演講者：Pico Iyer

演講題目: What ping-pong taught me about life

中英文對照翻譯

Every other night in Japan, I step out of my apartment, 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.

我在日本的時(shí)候，每隔一晚就會出門，爬山15分鐘，然后再到當(dāng)?shù)氐慕】稻銟凡?，那里有三張乒乓桌?/p>

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!" Then, choosing lots, we select partners and play doubles. But I honestly couldnt tell you whos won, because we change partners every five minutes. And everybody is trying really hard to win points, but nobody is keeping track of who is winning games. And after an hour or so of furious exertion, I can honestly tell you that not knowing who has won feels like the ultimate victory.

空間有限，所以在每張乒乓桌上，有一對球員練習(xí)正手，另一對練習(xí)反手，時(shí)不時(shí)地，球就會在空中碰撞，每個(gè)人就感嘆道，“哇！”然后，我們抽簽選擇搭檔進(jìn)行雙打。但是說實(shí)話我沒法告訴你們是誰贏了，因?yàn)槲覀兠课宸昼娋蜁鼡Q搭檔。每個(gè)人都為了贏分拼盡全力，但是沒有人在記錄到底是誰贏了比賽。在經(jīng)過一小時(shí)激烈的角逐后，老實(shí)說，不知道誰贏了，卻像是最終的勝利。

In Japan, its been said, theyve created a competitive spirit without competition. Now, all of you know that geopolitics is best followed by watching ping-pong.

在日本，有一種說法是，他們不通過比賽卻創(chuàng)造出了比賽的精神。你們都知道可以通過看乒乓了解地緣政治。

The two strongest powers in the world were fiercest enemies until, in 1972, an American ping-pong team was allowed to visit Communist China. 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.

世界上最強(qiáng)大的兩個(gè)國家曾是針鋒相對的敵人，直到1972 年，美國乒乓球隊(duì)被允許訪問共產(chǎn)主義中國。當(dāng)曾經(jīng)的對手集結(jié)在這些小綠桌旁邊時(shí)，每一方都獲得了勝利，整個(gè)世界也能松一口氣。

Chinas leader, Mao Zedong, wrote a whole manual on ping-pong, and he called the sport "a spiritual nuclear weapon." And its 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. But long before that, really, the history of the modern world was best told through the bouncing white ball.

中國的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人為乒乓球?qū)懥艘徽臼謨?，他稱這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)為“精神核武器”。據(jù)說美國乒乓球協(xié)會唯一的終生榮譽(yù)會員就是當(dāng)時(shí)的總統(tǒng)理查德·尼克松，他通過乒乓外交幫助實(shí)現(xiàn)了這樣的雙贏局面。但是在那之前，現(xiàn)代世界的歷史通過這些往復(fù)的白色塑料球來講述，效果最好。

"Ping-pong" sounds like a cousin of "sing-song," like something Eastern, but actually, its believed that it was invented by high-class Brits during Victorian times, who started hitting wine corks over walls of books after dinner. No exaggeration.

“乒乓（ping-pong）”聽起來像是“合唱（sing-song）”的表親，像是來自東方，但實(shí)際上，乒乓被認(rèn)為是由維多利亞時(shí)代的英國貴族發(fā)明的，那時(shí)他們在晚飯后用書對著墻擊打葡萄酒軟塞。沒有夸張。

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. 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. In one championship match in Prague in 1936, the first point is said to have lasted two hours and 12 minutes. The first point! Longer than a "Mad Max" movie. And according to one of the players, the umpire had to retire with a sore neck before the point was concluded.

第一次世界大戰(zhàn)結(jié)束時(shí)，這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)被來自原來的奧匈帝國的球員壟斷：早期世錦賽的九個(gè)冠軍中有八個(gè)被匈牙利摘取。東歐人對把球打來打去變得如此熟練，以至于他們近乎把這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)帶入了停滯狀態(tài)。在1936年布拉格的一場世錦賽中，第一分據(jù)說在過了兩小時(shí)12分后才被拿下。第一分！比《瘋狂麥克斯》的電影還要長。據(jù)其中一個(gè)球員說，裁判在這一比分結(jié)束前因?yàn)椴弊铀岫坏貌煌藞觥?/p>

That player started hitting the ball back with his left hand and dictating chess moves between shots.

運(yùn)動(dòng)員甚至開始用左手擊球，并在擊打間隙指揮下象棋。

Many in the audience started, of course, filing out, as that single point lasted maybe 12,000 strokes. 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.

