捒彀盐覛獐偭?，我一氣之下跑完了這5英里。

后來(lái)去沖澡時(shí)，我想就今天的事跟他談?wù)?。我就?wèn)他：“你為什么要那樣說(shuō)？”

他說(shuō)：“因?yàn)槟愕拇_有可能死掉。說(shuō)真的，對(duì)于力所能及之事，如果你總是給自己設(shè)定種種限制，不論是身體上的還是其他方面的，這種限制就會(huì)伴隨你度過(guò)余生。這種設(shè)限的習(xí)慣會(huì)延伸到你的工作、德行以及整個(gè)人生中去。人生本無(wú)‘限制’之說(shuō)。雖會(huì)經(jīng)歷平原期，但你不能裹足不前，必須超越極限。如果這樣做真能將你置于死地，那就隨它去吧。人必須不斷超越極限?！?/p>

1.John Little: 約翰·利特爾，加拿大人，作家，健身專家。他是研究李小龍的權(quán)威人物。本文選自他的《李小龍的肢體表達(dá)藝術(shù)》(Bruce Lee—The Art of Expressing Human Body)。這個(gè)故事是書(shū)上收錄的李小龍的學(xué)生斯特林·西利馮特(Stirling Silliphant)講述的一則李小龍軼事。

2.helluva [?hel?v?] adv. 特別，格外，極為

3.shift gears: 突然改變做法

4.give out: 筋疲力盡

5.pound [pa?nd] vi. (心等)劇跳

6.liable [?la??bl] adj. 有……危險(xiǎn)的，可能遭受……的

7.plateau [?pl?t??] n. (活動(dòng)或進(jìn)程中的)穩(wěn)定階段，停滯時(shí)期