网球的前世今生 History of Tennis

英语自学网

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　　网球运动的历史要追溯到古埃及和波斯。那里的一些图片显示，当时人们玩一隔着网来回击球的游戏。到了19世纪，现代网球运动正式在英国诞生，一位名叫梅杰·瓦尔特·温菲尔德的男子开启了这一历史。　　
　　The history of tennis goes all the way back to ancient Egypt and Persia where pictures indicate a type of game in which a ball was stroked1) over a net was played. The history of modern tennis officially began in 19th century Britain with a man named Major Walter Wingfield.
　　名字不俗
　　“嗨，玩玩‘司法瑞斯泰克’怎么样？”
　　所幸的是，这项运动延续了下来，但这个名称却没有。1874年，温菲尔德要这项运动申请专利，当时他选定的名字为 “sphairistike”。这个词来自希腊语，意思是 “球类游戏”。温菲尔德的“发明”灵感主要来源于13世纪法国的一种游戏，名叫“jeu de paume”，字面意思为“手掌游戏”。这一游戏在室内进行，游戏时，人们徒手将球击打过网。这项休闲运动颇受修道院的僧侣们的喜爱。
　　后来，“jeu de paume”逐渐演变为室内网球或皇家网球运动，得到了法国皇室的青睐。16世纪初期，法国国王弗朗西斯一世甚至在他的个人战舰上建造了一个皇家网球场。
　　What a Name for a Game
　　“Hey, how about a game of sphairistike?”
　　Fortunately the game survived but the name did not. Major Wingfield chose sphairistike, a Greek word meaning “ball game,” for the game he sought to patent in 1874. Much of Wingfield’s “invention” was based on a game played in 13th Century France called jeu de paume—literally “game of the palm.” This game was played indoors by hitting a ball over a net with a bare hand. The game was a popular recreation among monks in their monasteries.
　　Jeu de Paume evolved into a game called real tennis or royal tennis that became popular among French royalty. In the early 1500s, the French monarch, Francis I even had a royal tennis court built on his personal battleship.
　　网球之父
　　当梅杰·温菲尔德在圣诞宴会上向他的朋友们介绍‘司法瑞斯泰克’时，有证据表明，当时的英国已经有类似的娱乐运动。早在1858年，来自英国的梅杰·T·H·杰姆和来自西班牙的J·B·佩雷拉就在草地上规划出了网球场。但是，对于自己的所作所为，他们当时既未记录在案，也没申请专利，所以时至今日，人们仍然认为温菲尔德才是网球运动之父。
　　“网球”这个名称显然也与“jeu de paume”颇有渊源。法国人在击球前会喊“Tenetz!”(编者注：该词与网球的英文写法“tennis”十分相近)，意思是“小心！”
　　Tennis Anyone?
　　By the time Major Wingfield introduced his friends to sphairistike at a Christmas party, there is evidence that similar games were already being played in England. Major T.H. Gem of Britain and J.B. Perera of Spain had marked out a tennis court on a lawn as early as 1858. But they were not the one’s who wrote down what they had done and sought a patent, so today it is Wingfield who is considered the father of the game.
　　The name “tennis” apparently also goes back to jeu de paume. The French would yell, “Tenetz!” before they hit the ball. The word means, “Take heed.”
　　一看便知
　　梅杰·温菲尔德发明的运动看起来很像我们今天的网球运动。运动时，两名或四名运动员手执球拍，在一块特定的场地上打球。场地呈沙漏状，中部有球网的地带较窄，底线地带较宽。根据历史学家的记录，在温菲尔德发明的网球运动中，球网有5～7英尺高。而如今，场地中心地带的球网最高点距离地面的高度是三英尺。目前的球场呈长方形，长78英尺，单打场地宽27英尺，双打场地宽36英尺。
　　不久以后，人们开始把网球运动称作“草地网球”(虽然“司法瑞斯泰克”这一名字后来简略为“斯蒂克”，但仍然很快被弃而不用) 。草地网球在英国的中上阶层中迅速普及开来。这是一项在聚会上很受欢迎的运动。英国的陆军军官们开始将草地网球带到世界其他地方。玛丽·奥特布里奇就是从百慕大群岛的一位英国军官那里得知网球的。1874年，玛丽将这项运动及其设备带回了纽约。她的哥哥在纽约斯塔滕岛板球棒球俱乐部建了一个网球场。网球就这样来到了美国。
