Lesson 6

The sporting spirit

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.
每当我听到人们说体育运动能在各国之间建立善意，并且如果世界上的普通民众能在足球或板球比赛中相遇，他们就不会有在战场上相见的倾向时，我总是感到惊讶。
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.
即使一个人不知道从具体的例子（例如1936年奥运会）中得知国际体育竞赛会导致仇恨的狂欢，也可以从一般原则中推断出来。
Nearly all the sports practised nowadays are competitive.
现今被练习的几乎所有运动都是竞争性的。
You play to win, and the game has little meaning unless you do your utmost to win.
你比赛就是为了赢，如果不能尽全力去赢，这场比赛就毫无意义。
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 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.
在选择队伍、不涉及地方爱国主义情绪的乡村草坪上，仅仅为了乐趣和锻炼而玩是可能的：但一旦涉及声望问题，一旦你感觉到如果你输了，你和你所属的更大单位都会蒙羞，最野蛮的好斗本能就会被激发出来。
Anyone who has played even in a school football match knows this.
任何甚至在学校足球赛中玩过的人都知道这一点。
At the international level, sport is frankly mimic warfare.
在国际层面上，体育坦率地说是模拟战争。
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.
但是重要的事情不是运动员的行为，而是观众的态度：并且，在观众身后，是那些对这些荒谬的比赛感到愤怒，并认真相信——至少在短时间内——跑步、跳跃和踢球是民族美德考验的国家。