英语散文:我最珍贵的奥林匹克奖

For the next few minutes we talked together. I didn't tell Long what was "eating" me, but he seemed to understand my anger, and he took pains to reassure me. Although he'd been schooled in the Nazi youth movement, he didn't believe in the Aryan-supremacy business any more than I did. We laughed over the fact that he really looked the part, though. An inch taller than I, he had a lean, muscular frame, clear blue eyes, blond hair and a strikingly handsome face. Finally, seeing that I had calmed down somewhat, he pointed to the take-off board.

"Look," he said. "Why don't you draw a line a few inches behind the board and aim at making your take-off from there? You'll be sure not to foul, and you certainly ought to jump far enough to qualify. What does it matter if you're not first in the trials? Tomorrow is what counts."

[101 Suddenly all the tension seemed to leave my body as the truth of what he said hit me. Confidently, I drew a line a full foot behind the hoard and proceeded to jump from there. I qualified with almost a foot to spare.

[11] That night I walked over to Luz Long's room in the Olympic village to thank him. I knew that if it hadn't been for him I probably wouldn't be jumping in the finals the following day. We sat and talked for two hours--about track and field, ourselves, the world situation, a dozen other things.

[12] When I finally got up to leave, we both knew that a real friendship had been formed. Luz would go out to the field the next day trying to beat me if he could. But I knew that he wanted me to do my best--even if that meant my winning.

[13] As it turned out, Luz broke his own past record. In doing so, he pushed me on to a peak performance. I remember that at the instant I landed from my final jump--the one which set the Olympic record of 26 feet 5 1/16 inches--he was at my side, congratulating me. Despite the fact that Hitler glared at us from the stands not a hundred yards away, Luz shook my hand had--and it wasn't a fake "smile with a broken heart" sort of grip, either.

[14]All the gold medals and cups I have wouldn't make a plating on the 24-carat friendship I felt for Luz Long at the moment. I realized then that Luz was just what Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Games, must have had in his mind when he said, "The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well."

 

然后我们交谈了一会。我没有告诉隆格是什么在“困扰”找，但他却好像知道我心里有气，便竭力安慰我。他尽管接受了纳粹青年运动的教育，却一点也不比我更相信雅利安人优异那一套。不过，他看起来倒确实像个优等民族的人，我俩不由得笑起来了。他比我高一英寸，身材修长，肌肉结实，蓝蓝的眼睛，金黄的头发，还长着一张异常英俊的面孔。后来，他见我有些平静了，便用手指向踏板。 “看，”他说。“你为什么不在踏板后面几英寸的地方划一道线，然后就从那儿起跳呢？你肯定不会犯规，而且足可以跳进决赛。预赛得不到第一又有什么关系呢？明天的才算数。”

找领悟了他话中的道理，浑身的紧张顿时消失了。我满怀自信，在踏板后方整整一英尺的地方划了一道线，然后就从那儿起跳。我通过了预赛，超出资格标准近一英尺。

那天晚上，我到奥运村卢茨·隆格的房间去道谢。我知道，要不是多亏了他，我很可能参加不成第二天的决赛。我们坐着谈了两个钟头－－谈田径运动，谈我们自己，谈国际局势，以及许多其他事情。 最后我起身告辞时，我们都发觉彼此己经建立了真正的友谊。卢茨第二天上场要尽力战胜我。。可我也知道，他想让我竭尽全力－－哪怕那会意味着我取胜。

结果，卢茨打破了他自己以前的纪录。这样一来，他也促使我发挥到了最佳竞技状态。我记得我最后一跳着地那一瞬间——一那刻我创造了26英尺51/16英寸的奥运会纪录--－他来到我旁边，向我祝贺。尽管希特勒就在不足一百码以外的看台上瞪着我们，卢茨紧紧握着我的手－－而且还不是“内心沮丧、强额为笑”的那种虚情假意的握手。

我当时对卢茨·隆格感受到的是24K纯金般的友谊，我所获得的所有金牌、所有金杯都不足以构成这纯金友情的一个镀层。我这时才意识到，现代奥运会创始人皮埃尔·德·顾拜旦当年心里正是想着卢茨这样的运动员，才这样说道：“奥运会重在参与而不在取胜。生命的关键在于干得出色而不在于征服。”