Muhammad Ali Shook up the World 穆罕默德·阿里震撼了世界

楊雪

6月4日，穆罕默德·阿里去世后，美國總統奧巴馬和第一夫人米歇爾發表了一篇感人至深的悼詞，紀念這位偉大而經歷復雜的拳王。“他震撼了世界，世界因他而變得更好。安息吧，拳王?！薄獖W巴馬總統（@POTUS1）

Muhammad Ali was The Greatest. Period. If you just asked him， hed tell you. Hed tell you he was the double greatest； that hed “handcuffed2 lightning， thrown thunder into jail.”

But what made The Champ the greatest—what truly separated him from everyone else—is that everyone else would tell you pretty much the same thing.

Like everyone else on the planet， Michelle and I mourn his passing. But were also grateful to God for how fortunate we are to have known him， if just for a while； for how fortunate we all are that The Greatest chose to grace our time.

In my private study， just off the Oval Office， I keep a pair of his gloves on display， just under that iconic photograph of him—the young champ， just 22 years old， roaring like a lion over a fallen Sonny Liston3. I was too young when it was taken to understand who he was—still Cassius Clay， already an Olympic Gold Medal winner， yet to set out on a spiritual journey that would lead him to his Muslim faith， exile him at the peak of his power， and set the stage for his return to greatness with a name as familiar to the downtrodden in the slums of Southeast Asia and the villages of Africa as it was to cheering crowds in Madison Square Garden.4

“I am America，” he once declared. “I am the part you wont recognize. But get used to me—black， confident， cocky5； my name， not yours； my religion， not yours； my goals， my own. Get used to me.”

Thats the Ali I came to know as I came of age—not just as skilled a poet on the mic as he was a fighter in the ring，6 but a man who fought for what was right. A man who fought for us. He stood with King and Mandela；7 stood up when it was hard； spoke out when others wouldnt. His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing. It would earn him enemies on the left and the right， make him reviled8， and nearly send him to jail. But Ali stood his ground. And his victory helped us get used to the America we recognize today.

He wasnt perfect， of course. For all his magic in the ring， he could be careless with his words， and full of contradictions as his faith evolved. But his wonderful， infectious， even innocent spirit ultimately won him more fans than foes—maybe because in him， we hoped to see something of ourselves. Later， as his physical powers ebbed， he became an even more powerful force for peace and reconciliation around the world.9 We saw a man who said he was so mean hed make medicine sick reveal a soft spot， visiting children with illness and disability around the world， telling them they， too， could become the greatest. We watched a hero light a torch， and fight his greatest fight of all on the world stage once again； a battle against the disease that ravaged10 his body， but couldnt take the spark from his eyes.

Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it. We are all better for it. Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family， and we pray that the greatest fighter of them all finally rests in peace.

穆罕默德·阿里是最偉大的。句號。你問他，他一定會這么說。他會告訴你他是最最偉大的，他能“銬住閃電，禁錮雷鳴”。

他之所以偉大，之所以不同于其他人，是因為其他所有人都認可了他的偉大。

同所有人一樣，我和米歇爾哀悼他的離去。但同時我們也感謝上帝，讓我們與他相識，哪怕只是短暫一刻；我們多么幸運，讓他降臨在我們的時代。

在我自己的書房，緊挨著總統辦公室，我收藏了一雙他的手套，就擺在他那幅經典的照片下面。照片里，22歲的年輕冠軍，雄獅一般沖著倒地的索尼·利斯頓怒吼。我那時還小，未能理解他的志向——那時他還叫卡修斯·克萊，已經是奧運會金牌得主，卻踏上靈魂的征程，皈依了伊斯蘭教。他從榮耀之巔跌落，后來以另一個名字回歸偉大，這是一個在東南亞的底層貧民窟和非洲村落里眾所周知的名字，也是一個響徹麥迪遜廣場花園的名字。

“我就是美國，”他宣稱，“我是你們不愿承認的那部分美國。但，接納我——黑皮膚、自信、狂妄；接納我的名字，接納我的信仰，接納我的追求。接納我?！?/p>

這是我成年后認識的阿里——拳擊場上的他，不僅詩律嫻熟，拳技精湛，更是在為正義而戰，為我們而戰。他和馬丁·路德·金與曼德拉一樣；在艱難困苦時屹立不倒；在眾人緘默時勇敢發聲。拳擊場外，他的斗爭會讓他失去榮譽和地位，會讓他左右兩派樹敵，遭人唾罵，甚至險些鋃鐺入獄。但阿里沒有屈服，他的勝利讓我們接納了今天這個美國。

當然，他并不完美。盡管拳擊場上一再創造神話，他說話也會口無遮攔，信仰上也曾前后矛盾。但他高尚、熱情、甚至純真的靈魂最終為他贏得了更多的同道而非敵人——也許是因為我們希望從他身上，看到一些自己的影子。后來，他的體力漸漸不如從前，便更投身于為世界和平所做的斗爭中去。我們看到，這位自稱刻薄得無藥可救的人內心的柔軟，他在世界各地探望患病和殘疾的兒童時，告訴他們，他們也可以成為最偉大的人。我們看到，這位英雄舉著火炬，又一次登上世界的舞臺，與自身的疾病作最偉大的斗爭；病痛可以摧毀他的身體，卻不能磨滅他眼里的光芒。

穆罕默德·阿里震撼了世界。世界因此而變得更好。我們都因此而變得更好。我和米歇爾向他的家人致以最深摯的哀悼，愿這位世上最偉大的斗士安息。

1. POTUS： President of the United States of America的縮寫，即美利堅合眾國總統。@POTUS為其推特（twitter）賬號。

2. handcuff： 此處為動詞，用手銬銬住。

3. Sonny Liston： 索尼·利斯頓（1932—1970），20世紀六七十年代稱霸重量級拳壇的美國黑人拳手。

4. downtrodden： 被（有權勢者）踐踏的，受壓迫的；slum： （城市中的）貧民窟，貧民區；Madison Square Garden： 麥迪遜廣場花園，位于全美最大的火車站之一的賓夕法尼亞車站上方，許多球類賽事和搖滾音樂會都在這里舉行。

5. cocky： 過分自信的，自以為是的。

6. 每場比賽之前，阿里都要寫一首打油詩給對手，一是放松自己，二是激怒對手。甚至有人說，他的那些打油詩是說唱音樂的鼻祖。

7. King： Martin Luther King，馬丁·路德·金（1929—1968），美國黑人民權運動領袖，發表過著名的《我有一個夢想》演說；Mandela： 曼德拉（1918—2013），南非首位黑人總統，曾在領導反種族隔離運動時入獄27年。

8. revile： 辱罵，斥責。

9. ebb： 減少，衰退；reconciliation： 和解。

10. ravage： 毀壞，嚴重損壞。