34.Super Athlete of the Sangamon（超级运动员）
　　1. Two wrestlers stood in a circle of shouting onlookers² and sized up each other. One was of medium height, sturdily built and strong as an ox. He was stripped to the waist, revealing a huge chest overlaid with hard muscle. His arms were like the limbs of a tree. The other man towered over him, six feet and four inches tall and slender, his long arms dangling³ from his shoulders. His muscles were long and smooth, like those of a panther. The muscle man was Jack⁴ Armstrong. His tall opponent was 22-year-old Abraham Lincoln.
　　1、两个摔跤手站在一圈嚣叫的旁观者中心，互相打量着对方。一个是中等身材，肌肉结实，体壮如牛。他光着上身，露出宽大、厚实、满是肌肉的胸部，胳膊像树干一样粗。另一个人远远高出对手，6英尺4英寸高，身材细长，他的长胳膊摇晃着从肩膀垂下来。他的肌肉长且平滑，像豹子的一样。肌肉健壮的男子是杰克·阿姆斯特朗，他的高个子对手是22岁的亚伯拉罕·林肯。
　　2. Had Lincoln lived today, he would be a football coach's dream, a great tackle, a speed end, a genius at quarterback. He would be a one-man track team. As a baseball player, he would be a home-run hitter. But his day was yesterday, and he was destined⁵ for greater things.
　　2、如果林肯生活在今天，他将是橄榄球教练的梦想：一个出色的阻截员、一个快速的突击手、一个后场的天才。他将成为一个“一人队”型橄榄球队的明星。若他是一个棒球手，他会是一个全垒击球手。但是他生活在昨天，他注定要成就更大的事业。
　　3. That Saturday afternoon in the village of New Salem, in Sangamon Country, Illinois in the year 1831, every man, and boy in town was at the circle that formed to watch the unknown Lincoln wrestle¹. Armstrong was the leader of a gang of rough men from Clary's Grove⁶, a strip of land three miles from the village. Lincoln was a newcomer, almost a stranger.
　　3、1831年的那个周六下午，在伊利诺斯州桑格蒙郡的纽沙龙村，镇上的每个男人和男孩子都聚集成一个圈观看默默无闻的林肯摔跤。阿姆斯特朗是一伙粗人的头目，来自克莱尔小树林，那是距离本村子三英里外的一长条土地。林肯是新来的人，几乎还是个陌生人。
　　4. A vacant lot beside a store was the site chosen for the match. The men agreed that it was to be a friendly affair, with such customary tricks as eye gouging⁷, hair pulling, ear tearing and nose biting barred. At the signal Armstrong went after Lincoln with the rushes of a maddened bull, trying to knock him off his feet, but Abe held him off with his arms.
　　4、商店旁的一块空地被选作赛场。双方同意这将是一场友谊赛。惯常使用恶行：如抠眼睛、抓头发、撕耳朵、以及咬鼻子等被禁止。阿姆斯特朗一听到信号，就像头发疯的公牛般直冲林肯而去，试想把他撞倒在地，但是被林肯用他的胳膊挡住。
　　5. Lincoln tried to lift his opponent off the ground and slam him hard on his back. Armstrong was not to be handled so easily and they shoved each other all over the lot. The crowd moved along with them. The Clary's Grove Champion finally lost his temper and fouled⁸ Lincoln by grinding his foot with a boot heel. That touched off the fireworks. All rules were now forgotten. His face dark with anger, Lincoln grasped Armstrong by the throat, lifted him clear of the ground, shock him as thought he were a rag and threw him so hard that he lay stunned⁹.
　　5、林肯试着把他的对手从地上提起，然后给其后背猛烈一击。但是，阿姆斯特朗不那么容易对付，他们俩在整个空地上推来推去。人群追随着他们移动。克莱尔小树林的冠军终于失去了他的耐心，开始对林肯下黑手，用他的皮靴的鞋跟去踩林肯的脚。这一下点燃了战火。所有的规则都被忘在脑后。林肯气得脸发黑，他掐住阿姆斯特朗的喉咙，径直把他从地上提起像对付一块破布一样打击他，然后把他用力扔了出去，使得阿姆斯特朗倒在那里直发愣。
　　6. The Clary's Grove boys looked at their beaten leader and turned on Lincoln. He retreated a few steps to the grocery building, braced¹⁰ himself against the wall and told them to come and get him if they dared. Armstrong put an end to that. He got up, pushed his friends aside and grabbed Lincoln's hand. Turning to the crowd, Armstrong said he had been fairly beaten and that Abe Lincoln was the "best feller" who ever came to New Salem.
