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Dragon Boats in the West 当龙舟划到了西方

详细资料: 创建于 2009年5月27日; 最后更新于 2024年5月25日; 发布于 2012年4月30日; 作者：Mike Lee; 点击数：247

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繁體中文譯本

A sport inspired by an ancient Chinese legend is taking off 起源于古老中国传说的划龙舟运动现正起飞

Inspired by the life and death of exiled Chinese poet Qu Yuan, dragon boat races are held worldwide and are especially popular in Canada. They’re less commonly seen in the United States, although that’s changing.

为纪念被放逐的中国诗人屈原的生与死所演变而成的龙舟竞赛，如今在世界各个角落都有举办，而且在加拿大格外受到欢迎。虽然在美国比较少看到龙舟比赛，但如今这个情况也渐渐有所改变。

Anyone who does see a dragon boat won’t forget it. Painted in bright colors, with heads that feature bulging eyes and bright-white fangs, they are to ordinary boats what a centipede is to a beetle. At 40 feet long and 650 to 1,300 pounds, dragon boats require 20 paddlers, plus a drummer and a steersman.

任何人只要见过龙舟的真面目，一定会很难忘怀它。以亮丽色彩绘制的龙舟，舟首有着龙凸出的眼睛以及白亮的龙齿，如果拿龙舟和普通船只相比，就好比是蜈蚣对甲虫般地天差地远。四十呎长、六百五十至一千三百磅重不等的龙舟，需要二十名桨手，外加鼓手和舵手各一。

But they fly through the water, if a team achieves the synchronicity borne of many hours of practice. For the teams it’s serious sport, but also a chance to socialize and have fun.

如果龙舟队历经多时挥汗练习之后，终于能营造出同步划桨的默契，就能在水中行舟如飞。对各个队伍来说，这不仅是严肃的运动，同时也是体验群体社交生活和享受乐趣的契机。

“This is my first year, and I’m loving it,” said Carolyn Weiss of Thunder Bay, Ontario’s Women on Fire. The all-woman Canadian team arrived in Superior, Wisconsin, at the Lake Superior Dragon Boat Festival with a comely uniform – long black skirts edged in flames and red and orange curling ribbon in their hair.

「这是我第一年参赛，而且我乐在其中，」加拿大安大略雷湾「火女」队成员卡罗琳．韦丝表示。这个加拿大女子队伍抵达威斯康星州苏必略参加「苏必略龙舟节」，成员各个身穿漂亮的制服──她们都穿黑长裙，裙摆镶着火焰图样，而头发上则绑着红、橘色的卷曲丝带。

A contagious idea 有感染力的理念迅速传开

The Harbortown Rotary in nearby Duluth, Minnesota, first got the idea for a benefit dragon boat festival after visiting Thunder Bay, said Superior Rotary vice president Pat Pluntz, but decided the Duluth waterfront wasn’t safe for a race. They approached the Superior Rotary, and the two clubs sent a team to paddle in Thunder Bay’s 2001 festival.

「苏必略扶轮社」副主席帕特．普朗兹表示，附近的明尼苏达州杜鲁斯「港市扶轮社」，成员造访雷湾后，头一次兴起了举办慈善龙舟节的点子，后来又认定杜鲁斯滨水地区主办舟赛的安全性不足，于是找上了「苏必略扶轮社」，最后两家分社连手推出一个队伍来参加雷湾二００一年举办的龙舟竞赛。

Festival planners from Thunder Bay came to help launch the Lake Superior festival. Races started at 7 sharp in the morning, with heats of four boats starting every 15 minutes, each frantically paddling a 400-meter courses: On the sidelines, teams waited for their races: The Iron Oresmen from Minnesota wore yellow hard hats, and Smoke on the Water sported Canadian-flag bandanas and red shirts with maple leaves on the sleeves.

而雷湾的龙舟节主办单位这次也赶来大力协助苏必略湖龙舟节事宜。舟赛准时在早上七点整展开，每十五分钟就有四艘龙舟进行预赛，每支队伍都在四百公尺全程奋力划桨冲刺。在一旁等候比赛的队伍，包括了来自明尼苏达州的「铁矿人」，各个头戴黄色硬质帽子，而「水上之烟」队则挥舞着有加拿大国旗图样印花的大手帕，红上衣袖子上则印有枫叶图案。