　　You’d Recognize It If You Saw It
　　Major Wingfield’s game looked much like the tennis we know today. Two or four players with rackets played on a court that was shaped like an hourglass2)—narrower in the middle at the net and wider along the baselines3). Historians report the height of the net as being from five to seven feet in Wingfield’s version of the game. Today, the top of the net is three feet high in the center of the court. Courts now are rectangular and measure 78 feet long and 27 feet wide for singles play and 36 feet wide for doubles.
　　Lawn tennis, as it soon came to be called (the name sphairistike was quickly ditched4) even after it was shortened to “sticky”) spread quickly through the upper and middle class of Britain. It was a popular party game. British army officers began to take the game to other parts of the world. Mary Outerbridge learned tennis from a British officer in Bermuda5). In 1874, she brought the game, including the equipment, back to the New York where her brother set up a court at the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club. Tennis had come to America.
　　不再是单纯的娱乐活动
　　草地网球在发明之初不过是一项社交活动，但它很快演化为一项竞争激烈的比赛。1876年8月，美国首届网球锦标赛在马萨诸塞州的纳罕诞生。网球场地的所有者詹姆斯·怀特博士赢得了比赛的冠军。1877年，在全英格兰槌球俱乐部的赞助下，英格兰在小城温布尔登举办了首届网球锦标赛。这次比赛只设置了男子单人项目。斯宾塞·戈尔荣获这次比赛的冠军，捧走了银质挑战杯和价值12几尼(约合22美元)的金奖奖赏。据记载，首届女子网球锦标赛于1879年在都柏林举行，梅·兰格里什夺得冠军。1884年，女子选手开始在温布尔登参加比赛。
　　Not Just for Fun Anymore
　　Lawn Tennis was invented a social activity but it quickly evolved into a highly competitive game. The first United States tennis tournament dates back to August 1876 in Nahant, Massachusetts. Dr. James White, who owned the court, was the winner. The first tennis championship in England took place in 1877 sponsored by the All England Croquet Club at a little place called Wimbledon. In that first championship, only men’s singles were played. Spencer Gore won the tournament and took home the Silver Challenge Cup and a Gold Championship Prize worth 12 guineas6) (about $22). The first recorded women’s tournament was played in Dublin in 1879 and won by May Langrishe. In 1884, women began to compete at Wimbledon.
　　争夺奖杯
　　网球比赛迅速吸引了越来越多的选手和观众。到20世纪初期，网球已真正走向世界，优秀选手开始走出国门，到其他国家参加比赛。1912年，国际草地网球联合会成立(现称为“国际网球联合会”，去掉了“草地”一词)，有13个国家成为会员。
　　首届戴维斯杯网球赛于1900年举行，参赛双方为美国队和英国网球明星队。这种团队比赛的想法来自于一位年轻的美国选手——德怀特·戴维斯。美国赢得了前两届戴维斯杯冠军，之后英国连续四届夺得此项桂冠。现如今，有一百多个国家争夺戴维斯杯网球赛冠军。1923年，黑兹尔·霍奇基斯·怀特曼为女子创立了与戴维斯杯类似的比赛，冠军被授予怀特曼杯。
　　除了团队比赛外，每年还另有四项主要的网球赛事，称为“大满贯”赛事，即温布尔登网球赛、澳大利亚网球公开赛、法国网球公开赛和美国网球公开赛。在极度罕见的情况下，一个人会在一年内包揽所有四项大满贯赛事的冠军。到目前为止，仅有五个人取得过这样辉煌的成绩。这五人中的一人——澳大利亚人罗德·拉弗——曾两次问鼎四大满贯赛事的冠军宝座。
            
