Pete Sampras will leave the game as he played it, a modest, easy, all-time great.You see all kinds of retirements in sports, and most of them are emotionally anddifficult to watch. There's the weeping news conference. There's the endless,ceremonial you'll-miss-me tour. There's the stutterstep retirement, in whichthe athlete retires only to unretire when he craves attention or needs th money.
Almost no one retires well.
皮特 桑普拉斯就要离开赛场了，就像他奋
斗其中时一贯的姿态，谦逊、从容、历来卓越
。在体育圈，你肯定见过各种退役，它们大多
数时候都矫情浮夸到不堪入目。这其中有一把
鼻涕一把泪的新闻发布会；有没完没了、形式
隆重的纪念巡演；还有那种耍花枪式退役，在
这里那些运动员退役，只是为了在渴望博得眼
球或是手头拮据的时候好再杀个回马枪。总之
，就没个人能好好退役一把的。
But Sampras is retiring in graceful self-control. He plans to announce his
retirement in a ceremony at the U.S. Open tonight, and a lot of people wonder
why Sampras won't make more of the event, allow himself to be more
elaborately feted. The simple answer is that Sampras doesn't need it. He
doesn't need a last jolt of adrenaline or dose of adulation. He doesn't need a
prolonged ego bath. He doesn't need more money, or trophies. He doesn't need
any of the things that other athletes find it so hard to walk away from. He's
content.
而桑普拉斯却正把退役这件事把控得风度
翩然。他计划在今天全美网球公开赛当晚的仪
式上宣布自己的退役，很多人好奇为什么塞浦
路斯不多为这件事做些准备，好让他自己能被
更澎湃地热爱。答案很简单，桑普拉斯不需要
。他并不需要最后的兴奋和麻醉，不需要日后
长久的孤芳自赏，也不需要更多的钱和奖杯。
对于其他运动员很难割舍的那些东西，他一律
不需要。因为，他已然知足。
That contentment is a kind of achievement in its own right. Sampras has made
himself invisible since his victory in last year's U.S. Open. His 14th major
championship now stands as the last match of his career, the perfect finish.
这种知足本身就是一种成就。桑普拉斯在去
年取得美国网球公开赛的胜利之后，就开始刻
意淡出。他的第十四个重大锦标赛冠军现在就
矗立在他职业生涯的最后一场赛事上，完美的
结束。
He's never played in another tournament. He's declined all interviews. He's
simply stayed at home with his wife and new baby. Typically，he's chosen the
anticlimactic first night of this year's tournment, rather than the last. to make
his announcement. The session isn't even sold out.
他没有参加其他联赛，也拒绝了所有的采
访，只是简单地在家陪着妻子和刚出世的孩子
。他代表性地选择年度联赛最冷淡的第一晚，
而非最后一晚，来做出他的宣布。这个赛季甚
至票都还没有卖完。
Some may find this disappointing. but I find it to be utterly true to who Sampras
is. He never trusted fame, and always boxed up and guarded his ego.
有些人可能觉得这很扫兴，不过我却认为
这才完全符合桑普拉斯的性格。他从不信赖名
声，并且无时无刻不在坚守着得以完好保存的
自我。
Here are two true stories about Sampras, and how he consistently handled his
success from the time he won his first U.S. Open at 19, to his last at 32. In 1996,
Sampras was traveling cross-country in first class on a commercial jet, and sat
next to Barry Bonds. Bonds didn't recognize him, and Sampras, shyly, didn't
introduce himself. Behind Sampras sat a friend of Bonds, who wanted to sit with
the ballplayer. Bonds pointed at Sampras. "If this kid gets [up], you can move
up here," Bonds said. Sampras shugged and moved, without a word.
这里有两个真实故事，关于他自己以及他如何
始终如一地掌控那从19岁第一次拿到美国网球
公开赛开始，到23岁的最后一次的胜利：1996
年，桑普拉斯当时乘商务航班的头等舱做全国
巡游，他就坐在博瑞邦茨的旁边。邦茨没有认出
桑普拉斯，而桑普拉斯因为腼腆，也没有介绍
他自己。桑普拉斯的后面坐着一个邦茨的朋友
，想跟网球球手坐在一起。邦茨指着桑普拉斯
。“如果这孩子肯起来，你就坐过来吧。”邦
茨说道。桑普拉斯耸耸肩二话没说就让出了座
位。
At around the same time, he tried to go to dinner at a Florida steakhouse, only
to find that the line for a table went out the door. Sampras, for perhaps the only
time in his life, tried to use his influence. He walked up to the hostess and asked
for a table. The hostess didn't know who he was. Sampras went to the back of
the line, embarrassed, and never did it again.
