Kenyan Maasai warriors swap spears for cricket bats 肯亞馬賽族戰士用板球拍換長矛

Kenyan Maasai warriors swap spears for cricket bats
肯亞馬賽族戰士用板球拍換長矛
2012-04-22◎俞智敏

Standing in front of the wicket, Kenyan cricketer and Maasai warrior Francis Meshame sports his traditional headdress and red robes but has swapped his shield and spear for protective pads and a cricket bat.
站在板球場三柱門前的肯亞板球手、馬賽族戰士梅沙米穿戴著傳統頭飾與紅色長袍，但他卻把盾牌與長矛換成了防護墊與板球拍。

"It is an easy game because when you bowl it is just like throwing the spear," said Meshame, part of a team of cricketers from Kenya’s famous Maasai tribe who have embraced the game but not the sport’s traditional whites.
「這種運動很容易，因為當你投球時，就像擲長矛一樣，」梅沙米說，他是來自肯亞著名馬賽族的板球隊員，馬賽族已經欣然接受了板球運動，但卻不包括板球傳統的白色球衣。

Cricket, imported into Kenya during British colonial rule, is played only in the east African country’s largest cities.
板球是在肯亞受英國殖民統治時被引進肯亞，目前這個東非國家只有少數幾個大城市才有人打板球。

None of the Maasai on this team had even heard of the sport until five years ago when Aliya Bauer, a South African cricket fan, began introducing local schoolchildren in the village of Il Polei to the game.
這支球隊的馬賽族隊員原本從未聽過這種運動，直到5年球一位南非板球迷包爾才開始向伊爾波來村的學童引介這項運動。

The Maasai took to the game like ducks to water. "The moranes （young Maasai warriors） learned to throw the spear when they were very young. It makes them very good bowlers," Bauer says.
馬賽族人打起板球來就像如魚得水一般。「年輕的馬賽族戰士很小的時候就學會了擲長矛。這讓他們成為很棒的投手，」包爾說。

Despite limited resources, the team has come a long way since they first put bat to ball. The Maasai Cricket Warriors have staged exhibition matches at the Laikipia Highlands Games, where the tribes of the region engage in athletics, football and other events, for the past two years running.（AFP）
儘管資源有限，這支球隊從首次擊球到現在已有長足的進步。馬賽板球戰士已連續兩年在萊基比亞高地運動會中舉行表演賽，這場運動會讓當地各部族有機會進行各種體育競技、足球及其他比賽。（法新社）

新聞辭典

sport：動詞，指炫耀、誇示，或穿戴、裝飾某種衣物，如Back in the 1960s he sported bell-bottom trousers, platform heels and hair down past his shoulders.（在1960年代，他總是穿著喇叭褲、厚底鞋，留著過肩的長髮。）

take to something like a duck to water：片語，指很快就能學會某事並樂在其中，如魚得水，如She took to dancing like a duck（takes）to water.（她學跳舞就像如魚得水般優游自在。）

come a long way：片語，指有很大的進步與改善，如Information technology has come a long way in the last twenty years.（資訊技術在過去20年間已有重大進步。）