            

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　　Vying7) for the Prize
　　Tennis competitions quickly attracted more and more participants and spectators. By the early 1900s, the game had become truly international and the best players were traveling to tournaments in other countries. The International Lawn Tennis Federation (now the ITF after the word lawn was dropped) was formed in 1912 with 13 member countries.
　　The first Davis Cup8) competition between a team of Americans and a Team of British tennis stars was played in 1900. The team competition was the brainchild9) of a young American player, Dwight Davis. The Americans won the first two Davis Cups. Britain won the next four. Today, more than 100 countries vie for the Davis Cup. In 1923, Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman began a similar competition for women awarding the Wightman Cup to the champions.
　　In addition to the team competition, tennis has four major tournaments each year, called Grand Slam events. These tournaments are Wimbledon, the Australian Open, The French Open and the U.S. Open. On rare occasions, a player will win all four Grand Slam events in a single year. Only five people have achieved this spectacular feat. One of them, Rod Laver of Australia, did it twice.
　　网球和奥运会：分分合合
　　1896年，当首届现代奥运会在希腊雅典举办时，网球也是其中的运动项目之一。爱尔兰人约翰·博兰赢得了奥运会网球比赛的首枚金牌。同年，他又赢得了一枚双打金牌。1900年，女子选手首次参加了奥运会网球比赛。英国人哈蒂·库珀摘取了金牌。
　　因早期的奥运会与锦标赛赛程冲突，顶尖的网球选手往往无法参加奥运会。1912年，奥运会和温布尔登网球赛同时举行，所有的优秀选手都选择了参加温布尔登网球赛。
　　1924年奥运会后，网球和奥运会在经历了一系列复杂的纷争之后分道扬镳。奥运会组委会和众多的网球协会无法就是否允许职业运动员参加比赛一事达成共识。1968年，网球和奥运会试图重修旧好。当时，网球被列为墨西哥城奥运会的表演项目，但是观众寥寥，气氛冷淡。1984年，双方同意再次尝试合作。在洛杉矶奥运会上，网球再次被列为表演项目。也正是在这次奥运会上，职业运动员首次正式获得参加各项奥运比赛的许可。网球赛赛事的门票被球迷们抢购一空。1988年，网球和奥运会最终重归于好，网球再次成为奥运会的正式比赛项目。
　　Tennis and Olympics: An On-Again, Off-Again Relationship
　　When the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece in 1896, Tennis was part of the athletic festival. John Boland of Ireland won the first gold medal awarded in Olympic tennis. He won a second gold that same year for doubles. Women first played Olympic tennis in 1900. “Chattie” Cooper of Britain won the gold.
　　Top tennis players couldn’t always make it10) to those early Olympic Games because of their tournament schedule. In 1912, the Olympics and Wimbledon were at the same time and all of the best players chose to compete at Wimbledon.
　　Tennis and the Olympics had a messy11) break-up after the 1924 games. The Olympic Committee and various tennis federations could not agree on how to settle the question of whether professional players would be allowed to compete. Tennis and the Olympics tried to reconcile in 1968 when tennis was a demonstration sport in Mexico City, but the crowds were small and the enthusiasm lacking. In 1984, they agreed to try it again. When tennis was played at the Los Angeles Olympics, again as a demonstration sport, it was the first time professional athletes were officially allowed to compete in any Olympic sport. Fans bought out every seat at the tennis. In 1988, the reconciliation was complete and tennis was once again an Olympic medal sport.