當(dāng)然，觀眾席中的許多人開始計(jì)數(shù)，這一比分可能持續(xù)了12000下?lián)舸?。國際乒乓球協(xié)會的緊急會議不得不在現(xiàn)場立刻召開，隨后規(guī)則改變，沒有一輪比賽可以長于20分鐘。

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. And Satoh was not very big, he wasnt 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. And thanks to this silencing secret weapon, the little-known Satoh won a gold medal. One million people came out into the streets of Tokyo to greet him upon his return, and really, Japans postwar resurgence was set into motion.

十六年后，日本進(jìn)入了人們的視野，一位名叫佐藤博治的無名制表匠出現(xiàn)在了1952年孟買的國際錦標(biāo)賽上。佐藤博治沒有名氣，排名也不高，他還戴著眼鏡，但是他的球拍并不像其他的球拍那樣坑坑洼洼的，而是覆蓋著厚厚的海綿狀橡膠泡沫。多虧了這個(gè)秘密武器，默默無聞的佐藤博治摘得了金牌。當(dāng)他回國時(shí)，在東京有一百萬人走上街頭夾道歡迎他凱旋，日本的戰(zhàn)后復(fù)興也真正開始了。

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. 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, youre very likely to win six minutes later. We also play best-of-two sets, so often, theres no loser at all. Ping-pong diplomacy. And I always remember that as a boy growing up in England, I was taught that the point of a game was to win.

不過，我在日本的常規(guī)乒乓賽中學(xué)到的，更恰當(dāng)?shù)卣f是全面占優(yōu)的內(nèi)在運(yùn)動(dòng)，有時(shí)也被稱作人生。我們俱樂部從不打單打，只進(jìn)行雙打，因?yàn)椋缥宜f，我們每五分鐘就會更換搭檔，如果你不巧輸了，那么在六分鐘后，你很有可能贏下比賽。我們也玩兩局制，通常就沒有輸家。乒乓外交。我一直記得，作為在英格蘭長大的男孩，我被教育比賽的關(guān)鍵是獲勝。

But in Japan, Im 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. So youre not careening up and down as an individual might, but youre part of a regular, steady chorus. 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.

但在日本，我被鼓勵(lì)相信，比賽的要義是讓你身邊盡可能多的人認(rèn)為他們是贏家。所以你不會以一個(gè)個(gè)體上下沉浮，相反，你是常規(guī)，穩(wěn)定的團(tuán)體的一部分。我們俱樂部打得最好的球員能夠利用他們的技巧，將他們球隊(duì)9比1的領(lǐng)先，進(jìn)行到9比9，這樣每個(gè)人都能積極參與其中。

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 hes thought of as a loser. In Japan, a game of ping-pong is really like an act of love. Youre learning how to play with somebody, rather than against her.

我有個(gè)朋友會打吊高轉(zhuǎn)球，小個(gè)子球員只能亂打，根本接不到——他能贏很多分，但我覺得他卻是個(gè)輸家。在日本，乒乓比賽真的像是愛的舉動(dòng)。你學(xué)習(xí)如何和別人一起比賽，而不是贏過別人。

And Ill confess, at first, this seemed to me to take all the fun out of the sport. I couldnt exult after a tremendous upset victory against our strongest players, because six minutes later, with a new partner, I was falling behind again. On the other hand, I never felt disconsolate.

我承認(rèn)，起初，我覺得這樣完全剝奪了運(yùn)動(dòng)的樂趣。我無法在贏下最強(qiáng)球員后感受到勝利的喜悅，因?yàn)榱昼姾?，和一個(gè)新的搭檔在一起。我又落后了。另一方面，我從未感到沮喪。

And when I flew away from Japan and started playing singles again with my English archrival, I noticed that after every defeat, I was really brokenhearted. But after every victory, I couldnt sleep either, because I knew there was only one way to go, and that was down.

當(dāng)我飛離日本，又開始和我的英國同僚進(jìn)行單打時(shí)，我注意到每次失敗后，我真的非常傷心。但每次勝利后，我也無法入眠，因?yàn)槲抑澜酉聛碇挥幸粭l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. 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.

如果我嘗試在日本做生意，這會導(dǎo)致無盡的沮喪。在日本，不像其他地方，如果四小時(shí)后比分依然持平，棒球比賽會以平局結(jié)束，而因?yàn)槁?lián)賽排名依據(jù)勝率，一個(gè)有一些平局的隊(duì)伍可以比贏得多場比賽的隊(duì)伍排名更靠前。

One of the first times an American was ever brought over to Japan to lead a professional Japanese baseball team, Bobby Valentine, in 1995, he took this really mediocre squad, he lead them to a stunning second-place finish, and he was instantly fired. Why? "Well," said the team spokesman, "because of his emphasis on winning."

