卡羅爾·惠勒 謝瓊 張家巽

I magine that you are 24 years old and your whole life—from the age of 4—has been devoted to one all encompassing1 pursuit， an activity that dominates your life and brings beauty， grace， and romance into the lives of millions of others. When you are 11， you find the perfect partner， with whom you can perform that activity in the most expressive， most exquisite way imaginable. The two of you grow together into a dream couple， personifying mastery of your common vocation and the most beautiful kind of loving relationship. When you are 19， you marry him. You have a child together， a charming little girl that you both dote on2. And then， suddenly， during a routine practice session， your mate， your love， your partner， stops， stumbles， falls， and dies of a heart attack， at 28. That is the tragic story of world class ice skater Ekaterina Gordeeva.

[2] Ekaterina and her husband， Sergei Grinkov， were the most winning pairs skaters on ice—in every way. You may have seen them yourself. If so， you’re not likely to have forgotten the tiny fragile Katia in the arms of her tall， strong， handsome partner， lovingly launched into3 the air， tenderly caught and enchantingly twirled around the ice in such devastatingly4 romantic numbers5 as“Romeo and Juliet”and “Vocalise”， which was based on the emotions expressed in The Kiss and other famous Rodin6 sculptures.

[3] Their performances were greeted with the ultimate accolades7—gold medals in two successive Olympics， four World Championships， and every other prize they sought.

[4] It was Ekaterina’s mother who sparked her determination to start remaking her life—by saying that she knew that little Dasha， having lost a father， needed at least “a healthy mom”. This prompted Ekaterina to ask a friend to send her skates. She realized， she says in her book， that “work is the only thing that can help people heal.”

[5] In February 1996， Ekaterina skated a moving tribute to Sergei which she performed to the music of Mahlers Symphony No.5. G&G’s8 favorite choreographer， Marina Zueva， created the program for her.

[6] Katia was nervous： It had been a long time since she has skated alone. She was afraid of the emotions the piece would evoke. It all simply exhausted her. But that night， her good friend Scott Hamilton told her， “Fill up the ice with yourself.”

[7] “And I could，” she said afterwards. And she did： Ekaterina glided onto the ice and performed perhaps more beautifully and movingly than ever before. “I felt huge， powerful， double strong9，” she said.

[8] No one who saw her that night will ever forget her performance， just as she will never forget her Sergei. But already we were learning， as she has learned， that the delicate， waif-like10 figure is a woman of great courage， strength， and artistry with a promising future before her. That sad farewell was the beginning of her new life.

想像一下你是24歲。從4歲開始你就把整個(gè)生命奉獻(xiàn)給了一個(gè)無所不包的追求，一項(xiàng)支配你的生命并把美麗、優(yōu)雅和浪漫情懷帶進(jìn)數(shù)百萬人生活中去的活動(dòng)。11歲時(shí)，你找到了理想的搭檔，在他的配合下，你得以以所能想像到的最富表現(xiàn)力和最精湛的技法來實(shí)施那項(xiàng)活動(dòng)。你倆一道成長(zhǎng)為一對(duì)夢(mèng)之侶，體現(xiàn)在你們?cè)诠餐氖聵I(yè)上取得的成就，并且保持著最美好的愛戀關(guān)系。19歲時(shí)，你嫁給他。你們一起有了個(gè)孩子，一個(gè)迷人的小姑娘。你倆都對(duì)她十分鐘愛。之后，在一次常規(guī)訓(xùn)練中，你的伴侶、你的愛人、你的夫君停下舞步，踉蹌一下，跌倒在地，心臟病發(fā)，猝然死去，年僅28歲。這就是世界級(jí)優(yōu)秀花樣滑冰運(yùn)動(dòng)員葉卡婕琳娜·戈?duì)柕贤薜谋瘎」适隆?/p>

[2]葉卡婕琳娜和她丈夫謝爾蓋·格林科夫無論在哪一方面都是全世界最富魅力的一對(duì)雙人滑運(yùn)動(dòng)員。你可能親眼見過他倆的表演。如果見過，那你可能不會(huì)忘記那個(gè)身材嬌小的卡佳（葉卡婕琳娜的愛稱）是怎樣由她高大、魁梧、英俊的搭檔用雙臂小心地拋向空中，然后被輕柔地接住，繼而在冰面上做出令人著迷的旋轉(zhuǎn)，背景音樂是極富有浪漫色彩的樂曲，比如“羅密歐與朱麗葉”及“無言歌”（練聲曲），后者表達(dá)的情感源于羅丹的《吻》和他的其他著名雕塑。

[3]他們的精彩表現(xiàn)獲得了很多最高獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)——連續(xù)兩屆奧運(yùn)會(huì)的金牌，4次世界冠軍以及他倆追求的其他獎(jiǎng)牌。

[4]是葉卡婕琳娜的母親點(diǎn)燃了她重建生活的決心，她媽媽說自己深知已經(jīng)失去了父親的小達(dá)莎起碼需要“一個(gè)健康的媽媽”。這促使葉卡婕琳娜請(qǐng)求一個(gè)朋友給她送來她的滑冰鞋。她在自己寫的一本書中說，她認(rèn)識(shí)到，“只有工作能幫助人們治愈心靈創(chuàng)傷?！?/p>

[5] 1996年2月，葉卡婕琳娜為紀(jì)念謝爾蓋舉行了一場(chǎng)感人的滑冰表演，用的音樂是奧地利作曲家馬勒的《第5交響樂》。他們倆最喜歡的舞蹈動(dòng)作設(shè)計(jì)師馬琳娜·祖耶娃為她編排了動(dòng)作。

[6]卡佳感到很緊張：因?yàn)樗?dú)自一人滑冰已經(jīng)是很久以前的事了。她害怕這次表演會(huì)引起自己的情緒波動(dòng)。這擔(dān)心簡(jiǎn)直使她精疲力竭。但那個(gè)晚上，她的好友斯科特·漢密爾頓對(duì)她說：“你要滿場(chǎng)飛！”

[7]“我能?！彼髞碚f。她確實(shí)做到了：葉卡婕琳娜輕盈地滑上冰場(chǎng)，滑出了比以往或許更為優(yōu)美動(dòng)人的舞姿。她說：“我覺得我棒極了，我很強(qiáng)大，加倍的堅(jiān)強(qiáng)?！?/p>

[8]那天晚上觀看她表演的人終生難忘她的演出，就像她永遠(yuǎn)忘記不了謝爾蓋一樣。但是我們已經(jīng)意識(shí)到，正如她也意識(shí)到的那樣，那個(gè)好像無所依傍的嬌小女子其實(shí)是個(gè)無所畏懼、堅(jiān)強(qiáng)有力且技藝超群的人——她前程無量。那場(chǎng)悲傷的告別演出是她新生活的起點(diǎn)。