With great anticipation, China is busily preparing for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Beijing will be added to a long list of the great cities that have invited the world to honor the world’s greatest athletes in the modern ear of the Olympic Games. China will also become part of an important, rich heritage that goes back more than 2000 years.
中國正滿懷期望，積極為2008年夏季奧運會做準備。北京將成為有幸舉辦奧運會的偉大城市之一，屆時她將邀請全世界來嘉獎世界上最偉大的運動員。中國也將成為這個有2000多年歷史，重要而豐富的傳統(tǒng)的一部分。
The origins of the ancient Olympic Games tend to be submerged in sea of Greek myths. One popular myth suggests that Pelops, a prince from Lydia, in Asia Minor (nowadays Turkey), won the hand of a princess by unfairly defeating a competing suitor in a chariot race. The loser was to be condemned to beheading. The prince rigged his opponent’s chariot to crash during the race. Later, the chariot did crash, killing the driver. The princess became Pelop’s bride, and he instituted the Olympic Games to celebrate his victory. However, others claimed that the first Olympic event was a funeral festival to honor his dead competitor.
古代奧運會的起源很容易就被淹沒在浩瀚的希臘神話中。一個廣為流傳的神話說，珀羅普斯，小亞細亞(現(xiàn)在的土耳其)的呂底亞的一個王子，在一次戰(zhàn)車比賽中用欺騙手段擊敗了求婚對手，贏得了一位公主的婚約。當時失敗者會被判斬首，而對手的戰(zhàn)車被王子做了手腳使其在比賽中被撞毀。后來，車毀人亡。那位公主成了珀羅普斯的新娘，他創(chuàng)立了奧林匹克運動會慶祝他的勝利。不過，另外一些人則聲稱第一次奧運會是為紀念他死去的對手而舉行的葬禮。
Another myth involved Hercules, the mythical strong man. Hercules was the son of Zeus, the Greek god, and one of the god’s mistresses. Hera, Zeus’ wife, and also his sister, was very upset. She attempted in many ways, to kill Hercules as a baby. Hercules survived. Later, after he had married, Hera successfully put a spell on him, demanding that he kill his wife. Because he was the son of the god, Zeus, Hercules was destined to become a god himself. In order to accomplish this, Hercules had to be cleansed of his wife’s murder. To do this, he was directed to perform twelve difficult labors. If he successfully completed these, he would become an immortal god, like his father.
另一個神話是有關赫爾克里斯的，一個神話中的大力士。他是希臘主神宙斯和他的一個情婦的兒子。赫拉，宙斯的妻子，也是他的姐姐，非常氣憤。在赫爾克里斯還是個嬰兒時，赫拉就使用了很多方法要殺死他。但赫爾克里斯幸存下來。后來，在他結婚后，赫拉成功地對他施以詛咒，讓他殺死他的妻子。因為他是宙斯的兒子，赫爾克里斯自己注定也會成為一個神。為了做到這一點，他必須洗清他謀殺妻子的罪名。為此，他被要求要完成十二件艱巨的大事。如果他成功地完成了這些任務，他就會像他父親一樣，成為不朽的神。
One of the majestic labors was to clean the stables of the King of Elis, in the impossibly brief period of one day. The king had huge stables with very large herds of cattle. Hercules asked the king to give him one tenth of his cattle, if he completed the task in one day. The king, perhaps humoring Hercules, or perhaps believing that this task couldn’t possibly be done in one day, agreed. In one day, Hercules diverted two rivers through the barns, cleaning them, but he did not receive the cattle that were promised in the deal. Hercules waged a successful war on the King, sacking Elis. He introduced the Olympic Games to celebrate this victory and to honor his father, Zeus, who lived on nearby Mount Olympus. The myth also suggests that Hercules measured out the stade, a footrace event of about 200 meters (or the length of the stadium).
