棒球運動中也有信仰

There is saying at the race track that you can't "rule a man off for trying." I believe in this approach to life on this earth. I believe in God. I believe in my country. I believe in basic human decency. I believe there is a right and a wrong way to do things. If I were asked to define Americanism - what made our country what it is to date - I would say it was the American's willingness and ambition to stand on his own two feet. I keep a box score on every baseball game I cover. There is a credit column in which hits are recorded and there is a debit column in which errors are listed. These are often deceptive. They will give hits to a batter who has been lucky and they will charge errors against a fielder who has been unlucky. This is a small mirror of life itself. These things over a long run even up just as they do in life.
賽場上有一種說法，“選手有嘗試的機會”。我相信生活中也應(yīng)采取這種態(tài)度。我還相信上帝，相信我的祖國，相信人性本善，相信處事原則有對有錯。如果讓我來界定什么是美國精神，也就是我們的國家得以有今日之成就的這種精神，我認(rèn)為它指的就是美國人民自強自立的意愿和志向。我保留著自己報導(dǎo)過的每場棒球比賽的成績一覽表。表上正分那一欄記錄的是擊出安打的次數(shù)，負(fù)分那一欄則記錄著失誤的次數(shù)。這樣的記錄常常不準(zhǔn)確，因為有時會把安打球記在某位走運的擊球員身上，而有時又會把失誤記在某位倒霉的守場員身上，但久而久之總的數(shù)據(jù)還是會基本扯平——生命中的許多事情又何嘗不是如此。

've seen shortstops make errors on plays another shortstop would not even try to make. He had his record in mind. The shortstop who made the errors had the team's success in mind. He was willing to sacrifice his personal record in the greater interest of the team's success. There is a kind of religion in that attitude.
我見過有些游擊手在比賽中故意出現(xiàn)失誤，這些失誤其他游擊手壓根兒不會考慮，因為他們腦子里想的是自己的個人表現(xiàn)記錄。選擇故意失誤的游擊手想的是球隊的勝利，為了顧全球隊的大局，他們寧可犧牲自己的個人成績。我想這種態(tài)度就是一種信仰的體現(xiàn)。

I've often wondered how it would be, how it would affect the lives of our people if we all kept a daily box score on ourselves. As a matter of fact, I believe in sports as a way of life. It was Wellington who said battles are won on the playing fields of Eton. I believe it can be stated with equal truth that the principles of decent citizenship are born on the sand lots of Bass River, Massachusetts, Peoria, Illinois, and Southgate, California.
我常想，如果我們每人每天都能填寫一份自己的成績與不足一覽表，那我們的生活將會怎樣變化！其實我一直都認(rèn)為體育運動也是一種生活方式。威靈頓公爵曾經(jīng)說過，人生的勝負(fù)是在伊頓公學(xué)的操場上決定的。我想這句話對棒球場也同樣適用。馬薩諸塞州的巴斯河，伊利諾伊州的皮奧里亞，加利福尼亞州的紹斯蓋特——在這些棒球訓(xùn)練場上，公民的優(yōu)良品質(zhì)得以形成、得以體現(xiàn)。

That's where our youngsters first see the religion of sports, if I may be permitted the term, in actual use. They learn about fair play, sportsmanship and working together in a common cause. And because they frequently learn by ugly contrast, their instincts and the early teachings they got from their parents are sharpened against unfair practices, bully-ragging and swell-headedness.
在棒球運動中，我們的年輕人第一次發(fā)現(xiàn)體育運動中實際上也有信仰，如果能允許我使用“信仰”這個詞。他們明白了什么叫公平競爭，什么是運動精神，學(xué)會了通過團結(jié)合作去實現(xiàn)共同的目標(biāo)。他們也經(jīng)常在體育比賽中看到不公平競爭、威脅恐嚇或是驕傲自大等丑陋現(xiàn)象。正是這種丑惡與美德形成的強烈反差讓他們源自于天性以及早年家庭教育的那些優(yōu)良品質(zhì)得以發(fā)揚光大。

Not too long ago I had what was apparently a narrow escape from death. I was the last passenger out of a burning plane, the crash of which had instantly killed the pilot. I believe I am a physical coward, but singularly I felt not fear when I came to and began to seek a way to safety. Maybe I was still stunned, but I was completely composed. I did not pray, though I believe in prayer. I did not think of my family, though I am devoted to my family. I was neither sure I would escape nor that I would perish. I was, I suppose, completely resigned to whatever fate awaited me.
不久以前我有過一次死里逃生的驚險經(jīng)歷。我乘坐的飛機著了火，我剛一逃出機艙飛機就墜毀了，駕駛員當(dāng)場喪生。我是個畏懼自然法則的人，但奇怪的是，當(dāng)我回過神來逃生時，我一點也不害怕。也許我受了驚嚇，但我非常鎮(zhèn)靜。在那一刻，我沒有禱告，盡管我相信禱告的力量：我也沒有想到家人，盡管我深愛著他們。我既不知道自己能否死里逃生，也不知道自己是否必死無疑。我想我當(dāng)時是將自己完全交給了命運去安排。

They have another saying around the race tracks - "The red board is up." This means the race is over, the result is final, and there's nothing anybody can do about it. It has gone into the records.
賽場上還有一種說法，叫做“豎起紅板”，指的是比賽已然結(jié)束，勝負(fù)已見分曉，一切都已載入記錄，誰也改變不了。

I believe that somehow much of the philosophy of the people I live with his rubbed off me. I don't know whether this is good or bad. All I know is that is how it is with me and I've lived a happy life and I hope a reasonably decent one according to my lights.
我身邊許多人的人生哲學(xué)都對我產(chǎn)生了影響。我不知這是好是壞。我只知道這就是我的生活態(tài)度，而我也過著快樂的生活，希望這是一種在我看來正派的生活。