作者：王曉輝

上海博物館收藏有一幅《宋太祖蹴鞠圖》（錢選《蹴踘圖卷》），畫面上六個人正在全神貫注地踢足球。這六個人，可以說是世界足球史上最豪華的球員陣容：宋太祖趙匡胤、宋太宗趙光義、宰相趙普、開國功臣楚昭輔、大將黨進和石守信。他們的球技如何姑且不談，但兩任皇帝帶著高級別官員踢足球，足以說明足球在宋朝流行的程度。

宋太祖趙匡胤一代雄主，勤于朝政，偶爾踢幾腳球，放松一下心情，無可厚非?？伤暮笫雷訉O就不一樣了，放著好好的江山不管，把所有的精神頭兒都放在吟詩作畫喝酒踢球上了。《水滸傳》故事中，大宋朝的衰落就是從一場足球比賽開始的，而率先出場的人物就是高俅：

且說東京開封府汴梁宣武軍，一個浮浪破落戶子弟，姓高，排行第二，自小不成家業，只好刺槍使棒，最是踢得好腳氣毬。京師人口順，不叫高二，卻都叫他做高毬。后來發跡，便將氣毬那字去了毛傍，添作立人，便改作姓高名俅。

這段文字看著容易，翻譯起來很難。我們先來看看賽珍珠的翻譯：

... there lived in the eastern capital of K'ai Feng Fu, Honan, in P'ien Liang county, an idling, noisy, bragging fellow surnamed Kao, a second son, who from his youth had never established a home. His sole ability was in wielding weapons, in fencing with a staff, and in kicking a ball and at this he was most skillful. People did not call him by his name Kao The Second, but all called him Kao The Ball Kicker, and the name became no longer a nickname but a proper name, Ball Kicker.

“浮浪破落戶子弟”，賽珍珠根據自己對“浮浪”一詞的理解，解釋性地譯為idling, noisy, bragging fellow，意思是游手好閑、吵鬧喧嘩、喜歡吹噓的家伙。高二、高毬、高俅分別譯為Kao The Second、Kao The Ball Kicker、Ball Kicker。對于英語讀者來說，這已經足夠了，如果一定要給他們解釋清楚高毬的“毬”去了毛傍加上個立人就變成了“俅”，而且此“俅”并非彼“毬”，不僅沒有必要，還會把讀者繞得暈頭轉向，徹底失去了閱讀的興趣。

沙博理將“浮浪破落戶子弟”與后面的“自小不成家業”聯系起來，譯為there lived a young scamp named Gao. A second son, he was quite useless。scamp的意思是小流氓、搗蛋鬼，今天英美人口語中形容那些游手好閑不務正業的人也會用useless scamp或者useless scumbag，近似于網絡上常說的“人渣”。在翻譯高毬名字的變化時，沙博理展現出了深湛的功力。“京師人口順”，也就是京城人喜歡說俏皮話，People in the capital were fond of making quips，所以把他叫做Gao Qiu, or "Gao the Ball"。沙博理巧妙地避開了“毛傍”和“立人”的糾纏，將“后來發跡，便將氣毬那字去了毛傍，添作立人，便改作姓高名俅”一句翻作Later, when he prospered, he changed "Qiu" to another character with the same sound but with a less inelegant meaning。將“毬”換成了同樣發音的另一個“俅”字，只是意思沒有那么低俗而已。

約翰·登特-楊也注意到了這個問題，他的譯法是：The people of the capital therefore referred to him not in the customary way as Second Brother Gao, but as Gao Qiu or Gao-the-Ball. Later, when he began to get on in the world, he transformed this nickname into Gao-le-Bel. 與沙博理一樣，約翰·登特-楊也把高毬翻譯成Gao-the-Ball，所不同的是他用英語Gao-the-Ball來翻譯高毬，用法語Gao-le-Bel來翻譯高俅，“Qiu”還是那個“Qiu”，只是換成了法語，檔次似乎就提升了好多。這種借用法語來表達的翻譯方法非常巧妙，因為熟悉歐洲語言的人都知道，法語曾經是英國王室和貴族使用的語言，在英語中夾雜法語很容易給人以虛榮和自命不凡的感覺，也就是人們經常詬病的the snob associations of French in English usage。

【配圖：彭靖雯】

高俅雖然游手好閑不務正業，但卻十分機敏伶俐，幾經輾轉，到了駙馬都尉府上當差。有一天，駙馬爺派他去給端王也就是未來的宋徽宗送兩件文玩玉器，正趕上端王在踢足球。也是機緣巧合，那球恰好滾到了高俅腳邊，高俅一時興起，使了一個“鴛鴦拐”，將球踢還給了端王。高俅絕技在身，出腳不凡，立刻引起了端王的注意：

“你原來會踢氣球。你喚做甚么？”高俅叉手跪復道：“小的叫做高俅，胡踢得幾腳。”端王道：“好！你便下場來踢一回耍?！备哔窗莸溃骸靶〉氖呛蔚葮尤?，敢與恩王下腳?！倍送醯溃骸斑@是‘齊云社’，名為‘天下圓’，但踢何傷?！备哔丛侔莸溃骸霸醺??！比匚宕胃孓o。端王定要他踢，高俅只得叩頭謝罪，解膝下場。才踢幾腳，端王喝采。高俅只得把平生本事都使出來，奉承端王。那身分模樣，這氣球一似鰾膠粘在身上的。

賽珍珠的譯文：

When Kao Ch'iu saw the ball come he had a sudden access of courage and he kicked the ball sidewise to Prince Tuan. ...

