1 The Boy Who Loved Soccer

CHAPTER 1 The Boy Who Loved Soccer Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born on October 23, 1940, in the tiny village of Três Cora..es Brazil. Even in 1940, there were many parts of the world that did not have electricity. Most of southeastern Brazil was one of those areas. In honor of their village finally getting electricity, Edson's parents named their first son after the American inventor Thomas Edison. Edson's father was named Jo.o Ramos but went by the nickname Dondinho. Most Brazilian men are known by a nickname. He was a soccer player for the town's team. Edson's mother was named Celeste. Two years later, his mother had another son, Jair. Edson had not yet been nicknamed "Pelé."

1940年10月23日，埃德森·阿兰蒂斯·多·纳西门托出生在巴西的一个名叫Três科拉的小村庄。 即使在1940年，世界上还有很多地方没有电。 巴西东南部的大部分地区就是其中之一。 为了纪念他们的村庄终于有了电，埃德森的父母用美国发明家托马斯·爱迪生的名字给他们的第一个儿子命名。 埃德森的父亲名叫乔。拉莫斯的昵称是“东迪尼奥”。 大多数巴西男人都有昵称。 他是镇上球队的足球运动员。 埃德森的母亲名叫塞莱斯特。 两年后，他的母亲又生了一个儿子Jair。 埃德森那时还没有“佩尔佩尔”的绰号。

Like all Brazilians, the Nascimento family spoke Portuguese. Brazil had been a colony of Portugal until 1822, when it gained independence. In the 1700s and 1800s, millions of Africans had been brought to Brazil as slaves to work for the Portuguese. The Nascimento family had ancestors among those African people, so Edson had very dark skin.

和所有巴西人一样，纳西门托一家也说葡萄牙语。 巴西在1822年获得独立之前一直是葡萄牙的殖民地。 在18世纪和19世纪，数百万非洲人被带到巴西作为奴隶，为葡萄牙人工作。 纳西门托家族的祖先是非洲人，所以埃德森的皮肤很黑。

Dondinho loved playing soccer and hoped that his sons would follow him. But playing professional soccer was not an easy life. In Brazil at this time, every village and town had a team. But only the very top players on the biggest teams earned the best salaries. The smaller teams, like the one in Três Cora..es and nearby towns, could not pay their players well. And that made life hard for Edson's family. They lived in a brick house that was nearly falling down in places. And Edson didn't own a pair of shoes until he was seven years old.

东迪尼奥喜欢踢足球，并希望他的儿子们能追随他。 但是踢职业足球并不是一种轻松的生活。 在当时的巴西，每个村庄和城镇都有一支球队。 但只有顶级球队的顶级球员才能获得最高的薪水。 较小的球队，比如Três Cora..es和附近城镇的球队，不能给他们的球员支付很高的薪水。 这让埃德森一家的日子不好过。 他们住在一所砖房里，房子有些地方几乎要倒了。 埃德森直到七岁才拥有一双鞋子。

In 1943, Edson's sister was born. She was named Maria Lúcia. When Edson was four, Dondinho was asked to play for a team in Bauru, a larger town to the south. He was also promised a second job for when he was not playing soccer. This was good news for the family. On the way to Bauru, Edson was excited to ride a train for the first time. He was thrilled to see the country of Brazil rush by the open window. He nearly fell out of one before being caught by Dondinho!

1943年，埃德森的妹妹出生了。 她被命名为玛丽亚Lúcia。 当埃德森四岁的时候，东迪尼奥被要求为南部一个更大的城镇鲍鲁的一支球队效力。 他还被承诺在不踢足球的时候有第二份工作。 这对这家人来说是个好消息。 在去博鲁的路上，埃德森第一次坐火车感到很兴奋。 看到巴西这个国家从敞开的窗户冲过去，他激动不已。 他差点从一个球上掉下来，然后被东迪尼奥接住！

Life in Bauru was not easy. The family's house was also very crowded. Edson's grandmother and his uncle Jorge had also moved to Bauru so the family could stay together. The house had only a small backyard, and it was often muddy. They had no air conditioning in the steamy summers. And they heated the house

在博鲁的生活并不容易。 家里也很拥挤。 埃德森的祖母和他的叔叔豪尔赫也搬到了鲍鲁，这样全家就可以住在一起了。 这所房子只有一个很小的后院，而且经常是泥泞的。 他们在闷热的夏天没有空调。 他们给房子供暖

during the winters with a woodstove, which they also used for cooking. It was Edson's job to stack the wood that was delivered to the house each week. Dondinho's team did not provide the second job it had promised him. And he had injured his knee, which meant he could not play all the time. Sometimes the family struggled just to have enough to eat. Their relatives tried to help them out. Even Edson had to help. He worked as a shoeshine boy at the railroad station. He also sometimes worked at the soccer stadium when Dondinho played. He loved watching his tall, strong father leap above the other teams' players to knock the ball into the goal with his head.

冬天用柴炉，他们也用柴炉做饭。 埃德森的工作是把每周送到家里的木头堆起来。 东迪尼奥的团队并没有给他提供承诺的第二份工作。 他的膝盖受伤了，这意味着他不能一直比赛。 有时，一家人为了吃饱而挣扎。 他们的亲戚试图帮助他们。 就连埃德森也得帮忙。他在火车站当擦鞋童。 当迪尼尼奥踢球时，他有时也会在足球场工作。 他喜欢看他高大强壮的父亲跳过其他球队的球员，用头把球打进球门。