第 6 课 · The Sporting Spirit

The sporting spirit

体育精神

I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport creates goodwill between the nations, and that if only the common peoples of the world could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the battlefield.

每当听到人们说什么体育能在国家之间创造友好感情，说什么只要世界各国的普通百姓能在足球场或板球场上相遇，他们就再也不会有到战场上兵戎相见的念头，我总是感到惊愕。

Even if one didn't know from concrete examples (the 1936 Olympic Games, for instance) that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred, one could deduce it from general principles.

即使没有从具体事例（比如 1936 年奥运会）中得知国际体育比赛会导致仇恨的疯狂宣泄，人们也可以从一般原理中推断出这一点。

Nearly all the sports practised nowadays are competitive.

如今人们从事的体育运动几乎全是竞技性的。

You play to win, and the game has little meaning unless you do your utmost to win.

打球就是为了赢；除非你竭尽全力去赢，否则比赛就没什么意义。

On the village green, where you pick up sides and no feeling of local patriotism is involved, it is possible to play simply for the fun and exercise: but as soon as a the question of prestige arises, as soon as you feel that you and some larger unit will be disgraced if you lose, the most savage combative instincts are aroused.

在乡村草地上临时分拨儿打球，不掺杂任何地方感情，你完全可以只为乐趣和锻炼而玩；可一旦牵涉到名誉，一旦你觉得输了会让自己和所属的更大集体蒙羞，最凶猛的好斗本能就会被激发出来。

Anyone who has played even in a school football match knows this.

哪怕只参加过一场学校足球赛的人，也深知这一点。

At the international level, sport is frankly mimic warfare.

在国际层面上，体育简直是不折不扣的模拟战争。

But the significant thing is not the behaviour of the players but the attitude of the spectators: and, behind the spectators, of the nations who work themselves into furies over these absurd contests, and seriously believe -- at any rate for short periods -- that running, jumping and kicking a ball are tests of national virtue.

然而要紧的不是运动员的举止，而是观众的态度；说到底，是观众背后的各个国家——它们为这些荒唐的比赛如痴如狂，还煞有介事地相信——至少在短时期内——跑、跳和踢球是对国民品德的检验。