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.”

面对人生的转折

文/冯骥才

对我来说，告别体坛是一个大转折。

在那之前，我的全部时间，是与队友、教练、观众、球筐、球、运动衣、哨声和艰苦训练后香甜的睡眠在一起的。这中间，有我的挚爱、事业、苦乐悲欢、希望与目标。我被教练认定为“有前途的中锋”而选拔到市篮球队里。

1961年10月4日，那情景像一张拍下的照片，留在我脑海里。教练郑重地对我说：“你的胸骨损伤，不适于大运动量训练。”从医生口中得知，体育不再是我继续拼搏的事业。

运动员离队时，大都要经历一阵情绪的波澜。我失望和苦恼过，但情绪没有一落千丈，很快就平静下来。

一盏灯灭了，我点燃另一盏灯。

除了篮球，我还酷爱绘画和文学。初中期间，我随一位国画家习画，高一时曾获得天津市青少年美术展览的优秀作品奖。即使我在球队集训期间，星期天也要跑回家，穿着球衣球鞋，弯下又长又大的身躯，伏案练笔。当时，我的绘画能力足以承担国画社仿制古画的工作。

脱下球衣，我开始了将近二十年的绘画生涯。我画了数百幅画，出口到东南亚和欧美。我一直没有放弃对篮球的爱好，“文革”期间还参加一支杂牌军，到处去“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)

我对文学的爱好，依旧被紧紧抱在怀里。由于生活的变化等原因，我改换这种更为有力的方式，来表达我强烈的社会责任感。在短短几年里，我写了将近二百万字的文学作品。我得感激青少年时代体育恩赐给我的强健体魄。

我的老队友一个个离开球坛，都为自己未来的理想苦恼和茫然过，有的至今没有确定目标。有位队友找我聊天,口气里透出几分自卑。我真不愿意听到他讲这种话。我深深懂得运动员的甘苦。我想埋怨他当年没有别的业余爱好和特长，忽视了文化素养，把生活看得过于褊狭。话到唇边，没说出来。

一个人从事了体育，就注定在将来还要更换一次职业。运动生命是短暂的，竞技和竞赛只能在精饱力足的青春时代。从事体育的人，当然要在这黄金般宝贵的时机上，尽心竭力去创造成绩和功勋。同时，也要注意发展自己多方面的兴趣，多读点书。年长力衰或因意外变故而中途易辙时，爱好往往成为他毕生为之奋斗的事业。一个人多一种爱好，就像多会一种语言，总会有用。因无追求，就难免把工作当作一种负担，勉强去做，成为一种摆脱不掉的苦恼。

运动是力和智的统一。文学、音乐等各种艺术，会在道德、气质、风度、修养等方面影响你的谈吐，增添你的能力，加深你的思考，使你真正认识到世界的丰富和广阔。一个有智慧的运动员，无论是在运动的黄金时代，还是在将来韶华已逝的岁月，都不会在生活之路上彷徨。