[情報] Roger Mason Jr: In The Image Of His Father

[Kshatri (No sé)]

Roger Mason Jr: In The Image Of His Father
http://0rz.tw/tfX3M
by Ken Rodriguez
March 24, 2010

Roger Mason Jr: In The Image Of His Father

小梅森父親的形象

There’s a story behind the tattooed, upper left arm of Roger Mason Jr., a
story about a praying boy and a fading father and a faith that was born in
the shadow of death. 

  這是一個刺青背後的故事，位於Roger Mason Jr.左手臂上方，有關一名祈禱的男
孩、一名瀕死的父親，以及一個原自死亡陰影下產生的信仰所構成的故事。

It’s a story that marked Mason at age 11, inspired him as a teenager and
carried him through college, two basketball tours overseas and six seasons in
the NBA, the last two with the Spurs. 

  這是一個對當時年僅11歲的Mason造成影響，驅使當時還只是個青少年的他完成大
學學業、二度到海外打球、六年的NBA生涯，直至近兩年在馬刺隊落腳的故事。

Three years ago, a Washington, D.C. tattoo artist sketched a massive angel on
Mason’s arm and underscored the image with a chapter from the Old Testament,
Psalm 46. 

  三年前，一名華府刺青藝術家在Mason的手臂上畫上了一個大天使，並在這圖像下
面加上了舊約聖經第46篇的章節。

The passage carries special meaning for Mason. In 1991, he repeated them over
and over at the bedside of Roger Mason Sr., who lay dying from kidney
failure. 

  這段文字對Mason來說意義格外特殊。在1991年，他不斷在因腎衰竭而處彌留之際
的Roger Mason Sr.床邊反複寫著這些文字。

The first two verses: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help
in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the
mountains fall into the heart of the sea. ..." 

  這篇章節的頭兩節寫著:

  "上帝是我們的避難所，是我們的力量，是(我們)在患難中及時能找到的幫助。我
們也不害怕。地雖改變，山雖搖動到海心..."(參考位置: http://0rz.tw/vX0I2 )

Young Roger found comfort in those words. He found strength. Inspiration,
too. The verses stayed with him when he became fatherless, and in the midst
of profound grief, sparked something new. "When he passed," the son says, "my
faith became much more real to me." 

  年輕的Mason從這些字句裡找到慰藉。他找到了力量，也獲得了鼓舞。這些字句在
他失去父親時伴隨著他，並在其深刻的悲痛中給了他新的力量。「當他往生時」小梅
森說到，「我的信仰對我而言更為真切」

Roger Mason Sr. was a prominent ophthalmologist in Washington, D.C. with a
passion for hoops. He played for charity on Howard University Hospital’s
basketball team, and taught his son how to dribble and shoot. 

  老梅森是華府馳名的眼科醫師，有著對籃球的熱情。他為Howard大學醫院的慈善籃
球隊打球，並教導他的兒子如何運球、投籃。

Today, junior plays in honor of his father and uses his celebrity to fight
the disease that claimed a life. The tattoo on the arm, the insistence on the
use of "junior" at the end of his name – all are tributes to the man who
introduced him to the game at age 8 and sponsored his youth league basketball
teams. 

  今天，小梅森為了向他父親致敬而打球，並用他的名聲來對抗奪走他至親生命的病
魔。他堅持手臂上的刺青於他名字後面加上"小"字，全為了向這位在他8歲時引領他
進入籃球的世界、贊助他青年聯賽籃球隊的男人致敬。

In the off-season, the son raises money for the National Kidney Foundation.
His first effort in 2008 – a celebrity bowling event – brought in $45,000
and increased awareness of kidney disease, which afflicts 26 million
Americans. 

  在休賽期間，小梅森為全國腎臟基金會籌款。他在2008年的首次成果 — 名流保齡
球大賽 — 募得了4萬5千美元，並讓眾人對腎臟疾病有了更多的認識，有二千六百萬
的美國人為此病飽受折磨。

Then there’s the Roger Mason Jr. Foundation, a non-profit he established to
raise money for charitable causes. "Mom tells me my father would be really
proud," Mason says. 

  然後就是小梅森基金會 — 他所創辦的一個非營利的慈善募款機構。「媽媽對我說
我的父親將會引以為傲」Mason說。

Marsha Mason Wonsley would know. She took on two jobs to support four
children when her husband died, and her eldest, young Roger, became a
standout student, athlete and pianist who wanted to become a doctor. 

  Marsha Mason Wonsley明白這點。在失去丈夫下，她為了四個孩子身兼兩職，而她
的長子，想成為醫生的年輕Roger，成為一名傑出的學生、運動員及鋼琴家。

The father left a mark on his son that went far deeper than a tattoo. Senior
taught junior a game and forged a bond. "We used to go down to the rec center
every Saturday," Mason recalls. "He’d play with all these older men who
thought they were really good, and then he’d let me get in on those games." 

  老梅森在他兒子身上所留下的痕跡，比起刺青更為深遠。他教了小梅森籃球比賽和
團結的道理。「過去我們每個星期六都到育樂館打球」Mason回憶。「他與所有自認為
很強的阿伯們打球，然後他讓我融入其中」

Young Roger often accompanied his father to the Capital Center to watch the
Washington Bullets play. That’s one set of memories Mason treasures. There
are others. The father gave his son a love for fishing, a love for reading
and more. 

