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PicoIyer_2019T-_乒乓和胜利之谜_-
Every other night in Japan, 我在日本的时候,
I step out of my apartment, 每隔一晚就会出门,
I climb up a hill for 15 minutes, and then I head into my local health club , where three ping-pong tables are set up in a studio . 爬山 15 分钟, 然后再到当地的健康俱乐部, 那里有三张乒乓桌。
health club:n.健身俱乐部; studio:n.工作室;[广播][电视]演播室;画室;电影制片厂;
And space is limited , so at every table, one pair of players practices forehands , another practices backhands , and every now and then , the balls collide in midair and everybody says, "Wow!" 空间有限, 所以在每张乒乓桌上, 有一对球员练习正手, 另一对练习反手, 时不时地,球就会在空中碰撞, 每个人就感叹道,“哇！”
limited:adj.有限的; n.高级快车; v.限制; (limit的过去分词和过去式) forehands:adj.前方的; n.前方; (forehand的复数) backhands:n.反手拍; vt.反手抽击; v.以反手; adj.反手的(网球等运动中的动作); every now and then:不时地;常常; collide:vi.碰撞;抵触,冲突;vt.使碰撞;使相撞; midair:n.半空中;
Then, choosing lots, we select partners and play doubles. 然后,我们抽签选择搭档进行双打。
But I honestly couldn't tell you who's won, because we change partners every five minutes. 但是说实话我没法告诉你们是谁赢了, 因为我们每五分钟就会更换搭档。
And everybody is trying really hard to win points, but nobody is keeping track of who is winning games. 每个人都为了赢分 拼尽全力, 但是没有人在记录 到底是谁赢了比赛。
track:n.小道;足迹;车辙;轨道;v.追踪;跟踪;
And after an hour or so of furious exertion , 在经过一小时激烈的角逐后,
furious:adj.激烈的;狂怒的;热烈兴奋的;喧闹的; exertion:n.发挥;运用;努力;
I can honestly tell you that not knowing who has won feels like the ultimate victory. 老实说, 不知道谁赢了 却像是最终的胜利。
ultimate:adj.最终的;极限的;根本的;n.终极;根本;基本原则;
In Japan, it's been said, they've created a competitive spirit without competition . 在日本,有一种说法是, 他们不通过比赛 却创造出了比赛的精神。
competitive:adj.竞争的;比赛的;求胜心切的; competition:n.竞争;比赛,竞赛;
Now, all of you know that geopolitics is best followed by watching ping-pong. 你们都知道可以通过 看乒乓了解地缘政治。
geopolitics:n.地缘政治学;地理政治论;
(Laughter) （笑声）
The two strongest powers in the world were fiercest enemies until, in 1972, an American ping-pong team was allowed to visit Communist China. 世界上最强大的两个国家 曾是针锋相对的敌人, 直到 1972 年,美国乒乓球队 被允许访问共产主义中国。
fiercest:(尤指人或动物)凶猛的; (天气或温度)恶劣的(fierce的最高级); Communist:n.共产党员;共产主义者;adj.共产主义的;
And as soon as the former adversaries were gathered around some small green tables, each of them could claim a victory, and the whole world could breathe more easily. 当曾经的对手 集结在这些小绿桌旁边时, 每一方都获得了胜利, 整个世界也能松一口气。
as soon as:一…就; adversaries:敌手; claim:v.要求;声称;需要;认领;n.要求;声称;索赔;断言;值得;
China's leader, Mao Zedong, wrote a whole manual on ping-pong, and he called the sport "a spiritual nuclear weapon." 中国的领导人毛泽东 为乒乓球写了一整本手册, 他称这项运动为“精神核武器”。
manual:n.说明书;指南;使用手册;adj.用手的;手工的;体力的;手动的; spiritual:n.圣歌(尤指美国南部黑人的);adj.精神的,心灵的; nuclear:adj.原子能的;[细胞]细胞核的;中心的;原子核的;