其中一項任務是，在短短的一天之內清潔好艾麗斯國王的馬廄，這幾乎是不可能的事。艾麗斯國王的馬群非常大，所以他有一個巨大的馬廄。赫爾克里斯提出，如果他在一天之內完成了任務，國王就給他十分之一的馬群。也許是覺得赫爾克里斯有點可笑，認為他根本不可能在一天內完成任務，國王就答應了。在這一天里，赫爾克里斯把兩條小河引過來，將馬廄沖洗干凈，但沒有得到承諾的馬群。赫爾克里斯于是發(fā)動了一場戰(zhàn)爭，洗劫了艾麗斯。他舉行了奧林匹克運動會來慶祝這次勝利和表示對父親宙斯的敬仰。他的父親宙斯就住在附近的奧林匹斯山上。這個神話還說，赫爾克里斯測量了運動場的長度，一個兩百米長的跑道(或一個露天運動場的長度)。
As today, athletes in the ancient world were popular and had tremendous impact on the society of their day. The goal of the well-disciplined, physically trim athletes was to be the best. The champion athlete assumed a position of honor and privilege in Greek society. The status of a triumphant athlete also enhanced the reputation of his home city-state. Every young Greek boy who pursued the dream of being an Olympic champion some day envied the athletes. An important part of a Greek school boy’s curriculum was vigorous physical training in gymnasium.
像今天一樣，古代的運動員很受歡迎，對他們那個時代的社會也有很大的影響。訓練有素、身材勻稱的運動員的目標是成為最好的運動員。冠軍運動員會得到榮譽，在古希臘擁有特權。獲勝運動員的地位也會增強自己家鄉(xiāng)城市的名望。每一個希臘小伙子都羨慕那些運動員，夢想有一天自己成為奧林匹克冠軍。古希臘學校里男孩子的課程里很重要的一部分就是在體育館內上體育課。
The ancient Olympic Games, which began in 776 BC, lasted for over 1100 years. In 394 AD, the Christian Roman Emperor Theodosius abolished the games, as pagan festivals. At that time the Roman Empire was in decline. The modern Olympics have been around for only a little over 100 years, sine 1896. The Olympics of 776BC was the first, for which there is a written record, but it is believed that these events existed before this. There is evidence to show that athletic contests took place in Ancient Egypt and in the ancient Minoan civilization on the island of Crete.
古代奧運會始于公元前776年，延續(xù)了1100多年。公元394年，基督教羅馬皇帝狄奧多西將其視為異教徒的節(jié)日予以廢除。那時的羅馬帝國正在衰落?，F(xiàn)代奧林匹克運動會從1896年開始，才100多年。公元前776年的奧運會是有文字記錄的第一屆，但人們相信在此之前這項運動就已經存在了。有證據(jù)表明在古埃及和克利特島上的古彌諾斯文化中就舉行過體育比賽。
A plain called Olympia, in the small city-state of Elis was the site of the original Greek games. At the beginning of every four years, a period called an Olympiad, a major religious festival with athletic competition, took place at Olympia. In ancient Greece, the early Olympics did not rotate from city to city, but were permanently hosted at Olympia, the place from which the name Olympics originated. If wars were taking place at the time, as there usually were, a truce would be made during the military conflicts, soldiers would drop their swords and shields and accompany their opponents on a safe passage to Olympia, to enthusiastically participate in the games. After the games, the athletes would return to the battlefields with their companions, pick up their weapons and resume military engagements with their enemies, often fighting to the death, the athletic competitors whom they confronted only a few days or weeks before.
在小城邦艾麗斯的奧林匹亞平原，就是古代希臘運動會的場地。每4年的年初，這個期間叫做“四年周期”，伴隨體育比賽，要在奧林匹亞舉行盛大的宗教節(jié)日。在古希臘，早期奧運會不是一個個城市輪流，而總是在奧林匹亞舉行，“奧運會”因此得名。到時如果發(fā)生戰(zhàn)爭(這是常有的事)，對抗的軍隊之間就會休戰(zhàn)，戰(zhàn)士們丟下他們的劍和盾牌，與他們的對手一起，安全地來到奧林匹亞，參加狂熱的運動會。運動會后，運動員們將與他們的同伴一起重返戰(zhàn)場，拿起武器，與他們的敵人，也就是僅僅幾天或幾個星期前相遇的體育競賽對手，繼續(xù)交戰(zhàn)，常常會戰(zhàn)斗到死。
In the beginning, only free Greek-speaking male athletes could participate in the games, women, slaves, and foreigners were banned from competition. Women were even barred as spectators, not for sexual reasons, but for from 720 BC the male athletes were usually naked down to their bare feet when they participated. Olympia was a sacred place for men only, a place to worship Zeus, the principal Greek god. However, women were not completely excluded from competitive sports, as they had their own games, every four years as well, called the Heraea, after Hera, the wife of Zeus.
