Unit 4 - Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe, an American Indian, is generally accepted as the greatest all-round athlete of the first half of the 20th century. Yet the man, who brought glory to his nation, had a heartbreaking life. What caused his sadness and poverty?
JIM THORPE
Steve Gelman
The railroad station was jammed. Students from Lafayette College were crowding onto the train platform eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Carlisle Indian school's track and field squad. No one would have believed it a few months earlier. A school that nobody had heard of was suddenly beating big, famous colleges in track meets. Surely these Carlisle athletes would come charging off the train, one after another, like a Marine battalion.
The train finally arrived and two young men — one big and broad, the other small and slight — stepped onto the platform.
"Where's the track team?" a Lafayette student asked.
"This is the team," replied the big fellow.
"Just the two of you?"
"Nope, just me," said the big fellow. "This little guy is the manager."
The Lafayette students shook their heads in wonder. Somebody must be playing a joke on them. If this big fellow was the whole Carlisle track team, he would be competing against an entire Lafayette squad.
He did. He ran sprints, he ran hurdles, he ran distance races. He high-jumped, he broad-jumped. He threw the javelin and the shot. Finishing first in eight events, the big fellow beat the whole Lafayette team.
The big fellow was Jim Thorpe, the greatest American athlete of modern times. He was born on May 28,1888, in a two-room farmhouse near Prague, Oklahoma. His parents were members of the Sac and Fox Indian tribe and he was a direct descendant of the famous warrior chief, Black Hawk.
As a Sac and Fox, Jim had the colorful Indian name Wa-Tho-Huck. Which, translated, means Bright Path. But being born an Indian, his path was not so bright. Although he had the opportunity to hunt and fish with great Indian outdoorsmen, he was denied opportunity in other ways. The United States government controlled the lives of American Indians and, unlike other people, Indians did not automatically become citizens. It was almost impossible for an Indian to gain even a fair education and extremely difficult, as a result, for an Indian to rise high in life.
Young Bright Path seemed destined to spend his life in the Oklahoma farmland. But when he was in his teens, the government gave him the chance to attend the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. Soon Carlisle was racing along its own bright path to athletic prominence. In whatever sport Jim Thorpe played, he excelled, He was a star in baseball, track and field, wrestling, lacrosse, basketball and football. He was so good in football, in fact, that most other small schools refused to play Carlisle. The Indian school's football schedule soon listed such major powers of the early twentieth century as Pittsburgh, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Penn State and Army.
Thorpe was a halfback. He was six feet one inch tall, weighed 185 pounds and had incredible speed and power. He built upon these natural gifts daily. He would watch a coach or player demonstrate a difficult maneuver, then he would try it himself. Inevitably, he would master the maneuver within minutes.
During every game, opponents piled on Thorpe, trampled him, kicked him and punched him, trying to put him out of action. They were never successful. Years later someone asked him if he had ever been hurt on the field. "Hurt?" Thorpe said. "How could anyone get hurt playing football?"
But Jim never played his best when he felt he would have to no fun playing. "What's the fun of playing in the rain?" he once said. And his Carlisle coach, Pop Warner, once said, "There's no doubt that Jim had more talent than anybody who ever played football, but you could never tell when he felt like giving his best."
Football, though, did not provide Thorpe with his finest hour. He was selected for the United States Olympic track team in 1912, and went to Sweden with the team for the Games. On the ship, while the other athletes limbered up, Thorpe slept in his bunk. In Sweden, while other athletes trained, Thorpe relaxed in a hammock. He never strained when he didn't feel it necessary.
Thorpe came out of his hammock when the Games began, to take part in the two most demanding Olympic events. He entered the pentathlon competition, a test of skill in five events: 200-meter run, 1500-meter run, broad jump, discus and javelin; and the decathlon competition, a series of ten events: 100-meter run, 400-meter run, 1500-meter run, high hurdles, broad jump, high jump, pole vault, discus, javelin and shot put. Though most athletes were utterly exhausted by the decathlon alone, Thorpe breezed through both events, his dark hair flopping, his smile flashing, his muscled body gliding along the track. He finished first in both the pentathlon and decathlon, one of the great feats in Olympic history.
"You sir," King Gustav V of Sweden told Thorpe as he presented him with two gold medals, "are the greatest athlete in the world." And William Howard Taft, the President of the United States, said, "Jim Thorpe is the highest type of citizen."