And it's been said that the only honorary lifelong member of the US Table Tennis Association is the then-President Richard Nixon , who helped to engineer this win-win situation through ping-pong diplomacy . 据说美国乒乓球协会 唯一的终生荣誉会员 就是当时的总统理查德·尼克松, 他通过乒乓外交 帮助实现了这样的双赢局面。
honorary:adj.荣誉的;名誉的;道义上的;n.名誉学位;获名誉学位者;名誉团体; Table Tennis:乒乓球 Association:n.协会;关联;联想;交往; Nixon:n.尼克松(美国第37任总统); win-win:adj.双赢的;互利互惠的; diplomacy:n.外交;外交手腕;交际手段;
But long before that, really, the history of the modern world was best told through the bouncing white ball. 但是在那之前, 现代世界的历史 通过这些往复的白色塑料球 来讲述,效果最好。
'"Ping-pong" sounds like a cousin of " sing-song ," “乒乓（ping-pong）”听起来像是 “合唱（sing-song）”的表亲,
sing-song:n.歌咏;
like something Eastern , but actually, it's believed that it was invented by high-class Brits during Victorian times, who started hitting wine corks over walls of books after dinner. 像是来自东方, 但实际上,乒乓被认为 是由维多利亚时代 的英国贵族发明的, 那时他们在晚饭后 用书对着墙击打葡萄酒软塞。
Eastern:adj.东方的;向东的;东部的;东方国家的;n.东方人;东正教信徒; high-class:adj.高级的;一流的; Brits:n.英国人(Brit的复数);布里茨(男子名); corks:n.脐梅衣;
(Laughter) （笑声）
No exaggeration . 没有夸张。
exaggeration:n.夸张;夸大之词;夸张的手法;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And by the end of World War I, the sport was dominated by players from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire: eight out of nine early world championships were claimed by Hungary. 第一次世界大战结束时, 这项运动被来自原来的 奥匈帝国的球员垄断: 早期世锦赛的九个冠军中 有八个被匈牙利摘取。
dominated:v.支配;控制;左右;影响;(dominate的过去式和过去分词) championships:n.锦标赛,冠军(championship的复数); claimed:v.宣称;声称;断言;索取;认领;索要(claim的过去分词和过去式)
And Eastern Europeans grew so adept at hitting back everything that was hit at them that they almost brought the whole sport to a standstill . 东欧人对把球打来打去 变得如此熟练, 以至于他们近乎把这项运动 带入了停滞状态。
Europeans:n.欧洲人(European的复数); adept:adj.熟练的;擅长…的;n.内行;能手; standstill:n.停顿;停止;
In one championship match in Prague in 1936, the first point is said to have lasted two hours and 12 minutes. 在 1936 年布拉格的一场世锦赛中, 第一分据说在过了 两小时12分后才被拿下。
Prague:n.布拉格(前捷克斯洛伐克首都);
The first point! 第一分！
Longer than a "Mad Max" movie. 比《疯狂麦克斯》的电影还要长。
And according to one of the players, the umpire had to retire with a sore neck before the point was concluded . 因为脖子酸而不得不退场。
according to:根据,据说; umpire:裁判员 sore:n.疮;痛处;伤处;adj.(发炎)疼痛的;酸痛的;气恼;愤慨; concluded:v.断定:得出结论:终止:达成:缔结(协定)(conclude的过去分词和过去式)
(Laughter) （笑声）
That player started hitting the ball back with his left hand and dictating chess moves between shots. 运动员甚至开始用左手击球, 并在击打间隙指挥下象棋。
dictating:n.口述;v.听写;命令(dictate的现在分词);
(Laughter) （笑声）
Many in the audience started, of course, filing out, as that single point lasted maybe 12,000 strokes . 当然,观众席中的许多人开始计数, 这一比分可能持续了 12000 下击打。
strokes:n.中风; v.轻抚; (stroke的第三人称单数和复数)