起初，只有講希臘語的自由男運動員可以參加運動會，婦女、奴隸和外國人是不允許參加競賽的，甚至不準婦女觀看。這并非性別的原因，而是因為從公元前720年開始，男運動員在參加比賽時常常從頭到腳都是赤裸的。奧林匹亞是只讓男人參加的宗教圣地，是崇拜希臘主神宙斯的地方。然而婦女并沒有完全被排斥在體育比賽之外，她們有自己的運動會，也是每四年舉行一次，叫做赫拉亞，以宙斯的妻子赫拉命名。
The first number of Olympic Games had only one event, called the stade. By the late 8th century BC, events included running, wrestling, boxing, pancratium (a mixture of boxing and wrestling), chariot racing, a footrace with heavy armor, and the pentathlon. The only official prize earned by the champion, was a crown of wild olive branches. Unofficially, some athletes received valuable prizes, including large sums of money from their home city-states. As in modern times, ancient athletes, even though they made pledges of fairness in competition, sought our every advantage, legal or illegal, in order to win. Even then, the concept of amateurism, for which there were no rules in ancient times, and the zeal for the competitive spirit were often sacrificed for the more selfish materialistic considerations.
最初的奧運會只有一個項目，叫做“斯泰底”。在公元前8世紀末，比賽項目包括賽跑、摔跤、拳擊、角斗(摔跤和拳擊并用)、賽車、負重跑和五項全能運動。冠軍贏得的唯一正式獎品是一個野橄欖樹枝編的桂冠。非正式地，有些運動員得到有價值的獎品，包括他們家鄉(xiāng)城邦給的大筆獎金。像現(xiàn)代一樣，古代的運動員，盡管他們發(fā)誓要公平競賽，但是為了取勝，他們會設法獲取各種優(yōu)勢，不管是合法的還是非法的。即使在那時，業(yè)余的概念——對此古代沒有規(guī)定——和對體育精神的追求常常為了自私自利的物質報酬而受到褻瀆。
By the 6th century BC, athletes began to specialize in particular sports, and even began to hire coaches. Special diets and new innovated kinds of physical conditioning became popular. Protein, from meat and beans in particular, became the popular nutritional need of Olympic athletes. The rules for events became more numerous and more strictly enforced. For example, a false start of a running event might have been followed by a whipping of the violator. Penalties usually included fines for most violations. It was said that the elegant, elaborate bronze statues of Zeus that lined the route to the Olympic Stadium in the fourth century BC, were financed by revenue created by fines imposed on athletes. Some athletes even became free agents, negotiating and hiring themselves out to the highest bidder, to win races and money for their sponsors. One rather peculiar practice that surrounded the chariot race event was that the owners, rather than the drivers of the chariots, received the honors and prizes. Some owners entered numerous chariots in the same event to increase their chances of winning. To the amusement of Olympic historians, Emperor Nero (famous for burning Rome) apparently entered a chariot race in which he fell from his chariot and did not finish, but still received the champion’s crown of olive branches. Who could argue with the Emperor?
到了公元前6世紀，運動員開始專攻個別項目，甚至開始雇傭教練。專門的飲食和獨特的身體訓練方法開始流行起來。蛋白質，特別是肉類和豆類，成了流行的奧林匹克運動會需要的營養(yǎng)品。體育項目的規(guī)則變得復雜起來，也更加嚴格了。例如，賽跑比賽的偷跑者可能會受到鞭笞的懲罰。懲罰通常包括對多數(shù)違規(guī)者的罰款。據(jù)說，公元前4世紀，擺放在奧林匹克運動場的入口處的、精心制作的莊嚴的宙斯青銅像，就是對運動員的罰款得來的收入提供的經費。一些運動員甚至成為自由代理人，與出價最高者談判并被其雇傭，為他們的贊助人贏得比賽和金錢。與賽車比賽有關的一個相當特別的慣例是，賽車的主人而不是賽車手得到榮譽和獎品。為了增加獲勝的機會，一些人在一次比賽中投入許多輛賽車。令奧林匹克歷史學家感到好笑的是，顯而易見尼實祿皇帝(有名的羅馬暴君)還參加了一次賽車，比賽中從車中摔了出來，沒有賽完，但還是得到了冠軍的橄欖枝桂冠。誰敢和皇帝競爭呢?
By the 4th century BC, the Greek-only restriction on participation was eased as the Olympic organizers accepted athletes from overseas, from such territories as Egypt and Libya on the African continent. Many city-states even provided financial support and facilities for athletes so that they could concentrate full time on training, sometimes for more that a year before the games.
