2019年经济学人 骑自行车的人雷蒙·布里多(2)

 

He thought he had had a lot of luck, in fact. Over a 18-year career he had chalked up 189 victories in other races, including the Vuelta a Espa?a, his only Grand Tour, La Flèche Wallonne, the French national champion-ship and the Paris-Nice (twice) against the great Belgian Eddy¹ Merckx. He also won the Milan-San Remo, though true to form it almost slipped away when he got a puncture² 125km from the finishand, on the final corner, was sent the wrong way by a policeman.

实际上，雷蒙认为自己有过很多次好运。在超过18年的生涯中，他已经取得了189次胜利，包括环西自行车赛冠军，他的唯一一次三大环赛冠军，拉弗莱舍-瓦隆赛，法国国家冠军，还有战胜了伟大的比利时车手艾迪·梅尔克斯，拿到尼斯赛冠军（两次）。雷蒙还赢得了米兰-圣雷莫的比赛，尽管他在离终点125公里的地方车胎被刺破了。并且在最后一个拐弯处，一名警察把他送错了方向。

Yet he held off the chasing field and won, by three seconds. He was also lucky, to his mind, to be cycling at all. The alternative was to be labouring, like his parents, on the rocky hills of Creuse, trying to make the bad soil yield enough to get bread for the table and rent in the landlord's wallet. He had left school at 14, like his three brothers, prepared to toil³, but also aware that his best times were when he was racing⁴ his bike between the villages onfair-days or speeding round the hills with his brothers, for all the world like one of the grim sleek⁵ riders in Miroir-Sprint magazine.

然而，他在比赛中以3秒的优势战胜了对手。雷蒙感到非常幸运能成为一个自行车手。另外一个选择就是成为农民，就像他的父母一样，在克勒兹省的岩石山上，试图让贫瘠的土地长出足够的粮食来填饱肚子，然后给房东交房租。雷蒙14岁就辍了学，像他的三个兄弟一样，准备做苦工，但他也意识到，他最好的时光是在集市上骑着自行车在村庄间穿梭，或与兄弟们在山间疾驰，就像《米洛-斯普林特》杂志上那些冷酷圆滑的骑手一样。

He could never be called sleek, more cuddly⁶, and after his service militairein Algeria pretty fat, but he shook off the weight and became a professional cyclist in 1960, when he was 24. What he did not shake off, but made much of, were his peasant roots. Between races he went back to help on the farm, and his style of cycling—dogged and determined⁷ on hills, a bit too leisurely⁸ on the time trials—owed something to farm work, too.

他永远不会被称作圆滑的人，更多的是逗人喜爱的人，在阿尔及利亚军队服役后，他非常胖，但他摆脱了肥胖，在1960年成为一名职业自行车手，当时他24岁。但是他没有摆脱而很重视的是他的农民根源。在比赛之余，他回到农场帮忙，他的骑车风格——在山上坚持不懈、意志坚定，在计时赛上有点太悠闲了——也得益于农活。

1 eddy   

n.漩涡，涡流

参考例句：

• The motor car disappeared in eddy of dust.汽车在一片扬尘的涡流中不见了。
• In Taylor's picture,the eddy is the basic element of turbulence.在泰勒的描述里，旋涡是湍流的基本要素。

2 puncture   

n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破

参考例句：

• Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
• My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

3 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

4 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

5 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

6 cuddly   

adj.抱着很舒服的，可爱的

参考例句：

• The beautiful crib from Mom and Dad is so cuddly.爸爸妈妈送的漂亮婴儿床真舒服。
• You can't call a hedgehog cuddly.你不能说刺猬逗人喜爱。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。