Turning a New Page in Life

By Feng Jicai

Saying farewell to sports was a turning point in my life.

Before that, I spent all my time with teammates, coaches,spectators, baskets, balls, jerseys,whistles, and hard training as well as the sound sleep that followed. Mingled amongst those were my love, my career, my joys and sorrows, my hopes, and my dreams. I was selected by the coach as a “promising center” to the municipal basketball team.

The scene from October 4,1961 is still etched in my mind like a frozen picture. The coach said to me seriously, “Your sternum injury is not suitable for heavy and long-time training.”I learned from the doctor that sports was no longer a career path for me to follow.

It is said that most athletes will experience bittersweet emotions when they leave their teams. While I was disappointed and distressed, my mood did not plummet, and I soon calmed down.

One light went out, and I lit another.

Apart from basketball, I have also developed a passion for painting and literature.During junior high school, I learned painting from a Chinese painter, and I even won the Outstanding Works Award of the Municipal Youth Art Exhibition in my first year of senior high school. Even when I was in the middle of sports training,I would run home on Sundays and, still wearing my sneakers and jersey, bend my huge body over a desk to practice my ink work. At that time, I was good enough to perfectly replicate ancient paintings for the Chinese Painting Society.

Taking off my jersey for good,I have been growing my painting career for nearly 20 years. Since my start, I have drawn hundreds of paintings and exported them to Southeast Asia, Europe, and America. That said, I have not given up my hobby of playing basketball. During the Cultural Revolution, I also joined a“miscellaneous army” and went everywhere playing “street ball.”

面對人生的轉折

文/馮驥才

對我來說，告別體壇是一個大轉折。

在那之前，我的全部時間，是與隊友、教練、觀眾、球筐、球、運動衣、哨聲和艱苦訓練后香甜的睡眠在一起的。這中間，有我的摯愛、事業、苦樂悲歡、希望與目標。我被教練認定為“有前途的中鋒”而選拔到市籃球隊里。

1961年10月4日，那情景像一張拍下的照片，留在我腦海里。教練鄭重地對我說：“你的胸骨損傷，不適于大運動量訓練。”從醫生口中得知，體育不再是我繼續拼搏的事業。

運動員離隊時，大都要經歷一陣情緒的波瀾。我失望和苦惱過，但情緒沒有一落千丈，很快就平靜下來。

一盞燈滅了，我點燃另一盞燈。

除了籃球，我還酷愛繪畫和文學。初中期間，我隨一位國畫家習畫，高一時曾獲得天津市青少年美術展覽的優秀作品獎。即使我在球隊集訓期間，星期天也要跑回家，穿著球衣球鞋，彎下又長又大的身軀，伏案練筆。當時，我的繪畫能力足以承擔國畫社仿制古畫的工作。

脫下球衣，我開始了將近二十年的繪畫生涯。我畫了數百幅畫，出口到東南亞和歐美。我一直沒有放棄對籃球的愛好，“文革”期間還參加一支雜牌軍，到處去“打野球”。

My addiction to literature was then still echoing in mind.Because of the changes in my life and other reasons, I took on this more powerful way to express my strong sense of social responsibility. In just a few years, I have written nearly two million words of literary works.I am grateful that the strength and physical fitness I gained as a teenager have blessed me with the health needed to pursue writing now in my golden years.

As my old teammates left the basketball world, they were clueless about what to do for the rest of their life. Some of them have no plan for their future as of yet. One of my teammates came to talk to me, and there was a certain self-effacement in his words. I hated to hear him say that. I know how difficult it is for an athlete to start a new career.I almost felt like criticizing him for being so narrow-minded as to ignore developing other hobbies and areas of expertise,and for neglecting cultural accomplishments while he was still young, but I managed to keep it all to myself.

When a man engages himself in any sport, he is destined to change his profession again in the foreseeable future. A career in sports is short, so athletics and competition can only be done when you are young. Those who do sports, of course, must strain every nerve to create achievements and merits during this golden and fleeting time.At the same time, it is also necessary to pay attention to the development of one’s own various interests and read more books. When athleticism fails due to aging or is cut in half due to injuries, hobbies often become the careers one pursues for the rest of his life. A person who has one more hobby, like one who has one more language, will always have another possibility for the future. If it’s not something that drives you, work will inevitably be turned into a burden. You do it reluctantly and feel it an unshakable and inescapable distress.

Sports is the unity of strength and intelligence. But literature, music, and other arts will influence the ethics,temperament, power, and grace in the way you speak. They will increase your abilities, deepen your thinking, and offer you access to the richness and breadth of the world. A wise athlete,whether in the golden age of sports or in the years that follow,will never wander down the road of life.

(FromMy Cultural Life Is Only Improved, Times Literature and Art Publishing House.Translation: Qing Run)

我對文學的愛好，依舊被緊緊抱在懷里。由于生活的變化等原因，我改換這種更為有力的方式，來表達我強烈的社會責任感。在短短幾年里，我寫了將近二百萬字的文學作品。我得感激青少年時代體育恩賜給我的強健體魄。

我的老隊友一個個離開球壇，都為自己未來的理想苦惱和茫然過，有的至今沒有確定目標。有位隊友找我聊天,口氣里透出幾分自卑。我真不愿意聽到他講這種話。我深深懂得運動員的甘苦。我想埋怨他當年沒有別的業余愛好和特長，忽視了文化素養，把生活看得過于褊狹。話到唇邊，沒說出來。

一個人從事了體育，就注定在將來還要更換一次職業。運動生命是短暫的，競技和競賽只能在精飽力足的青春時代。從事體育的人，當然要在這黃金般寶貴的時機上，盡心竭力去創造成績和功勛。同時，也要注意發展自己多方面的興趣，多讀點書。年長力衰或因意外變故而中途易轍時，愛好往往成為他畢生為之奮斗的事業。一個人多一種愛好，就像多會一種語言，總會有用。因無追求，就難免把工作當作一種負擔，勉強去做，成為一種擺脫不掉的苦惱。

運動是力和智的統一。文學、音樂等各種藝術，會在道德、氣質、風度、修養等方面影響你的談吐，增添你的能力，加深你的思考，使你真正認識到世界的豐富和廣闊。一個有智慧的運動員，無論是在運動的黃金時代，還是在將來韶華已逝的歲月，都不會在生活之路上彷徨。