他普通的不能再普通。出生在一个平凡家庭的他，过着和同龄人一样的琐碎日子。上学，读书，玩耍，在平淡的岁月中一点点长大。如果非要从他身上找出什么特别的话，那就是他对历史的痴迷。刚上小学的时候，当别的男孩儿正拿着变形金刚，仿真手枪满街乱跑的时候，他却独自一人蹲在厨房昏暗的灯光里如饥似渴地读着一本又一本厚厚的史书。
He can’t be ordinary. Born in an ordinary family, he lived a regular life as his peers–going to school, studying, playing, and growing up day by day in plain times. If you want to find anything special about him, it is his obsession with history. In his primary school, when the other boys were running around the streets holding transformers and simulation pistols, he was alone squatting in the dim light of the kitchen to read one thick book of history after another voraciously.
光阴似箭，转瞬即逝。高考之后，他进入了一所普通的高校。大学的生活没有他想像的那么缤纷多彩，大量的业余时间和不确定的未来都让这群天之骄子们手足无措，不知道该如何生活。于是，大多数人都用恋爱、玩网络游戏来消磨自己的时间，混日子。他却是个另类，不谈恋爱，不玩游戏，很少和同学一起上街闲逛。只要一有时间，他就一头扎进史书中，乐此不疲。
Time flies and how fleeting it is. After the college entrance examination, he entered an ordinary university. University life was not as colorful as he imagined–a lot of spare time and the uncertain future made these “children of fortune” helpless, not knowing how to live. As a result, most people spent their time in love and online games, muddling along. But he was an alternative, never falling in love, playing games, or strolling along the streets with classmates. As long as he had time, he would plunge into the history books, never getting tired of it.
时光飞快地流逝着，四年的大学生活很快就划上了句号，他顺利地考上了公务员，从此开始了日复一日、年复一年的枯燥生活。
Time passed quickly. Four years of college life soon ended, and he was successfully admitted to the civil service, and began the boring life from day to day, year after year.
办公室里的同事们一有时间就在一起看看报纸，摆摆龙门阵，打发一下漫长的时光。而性格内向的他仍旧是众人眼中的另类，常常在没工作的时候奋笔疾书，记录着一些有趣的历史故事。大家都在私下里笑他，然后又继续海阔天空地胡侃着。
His office colleagues chose to pass the time reading the newspaper and chatting once they had time. However, in the eyes of all he, an introvert, was still an alternative, writing quickly in excitement to record some interesting historical stories when there was no work. Everyone laughed at him in private, and then went on their aimless conversation, loosing their imagination.
下班之后，他也基本上没什么休闲活动。不是不想，而是实在讨厌那些毫无意义、吃吃喝喝的应酬。他更愿意把自己关在狭窄的房间里，沉浸在那刀光剑影、富贵浮云的历史往事中。他一直觉得自己的生命不能在这样琐碎无聊的时光中消耗掉，终于有一天，他下决心要写一本书。在接下来的日子里，他开始用自己的语言诠释着一段古老的历史。不过，巨大的孤独感也让他窒息，有时候，实在是太孤独了，他就停止写作，骑着自行车在夜市上逛一圈儿，什么也不买，只是想在人群中排遣胸中的孤独。
After work, he had few recreational activities. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t, but he really hated those meaningless entertainments of eating and drinking. He was more willing to shut himself in the narrow room, immersed in the history of the past where flashed with knives and swords, and regarded honour and riches as floating clouds. He always felt that his life could not be spent in such frivolous hours, and one day he was determined to write a book. Over the next few days, he began to interpret an ancient history in his own language. However, the great loneliness also let him suffocate, and sometimes, he stopped writing, and rode a bike to stroll around in a night market, buying nothing, just because he was too lonely, he just wanted to dispel loneliness in his heart in the crowd.
就这样，他利用断断续续的业余时间硬是写出了一本几十万字的书。后来，这本名叫《明朝那点事儿》的网络小说在极短的时间里迅速窜红，出版社争相和他签订合约，他独特的历史观和丰富的历史知识，还有那俏皮调侃的语言在读者中造成了巨大的轰动。这个网名叫“当年明月”的小公务员一夜之间就成了红透大江南北的人物，使得和他朝夕相处的朋友同事们大跌眼镜。
In this way, he completed in his on-and-off spare time a network novel of hundreds of thousands of words—“What Happened in Ming Dynasty”, which became popular quickly in a short time. His unique view of history and rich historical knowledge, and the playful ridicule language caused a great sensation in the readers, and publishers were scrambling to sign contracts with him. The small civil servant, whose net name was “Bright Moon That Year”, got popular overnight all over the country, shocking all his friends and colleagues who stayed together morning and night with him.
在谈到自己如何成功的时候，他调侃着说道：“比我有才华的人，没有我努力；比我努力的人，没有我有才华；既比我有才华，又比我努力的人，没有我能熬。在他们消磨时间的时候，我却在不停地努力着。”
When it came to his success, he laughed and said,”I work harder than those more talented; I am more talented than those who work harder; those people who are talented and work harder than me can not endure like me. While they are killing time, I keep on trying.”
如今，他当年的同学同事们仍旧默默无闻，而他却已大获成功，这其中的奥妙，让人深思。
Now, his classmates and colleagues are still unknown, and he has been a great success, the mystery of which makes people ponder.
所谓消磨时间，不过是时间消磨你的另一种说法而已。有心的人，会在平淡琐碎的时光中根植梦想，抓紧时光充实自己，创造机会。最终，他们就会在别人感慨平庸生活的时候，收获成功。别让无聊的时光消磨了你，只要能把握自己的时间，必将成功。
Killing time is just another way of saying that time kills you. People with high aspirations will cultivate their dreams in plain, trivial times, seize the time to enrich themselves, and create opportunities. In the end, they will reap success when others lament that life is too dull. Don’t let the idle time kill you. If you seize the time, you will surely succeed.
后记：我非常喜欢这篇介绍当年明月的文章，现将其译为英文，并对原作者表示感谢！
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