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exiled [ˋɛksaɪld] adj. 流亡的; 被放逐的 being sent or kept away from one’s country, village, etc., especially for political reasons

exile [ˋɛksaɪl] v. 流放; 放逐; 使离乡背井

fang [fæŋ] n. 尖牙, 犬牙

centipede [ˋsɛntə͵pid] n.【昆】蜈蚣

paddler [ˋpæd!ɚ] n. 划独木舟者

steersman [ˋstɪrzmən] n. 舵手；操舵员

synchronicity [͵sɪŋkrəˋnɪsətɪ] n. 同步性；同时发生

bear [bɛr] v. 带有, 具有（相似之处）；有（关系等）(过去式：bore 过去分词：borne born ) to have a tolerance for; endure

edge [ɛdʒ] v. 给……加上边

curling [ˋkɝlɪŋ] adj. 卷曲的; 鬈发的

waterfront [ˋwɔtɚ͵frʌnt] n. 水边, 滩；（城市中的）滨水区

approach [əˋprotʃ] v. 找……商量（或联系）

sharp [ʃɑrp] adv. 整（指时刻）

heat [hit] n.（赛跑等的一个）赛次；预赛 one round of several in a competition, such as a race; a less important race or competition which decides who will compete in the final event

frantically [ˋfræntɪklɪ] adj. 发狂似地; 拼命地

sideline [ˋsaɪd͵laɪn] n. 界线外（观众观看）的场地

sport [sport] v. 引人注目地穿戴; 炫耀

bandana [ bæn'dænə] n. 杂色丝质大手帕

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Giving it a try 放手一搏

Before I knew it, I was rowing myself, drafted to paddle in the second race.

转瞬之间，我自己也开始划了起来，因为我被推举参加第二组比赛。

After a few stretching exercises and a quick lesson – lean forward, try to synchronize with the people in front and diagonal to me and thrust my paddle deep into the water – we were in the boat and ready to go.

我做了几个伸展运动，又上了快速训练课程──包括了把身体往前倾、努力让自己和前面及斜对面的队友同步划桨、把桨深深切入水中──队友都在龙舟里就定位，准备出发了。

The starting gun cracked, our drum began to beat, we dug our paddles into the water in rhythm – and had nearly propelled ourselves into the next lane when the steersman shouted, “Hold the boat!”

开赛枪声响起，我们的鼓声也敲起，队友们依照固定的节奏划桨入水──结果几乎把我们的龙舟推到另一个赛道，害得舵手大喊「把舟稳住！」

At the end of the day we’d placed last of 70 teams, but who cares?

到最后（译注：词组at the end of the day指「到最后；到头来」），我们在七十个队伍中敬陪末座，但队友没人在乎！

“I haven’t done anything this fun for a long time,” said teammate Jackie Kearns of St. Paul, Minnesota.

「我已经好久都没有玩得这么尽兴了，」来自明尼苏达州圣保罗的队友贾姬．科恩斯如此说道。

Fun, exciting and colorful 充满乐趣、刺激又多采多姿

At the awards ceremony, I talked with Donna Stuart of Thunder Bay’s Dragons of Hope, who had placed first in the Breast-Cancer Survivors Challenge Class and second in the All-Women Challenge Class.

颁奖典礼时，我和雷湾「希望之龙」队的唐娜．史都华聊天，她是「乳癌存活者挑战课程」第一名的学员，她在「女性挑战课」则位居第二。

Across Canada, she said, there are 33 teams like hers, inspired by a Toronto study that showed the many benefits of dragon boat racing for breast-cancer survivors.

她说，加拿大各地还有卅三个和她所属队伍性质类似的龙舟队，她们都受到了一项多伦多研究的启发而开始划龙舟，因为研究指出，划龙舟比赛对罹患过乳癌的存活者健康上有很多帮助。

“We’re racing against each other, but also we’re racing trying to survive,” she said, beaming. “You’re all in the same boat, you all have to be together – as you can see, it’s awesome.”

「我们不只是相互竞赛，也是为了求生而竞赛，」她说道，脸上带着灿烂的笑容，「大家都在同一条船上（译注：词组in the same boat指同舟共济，但用在龙舟队伍上，也有在同一条船上的字面双关意），所有人都必须同舟共济才行──正如你所看到的，这真是太棒了。」

Now, Superior’s festival is even larger, with more of everything, including children’s activities, food vendors and boats.

如今苏必略龙舟的规模更盛大，包括了儿童活动、兜售食物的摊贩和龙舟数目等等的规模都增大了。

Apparently, dragon boat racing is an idea for which the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior were more than ready. “To go to a dragon boat festival is like getting out of everyday life and stepping into another world,” Pluntz says. “It’s exciting, it’s colorful and anything goes.”

但显然，对杜鲁斯和苏必略这对港市来说，举办龙舟赛的这个点子早就已经作好万全准备了。「去参加龙舟节就像是从日常例行生活中出走，然后一脚踏入另一个世界，」普朗兹说，「这不仅充满乐趣、又刺激无比，而且还多采多姿，凡事都行得通（译注：anything goes指任何事都可默许或容忍）。」

−by Beth Gauper

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