And an emergency meeting of the International Table Tennis Association had to be held then and there, and soon the rules were changed so that no game could last longer than 20 minutes. 国际乒乓球协会的紧急会议不得不 在现场立刻召开, 随后规则改变, 没有一轮比赛可以长于 20 分钟。
emergency:n.紧急情况;突发事件;非常时刻;adj.紧急的;备用的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Sixteen years later, Japan entered the picture, when a little-known watchmaker called Hiroji Satoh showed up at the world championships in Bombay in 1952. 十六年后,日本进入了人们的视野, 一位名叫佐藤博治的无名制表匠 出现在了 1952 年 孟买的国际锦标赛上。
little-known:鲜为人知的; watchmaker:n.钟表匠;表的制造人;
And Satoh was not very big, he wasn't highly rated, he was wearing spectacles , but he was armed with a paddle that was not pimpled , as other paddles were, but covered by a thick spongy rubber foam . 佐藤博治没有名气,排名也不高, 他还戴着眼镜, 但是他的球拍并不像其他的球拍那样 坑坑洼洼的, 而是覆盖着厚厚的海绵状橡胶泡沫。
highly:adv.高度地;非常;非常赞许地; spectacles:n.眼镜;精彩的表演;大场面;(spectacle的复数) pimpled:adj.尽是粉刺的; paddles:n.船桨(paddle的复数);划浆;v.划桨(paddle的三单形式); spongy:adj.海绵状的;轻软的;多孔而有弹性的;有吸水性的; rubber:n.橡胶;橡皮;v.涂橡胶于…; foam:n.泡沫;水沫;灭火泡沫;v.起泡沫;吐白沫;起着泡沫流动;
And thanks to this silencing secret weapon, the little-known Satoh won a gold medal . 多亏了这个秘密武器, 默默无闻的佐藤博治摘得了金牌。
gold medal:n.金牌;金质奖章;
One million people came out into the streets of Tokyo to greet him upon his return, and really, Japan's postwar resurgence was set into motion . 当他回国时,在东京有一百万人 走上街头夹道欢迎他凯旋, 日本的战后复兴也真正开始了。
postwar:adj.战后的;n.战后时期;adv.战后;在战后; resurgence:n.复活;再现;再起; motion:n.动作;移动;手势;请求;意向;议案;v.运动;打手势;
What I learned, though, at my regular games in Japan, is more what could be called the inner sport of global domination , sometimes known as life. 不过,我在日本的 常规乒乓赛中学到的, 更恰当地说是全面占优的内在运动, 有时也被称作人生。
inner:n.内部;射中接近靶心部分的一发;adj.里面的;向内的;内部的;接近中心的; global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的; domination:n.控制;支配;
We never play singles in our club, only doubles, and because, as I say, we change partners every five minutes, if you do happen to lose, you're very likely to win six minutes later. 我们俱乐部从不打单打, 只进行双打, 因为,正如我所说, 我们每五分钟就会更换搭档, 如果你不巧输了, 那么在六分钟后, 你很有可能赢下比赛。
We also play best-of-two sets, so often, there's no loser at all. 我们也玩两局制, 通常就没有输家。
Ping-pong diplomacy. 乒乓外交。
And I always remember that as a boy growing up in England, 我一直记得, 作为在英格兰长大的男孩,
I was taught that the point of a game was to win. 我被教育比赛的关键是获胜。
But in Japan, I'm encouraged to believe that, really, the point of a game is to make as many people as possible around you feel that they are winners. 但在日本,我被鼓励相信比赛的要义 是让你身边尽可能多 的人认为他们是赢家。
So you're not careening up and down as an individual might, but you're part of a regular, steady chorus . 所以你不会以一个个体上下沉浮, 相反,你是常规,稳定 的团体的一部分。