到公元前4世紀，只準講希臘語的人參加比賽的限制被放寬了，奧林匹克的組織者接受了來自海外的運動員，如從非洲大陸的埃及和利比亞這樣的領地來的人。許多城邦甚至為運動員提供財政支持和設施，使他們能夠把全部時間都用在訓練上;有時，訓練在運動會前一年多就開始了。
The ancient Olympics were a strange mix of a religious pilgrimage and a forum for intense athletic competition. As mentioned above,, Emperor Theodosius tried to permanently put an end to the games as pagan exercises, but they emerged again in 1896 after an interval of more than 1600 years. The Olympics maintained a religious theme from the beginning, varying in degree over time. The events were originally dedicated to the worship of gods and heroes, especially deceased heroes. They were, at times, called funeral games (as mentioned in Homer’s Iliad), and sometimes fertility festivals. The games gradually in the worship of the prominent cult of Zeus, the chief god. Today, the Olympics Games are secular events.
古代奧運會是宗教朝圣和激烈的體育比賽的奇特組合。如上所述，狄奧多西皇帝試圖終止這種被當作異教徒活動的運動會，但它們在中斷了1600多年后的1896年又出現(xiàn)了。奧運會保留了最初的宗教主題，但隨著時間的推移，發(fā)生了不同程度的變化。比賽項目的設立最初是為了崇拜眾神和英雄，特別是死去的英雄。有時，它們被叫做“葬禮”活動(如荷馬的《伊利亞特》所提到的)，有時叫做豐收慶典。運動會在祭拜主神宙斯的活動中逐漸達到高潮。而今天奧運會的運動都是與宗教無關的比賽項目。
The most prominent symbols of the Olympic Games today did not originate in classical times. The Olympic torch was an innovation in 1916. The five rings were originally introduced to represent the first five Olympics of the modern era from 1896 to 1912. In 1920 the rings were revived to represent the five continents with North and South America being represented by one ring. The 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany, was the site of the first lighting of the Olympic flame.
現(xiàn)代奧運會最突出的象征并不是來源于古典時代。奧林匹克火炬是1916年的創(chuàng)新，而引進五環(huán)最初是表示從1896年到1912年的頭五屆現(xiàn)代奧運會。1920年，這些環(huán)重新被用來代表包括五個大陸，南北美洲用其中一個環(huán)表示。在納粹德國舉行的1936年奧運會，是第一次點燃奧林匹克圣火的地方。
The spirit of intense competition in association with heroism and national pride, remain major themes of the Olympics today, much as they were over 2000 years ago. Today, countries send their best, amateur and professional alike, to compete for the highest honors. Athletes also still try to find an advantage to give a better performance than all other competitors, sometimes, unfortunately, not always following the rules.
幾乎與2000多年前一樣，與英雄主義、民族自豪感相聯(lián)系的努力拼搏的精神仍然是現(xiàn)代奧運會的主題。今天，每個國家派出他們最好的選手，不管是業(yè)余的還是職業(yè)的，來爭奪最高的榮譽。運動員們仍然要想方設法取得優(yōu)勢，以勝過其他選手。不幸的是，有時候也會不遵守規(guī)則。
Every four years, or every two years when one includes the winter Olympics, which began in 1924, the world focuses on a human event that represents the good of humanity. Motivated for a couple of weeks, in those years, people and nations try to forget their troubles, put aside their differences and conflicts, and become part of a vast promotion of good global relations and cooperation. One sometimes wonders if the Olympics serve as a safety valve in international human relations, attributing to a collective sanity in a world that, not unlike that of ancient times, is perpetually the scene of conflict, strife, and human misery. Certainly one would like to think that that is the case. If not, one can always hope.
從1924年開始，每隔四年(如果你把冬季奧運會算進來的話則為每隔兩年)，全世界的注意力都集中到這一表現(xiàn)人性好的一面的人類活動上。在這些年中的兩個星期里，各國各民族設法忘掉他們的煩惱，撇開他們的分歧和沖突，參與到這個促進世界關系發(fā)展向前和合作的運動中。有人也許會想，在這個與古代沒有什么兩樣，永遠是沖突、斗爭、悲劇的世界上，奧運會是否可以成為國際關系的安全閥，來喚醒人們共同的良知。人們當然愿意相信事實就是這樣。如果不是，人們總是可以希望如此。