... "How is it you can kick the ball so skillfully? What is your name?"

Kao Ch'iu forked his fingers together and he knelt and said, "My insignificant name is Kao Ch'iu and I can kick but a very little."

"Good -- good!" cried Prince Tuan. "Come into the court and kick once."

Kao Ch'iu knocked his head on the ground at this and he said, "What sort of a person is this poor creature to dare to shake his foot with that of the great Prince?"

"Here is a man whose name is Ch'i Yuin Shê," answered Prince Tuan. "His nickname is The Prime Kicker. Now you kick the ball with him! It does not matter."

Kao Ch'iu objected; again and again he said, "But how dare I?"

Time after time he refused, and although Prince Tuan insisted, Kao Ch'iu only bowed and bowed again and thanked him deprecatingly. At last, however, he kicked a few times and when Prince Tuan cried "Good!" Kao Ch'iu exerted his entire skill to exhibit it to Prince Tuan.

It was a beautiful spectacle. He kicked the ball so skillfully about his person that it looked as though it clung to him of its own will.

高俅踢球的腳法叫“鴛鴦拐”，應該是當時流行的足球術語，類似于今天的“倒鉤”和“香蕉球”。三位翻譯家給出了三種不同的譯法。

賽珍珠：kicked the ball sidewise to Prince Tuan

沙博理：kicked it back to the prince with a "mandarin duck and drake twist"

約翰·登特-楊：gave it the special kick known as "a duck and drake" or a "double bend"

“鴛鴦拐”究竟怎么個踢法，還要請教足球專家。按照我一個外行人的理解，“鴛鴦拐”應該與武術中的“鴛鴦連環腿”差不多，兩腳如兩只鴛鴦，一前一后，身體躍起后空中轉身，飛起一腳將球踢出去。以上三種譯法當中，似乎沙博理的翻譯最為準確且簡潔明了。

端王與高俅對話中提到的“齊云社”和“天下圓”，是翻譯過程中必須了解的知識點。足球起源于中國，迄今已有2000多年的歷史，古人稱之為“蹴鞠”（亦作“蹴踘”）。戰國時期蹴鞠就已相當流行；到了宋代，還出現了蹴鞠藝人的社團，也就是今天的民間足球俱樂部。齊云社是宋朝最為著名的全國性的蹴鞠社團，又稱“圓社”，負責組織比賽和宣傳推廣。之所以叫“齊云社”和“天下圓”，主要是表達技藝之高可至云端，影響之廣可達天下的意思。

賽珍珠顯然犯了望文生義的錯誤。她把“齊云社”理解為一個場上踢球的人，而且這個人還有一個名字叫“天下圓”。端王道：“這是‘齊云社’，名為‘天下圓’，但踢何傷?！?"Here is a man whose name is Ch'i Yuin Shê," answered Prince Tuan. "His nickname is The Prime Kicker. Now you kick the ball with him! It does not matter." 按照賽珍珠的翻譯，端王是在給高俅介紹一個姓齊的足球隊員。

約翰·登特-楊理解了“齊云社”和“天下圓”的意思，因此他的翻譯也是非常準確的："This is the Clouds Company, a club for players," the Prince said. "We call ourselves 'Kickers United.' What possible harm can there be in your playing with us?"

沙博理譯文最為貼切："Why not? This is the Clouds-High League, known as the All-Round Circle. It's open to anyone." 用Clouds-High翻譯出了“齊云”，用All-Round翻譯出了“天下”，搭配上League和Circle，可以說是絲絲入扣，毫厘不爽，所采用的語氣也十分符合小說中呈現的場景。

高俅憑借一記“鴛鴦拐”，順利地留在了王府，成了端王的跟班；不到兩個月，哲宗駕崩，端王成了宋徽宗。高俅雞犬升天，青云直上，當上了殿帥府太尉，相當于禁軍司令，執掌兵權。得勢之后，高俅迅速由小壞變成了大奸，先是迫害王進，接著又把林沖逼上梁山。在徽宗皇帝的縱容之下，高俅與童貫等奸臣沆瀣一氣，把朝廷上下折騰得烏煙瘴氣，大宋的運勢也就此由盛轉衰。

一個足球，改變了一個混混的人生軌跡，也引出了令人熱血沸騰的水滸英雄的故事。