careening:n.倾斜试验;v.使倾斜(careen的ing形式); individual:n.个人;有个性的人;adj.单独的;个别的; steady:adj.稳定的; v.使稳定; v.稳定地; n.关系固定的情侣; chorus:n.合唱队;齐声;歌舞队;v.合唱;异口同声地说;
The most skillful players in our club deploy their skills to turn a 9-1 lead for their team into a 9-9 game in which everybody is intensely involved . 我们俱乐部打得最好的球员 能够利用他们的技巧 将他们球队 9 比 1 的领先, 进行到 9 比 9,这样每个人 都能积极参与其中。
skillful:adj.熟练的;巧妙的; deploy:v.部署;利用;[军事]展开;(使)张开; intensely:adv.强烈地;紧张地;热情地; involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词)
And my friend who hits these high, looping lobs that smaller players flail at and miss -- well, he wins a lot of points, but I think he's thought of as a loser. 我有个朋友会打吊高转球, 小个子球员只能乱打,根本接不到—— 他能赢很多分, 但我觉得他却是个输家。
looping:v.使成环;使绕成圈;成环形运动;(loop的现在分词) lobs:n.笨人;投低球(lob的复数);v.蹒跚地走;打高而慢的(lob的单三形式); flail:vt.打;用连枷打;vi.打;用连枷打;n.连枷(打谷物用的工具);
In Japan, a game of ping-pong is really like an act of love. 在日本,乒乓比赛真的像是爱的举动。
You're learning how to play with somebody, rather than against her. 你学习如何和别人一起比赛, 而不是赢过别人。
And I'll confess , at first, this seemed to me to take all the fun out of the sport. 我承认, 起初,我觉得这样完全 剥夺了运动的乐趣。
confess:v.承认;坦白;忏悔;供认;
I couldn't exult after a tremendous upset victory against our strongest players, because six minutes later, with a new partner, 我无法在赢下最强球员后 感受到胜利的喜悦, 因为六分钟后, 和一个新的搭档在一起。
exult:vi.狂喜,欢欣鼓舞;非常高兴; tremendous:adj.极大的,巨大的;惊人的;极好的; upset:adj.沮丧; v.打乱; n.苦恼; (意外的)混乱;
I was falling behind again. 我又落后了。
On the other hand , I never felt disconsolate . 另一方面,我从未感到悲伤。
On the other hand:另一方面; disconsolate:adj.郁郁不乐的;忧郁的;孤独的;
And when I flew away from Japan and started playing singles again with my English archrival , 当我飞离日本,又开始和我的英国同僚 进行单打时,
archrival:主要竞争对手;
I noticed that after every defeat, I was really brokenhearted . 我注意到每次失败后, 我真的非常伤心。
brokenhearted:adj.心碎的;伤心的;极度沮丧的;
But after every victory, I couldn't sleep either, because I knew there was only one way to go, and that was down. 但每次胜利后,我也无法入眠, 因为我知道接下来只有一条路可走, 那就是下坡路。
Now, if I were trying to do business in Japan, this would lead to endless frustration . 如果我尝试在日本做生意, 这会导致无尽的沮丧。
endless:adj.无止境的;连续的;环状的;漫无目的的; frustration:n.挫折;
In Japan, unlike elsewhere , if the score is still level after four hours, a baseball game ends in a tie, and because the league standings are based on winning percentage , a team with quite a few ties can finish ahead of a team with more victories. 在日本,不像其他地方, 如果四小时后比分依然持平, 棒球比赛会以平局结束, 而因为联赛排名依据胜率, 一个有一些平局的队伍 可以比赢得多场比赛的队伍 排名更靠前。
elsewhere:adv.在别处;到别处; league:n.联赛;联盟;协会;种类;v.(使)结盟;(使)联合[团结];一鼻孔出气;组成联盟; standings:n.战绩(standing的复数);名次表; percentage:n.百分比;百分率;利润的分成;提成; quite a few:不少,相当多;
One of the first times an American was ever brought over to Japan to lead a professional Japanese baseball team, 起初有一个名叫鲍比·瓦伦丁的 美国人被带到日本 来领导一个职业日本棒球队,
