In a Chinese Village,Elderly Farmers Are Now Yogis

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As the top Chinese official in this village,Lu Wenzhen had a problem.The young people had all moved away.The elderly farmers left behind were ailing.His ageing hamlet1hamlet小村莊。needed money.Life.A spark.

玉狗梁村干部盧文震有道難題。村里年輕一輩都搬走了，而留守的老村民們身體狀況也愈來愈差。這座開始老齡化的村子，需要經濟援助，也需要灌注生命與活力。

[2]Then,two years ago,he watched a 60-year-old woman sit cross-legged for about half an hour on a kang,a stone bed common in China’s northern countryside.Lu suddenly had a eureka moment2eureka moment頓悟時刻；突發靈感的一刻。.

“Yoga,” he said.

[2]然而在兩年前，他看到一位60歲的老太太盤腿坐在“炕”（一種北方鄉村常見的石頭做的床）上，看了差不多半小時，他突然靈光一閃，說道：“瑜伽！”

[3]It was an audacious plan that seemed out of place in Yugouliang,a village of fewer than 100 people in Hebei province,far from the gyms and health food stores in places like Beijing and Shanghai.It is so remote that the closest train station is two hours away.The Internet had just arrived two years ago.The average age of a Yugouliang resident is 65.They survive by tending to their cows and sheep and small plots of land.

[3]對于玉狗梁這個位于河北省、人口不到百人的村子來說，這個計劃不僅大膽，而且與當地格格不入，這里沒有北京、上海等地那樣的健身房和保健食品店。它地處偏遠，離最近的火車站都有兩小時車程。兩年前才通互聯網。居民人均年齡達65歲，靠著養牛羊和幾小塊地過活。

[4]China’s rapidly ageing population is one of the most pressing issues facing the government.In rural China,at least 50 million older Chinese have been left behind by the country’s economic boom,according to official data.Many struggle with poverty and depression.By 2050,the number of people in China age 60 or older is expected to reach 487 million,representing more than onethird of the total population,according to government figures.

[4]人口急速老齡化是中國政府面臨的最為迫切的問題之一。根據官方數據顯示，在中國農村，至少有5000萬老人已經被經濟繁榮發展遠遠拋在后面。很多人還在脫貧道路上掙扎。政府數據表明，到2050年，中國60歲及以上人口預計將達到4.87億，占總人口數的三分之一以上。

[5]The residents in Yugouliang were unconvinced.They had never heard of yoga.Was Secretary Lu,as they called him,trying to introduce them into a cult?

[5]玉狗梁村民從來都沒聽說過瑜伽，對盧文震的想法心存疑惑。他們聲聲喚的盧書記是不是想帶他們加入邪教？

[6]There was another wrinkle3wrinkle小問題。: Lu,52,had never taken a yoga class.

“I couldn’t bring myself to tell them that I didn’t know how to do it,” he said.

[6]還有另一個問題，52歲的盧書記從來沒上過瑜伽課。

他說：“我也不能跟村民說我不知道怎么做瑜伽。”

[7]The Internet was his guide.He watched videos and looked at photos.

He knew that getting older farmers to do yoga would be tricky.He bought gloves and yoga mats to entice them.

[7]于是他上網，通過看視頻和照片自學。

盧書記知道讓老人們做瑜伽不是一件容易的事，便買了手套和瑜伽墊來引發他們的興趣。

[8]Those first few sessions,just a few residents turned up.Lu started off slow.First he taught them how to breathe through a singing exercise.Then he tried to take them through some simple,cross-legged moves.

It didn’t take long for more people to join.Nor did it take long for them to try more ambitious poses.

[8]頭幾堂課只有零星幾個村民來了。盧書記教得很慢。他先教如何通過唱頌來練習調整氣息，然后再試著帶他們做一些簡單的盤腿動作。

沒過多久，越來越多的人加入了，他也很快讓村民們嘗試一些更有挑戰性的動作。

[9]Encouraged to do more,Lu enrolled in a yoga course sponsored by the government.From there,Lu got a certificate as a yoga judge and has since judged competitions.

[9]盧書記受到了鼓舞后，報名參加了一個由政府贊助的瑜伽課程。他在那里取得了瑜伽裁判證，之后也參與了一些比賽當裁判。

[10]The authorities were encouraging.In February 2017,the State General Administration of Sports,which oversees the country’s athletics,gave Yugouliang the title of “China’s first yoga village.”

[10]這項舉動得到了當地政府的支持。2017年2月，監管國家體育運動的國家體育總局授予了玉狗梁村“中國瑜伽第一村”的稱號。

[11]But it wasn’t until the end of last year that Lu felt his residents were good enough to compete.He entered the farmers into a yoga competition in Shijiazhuang,the provincial capital.They won an award for being the “best collective team.”

[11]但直到去年年底，盧書記才感覺村民們的實力足夠參加比賽。他帶領村民們報名參加了一場在省會石家莊舉行的瑜伽比賽，并最終贏得了“最佳組織獎”。

[12]The local government has said it is giving Lu US$1.5 million for a nursing home and a yoga pavilion,a gleaming,glass-walled compound that will make it easier for villagers to practice year-round.

