資料圖

Despite being among the wealthiest athletes in the world, Wimbledon's biggest names all clamour over the same must-have freebie at Wimbledon: the tournament towel.
盡管參加溫網(wǎng)的選手都屬世界上最富有的運(yùn)動(dòng)員之列，但他們卻都鐘情于相同的比賽必備用品：那就是比賽用的毛巾。

At least 4,000 towels go missing each year as players - including the likes of Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams - stash away as many as they can fit in their holdalls.
每年都會(huì)有至少4000條毛巾在賽后無(wú)法收回，因?yàn)楹芏嘀T如安迪?穆雷、諾瓦克?德約科維奇和小威廉姆斯這樣的運(yùn)動(dòng)員會(huì)把很多毛巾私藏進(jìn)網(wǎng)球包里帶走。

However, this year the All England Club has come up with a new ploy to put off younger players from joining the craze - by offering them plain white towels, instead of the senior players' brightly-coloured versions.
對(duì)此，全英網(wǎng)球俱樂(lè)部今年想出新的對(duì)策，他們?yōu)槟贻p選手提供的不再是老選手那種色彩鮮亮的毛巾，而是普通的白毛巾，以防止他們跟風(fēng)效仿，賽后順走毛巾。

George Spring, Wimbledon's Court Attending Manager, told how he has come to expect that the club will only get back three quarters of the 6,000 towels they produce for the tournament each year.
溫布爾登網(wǎng)球場(chǎng)主管喬治?斯普林告訴記者，每年他們都會(huì)為比賽準(zhǔn)備6000條毛巾，但最后預(yù)計(jì)能收回的只有四分之三。

Andy Murray said he normally takes one towel each day to give to someone on his team CREDIT: REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

He said: "The juniors for many years I believe were having a competition to see how many they can get. But our policy now is that if they do ask for another towel we will give them a white towel and they soon don't ask for another when that happens.
斯普林說(shuō)：“我覺(jué)得年輕選手之間這么多年來(lái)一直存在一種攀比現(xiàn)象，他們會(huì)比賽看誰(shuí)拿到的毛巾最多。所以我們現(xiàn)在規(guī)定，如果他們想索要第二條毛巾，我們只為其提供普通白毛巾，這樣他們很快就不會(huì)再索求更多的毛巾了。

"We are trying to break in the next generation of towel connoisseurs."
“我們正想方設(shè)法阻止順毛巾這一不良風(fēng)氣在年輕一代中蔓延?！?/p>

The biggest towel fiend of all is Serena, Mr Spring, now on his 16th championship, added. "Serena is a legend as far as towels go and she would have to buy a second house... The towel thing has always been a little bit kept in secrecy."
參與了16屆溫網(wǎng)賽事的斯普林先生補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，小威廉姆斯可以說(shuō)是順毛巾的一把好手?！靶⊥匪箍梢运闶琼樏淼摹畟髌妗?，她得再買套房子（來(lái)裝毛巾）……但對(duì)于拿毛巾一事溫網(wǎng)組委會(huì)通常表示默許?！?/p>

He said there was no limit on how many towels a player could ask for and that both the Williams sisters had "a reputation" when it came to walking away with towels.
斯普林先生說(shuō)，以前運(yùn)動(dòng)員索要毛巾的數(shù)量是沒(méi)有限制的，威廉姆斯姐妹都經(jīng)常索要毛巾。

"Imagine Serena Williams, if the chair umpire said Serena, that's your limit, that would make headlines."
“設(shè)想一下，如果主裁判對(duì)小威廉姆斯說(shuō)，你不能再拿毛巾了，她保證可以上第二天的頭條?！?/p>

The players make no secret of their appetite for the towels.
運(yùn)動(dòng)員們倒是對(duì)他們順毛巾的事毫不避諱。

Novak Djokovic wipes his face with a towel at Wimbledon CREDIT: PA

Murray said on Saturday that he picked up towels for his wife and friends, adding: "I got one for her in the first round. Gave one to my physio."
穆雷周六說(shuō)他拿了毛巾給他的妻子和朋友們，“在打第一輪的時(shí)候我就拿了一條給我的妻子，另外一條給了隊(duì)醫(yī)。”

"I normally take one each day and give it to someone on my team. I don't keep them. But my wife likes them. I think they're quite good quality towels."
“我通常每天都會(huì)拿一條毛巾給我隊(duì)里的其他人。我不會(huì)把它們占為己有，但我的妻子很喜歡這些毛巾，我想是因?yàn)檫@些毛巾質(zhì)量很不錯(cuò)。”

Meanwhile, Djokovic said: “I kind of plan in advance space in half of a bag or an entire new bag for the towels that I take from Wimbledon."
同時(shí)德約科維奇也說(shuō)：“我會(huì)提前騰出半個(gè)包或者拿個(gè)新包來(lái)裝溫網(wǎng)的毛巾?！?/p>

Serena's sister Venus also admitted: "Well, I've got a lot at home. Got some since '97. Got some men's towels, too. You can do a barter program, trade 'em up. Black market on towels."
大威廉姆斯也承認(rèn)說(shuō)：“恩，我也拿了很多帶回家，從1997年開(kāi)始我就這么干了。我也拿過(guò)男士毛巾。你可以拿它作為交換，或者拿去賣。黑市上有很多交易溫網(wǎng)毛巾的。”

Mr Spring, now on his 16th championship, said that some players were taking as many as eight towels a game and although in the past it may have been frowned upon this means they now "go all around the world to advertise this wonderful tournament".
斯普林先生如今參與了16屆溫網(wǎng)賽，他表示，一些運(yùn)動(dòng)員在一場(chǎng)比賽后會(huì)拿走大約八條毛巾。雖然在過(guò)去人們對(duì)這一行為感到不滿，但現(xiàn)在這意味著他們會(huì)通過(guò)“帶著毛巾走遍世界來(lái)宣傳溫網(wǎng)這一精彩賽事”。

The towels that are not taken are laundered and sold to charity.
而那些留下的毛巾會(huì)在洗滌后賣給慈善機(jī)構(gòu)。

Vocabulary

freebie：免費(fèi)贈(zèng)品
holdall：手提旅行箱或旅行袋
fiend：能手，成癮者

英文來(lái)源：每日電訊報(bào)
翻譯：劉佳麗（中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)愛(ài)新聞iNews譯者）
編審：yaning