professional:adj.专业的;职业的;职业性的;n.专业人员;职业运动员;
Bobby Valentine , in 1995, he took this really mediocre squad , he lead them to a stunning second-place finish, and he was instantly fired. 那时是 1995 年, 他带着这个平庸的队伍, 最终惊人的拿下了第二名, 然而他立刻被解雇了。
Bobby:警察 Valentine:n.情人;情人节礼物; mediocre:adj.普通的;平凡的;中等的; squad:n.班;小队;五人组(篮球队的非正式说法);vt.把…编成班;把…编入班; stunning:adj.惊人的; v.使昏迷; (stun的现在分词)
Why? 为什么？
'"Well," said the team spokesman , "because of his emphasis on winning." “嗯,”球队发言人说, “因为他总强调赢下比赛。”
spokesman:n.发言人;代言人; emphasis:n.强调;重视;重要性;(对某个词或短语的)强调;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Official Japan can feel quite a lot like that point that was said to last two hours and 12 minutes, and playing not to lose can take all the imagination , the daring, the excitement , out of things. 官方的日本感觉像是 那据说花了两小时 12 分钟 才拿下的一分, 而不想输球的比赛 会剥夺所有的想象、冒险和兴奋。
Official:adj.官方的;正式的;公务的;n.官员;公务员;高级职员; imagination:n.想象;想象力;创造力;想象的事物; excitement:n.兴奋;刺激;令人兴奋的事物;
At the same time , playing ping-pong in Japan reminds me why choirs regularly enjoy more fun than soloists . 同时,在日本打乒乓 让我想到了为何相比独唱, 合唱常常更有趣。
At the same time:同时;另一方面;与此同时; reminds:v.提醒;使想起;(remind的第三人称单数) choirs:n.唱诗班(choir的复数形式);合唱队; regularly:adv.经常地;有规律地;定期的 soloists:n.独奏者;独唱者;
In a choir, your only job is to play your small part perfectly, to hit your notes with feeling, and by so doing, to help to create a beautiful harmony that's much greater than the sum of its parts. 在合唱队,你的唯一工作就是 唱好你的那一声部, 有感情的唱对音符, 这样做才能构建 比单纯齐唱更美的和声。
harmony:n.协调;和睦;融洽;调和;
Yes, every choir does need a conductor , but I think a choir releases you from a child's simple sense of either-ors. 是的,每个合唱团都需要一个指挥, 但我认为合唱让你脱离了 对于对错的简单理解。
conductor:n.列车长;(管弦乐队、合唱队等的)指挥;职业指挥; releases:n.释放; vt.释放;
You come to see that the opposite of winning isn't losing -- it's failing to see the larger picture. 你意识到胜利的对面并不是失败—— 而是不能看到更大的格局。
As my life goes on, 随着我生命的继续,
I'm really startled to see that no event can properly be assessed for years after it has unfolded . 我才真正认识到没有一个事情 能够在它发生的几年后 被正确的评价。
startled:v.使惊吓;使大吃一惊(startle的过去分词和过去式) assessed:v.对…进行评估(assess过去时形式); unfolded:v.(使)展开;打开;展示;透露;(unfold的过去分词和过去式)
I once lost everything I owned in the world, every last thing, in a wildfire . 我曾经在一场野火中 失去了我在这世界上 拥有的所有东西,每一件东西。
wildfire:n.火灾;磷火,鬼火;散布极快的事物;
But in time, I came to see that it was that seeming loss that allowed me to live on the earth more gently , to write without notes, and actually, to move to Japan and the inner health club known as the ping-pong table. 但是逐渐的,我意识到 这看上去的损失 让我能在地球上生活的更平和, 让我不用笔记就能写作, 也让我搬去日本, 接触到了内在的健康俱乐部, 也就是乒乓球桌。
gently:adv.轻轻地;温柔地;温和地;