[12]當地政府已表示將會撥款150萬美元用來建造一家養老院和一個瑜伽館。瑜伽館是閃亮的玻璃幕墻建筑，將更方便村民全年練習。

[13]But his goal of setting off a tourism boom could be difficult to achieve.The village is hard to reach and there are no amenities to speak of.

Lu still sees positives.Yogastrengthened residents,he said,save on medical costs.

[13]然而這里交通不便利，也沒有像樣的設施，盧書記發展旅游業的目標很難實現。

但他還是看到了積極面。他說，練過瑜伽的村民身體素質加強了，省了看病的錢。

[14]There are about 36 yoga regulars in Yugouliang,who showed remarkable stamina4stamina 耐力；毅力。when they gathered on a recent afternoon.Wearing the same outfits that they use to farm,scarves tied around their heads to protect them from the hot sun,they blazed through a 15-minute routine of standing splits,side planks and boat poses5瑜伽中依靠坐骨和尾骨來平衡身體的姿勢，可有效增強腹部和臀屈肌。.Around them,gaptoothed66 gaptoothed（由于缺牙）齒縫很大的。women in their 80s and 90s watched from worn armchairs.

[14]玉狗梁瑜伽隊差不多有36個隊員。前不久的某個下午，他們聚在一起，向人展示了驚人的毅力。穿著統一的平日種田衣裳，頭上圍著用來防曬的頭巾，他們一鼓作氣完成一套15分鐘的練習：站立劈腿、側平板支撐和船式。一群八九十歲掉了牙的老太太，坐在破舊的扶手椅中，圍著他們觀看。

[15]Ge Luyun spent years taking medicine to treat the pain in her shoulder and elbow.Two years ago,the 62-year-old weighed over 68kg.

Then she started doing yoga.Ge has lost 5kg and said she has a flatter stomach.“Now,I don’t have to take a single painkiller,” Ge said.

[15]葛錄云（音譯）常年靠吃藥來治療肩膀和肘部的疼痛。兩年前，62歲的她體重超過了68公斤。

開始練瑜伽之后，葛老太太體重減輕了5公斤，還說肚子也變小了。“現在我不用吃止疼片了。”她說道。

[16]The next morning,Lu led the residents through a series of balancing poses.Then he told them to relax their entire bodies and laugh loudly.It was a happy moment in a village that has had little to look forward to.Because of a recent drought,vast patches of fields are barren and brown.The residents’ children work or study in Chinese cities,coming home to visit only once a year.

[16]第二天早上，盧書記領著村民們做了一套平衡體式動作，接著叫他們放松身體放聲大笑。最近一場干旱讓大片土地顆粒無收。孩子們又都進城工作學習去了，一年才回一次家。對于這座沒太大盼頭兒的村子來說，此刻很歡樂。

[17]Zhang Xiying,62,said she had never felt motvated to work until she learned yoga.“Before this,training the body was playing cards,” she said.“Now,we don’t play anymore.”

Yoga has become part of the daily routine for many.Many practice at 5.30am,then let their cows and sheep out to pasture7pasture放（牛羊）吃草。before sunrise,followed by breakfast,farming,lunch,rest,farming,evening yoga at 5.30pm,then dinner.

[17]62歲的張喜英說她自從學了瑜伽后，才感覺勞作有動力。“以前啊，鍛煉身體就是打牌，”她說，“現在我們再也不打了。”

瑜伽已經融入到大多數人的日常生活中。很多村民早上5點半就起來練，日出前把牛羊趕去吃草，然后吃早飯、種地、吃午飯、休息，接著種地，到了5點半開始傍晚的瑜伽練習，練完吃晚飯。

[18]Lu,who was previously the Communist Party secretary of a technical college in Shijiazhuang,was sent to work in Yugouliang in 2016,part of the party’s longtime practice of sending cadres to less developed areas.

Like hundreds of other cadres in rural China,he was tasked with alleviating poverty by 2020.

[18]盧書記以前是石家莊一所職業技術學院的黨支部書記。2016年，在干部下鄉長期政策的貫徹實施中，被派到玉狗梁村工作。

跟其他成百上千的中國農村干部一樣，他的任務是帶領村子在2020年實現脫貧。

[19]Lu said he had bigger plans.He wants to turn Yugouliang into a yoga training base for farmers from all over China,which he says will draw tourists as well.

“All these are dreams for now,” Lu said as he drove amid mud-brick homes and toilets that were little more than pits.“But one has to have dreams.” ■

[19]盧書記說他還有更大的計劃。他想把玉狗梁打造成全中國農民的瑜伽培訓基地，這樣也能吸引游客。

“這些暫時還只是夢想，”盧書記邊開著車穿過泥磚房和簡陋的廁所邊說，“但人總得有夢想。” □

（譯者曾獲第三屆“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽優秀獎）