[外電] The Joy of Losing

看板Nationals作者kimifort (奇米堡)時間15年前 (2010/04/27 12:27)推噓8(8推 0噓 1→)

留言9則, 9人參與討論串1/1

簡短翻譯 Washington -- Charles Krauthammer Among my various idiosyncrasies, such as (twice) driving from Washington to New York to watch a world championship chess match, the most baffling to my friends is my steadfast devotion to the Washington Nationals. When I wax lyrical about having discovered my own private paradise at Nationals Park, eyes begin to roll and it is patiently explained to me that my Nats have been not just bad, but prodigiously -- epically -- bad. 在我各式各樣的癖好中，最令朋友不解的是我對（美國棒球）華盛頓國民隊的熱愛。當我口沫橫飛談論我在國民球場找到自己的私密天堂時，朋友都出現受不了的神情，並耐住性子向我解釋，我的國民隊表現不只是糟糕，而是糟糕到令人吃驚。 As if I don't know. They lost 102 games in 2008; 103 in 2009. That's no easy feat. Only three other teams in the last quarter-century have achieved back-to-back 100-loss seasons. 其實我清楚得很。他們在2008年輸了102場球；2009年輸103場。過去4分之1個世紀，除國民隊外只有3支球隊連續兩個球季都輸球超過百場。 Now understand: This is not the charming, cuddly, amusing incompetence of, say, the '62 Mets, of whom their own manager, Casey Stengel, famously asked, "Can't anybody here play this game?" -- and whose stone-gloved first baseman, Marv Throneberry, was nicknamed Marvelous Marv, the irony intended as a sign of affection. (略) Nor am I talking about heroic, stoic, character-building losing. The Chicago Cubs fan knows that he's destined for a life of Sisyphean suffering and perpetual angst. These guys go 58 years without winning, then come within five outs of the National League pennant, only to have one of their own fans deflect a ball about to settle into a Cub outfielder's glove, killing the play and bringing on the unraveling. The fan was driven into hiding and the fateful ball ritually exorcised, blown to smithereens on TV. Sorry, that's not my kind of losing. Been there. I'm a former Red Sox fan, now fully rehabilitated. No, I don't go to games to steel my spine, perfect my character, journey into the dark night of the soul. I get that in my day job watching the Obama administration in action. 我要談的不是那種英雄式的、堅忍不拔的、能鍛鍊人格的一輸再輸。我看球不是要讓自己性情更堅毅，人格更健全、讓我的靈魂接受黑夜的淬鍊。我在工作中看奧巴馬政府的所作所為時，已經得到這些磨練。 I go for relief. For the fun, for the craft (beautifully elucidated in George Will's just-reissued classic, "Men at Work") and for the sweet, easy cheer at Nationals Park. 我看球是為了紓壓，為了好玩，為了欣賞技藝，還有為了享受國民球場愉快輕鬆的氣氛。 You get there and the twilight's gleaming, the popcorn's popping, the kids're romping and everyone's happy. The joy of losing consists in this: Where there are no expectations, there is no disappointment. In Tuesday night's game, our starting pitcher couldn't get out of the third inning. Gave up four straight hits, six earned runs, and as he came off the mound, actually got a few scattered rounds of applause. Applause! In New York he'd have been booed mercilessly. In Philly, he'd have found his car on blocks and missing a headlight. 當你抵達球場時，薄暮閃耀金光，爆穀嗶剝作響，孩子們歡樂嬉鬧，每個人都好開心。輸的喜樂就在其中：沒有期待，就沒有失望。周二晚的那場球，我們的先發投手第3局還沒結束就被換下場。當他走下投手丘時，還得到零星掌聲。得到掌聲！如果在紐約，他會得到無情的噓聲。要是在費城人隊，他會發現他的車子被墊高，一個頭燈消失蹤影。 No one's happy to lose, and the fans cheer lustily when the Nats win. But as starters blow up and base runners get picked off, there is none of the agitation, the angry, screaming, beer-spilling, red-faced ranting you get at football or basketball games. 沒有人喜歡輸，當國民隊贏球時，球迷也會欣喜若狂。但如果先發投手搞砸了，跑壘者被牽制出局，不會出現美式足球或籃球比賽中鼓譟、生氣、怒吼、灑啤酒、面紅耳赤咒罵的場面。 Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You "take in" a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying. 棒球比賽是緩慢、乏味、複雜、理智的，不適合太戲劇性的反應。你會對一場棒球賽「心領神會」。觀賞分秒必爭、球員不停飛奔的美式足球或籃球比賽時，很難進入這種境界。 And for a losing baseball team, the calm is even more profound. I've never been to a park where the people are more relaxed, tolerant and appreciative of any small, even moral, victory. Sure, you root, root, root for the home team, but if they don't win "it's a shame" -- not a calamity. Can you imagine arm-linked fans swaying to such a sweetly corny song of early 20th-century innocence -- as long gone as the manual typewriter and the 20-game winner -- at the two-minute warning? 對一支不斷輸球的棒球隊來說，這樣的心平氣和意義格外深刻。在我造訪過的球場中，國民球場的觀眾最輕鬆、最寬厚，也最能欣賞任何微小的，甚至只是精神上的勝利。當然，你會為主場球隊不斷加油喝采，但如果國民隊他們沒贏球，球迷的反應只會是「好可惜」，而非有如災難降臨。你能夠想像在美式足球賽終場前的兩分鐘，球迷手挽手，隨 20世紀早期清純風格的過時悅耳老歌搖擺嗎？（那種清純已像手動打字機一樣消逝無蹤。） But now I fear for my bliss. Hope, of a sort, is on the way -- in the form of Stephen Strasburg, the greatest pitching prospect in living memory. His fastball clocks 103 mph and his slider, says Tom Boswell, breaks so sharply it looks like it hit a bird in midair. In spring training, center fielder Nyjer Morgan nicknamed him Jesus. Because of the kid's presence, persona, charisma? Nope. Because "that's what everybody says the first time they see Strasburg throw," explained Morgan. "Jeeee-sus." 但現在我擔心我的極樂天堂快消失了。某種希望正要降臨──那就是在令人記憶中最優秀的新秀投手史特拉斯堡。他的快速球可達時速166公里。春訓時，中外野手摩根替他取綽號叫「耶穌」。是因這孩子的儀表、外型或魅力嗎？不。摩根解釋：「是因每個人第1次看到史特拉斯堡投球時，反應都是：Jeeee-sus。」 But now I'm worried. Even before Strasburg has arrived from the minor leagues, the Nats are actually doing well. They're playing .500 ball for the first time in five years. They are hovering somewhere between competent mediocrity and respectability. When Jesus arrives -- my guess is late May -- they might actually be good. They might soon be, gasp, a contender. In the race deep into September. Good enough to give you hope. And break your heart. Where does one then go for respite? 現在我很擔憂。即使在史特拉斯堡從小聯盟升上來前，國民隊其實就已表現不錯。當「耶穌」到來（我猜是5月下旬），他們的戰績可能會很好。他們可能很快就會成為爭奪冠軍的隊伍。這表現好到能帶給你希望，然後讓你心碎。到時候，要上哪兒去放鬆身心呢？ ****end 其實這篇是蘋果的外電翻譯 XD 今天早上看報紙時就想著貼上來分享但想著記者的翻譯能力... 只好另外找了原文補上來然後這篇有提到CM Wang!! -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.119.207.125 蘋果日報 http://tw.nextmedia.com/applenews/article/art_id/32468540/IssueID/20100427 原文 http://tinyurl.com/2f5lhx4 ※ 編輯: kimifort 來自: 140.119.207.125 (04/27 12:29)