9.休闲娱乐：草地保龄球真的要“滚”走了吗？

Passage Nine

leisure：Bowling over?

休闲娱乐：草地保龄球真的要“滚”走了吗？

【1】Lawn bowls is in decline. Can it make a comeback?If asked to name the archetypal(typical) English sport, many people would probably plump for cricket. But there is another game—both older and, for much of its history, more popular—which fits the description better.

草地保龄球式微，它还能东山再起吗？如果要问起英国的典型体育运动，许多人或许会投板球一票。然而，还有一项比板球更古老，而且在自其出现以来的大部分时间里也更受欢迎的运动，更符合这个描述。

【2】In the 14th century lawn bowling, a sport in which players roll large balls towards a smaller one (the “jack”), was so popular that it kept soldiers from their archery practice. Henry VIII was one of several monarchs(emperors) to ban it, at least for the lower classes (a keen bowler, he continued to play).

14世纪，草地保龄球非常流行，以至于士兵为了玩球都放弃了射箭训练，它的规则是玩家朝着小球（也就是目标球“jack”）滚掷大球。亨利八世是禁止该项运动的几位君主之一，至少是禁止下层人参与（毕竟他是一个草地保龄球的粉丝，他要能够继续玩球）。

【3】British players still dominate in lawn bowls at the Commonwealth games (where it has been a “core sport” since the event was launched(started) in 1930). Lush and meticulously(carefully) tended bowling greens continue to dot Britain; many clubs serve as community hubs(centres).

英国球员在英联邦运动会该项目中仍占据主导地位。（自1930年英联邦运动会开始以来，草地保龄球一直是一项“核心运动”。）郁郁葱葱、精心维护的草地保龄球果岭散布英国各地，许多俱乐部成为了社区的中心。

【4】But the game now has a different sort of popularity problem. As Britons have found more ways to fill their leisure time, club memberships have fallen. Closures have followed.

但如今，人气反而成了这项运动面临的一个问题。随着英国人找到了更多打发闲暇时间的方法，草地保龄球俱乐部会员人数有所下降。随之而来的是则是倒闭关门。

【5】No one knows precisely(definitely) how many bowling greens Britain has left—there may be around 7,000—but Hugh Hornby, a sports historian, painted a melancholy picture in “Bowled Over”, a book published in 2015. Between 1959 and 2015 the number of bowling clubs in Middlesex, a historic county swallowed up by London, fell from 242 to 94.

没有人确切地知道英国还剩下多少个保龄球果岭，可能有大约7000个，但体育历史学家休·霍恩比在2015年出版的《击溃》一书中描述的情况并不乐观。从1959年到2015年，米德尔塞克斯（一个后并入伦敦的历史悠久的郡）的草地保龄球俱乐部数量从242家下降到94家。

【6】In nearby Surrey the number dropped(declined) from 311 to 137. If losses(reduces) continued at that rate, Hornby wrote, bowls would disappear from Britain by 2050.

在其附近的萨里，数量从311家下降到137家。休·霍恩比在书中写道，如果俱乐部数量继续以这个速度减少，那么到2050年，草地保龄球运动将从英国消失。

【7】This decline is worth noting(noticing) if only because of the role the game has played in Britain’s social and cultural history. A recognisable version of the modern game was established by 1500. The first rules were published in 1670, nearly a century before those for cricket and golf were codified.

如果光就该项运动在英国社会和文化历史中所扮演的角色而言，这种下跌也是值得注意的。到 1500 年，可辨识的草地保龄球出现了。第一版规则于1670年发布，这 要比板球和高尔夫的规则编写早了近一个世纪。

【8】Shakespeare alluded to bowling a lot; so did Samuel Pepys. In 1618 Nicholas Breton, a poet, wrote that a gentleman should “speake well, ride well, shoote well and bowle well”. That view was reflected in the design of many country-house gardens, the strikingly level lawns(grasslands) of which were once bowling greens.

莎士比亚经常提到草地保龄球，塞缪尔·佩皮斯也是如此。1618年，诗人尼古拉斯·布勒东写道，绅士就应该“言谈得体、驾驭娴熟、射箭精通、擅长草地保龄球”。这种观点体现在许多乡间别墅花园的设计中，这些花园的草坪非常平整，因为曾经是草地保龄球果岭。

【9】Bowls England, the national governing body, does not want bowls to become history. In 2021 it launched a five-year plan, “Fit for the Future”, to attract new players. Its advertising campaigns point out that the game is easy to learn (although it is hard to master) and doesn’t require any athleticism. That arguably makes it a little dull(bored) to all but the very old or infirm.

国家管理机构英格兰保龄球协会不希望草地保龄球成为过去。2021 年，bowls England推出了一项名为“适应未来”的五年计划，以吸引新玩家。它的宣传活动指出，该运动易于学习（尽管很难掌握），并且对运动能力没有要求。可以说，除了老年人或者身体状况不好的人之外，其他所有人都会觉得这游戏有点无聊。

【10】Seeking to attract younger players, in 2022 bowls England launched a newer, faster version of the game dubbed, with a hint of desperation, bowls Bash.

为了吸引年轻玩家，bowls England在2022年推出了一版更有新意、速度更快的草地保龄球，甚至带有一丝“拼死一搏”的意味，将其叫做bowls Bash。

【11】Yet the gentle exercise the game provides, coupled with the presence of clubs in villages, towns and cities, ought to make bowls the perfect game for an ageing (and increasingly unhealthy) population. Some clubs report that many of their new members join their ranks after golf becomes a bit too much.

然而，草地保龄球所具备的低强度的锻炼，加上村庄、城镇和城市中的俱乐部，理应让其成为老龄人口（而且是健康状况越发堪忧的）的完美运动。一些俱乐部报告称，许多新成员发现高尔夫有点吃力，之后才加入了他们。

【12】Residents of Brixton, a diverse neighbourhood in south London, recall how the bowling club in the local park held impromptu(offhand) games, to which strangers were welcomed, on summer evenings. Some games took place in a haze of marijuana smoke—bowls Hash, perhaps.

布里克斯顿是伦敦南部一个多元化的社区，那里的居民们回忆起，当地公园的草地保龄球俱乐部曾在夏日的晚上举办即兴比赛，而且也欢迎外地的陌生人参加。有些是在大麻烟雾中进行的，或许可以被称作毒品保龄球。

【13】But park greens, which are maintained(safeguarded) by local authorities, are particularly vulnerable to closure. A service that attracts relatively few users (bowls England reckons that 20% of clubs have fewer than 20 members) yet requires careful maintenance (the kinds of large lawnmowers used on football pitches don’t cut it) is an obvious target for council bean-counters.

但是，由地方当局负责维护的公园内保龄球果岭特别容易面临关闭。因为这样一项利用率相对较低（bowls England 估计 20% 的俱乐部会员人数不到20人）但又需要仔细维护（足球场上使用的大型割草机在这里无法使用）的服务自然会被连一分一厘都计较的议会看在眼里， 成为“削减名单”中的目标。

【14】A few years ago the local authority stopped maintaining the green in Brixton for bowls. Today, its grass gone, the green is brown. It is used, variously, as a practice ground for volleyball and a football pitch by children.

几年前，地方当局停止维护布里克斯顿的保龄球果岭。现在，果岭上的草没了，绿色变成了棕色。果岭被挪作他用，成为排球练习场和儿童足球场。

【15】In a crowded city, that feels a bit like progress. But for one of the country’s historic sporting pastimes, it tells a bleaker story.

在繁华城市之中，这一点似乎也有点像是一种进步。但作为英国一项历史悠久的消遣运动，它讲述的是一个凄凉的故事。