34.Super Athlete of the Sangamon.
34、超级运动员
1. Two wrestlers stood in a circle of shouting onlookers and sized up each other. One was of medium height, sturdily built and strong as an ox. He was stripped to the waist, revealing a huge chest overlaid with hard muscle. His arms were like the limbs of a tree. The other man towered over him, six feet and four inches tall and slender, his long arms dangling from his shoulders. His muscles were long and smooth, like those of a panther. The muscle man was Jack Armstrong. His tall opponent was 22-year-old Abraham Lincoln.
1、两个摔跤手站在一圈嚣叫的旁观者中心，互相打量着对方。一个是中等身材，肌肉结实，体壮如牛。他光着上身，露出宽大、厚实、满是肌肉的胸部，胳膊像树干一样粗。另一个人远远高出对手，6英尺4英寸高，身材细长，他的长胳膊摇晃着从肩膀垂下来。他的肌肉长且平滑，像豹子的一样。肌肉健壮的男子是杰克·阿姆斯特朗，他的高个子对手是22岁的亚伯拉罕·林肯。
2. Had Lincoln lived today, he would be a football coach's dream, a great tackle, a speed end, a genius at quarterback. He would be a one-man track team. As a baseball player, he would be a home-run hitter. But his day was yesterday, and he was destined for greater things.
2、如果林肯生活在今天，他将是橄榄球教练的梦想：一个出色的阻截员、一个快速的突击手、一个后场的天才。他将成为一个“一人队”型橄榄球队的明星。若他是一个棒球手，他会是一个全垒击球手。但是他生活在昨天，他注定要成就更大的事业。
3. That Saturday afternoon in the village of New Salem, in Sangamon Country, Illinois in the year 1831, every man, and boy in town was at the circle that formed to watch the unknown Lincoln wrestle. Armstrong was the leader of a gang of rough men from Clary's Grove, a strip of land three miles from the village. Lincoln was a newcomer, almost a stranger.
3、1831年的那个周六下午，在伊利诺斯州桑格蒙郡的纽沙龙村，镇上的每个男人和男孩子都聚集成一个圈观看默默无闻的林肯摔跤。阿姆斯特朗是一伙粗人的头目，来自克莱尔小树林，那是距离本村子三英里外的一长条土地。林肯是新来的人，几乎还是个陌生人。
4. A vacant lot beside a store was the site chosen for the match. The men agreed that it was to be a friendly affair, with such customary tricks as eye gouging, hair pulling, ear tearing and nose biting barred. At the signal Armstrong went after Lincoln with the rushes of a maddened bull, trying to knock him off his feet, but Abe held him off with his arms.
4、商店旁的一块空地被选作赛场。双方同意这将是一场友谊赛。惯常使用恶行：如抠眼睛、抓头发、撕耳朵、以及咬鼻子等被禁止。阿姆斯特朗一听到信号，就像头发疯的公牛般直冲林肯而去，试想把他撞倒在地，但是被林肯用他的胳膊挡住。
5. Lincoln tried to lift his opponent off the ground and slam him hard on his back. Armstrong was not to be handled so easily and they shoved each other all over the lot. The crowd moved along with them. The Clary's Grove Champion finally lost his temper and fouled Lincoln by grinding his foot with a boot heel. That touched off the fireworks. All rules were now forgotten. His face dark with anger, Lincoln grasped Armstrong by the throat, lifted him clear of the ground, shock him as thought he were a rag and threw him so hard that he lay stunned.
5、林肯试着把他的对手从地上提起，然后给其后背猛烈一击。但是，阿姆斯特朗不那么容易对付，他们俩在整个空地上推来推去。人群追随着他们移动。克莱尔小树林的冠军终于失去了他的耐心，开始对林肯下黑手，用他的皮靴的鞋跟去踩林肯的脚。这一下点燃了战火。所有的规则都被忘在脑后。林肯气得脸发黑，他掐住阿姆斯特朗的喉咙，径直把他从地上提起像对付一块破布一样打击他，然后把他用力扔了出去，使得阿姆斯特朗倒在那里直发愣。
6. The Clary's Grove boys looked at their beaten leader and turned on Lincoln. He retreated a few steps to the grocery building, braced himself against the wall and told them to come and get him if they dared. Armstrong put an end to that. He got up, pushed his friends aside and grabbed Lincoln's hand. Turning to the crowd, Armstrong said he had been fairly beaten and that Abe Lincoln was the "best feller" who ever came to New Salem.
6、克莱尔小树林的男孩子们看着头儿挨揍，转向林肯。林肯退后几步到杂货店前，背靠墙，对他们说，有胆量就上来抓他。阿姆斯特朗制止了对峙。他站起来，把他的朋友推到一边，抓住了林肯的手，面对人群说他被公平地打败了，林肯是纽沙龙村从未有过的“最棒的家伙”。