  年輕的Roger常陪同他的父親到Capital Center看華盛頓子彈隊打球。這是Mason珍貴
的回憶之一。此外，他父親讓他兒子愛上釣魚、閱讀等許許多多的事物。

Then came a disease that broke a son’s heart. As the family struggled to
move on, Mason remembers catching the bus to play in his own AAU basketball
games. He remembers a stepfather entering his life, and he remembers not
wanting to embrace the man, Washington Redskins running back Otis Wonsley "I
was a little immature about the situation," Mason says. 

  然後，病魔讓兒子為之心碎。當他的家人在與死神搏鬥時，Mason記得他那時正趕搭
巴士參加他自己的AAU籃球聯賽。他記得他的人生中多了名繼父，他記得他不想擁抱那
個人 — 華盛頓紅人隊跑衛，那名叫做Otis Wonsley的男子。「那時候，我有點幼稚」
Mason說。

In time, Marsha’s new husband won him over. Otis took young Roger to
training camp, to Redskins games and introduced him to players. When Otis
left the NFL, he became a college football coach. "I was able to lift weights
and shoot in the college gym as a high school player," Mason says.

A desire to practice medicine gave way to another dream. Mason became a star
player at the University of Virginia and a sports writer asked, "Aren’t you
a ‘junior?’" 

  慢慢地，Marsha的新丈夫贏得了他的心。Otis帶著年輕的Roger到訓練營、看紅人隊
比賽，並將他介紹給球員們。當Otis離開NFL之後，他成為一名大學美式足球教練。「
當我還是高中球員時，我能夠到那間大學的體育館舉重、投籃」Mason說。

  他另一個夢想是渴望行醫。Mason成為維吉尼亞大學球星，一個運動作家問他: 『你
不是"小"梅森嗎?』

Mason nodded. 

  Mason點頭贊同。

"Then why don’t you use it?" 

  『那你為什麼不試著讓這稱呼發揚光大呢?』

Mason soon met with the public address announcer. "And from that time on at
Virginia," Marsha says, "they started calling him ‘Roger Mason Jr.’ I felt
very proud of him." 

  Mason很快地就打響了這名號。「從那時候起，在維吉尼亞州」Marsha說，「他們開
始叫他"Roger Mason Jr."。我非常以他為傲。」

Mother and son are close --"I'm a momma's boy," he says proudly -- and he
likes to brag about his siblings. The brother who's a Wall Street banker. The
missionary sister who's in divinity school. The sister who left Wall Street
to join the business team of the construction company he owns in the D.C.
area. 

  母子兩人很相近 — 「我是媽媽的兒子」他自豪地說 — 他喜歡自捧他的兄弟姐妹。
他弟弟是華爾街的銀行家。一個妹妹是神學院的傳教士。一個妹妹自華爾街離開後加入
他在華盛頓地區所擁有的建築公司經營團隊。

When young Roger knelt beside his father's bed, he couldn't have known this
is how his prayers would be answered -- with the kids all successful adults,
living out their dreams. 

  當年輕的Roger跪在他父親床邊時，他並不知道他的祈禱會有什麼樣的回應。時至今
日，所有長大成人的孩子們都獲得了成功，活在他們的夢想之下。

In the bright lights of the NBA, No. 8 loves to pull up and shoot. The only
thing better is when the shot falls through and the public address announcer
calls his name. Roger Mason ... JUNIOR! 

  在NBA光彩奪目的生活之下，那位穿著8號球衣的球員熱愛急停跳投。唯一比這件事
更好的 — 是當投出去的球落下時，播音員大聲呼喊著他的名字:

                       Roger Mason ... JUNIOR !!!

--
Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock,                  □   □
perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it.  ■   ■
Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two,           ■   ■ 
and I know it was not the last blow that did it,                  ■■■ 
but all that had gone before.                                      ◤
                          ∮ Kshatri ∮    --Jacob August Riis    ★ 

--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 61.229.230.48
推 jiuan1027:推翻譯 很感人的文章~
推 ando:季後賽記得發個瘋
推 jiuan1027:http://0rz.tw/PFRQm  Mason的刺青
推 soaringfish:"Then why don’t you use it?"  -> 為什麼"不"用？
推 buyao531:偷推一下我之前翻過的另一篇外電 #19dwrm1i
→ Kshatri:因為我覺得用中文加"不"很拗口
推 greatodin:什麼樣子的家庭教育創造出什麼樣的人生 喪父沒有擊倒他
→ greatodin:NBA還有很多這種故事 我們這些球迷也要想想 更關懷 珍惜
推 ehi1981:可是那句話的語意應該是指Mason可以好好讓人記住他名字
→ greatodin:周遭的親友們 會活出一片天的 加油Spurs & everybody
→ ehi1981:因此可以不後面可以試著加"好好"之類,為什麼要用-語意不合
→ Kshatri:那你為什麼"不好好"用這稱呼?   好像..有點責怪的意思?
→ jiuan1027:意思是為什麼不試著讓這名字發揚光大嗎？！
→ Kshatri: @.@  打結了..
※ 編輯: Kshatri         來自: 61.229.230.48        (03/29 23:14)