He was just a boy， only 17. Yet in the World Cup final of 1958 Edson Arantes do Nascimento， better known as Pelé， showed the poise1 and supreme skill that would mark his career. As Brazil led Sweden， the hosts， by two goals to one he received a high pass in the penalty area. With a defender on his shoulder2， he caught the ball on his chest， took one pace3 and flipped the ball high over another defender before running to meet it and driving an unstoppable volley4 low into the net.

他還是個小將，年僅17歲。然而在1958年世界杯決賽中，埃德松·阿蘭特斯·多納西門托（更為人熟知的稱呼是貝利）展現(xiàn)出了他職業(yè)生涯中標志性的矯健身姿和超凡技巧。當巴西隊以二比一領(lǐng)先東道主瑞典隊時，他在禁區(qū)內(nèi)接到一記高傳球。面對一名后衛(wèi)的近身緊盯，他挺胸停球，一個加速，把球高高挑過另一名后衛(wèi)的頭頂，然后奔到球前，以一腳勢不可擋的凌空抽射，把球低送入網(wǎng)。

Though he said so himself， it was a nice goal. After looping in another5， realising they were about to win the whole tournament， he passed out with emotion on the pitch. He felt he had achieved everything， all his dreams come true—even to a fling with6 a blonde， blue-eyed Swedish girl who was crazy for this little black Crioulo7， as he loved to call himself.

這球進得漂亮，雖然這是他自己的說法，但此言不虛。他穿梭過人梅開二度后，意識到巴西隊即將贏得本屆冠軍，激動得昏倒在球場上。他覺得自己實現(xiàn)了一切目標，所有的夢想都已成真——他甚至一度t0Ty42tYuthqhjDMs0q5Jw==與一個金發(fā)碧眼、為這個黑小鬼而著迷的瑞典女孩墜入愛河，他喜歡自稱黑小鬼。

This was only the first of three World Cups he won， more than any other player. It might have been four， but in 1966 the Bulgarian and Portuguese defenders kicked him to pieces， the referees didn’t protect him and Brazil， he thought， were badly prepared anyway， so they crashed out8.

他三奪世界杯，次數(shù)無人可敵，而這只是第一次。他本來有可能四次捧杯，但在1966年那屆，保加利亞隊和葡萄牙隊的后衛(wèi)把他踢成重傷，裁判也沒有關(guān)照他，而巴西隊在他看來本就準備不足，于是慘遭淘汰。

Three Argentines—Alfredo Di Stéfano， Diego Maradona and Leo Messi—all had their claims to be the world’s greatest footballer. But he held the world record for goals， 1，279 in 1，363 matches， and that was unlikely to be surpassed. Even a goal he didn’t actually score， against England in the 1970 World Cup， became famous， because few—including him—could work out how Gordon Banks had managed to save it. Ever confident， he had shouted “Goal！” as he launched the header. It was scooped9 over the bar.

三位阿根廷球員——阿爾弗雷多·迪斯蒂法諾、迭戈·馬拉多納和萊奧·梅西——都各有球迷稱其為世界上最偉大的足球運動員。但貝利在1363場比賽中打進1279球，保持著進球數(shù)的世界紀錄，而且這一紀錄不太可能打破。就連他在1970年世界杯上對陣英格蘭隊時沒有打進的一粒球也成了名球，因為包括他自己在內(nèi)，幾乎沒有人弄得清英格蘭門將戈登·班克斯是如何撲救的。一向自信滿滿的他在頭球攻門的同時高喊“進了！”。結(jié)果門將把球托出了門梁頂上。

As a forward he was not that tall， but he was strong， fast and had thighs as thick as his waist. He could read the game like a book， and control the ball as if it was drawn to him like a magnet. He could also tell exactly where he was needed， and when， and what the opposition might try to block him. All this seemed to make him a natural captain， but he never wanted that role officially. He would just show the team his best moves， and was happy to provide the killer pass for others to finish.