King Gustav V was correct, but President Taft was not. Though Jim Thorpe had brought great glory to his nation, though thousands of people cheered him upon his return to the United States and attended banquets and a New York parade in his honor, he was not a citizen. He did not become one until 1916. Even then, it took a special government ruling because he was an Indian.
Jim Thorpe was a hero after the Olympics and a sad, bewildered man not too much later. Someone discovered that two years before the Olympics he had been paid a few dollars to play semiprofessional baseball. Though many amateur athletes had played for pay under false names, Thorpe had used his own name. As a result, he was not technically an amateur when he competed at Stockholm as all Olympic athletes must be. His Olympic medals and trophies were taken away from him and given to the runners-up.
After this heartbreaking experience, Thorpe turned to professional sports. He played major league baseball for six years and did fairly well. Then he played professional football for six years with spectacular success. His last professional football season was in 1926. After that, his youthful indifference to studies and his unwillingness to think of a nonsports career caught up with him. He had trouble finding a job, and his friends deserted him. He periodically asked for, but never was given back, his Olympic prizes. From 1926 until his death in 1953, he lived a poor, lonely, unhappy life.
But in 1950 the Associated Press held a poll to determine the outstanding athlete of the half-century. Despite his loss of the Olympic gold medals and a sad decline in fortune during his later years, Thorpe was almost unanimously chosen the greatest athlete of modern times.
参考译文——吉姆·索普
一个美国印地安人，在前半个 20 世纪里，被认为是最伟大的万能运动员。就是那个人，给他的国家带来了荣耀。但是却有一个极为悲伤的生活。是什么导致了他的悲伤和贫穷？
吉姆·索普
火车站挤得水泄不通。拉斐德学院的学生们一齐拥上月台，热切地等待着卡莱尔印第安人学校田径队的到来。
倘若在几个月前，准无人会相信，一个谁也没听说过的学校，会在田径场上突然大败许多有名的大学。不用说，这些卡莱尔的运动员抵达后，一个接着一个冲下火车，准会像一营海军陆战队那样。
火车终于到站，两位年轻人——一位，大个儿，体格魁梧，另一位，小个儿，长相瘦弱——踏上了月台。
“田径队在哪儿？”一位拉斐德的学生问道。
“就在这儿。 ”大个子回答道。
“就你们两个？”
“不，就我一个， ”大个子说。 “这位小兄弟是领队。 ”
拉斐德的学生们诧异地摇摇头。一定有人在开他们的玩笑。如果卡莱尔田径队就只有大个子一人，那他就得与整个拉斐德田径队比试高低了。