　　6、克莱尔小树林的男孩子们看着头儿挨揍，转向林肯。林肯退后几步到杂货店前，背靠墙，对他们说，有胆量就上来抓他。阿姆斯特朗制止了对峙。他站起来，把他的朋友推到一边，抓住了林肯的手，面对人群说他被公平地打败了，林肯是纽沙龙村从未有过的“最棒的家伙”。
　　7. Lincoln’s feats¹¹ of strength became the talk of the nearby town of Gentryville. A farmer wished to move a corncrib, so Abe picked it up placed it on the desired spot while four men, who had come with poles to help, looked on, surprised. People in Gentryville saw him move a chicken house alone and they swore it weighed 600 pounds.
　　7、林肯的角力功夫成为根特维拉小镇附近谈论的话题。有个农夫希望移动玉米仓库，林肯把它搬起来放到想要移动的地方，其实四个拿着杆子来帮忙的人刚刚到，看着仓库，惊叹不已。根特维拉有人见过他一个人搬动一个鸡笼，估计鸡笼重达600磅。
　　8. One of the most frequently told tales about Lincoln's strength is that he won a bet the could drink from a barrel held in his arms. It was a trick he did time and again. A man who knew him well in Indiana said he had often seen Lincoln grasp a barrel of cider and lift it to his face as if to drink. “And he did it," said his friend, “with the greatest ease."
　　8、有关林肯的力气，人们谈论最频繁的故事之一，是他打赌他能举着酒桶直接喝酒。这本来是个恶作剧，但是他表演了一次又一次。一个在印第安纳州熟识他的人说，他经常看到林肯抓起一桶苹果酒举到脸前像要喝似的。“他做了，”林肯的朋友说，“简直轻而易举”。
　　9. When Lincoln was about 20 and still living in Indiana, he starred in a roughhouse that began with a fist fight. His sister, Sarah, married into the Grigsby family. The Grigsby family did not invite him when their two sons were married later in a double ceremony, and he evened matters by writing some tomfoolery that was passed around the neighborhood with a chuckle¹². He later wrote a rhyme about another Grigsby son, William, noted¹³ for his ugly face and bald head. William threatened to beat up Lincoln, but Abe refused to fight him, saying he was much too big and too strong to meet a Grigsby.
　　9、在林肯大约20岁并且仍然住在印第安纳州时，他在一场拳击中，就成为这个拳击场的明星。他妹妹萨拉，嫁入了格雷斯比家族。不久格雷斯比家的两个儿子同时结婚，举行的两场仪式都没有邀请他。他写了一些与此有关的愚蠢笑话，传到邻居那里博得了大家一笑，这件事就平息了。不久他写了一首有关格雷斯比另一个儿子威廉的韵诗，述及他丑陋的脸和光秃的头。威廉威胁说要揍林肯，但是林肯拒绝和他打斗。他声称自己太壮太强，不会去和一个格雷斯比家的人打。
　　10. Lincoln got his step-brother, John Johnston, as his proxy¹⁴. The fight did not go as Lincoln figured; Grigsby gave John a sound thrashing, but broke the rules by jumping on him after he was down. Lincoln pulled Grigsby off, raised him shoulder high and threw him aside as though he were a sack of meal.
　　10、林肯让他的异母兄弟约翰·约翰斯通代替他，如同他的代理人。这场架不似林肯想象的那样。格雷斯比给了约翰一顿有力地痛打，但是他犯了规，他在约翰倒地之后跳到了他身上。林肯拖开格雷斯比，把他举到肩膀这么高，扔到一边，如同他是一口袋面粉。
　　11. Grigsby’s friends thought Lincoln had no right to interfere¹⁵ and told him so. Waving his arms over his head, Lincoln declared he was the "big buck¹⁶ of the lick" and was ready to prove it. The Grigsby crowd rushed him and a free-for-all followed, much to the regret of the Grigsbys .Lincoln came out the winner.
　　11、格雷斯比的朋友认为林肯无权干扰比赛，并且这样告诉了他。林肯在头上挥舞双臂，宣布他是“重击雄鹿”，并准备予以证明。格雷斯比家的人冲过来，随之是一场大混战，格雷斯比家族很是懊恼，林肯是大混战的胜利者。
　　12. After he had beaten Armstrong at New Salem, Lincoln added to his reputation by proving that wrestling was not the only sport in which he was good. He won foot races in the village streets. He had little competition in the running high jump. When the boys were broad jumping, Lincoln would wait until every one had done his best, and then beat them all with a single effort.
　　12、在纽沙龙林肯击败阿姆斯特朗之后，林肯进一步提高了自己的声誉，证明了自己并不仅仅在摔跤上有特长。他在大街上赢得了跑步冠军。他在跳高中似乎没有对手。当男孩子跳远时，林肯会等到每个人都已经跳出最好成绩，然后他只要一跳就将他们全部击败。

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