Conversely , I once stumbled into the perfect job, and I came to see that seeming happiness can stand in the way of true joy even more than misery does. 相反的,我曾经有一份完美的工作, 而我逐渐意识到这种表面的快乐 实际上相比苦难会更加阻碍 真正的快乐。
Conversely:adv.相反地; stumbled:v.绊脚;跌跌撞撞地走;蹒跚而行;(stumble的过去分词和过去式) stand in the way:妨碍;阻碍;拖…后腿; misery:n.痛苦,悲惨;不幸;苦恼;穷困;
Playing doubles in Japan really relieves me of all my anxiety , and at the end of an evening, 在日本打双打让我真正 脱离了所有的焦虑, 在一天结束时,
relieves:v.解除,减轻,缓和;缓解;调剂;(relieve的第三人称单数) anxiety:n.焦虑;渴望;挂念;令人焦虑的事;
I notice everybody is filing out in a more or less equal state of delight . 我注意到每个人 都表现出了差不多的欢乐。
more or less:或多或少; delight:n.高兴;vi.高兴;vt.使高兴;
I'm reminded every night that not getting ahead isn't the same thing as falling behind any more than not being lively is the same thing as being dead. 我每一晚都被提醒, 没有领先并不等同于落后, 就好似没有活力并不等同于死亡。
reminded:v.提醒;使想起;(remind的过去分词和过去式)
And I've come to understand why it is that Chinese universities are said to offer degrees in ping-pong, and why researchers have found that ping-pong can actually help a little with mild mental disorders and even autism . 我意识到为什么 中国大学会颁发乒乓球的文凭, 为什么研究人员发现乒乓球 实际上可以减缓轻度的心理疾病, 甚至是自闭症。
mild:adj.温和的; n.(英国的一种)淡味麦芽啤酒; mental:adj.精神的;脑力的;疯的;n.精神病患者; disorders:n.无秩序,混乱; v.[电子]扰乱(disorder的单三形式); autism:n.[心理][内科]孤独症;自我中心主义;
But as I watch the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, 但当我在东京观看 2020 年奥运会的时候,
I'm going to be keenly aware that it won't be possible to tell who's won or who's lost for a very long time. 我清楚的意识到 在相当长的一段时间,谁赢谁输 将很难分辨。
keenly:adv.敏锐地;强烈地;锐利地;
You remember that point I mentioned that was said to last for two hours and 12 minutes? 还记得我刚才提过的 那个据说持续了 两小时 12 分钟的一分吗？
Well, one of the players from that game ended up, six years later, in the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Dachau. 六年后,比赛中的其中一个球员 被送进了奥斯维辛和达豪集中营。
concentration:n.浓度;含量;集中;专心;
But he walked out alive. 但他活着走了出来。
Why? 为什么？
Simply because a guard in the gas chamber recognized him from his ping-pong playing days. 仅仅是因为毒气室的守卫 因为他的乒乓事迹认出了他。
gas chamber:n.毒气室(用于毒死动物或人); recognized:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到;(recognize的过去分词和过去式)
Had he been the winner of that epic match? 他是那场史诗级比赛的胜者吗？
epic:adj.史诗的,叙事诗的;n.史诗;叙事诗;史诗般的作品;
It hardly mattered. 这已不重要。
As you recall , many people had filed out before even the first point was concluded. 可能你还记得,许多人在 第一个比分揭晓前就离开了。
recall:v.记起;回想起;使想到;勾起;召回;n.记忆力;记性;回归请求;回收令;
The only thing that saved him was the fact that he took part. 拯救他的唯一东西 就是他曾经参与了这场比赛的事实。
The best way to win any game, 每隔一晚日本就告诉我,
Japan tells me every other night, is never, never to think about the score. 赢得任何比赛的最好方式, 就是永远,永远都不要想着分数。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）