大概在同一时期，他去佛罗里达的一家牛
排店用餐，只是发现等着用餐的客人排到了店
门外，桑普拉斯也许是这辈子唯一一次想利用
他的影响力。他径直走向女服务员，向她征求
一个餐桌。女服务员根本不认识他，于是塞浦
路斯只好悻悻地回到队尾，以后再也没这样做
过。
Sampras has been the same reserved and methodical player throught his career,
no matter how many tournaments he won or records he set. Which achievement
will stand longest? His record 14 Grand Slam titles? His seven Wimbledon titles?
His six straight years as the year-end No. 1 player in th world? It's the latter that
Sampras might be proudest of, because it bespeaks an entire philosophy of the
game, tennis as ethic. He wasn't just great, he was dependably great. He never
tanked, never ducked a commitment and struck every ball with serious intent.
His work habits were equal to his talent.
纵观整个职业生涯，桑普拉斯总是那样保
守那样按部就班，不论他赢得多少联赛，创造
多少纪录。哪一个成就能矗立最长时间？是他
的14个大满贯冠军的记录？是他的7个温网冠军
？还是他蝉联六年的世界年终最佳球手？最近的那个才是
最值得桑普拉斯骄傲的，因为这个比
赛彰显了他网球伦理的全部信条。他不只是卓
越，他的卓越经得起考验。他从不掉链子，从
不回避承诺，以严格的意图打好每一个球。他的
工作习惯跟他的天资不相上下。
For this he was labeled boring, but the label did a disservice to a player who
made professionalism into artistry, and vice versa. He played complete and
deeply realized tennis, but the lulling beauty of his game was so hypnotic that
audiences couldn't imagine it came from sweat and work. In fact, it was the
product of grim focus, self-deprivation and discipline. He burned to win so much
that he got ulcers. He spent hours sweating with weights in a Florida garage
with no air-conditioning---"They don't air-condition the court at the Open", he
said.
就因为这他被贴上了平平无奇的标签，这
个标签对将技术发挥成艺术的球手是一种伤害
，反之亦然。当他全神贯注于网球比赛时那沉
稳的美是那样令人着迷，以至于观众无法想象
这一切来自于汗水和努力。事实上，这正是高
度专注，自我牺牲和严格训练的产物。他为了
胜利透支身体以至于得了溃疡。他在弗罗里达
的一个没有空调的车库里做负重训练，一练就
是好几个小时——“他们可不在公开赛球场上
开空调，”他说。
He traveled without seeing countries, rarely leaving his hotel expect to practice,
and he ate the same monastic training diet for years, sauceless pasta and
chicken. "Every meal, whether I liked it or not," he said. "Choking it down." A
rare splurge was to go to Vegas to play blackjack for a weekend, or to Peter
Luger's steakhouse in New York, which more often than not left him queasy
because he wasn't used to such rich food. It was a source of frustration to him
that the audience didn't grasp how much offort was behind the ease. "People
watch him win, and think that doesn't look too hard," his coach, Paul Annacone,
said. "But he'd like people to understand just how difficult it is."
他出门在外从来不去野外观光，如果不是
要去训练，他几乎不离开酒店，他常年吃着重
复的修士训练餐，鸡肉意面。“每一餐，不论
我是否喜欢，”他说。“都填下去。”偶尔的
挥霍就是周末去维加斯玩二十一点，要么就是
去纽约的皮特鲁格牛排餐厅，然而由于不习惯
吃太油腻的食物，经常是吃得他肠胃不适。观
众总是不关注他得意的背后所付出的许多努力
，是让他产生挫败感的源头之一。“人们看他
赢，就去想那看起来不太难，”他的教练，鲍
安娜科纳，说“不过，他倒是希望别人能多了
解其中的不易。”
The problem was that Sampras wasn't willing to abandon his reserve in
exchange for understanding. If that was the price, he preferred to be
misunderstood. He suffered a rare public breakdown at the Australian Open,
after learning that his coach and friend, Tim Gullikson, had terminal brain
cancer, and wept on the court in the midst of match against Jim Courier. But
later, he was bothered by his new popularity as a result of the episode. "It galled
me that it took something like that for people to say, "He's human," he said.