他身為前鋒，個子不算高，但身強體壯、速度迅猛，大腿和腰一樣粗。他善于解讀比賽形勢，仿佛球長在了腳上。他還能準確判斷出隊友需要自己何時出現(xiàn)在球場的何處，以及對手可能試圖怎樣阻斷他。這一切似乎讓他天生就是隊長的料，但他從無正式擔(dān)任隊長的念頭。他只會向全隊展示最佳招式，并樂于傳出威脅球，助攻他人踢出臨門一腳。

Dribbling10 was his great skill， flummoxing11 defenders with feints12 and sudden stops and starts. He could shoot for goal powerfully with either foot and despite his height， or lack of it， was a spring-heeled header of the ball. He jumped so easily over Tarcisio Burgnich， the Italian marking13 him in the 1970 World Cup final， that Burgnich doubted he was flesh and bone at all. Then he scored the first goal. He knew he was the best player in that tournament and， with the next World Cup four years away， he declared he wouldn’t play any more.

他的拿手好戲是運球，通過假動作和急停急走讓對方后衛(wèi)摸不著頭腦。他的左右腳都能大力射門，他盡管個子不高甚至偏矮，卻是個長著彈簧腿的頭球手。他在1970年世界杯決賽中一躍而起，輕而易舉地力壓盯防他的意大利球員塔爾奇西奧·布爾尼克，以至于布爾尼克懷疑他根本不是血肉之軀。然后，他甩頭頂進了第一粒球。他知道自己是那屆世界杯的最佳球員，而下一屆世界杯還遠在四年之后，他卻宣布不會再參加世界杯了。

He retired， he felt， at his best， and before football stopped being fun. His World Cup goal at 17 had been nothing but joy， no nerves， no responsibility， but his thousandth goal， in 1969 from a penalty， was completely different. His legs shook， the whole of the Maracan? stadium was yelling， and he was suddenly crushed by the thought that he， three times world champion， most famous footballer， could not miss this. He had never felt pressure like it.

他覺得自己是在巔峰期急流勇退的，退役再晚就會對足球失去興趣了。他17歲在世界杯進球的那一刻，心中只有快樂，沒有焦慮，沒有負擔(dān)，但1969年他主罰點球，第一千次破門的時候卻截然不同。他雙腿打顫，整個馬拉卡南體育場人聲鼎沸，他一想到自己是三屆世界冠軍、最負盛名的球員，不能罰失這粒點球，心就突然沉重起來。他感受到了前所未有的壓力。

Nor had he imagined he would face it. He was born in poverty in a town in the south-west of Minas Gerais state; his great-grandparents had been slaves. His first trainer was his father， a professional footballer whose career at Vasco da Gama was ended early by injury. His mother preferred him to be unhurt and earning proper money. Even a ball was too costly： he played with anything roughly round， socks stuffed with paper， mangoes or a bundle of rags. His lifetime love took root then， and never left him. The nickname “Pelé”， a classmate’s tease14， annoyed him at first （“Edson” was more serious， after Thomas Edison）， but he liked it better when he learnt it meant “miracle” in Hebrew. And miracles followed. At only 15 he was snapped up15 by Santos， his first professional club. Largely because of him it became the best team in the world in the early 1960s， winning two Intercontinental Cups.

他也沒有想到自己會面對這種壓力。他出生在巴西米納斯吉拉斯州西南部小鎮(zhèn)的貧寒家庭，曾祖輩是奴隸。父親是他的第一位教練，曾是效力瓦斯科·達伽馬俱樂部的職業(yè)足球運動員，因傷英年早退。母親希望他平平安安地好好賺錢。即使是一個足球，對他而言也太過昂貴；任何形似球狀的東西他都拿來踢，如塞滿紙的襪子、芒果或破布捆成的布球。從此他把畢生的愛好植根于心，從未割舍?！柏惱笔峭瑢W(xué)開玩笑起的綽號，他起初很討厭（本名“埃德松”更正經(jīng)，是發(fā)明家愛迪生的姓氏變體），但當他得知“貝利”在希伯來語中意為“奇跡”時，他就更愛聽別人叫這個綽號了。奇跡隨之而來。年僅15歲，他就被自己的第一家職業(yè)俱樂部桑托斯捷足先登簽下。桑托斯于20世紀60年代初成為世界頭號強隊，在洲際杯兩度奪魁，很大程度上要歸功于他。

Several big European clubs begged him to join them： Real Madrid， ac Milan， Bayern Munich. But Santos and Brazil’s government refused a transfer. Besides， life was so nice at Santos that he didn’t want to change， and he went on playing for the club long after he left the international game. He played before football was a global business： half his career was in black and white. In today’s game he would have been a billionaire. As it was， he had a sharp eye for money in deals off the pitch. At 34 he came out of retirement to help launch “soccer” in the United States， joining the New York Cosmos because， he said， Henry Kissinger persuaded him. By 1977， when his tenure ended， he was being called “O Rei”， “The King”—the very name that the playwright Nelson Rodrigues， a towering figure in Brazil， had given him years before when he had first seen him play for Santos.