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　　女子网球长足发展
　　自从温菲尔德为他的游戏申请专利以来，人们不论男女都很喜欢这项运动。女子选手们花了稍长一点的时间才获得了今日所享受的尊重和职业地位，这并非是因为她们缺少天分，而是因为公众和网球赞助商在接受女子网球运动方面慢了一拍。
　　女子选手首先要克服的一个障碍就是着装。19世纪时，女子选手打网球时穿的是胸衣、衬裙和长裙。1919年，一位勇敢的法国女子彻底颠覆了这一传统。当时女子网球的顶尖选手苏桑·朗格朗在温布尔登网球赛上现身时，身穿一件短袖连衣裙，裙摆的长度刚刚过膝。她的这身装束让人大为震惊。这一更为舒适的网球服的出现令各地的女子欢呼不已。
　　第二个障碍是资金。1970年，玛格丽特·考特赢得了大满贯冠军头衔，她赢得了所有四项主要赛事的冠军，但奖金总额才1.5万美元。而男子比赛的奖金要丰厚得多。同一年，在洛杉矶的网球锦标赛上，男子冠军获得的奖金为1.25万美元，女子冠军的奖金却只有1500美元，而且要自己支付参赛费用。于是，此后，在维珍妮牌女式香烟的赞助下，女子选手开始参加属于她们自己的女子锦标赛。仅一年之后，女子比赛的奖金就高达四万美元。1973年，在美国网球公开赛上，女子冠军与男子冠军的奖金数额首次持平。
　　You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby12)
　　From the time Wingfield patented the game, both men and women have enjoyed the sport. It took a little longer for women to achieve the respect and professional standing they enjoy today—not because they lacked talent, but because the public and tennis sponsors were a little slower to embrace the women’s game.
　　One of the first obstacles women had to overcome was dress. In the 1800s, women played tennis in corsets13), petticoats14) and long skirts. A daring French woman changed all of that in 1919. Suzanne Lenglen, the top woman’s player of the day, appeared at Wimbledon wearing a shocking white dress with short sleeves and a hem15) that fell just below her knees. Women everywhere cheered the advent of more comfortable tennis attire.
　　The second obstacle was money. When Margaret Court won her Grand Slam title in 1970, she earned just $15,000 for winning all four major tournaments. Men were competing for much larger cash prizes. In that same year, the men’s winner at a tournament in Los Angeles earned $12,500. The woman’s champion earned $1,500 and had to pay her own expenses. So the women started their own tournaments with the sponsorship of Virginia Slims cigarettes. Just one year later, women were playing for purses as large as $40,000. In 1973, for the first time ever, the women’s and men’s champions at the U.S. open earned equal prize money.
            
            

enone

　　名字不俗
　　从一个被冠名为“司法瑞斯泰克”的在英国宴会上玩的草地游戏发展到今天，网球的确已经走过了一段漫长的发展历程。现如今，网球运动已经遍及世界各地，运动场地从草地、粘土场到合成塑胶场，再到水泥场地，种类各式各样。数百万球迷通过电视观看他们喜爱的选手征战赛场。网球明星已跻身全世界最知名的体育名流之列。对于一项早期名称如此另类的运动来说，这已是相当不错了。
　　What a Name for a Game
　　Tennis truly has come a long way from the time when it was known as sphairistike and played on the lawns of Great Britain at parties. Today, tennis is played around the world on surfaces ranging from grass, to clay, to composite rubber to cement. Millions of fans watch their favorite players compete in televised tournaments. Tennis stars are some of the most well known sports personalities in the world. Not bad for a game that started with such an unusual name.
1.       stroke [strəʊk] n. (网球等)一击
2.       hourglass [ˈaʊə(r)ˌɡlɑːs] n. 沙漏
3.       baseline [ˈbeɪsˌlaɪn] n. (网球场、羽毛球场)等的底线
4.       ditch [ditF] vi. 抛弃，丢弃
5.       Bermuda [bə(r)ˌmjuːdə] n. 百慕大群岛(北大西洋西部群岛，自治英属殖民地)
6.       guinea [ˈɡɪni] n. 几尼(英国的旧金币，值一镑一先令)
7.       vie [vaɪ] vi. 竞争
8.       Davis Cup：戴维斯杯网球赛，始办于1900年，是世界男子团体赛中的重要比赛，也是除奥林匹克网球比赛外历史最长的网球比赛。
9.       brainchild [ˈbreɪnˌtʃaɪld] n. 某人或某集团最初的想法或计划
10.   make it：〈口〉及时抵达；达到预定目标
11.   messy [ˈmesi] adj. 棘手的
12.   You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby：维珍妮牌女式香烟(在下文中出现)最初的广告语。维珍妮牌香烟由世界最大的香烟制造商——美国奥驰亚集团生产制造，于1968年上市，其定位的消费群体为年轻职业女性。
13.   corset [ˈkɔː(r)sɪt] n. 胸衣
14.   petticoat [ˈpetiˌkəʊt] n. 衬裙
15.   hem [hem] n. 下摆

       “To see Good Tennis! What divine joy
       Can fill our leisure, or our minds employ?
       Let other people play at other things;
       The King of Games is still the Game of Kings.”
                                                 —by J.K. Stephen
         “来看精彩的网球吧！何等无尚的乐趣
         可以填补闲暇，或者开动脑筋？
         让其他人去参加其他的运动吧；
         运动之王者仍然是王者之运动。”
                                                                        ——J·K·斯蒂芬
From www.sportsknowhow.com 译 / 侯伟伟
《新东方英语》2011年8月号