起初有一個(gè)名叫鮑比·瓦倫丁的美國人被帶到日本來領(lǐng)導(dǎo)一個(gè)職業(yè)日本棒球隊(duì)，那時(shí)是 1995 年，他帶著這個(gè)平庸的隊(duì)伍，最終驚人的拿下了第二名，然而他立刻被解雇了。為什么？“嗯，”球隊(duì)發(fā)言人說，“因?yàn)樗倧?qiáng)調(diào)贏下比賽。”

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.

日本官方對這一點(diǎn)的感覺很像，據(jù)說這一點(diǎn)持續(xù)了2小時(shí)12分鐘，而不想輸球的比賽會剝奪所有的想象、冒險(xiǎn)和興奮。

At the same time, playing ping-pong in Japan reminds me why choirs regularly enjoy more fun than soloists. 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 thats much greater than the sum of its parts. Yes, every choir does need a conductor, but I think a choir releases you from a childs simple sense of either-ors.

同時(shí)，在日本打乒乓讓我想到了為何相比獨(dú)唱，合唱常常更有趣。在合唱隊(duì)，你的唯一工作就是唱好你的那一聲部，有感情的唱對音符，這樣做才能構(gòu)建比單純齊唱更美的和聲。是的，每個(gè)合唱團(tuán)都需要一個(gè)指揮，但我認(rèn)為合唱讓你脫離了對于對錯(cuò)的簡單理解。

You come to see that the opposite of winning isnt losing -- its failing to see the larger picture.

你意識到勝利的對面并不是失敗—— 而是不能看到更大的格局。

As my life goes on, Im really startled to see that no event can properly be assessed for years after it has unfolded. I once lost everything I owned in the world, every last thing, in a wildfire. 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. 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.

隨著我生命的繼續(xù)，我才真正認(rèn)識到?jīng)]有一個(gè)事情能夠在它發(fā)生的幾年后被正確的評價(jià)。我曾經(jīng)在一場野火中失去了我在這世界上擁有的所有東西，每一件東西。但是逐漸的，我意識到這看上去的損失讓我能在地球上生活的更平和，讓我不用筆記就能寫作，也讓我搬去日本，接觸到了內(nèi)在的健康俱樂部，也就是乒乓球桌。相反的，我曾經(jīng)有一份完美的工作，而我逐漸意識到這種表面的快樂實(shí)際上相比苦難會更加阻礙真正的快樂。

Playing doubles in Japan really relieves me of all my anxiety, and at the end of an evening, I notice everybody is filing out in a more or less equal state of delight. Im reminded every night that not getting ahead isnt the same thing as falling behind any more than not being lively is the same thing as being dead. And Ive 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. But as I watch the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Im going to be keenly aware that it wont be possible to tell whos won or whos lost for a very long time.

在日本打雙打讓我真正脫離了所有的焦慮，在一天結(jié)束時(shí)，我注意到每個(gè)人都表現(xiàn)出了差不多的歡樂。我每一晚都被提醒，沒有領(lǐng)先并不等同于落后，就好似沒有活力并不等同于死亡。我意識到為什么中國大學(xué)會頒發(fā)乒乓球的文憑，為什么研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)乒乓球?qū)嶋H上可以減緩輕度的心理疾病，甚至是自閉癥。但當(dāng)我在東京觀看2020年奧運(yùn)會時(shí)，我會敏銳地意識到，在很長一段時(shí)間內(nèi)，誰贏誰輸將很難分辨。

You remember that point I mentioned that was said to last for two hours and 12 minutes? Well, one of the players from that game ended up, six years later, in the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Dachau. But he walked out alive. Why? Simply because a guard in the gas chamber recognized him from his ping-pong playing days. Had he been the winner of that epic match? It hardly mattered. As you recall, many people had filed out before even the first point was concluded. The only thing that saved him was the fact that he took part.

還記得我剛才提過的那個(gè)據(jù)說持續(xù)了兩小時(shí)12分鐘的一分嗎？六年后，比賽中的其中一個(gè)球員被送進(jìn)了奧斯維辛和達(dá)豪集中營。但他活著走了出來。為什么？僅僅是因?yàn)槎練馐业氖匦l(wèi)因?yàn)樗钠古沂论E認(rèn)出了他。他是那場史詩級比賽的勝者嗎？這已不重要?？赡苣氵€記得，許多人在第一個(gè)比分揭曉前就離開了。

The best way to win any game, Japan tells me every other night, is never, never to think about the score. Thank you.

拯救他的唯一東西就是他曾經(jīng)參與了這場比賽的事實(shí)。每隔一晚日本就告訴我，贏得任何比賽的最好方式，就是永遠(yuǎn)，永遠(yuǎn)都不要想著分?jǐn)?shù)。謝謝。