文/五花肉

跳动的精灵
——乒乓

Table Tennis: The Jumpy Fairy

文/五花肉

乒乓球源于19世纪的英国，1904年传入中国，经过百余年的发展，乒乓成为中国的“国球”，赢得赞誉无数。比赛时，乒乓球在桌面上来回飞舞，俨然跳动的精灵。

Table tennis originated from the United Kingdom in 19th century and was introduced to China in 1904. Through hundreds of years' development, table tennis has become the national ball game in China and garners heaps of praise. The ball is bouncing back and forth across the table in the competition, which looks like a jumpy fairy.

源起红酒软木塞

Origin from the Cork

乒乓球运动的产生，纯属偶然。19世纪末的一天，伦敦两个青年人到一家餐馆吃饭，在等待侍者备餐时，他们进行了一种以雪茄盒盖为器具，在餐桌上互相击打红酒瓶软木塞的游戏……这项餐桌上的游戏，很快演变成为比赛项目，席卷伦敦。

Table tennis was invented quite by accident. One day in the late 19th century, two young men went out to a restaurant in London. When waiting for the food, they hit the red wine cork back and forth across a dining table, using the cigar case. This table game quickly evolved into a competition event and became popular in London.

后来，一位美国制造商以乒乓球撞击时所发出的声音创造出Ping-pong这个新词，作为他制造的乒乓球专利注册商标。随着赛事的发展、工艺的进步，乒乓球比赛用球从最初的软木塞不断升级为空心橡胶球、赛璐珞粘合球等，最终演变为重2.72 g、直径40 mm的无缝球，这一标准沿用至今。

Later, because of the sound produced by hitting the ball, an American manufacturer created new term ping-pong, which was also his patent and registered trademark. As the game and technology have progressed, the material of the ball developed from cork, rubber and celluloid, and finally evolved into a sphere has a mass of 2.72 g and a diameter of 40 mm. This ball standard is still used today.

偶遇药店胶皮盘

Encounter Rubber Plate in Pharmacy

有了比赛用球，乒乓球爱好者们又开始为了五花八门、材质不一的球拍而烦恼。直到英国人古德的一次偶然发现，这一问题才得以圆满解决。

After uniform the game ball, table tennis enthusiasts were troubled with choosing the rackets from different materials and styles. Thanks to an Englishman Gude's serendipitous idea, the racket problem was finally solved.

有一天，古德在回家途中到药店买药，当药店老板将找回的零钱扔给他时，钱币落在胶皮盘子上弹了起来。身为乒乓球爱好者的古德，顿时眼前一亮，向药店老板买下了这个胶皮盘子，粘在自己的木质球拍上。后来，古德用这块世界上第一个粘上胶皮的球拍参赛，从容地战胜了所有的对手。

One day, Gude went to pharmacy on his way home. The coins were bouncing on the rubber plate when the cashier gave him change. As a table tennis fan, Gude was attracted to the rubber plate's material. He bought it and glued it on his wooden racket. Then Gude used the first rubber racket to vanquish all his opponents with ease.

发展到今天，国际乒联对于比赛用球拍有着更严格的标准，如不少于85%天然木料，击球拍面应用一层颗粒向外的普通颗粒胶覆盖，连同粘合剂厚度不超过2 mm，球拍两面必须无光泽，且一面为鲜红色，另一面为黑色等等。