皇家馬德里、AC米蘭、拜仁慕尼黑等歐洲幾大豪門俱樂部懇請他加盟。但桑托斯和巴西政府不肯讓他轉(zhuǎn)會。而且他在桑托斯過得非常愜意，無意換隊，在離開國際賽場很久之后仍繼續(xù)為桑托斯效力。他踢球的時代，足球尚未成為全球產(chǎn)業(yè)，他的運動生涯有半數(shù)時間身穿桑托斯的黑白戰(zhàn)袍。倘若在如今打比賽，他會是億萬富翁。盡管如此，事實上他對綠茵場外的生財之道獨具慧眼。34歲，他復(fù)出加入紐約宇宙俱樂部，幫助在美國推廣“英式足球”，他自稱這是因為受到亨利·基辛格的勸說。三年聘期在1977年結(jié)束后，他被譽為O Rei，即葡萄牙語的“王者”——這是多年前巴西赫赫有名的劇作家內(nèi)爾松·羅德里格斯第一次看到他代表桑托斯隊出征時給他取的綽號。

His life off the pitch was complicated， with three marriages and at least seven children. Women aside， though， he kept his life simple. He hoped to pass as an ordinary guy at airports， and never used the red diplomatic passport President Lula gave him. His way of winding down16 was to go fishing or to play pi?o with the wooden top he always carried， spinning it on his palm as long as he could. He was never an activist; just by being himself， he embodied black dignity. And he revelled in17 the beautiful game he played. His one regret was that he had never scored in the World Cup with a bicycle kick18.

他的場外生活并不簡單，有過三段婚姻和至少七個孩子。不過撇開女性不談，他的生活簡簡單單。他希望以普通人的身份在機場過境通關(guān)，從不使用盧拉總統(tǒng)給他的紅色外交護照。他的休閑方式是去釣魚，或者把玩木制陀螺，他總是隨身攜帶陀螺，讓它在手掌上旋轉(zhuǎn)得盡量久一些。他沒有當過黑人民權(quán)活動家，他只要做好自己，就體現(xiàn)了黑人的尊嚴。這項美妙的運動既是他的事業(yè)，也是他的嗜好。他的一個遺憾，是從未在世界杯上用倒掛金鉤射門得分。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)撸?/p>

1 poise穩(wěn)健、優(yōu)美的姿態(tài)；泰然自若、從容沉著的樣子。 2 be on one’s shoulder密切監(jiān)視，嚴防死守。 3 take a pace邁出一步。 4 volley截擊、截踢空中球。 5這一次是貝利胸部卸球，回頭觀察后衛(wèi)的位置，然后腳后跟將球傳給左路的扎加洛，扎加洛迅速高吊傳中，同時貝利前插，跳起來頭球破門。

6 源自習(xí)語have a fling with，義為“與（萍水相逢者）短暫調(diào)情”。 7 crioulo葡萄牙語，特指住在美洲、帶有撒哈拉以南非洲血統(tǒng)的黑人。這是帶有種族主義色彩的歧視語，現(xiàn)已棄用。 8 crash out（在比賽中）被難堪地淘汰出局。

9 scoop用類似鏟子或勺子的工具挖、鏟、舀、掏，這里指用手掌撲出。 10 dribble盤帶。 11 flummox使……不知所措。 12 feint佯攻，虛晃一槍。 13 mark緊盯住對方球員。

14 tease取笑，嘲弄，揶揄。 15 snap up搶購，率先爭奪到手。

16 wind down放松。 17 revel in沉湎于；縱情于。 18 bicycle kick在身體騰空、頭下腳上的狀態(tài)下像蹬自行車一樣踢球，是貝利最有特色的個人技巧。