确实如此。他短跑，他跨栏，他长跑，他跳高，他跳远。他又投标枪又掷铅球。大个子赢得八项第一，一个人击败了整个拉斐德田径队。
这位大个子就是吉姆·索普，现代美国最伟大的运动员。他于1888年5月28日出生在俄克拉荷马布拉格附近一个只有两间房的农舍里。他的父母亲是印第安人，袋与狐部落的成员，他是著名的武士首领黑隼的嫡系后裔。
作为袋与狐部落的成员，吉姆有一个动听的印第安名字：瓦·索·哈克，翻译出来，意为“光明之路” 。但由于生来是一个印第安人，他的道路并不那么光明。虽然他有机会与熟谙野外生活的印第安人一起捕鱼、守猎，但其它方面的机会全给剥夺了。
当时，美国政府控制了全美印第安人的生活，而且，与其他民族不同，印第安人不能自动获得公民资格。印第安人甚至连受起码的教育的机会也极少，因而，要想出人头地是难而又难。
年轻的“光明之路”似乎注定要在俄克拉荷马的农田里度过一生。但在他十几岁的时候，政府给了他一个机会去宾夕法尼亚的卡莱尔印第安人学校就读。不久，卡莱尔学校沿着自己的光明之路冲上了体育运动的高峰。不管吉姆·索普参加哪项运动，他都表现得很出色。他是棒球明星、田径明星、摔跤明星、长曲棍球明星、篮球明星和橄榄球明星。事实上，他的橄榄球打得十分出色，以至于大多数其它规模较小的学校都不肯与卡莱尔比赛。
不久，这个印第安学校的橄榄球比赛日程上，列出的都是些20世纪初的主要强队，例如匹兹堡队、哈佛队、宾州队及陆军队等。索普打前卫。他身高 6.1 英尺，体重 185 磅，速度奇快，力量惊人。在天赋的基础上，他坚持训练，技艺与日俱增。他仔细观察教练或运动员示范难度大的动作，然后自己试着练。往往只消几分钟，他就学会了。“每次比赛，对方的球员们常一块儿压在索普的身上，踩他，踢他，用拳头猛击他，试图使他丧失比赛能力。但他们的企图从未得逞。数年之后，有人问他在球场上受过伤没有。 “受伤？”索普回答说， “打橄榄球怎么会受伤呢？”
但是每当吉姆感到打球没趣的时候，他就打不出他的水平。有一次他曾说：“下着雨打球有啥意思？”他的卡莱尔教练波伯·沃纳也曾说过：“毫无疑问，吉姆是迄今最有天赋的橄榄球运动员，但你永远无法弄清什么时候他想拿出最好的一手来。”
然而，橄榄球，没有为索普带来最美好的时刻。1912年，他被选入美国奥林匹克田径代表队，随队去瑞典参加运动会。在船上，别的运动员都在活动身体，索普却在床上睡大觉。到了瑞典，别的运动员在训练，索普却躺在吊床上休息。不到必要的时候，他从来不肯使劲。
运动会开始了，索普这才从吊床上下来，参加奥林匹克运动会对体力和技术要求最高的两项比赛。他参加5项全能比赛，这是对个项目技能的考验：200米跑、1500米跑、跳远、铁饼和标枪。他还参加 10 项全能比赛，这10 项系列竞赛是“100 米跑、400 米跑、1500 米跑、高栏、跳远、跳高、撑杆跳、铁饼、标枪和铅球。大多数运动员参加 10 项全能这一项就精疲力尽了，而索普却轻松自如地赛完两项。他一头黑发扑颠着，脸上闪烁着微笑，那肌肉强健的身体沿着跑道轻捷地飞奔着。在5项和10项两个全能项目比赛中，他都名列第一，这是奥林匹克运动史上伟大的业绩之一。瑞典国王古斯塔夫五世在把两块金牌授给索普的时候说：“先生，你是世界上最伟大的运动员。 ”美国总统威廉·霍华德·塔夫脱也说：“吉姆·索普是公民的最高典范。 ”
古斯塔夫五世国王讲对了，但塔夫脱总统却没有说对。尽管吉姆·索普为他的国家赢得了伟大的荣誉，尽管他回到美国时，数千人前去热烈欢迎他并参加了为他举行的宴会和纽约的游行，而他却不是一个美国公民。直到1916年，他才取得公民资格。而且，那还是经过政府特别裁决才授予他的，因为他是一个印第安人。奥林匹克运动会后，吉姆·索普成了英雄，但没过多久，他就成了一个悲伤、迷惘的人。原来，有人发现，奥林匹克运动会前两年，他曾经为了几块钱参加过半职业性的棒球比赛。许多业余运动员使用假名参赛赚钱，而索普却用自己的真名。如果，从技术上来讲，他在斯德哥尔摩参赛时，已不是一名业余运动员了，而根据规定，所有奥林匹克运动员必须是业余选手。于是，他的奥林匹克奖章和奖品被收了回去，给了第二名的获得者。
在这次令人心碎的经历之后，索普转向职业运动。他为主要的棒球联赛协会打了六年球，成绩还不错。接着，他加入职业橄榄球队，参赛六年，成绩斐然。1926 年，他结束了职业橄榄球员生涯。到这时候，年轻时，他对学业漫不经心，加之，他一直也不愿考虑运动员以外的职业。这一切终于给他带来了不幸。他找不到工作，朋友们也抛弃了他。他不时地要求将奥林匹克奖牌发还给他，但最终也未能要回。从1926年直到1953年世，他过着贫穷、寂寞、不幸的生活。
1950 年，美联社举行民意测验以确定半个世纪中最杰出的运动员。尽管索普失去了奥林匹克金牌，晚年境遇凄楚，人们依然几乎一致地推选他为现代最伟大的运动员。
参考资料：
1. http://www.kekenet.com/menu/200602/3938.shtml
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