问题是，桑普拉斯并不会为
了换得理解就放弃他的保守。如果那是代价，
他宁愿被误解。澳洲公开赛上，在得知他的教
练和朋友，提姆高里克森，得了脑癌晚期之后
，他鲜有的在公众场合下情绪崩溃，竟然在与
吉姆科瑞尔的对抗赛赛事进行中，他当场痛苦
。可是没过多久，他就被这段小插曲所带来的
新名声所困扰。“我为因为这件事而被别人说
成是凡人而感到侮辱，”他说。
He preferred to stay sheltered in the hills above Los Angeles in a home that was
comfortabe, not palatial, and hidden behind towering old trees. " No one can see
in and I can't see out, and I like it that way," he said. "I'm Howard Hughes." He
kept his trophies on a shelf in the TV room, and enjoyed showing them, but with
typical self-deprecation. "They aren't as heavy as you think," he said.
他更喜欢躲在洛杉矶山区那掩映在树从中，舒适但不奢华的房子里。“没有人能看进来，我
也望不出去，我喜欢这样。”他说，“我象是霍华德修斯。”他把他的战利品放在电视间的架
子上，乐意展示给我们看，带着典型的自嘲，他说，“他们并不想你所想象的那么重。”
The press always found Sampras diffucult to render precisely because he was so
moderate and well-regulated. His genius came without the McEnroe-esque
emotional torture, and therefore was un-dramatic. He was neither heroic nor
villainous, he was simply excellent. Greatness was his only real excess. A villain
or tortured genious would have been easier to describe. He was not a good
conductor for audience emotions, either, because the whole point of him was
that he was great every day, and the last thing audiences want at a sports event
is the everyday.
媒体总是发现桑普拉斯很难精确地润色，
因为他总是表现的很温和，控制得很好。他的
杰出并非来自于麦肯罗式的情感折磨，因此是
毫无戏剧色彩的。他既没有英雄气概也不是劣
迹斑斑，他只是简单的优秀。优秀是他仅有的
真实附加值。一个劣迹斑斑或一个饱受煎熬的
天才还相对比较容易描述。他不是一个观众情
绪的绝佳引导，因为他全部的要点在于他每天
都一样的优秀，而观众在赛场上最想要的东西
就是每天的不一样。
But I''ll miss him, both personally and professionally. I'll miss his hugely
aspiring game. cloaked in that lazybones demeanor. I'll miss the prodigious
sleeper, the slouchy, gangly, drowsy kid who napped in the player lounge and
shuffled around in flip-flops for the past 15 years. I'll miss the determined,
glowering athlete who internalized pain but couldn't keep it from coming out
sideways. I'll miss the dedicated player who made a champion out of himself by
deciding that his work should be equal to his talent. I'll miss his gorgeous
classicism, his buried humor, his essential decency and his shy friendliness.
但我还是会想念他，不论是从私人的角度
还是从职业的角度。我会想念他隐藏在一副懒
骨头举止下那怀有巨大抱负的比赛。我会想念
那个伟大的沉睡者，那个15年来穿着人字拖在
休息间里打盹、走来走去的百无聊赖的颀长男
孩。我会想念那个将痛苦自己消化从不展露出
来的坚定地怒目而视的运动员。我会想念那个
在做出“自己的工作不能辜负自己天分”这个
决定之后就一意将自己打造成一个冠军的专注
球手。我会想念他华丽的古典主义，隐忍的幽
默感，骨子里的正派和腼腆的亲和力。
I suspect I won't see Sampras coming out of retirement to struggle to one more
quarterfinal, just so he can hear applause again. I won't see a seedier, paunchy
version of him on the senior tennis circuit a few years from now. The only place
any of us is liable to see him is courtside at a Lakers game, or walking his baby
in the park, contentedly. But then, Sampras has never wanted to be seen. He
only wanted to be great.
不过，我觉得我再也见不到桑普拉斯从退
役中复出，只为赢得更多的掌声，而在更多的
四分之一决赛中拼搏了。我也不会在几年后的
高级网球巡回赛上见到一个不修边幅大腹便便
版本的他。我们中的任何一个有可能碰到他的
地方也许是湖人队比赛的赛场边，也许是他和
孩子安闲地散着步的公园。但是，桑普拉斯绝
对是不想被看到的。他只是想追求卓越。