英國語文第六冊(雙語):熱帶地區(qū)(二)(4)

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Though Arabia possesses some districts of remarkable fertility, which enjoy almost perpetual verdure, yet the greater part of that vast peninsula consists of burning deserts lying under a sky rarely traversed by a cloud, and stretching into boundless plains, where the eye meets nothing but the uniform horizon of a wild and dreary waste. These naked deserts are encircled, and sometimes intersected, by barren mountains, which run in almost continuous ridges and in different directions from the borders of Palestine to the shores of the Indian Ocean. Their summits tower up into rugged and insulated peaks, but their flinty bosoms supply no humidity to nourish the soil; they concentrate no clouds to screen the parched earth from the withering influence of a tropical sky.

阿拉伯半島雖然坐擁許多極其肥沃的土地且常年郁郁蔥蔥，然而占據(jù)這片巨大島嶼最大面積的卻是一片熾熱的沙漠，沙漠躺在天空之下，頭頂幾乎沒有云朵經(jīng)過。這片沙漠一路延伸至無邊的平原之上，那里一眼望去空無一物，只有荒涼而枯燥的荒野那統(tǒng)一的地平線映入眼簾。這片光禿禿的沙漠被從巴勒斯坦邊界到印度洋海岸向不同方向延伸的連綿山脈時而環(huán)繞、時而分割開來。它們的峰頂雖然高聳入云，但它們那堅硬的胸膛卻無法為土壤提供水分，也無法聚集云朵來庇護那片已被殺傷性十足的熱帶天空烤焦了的土地。

Were it not for the wadys—verdant valleys lying here and there among the hills—and the various wells or watering stations supplied by periodical rains, the greater portion of Arabia must have remained unpeopled, and uninhabitable. In a country like this, where whole years occasionally pass away without a refreshing shower, the possession of a spring is not unfrequently the most valuable property of a tribe. There are large tracts, however, where the luxury of water, as it may well be called, is unknown, and where the desert extends for many a day's journey without affording the traveller the welcome sight of a single well.

如果不是因為山脈間四處棲息著大片的綠洲-翠綠的山谷，如果不是周期的降雨提供了各種水井和給水站，那么阿拉伯半島的大部分地區(qū)定然早已是無人區(qū)。對這樣一個整年也下不了一場令人神清氣爽的大雨的國家來說，能夠擁有一汪泉水便是一個部落最值錢的財產(chǎn)了。然而，有大片富含水源的土地卻正如其名般不為人所知，沙漠在那些土地上綿延不絕，旅行者們即使行走了數(shù)日也喜見不了哪怕一口水井。

Although the high steppes of central Asia are probably the genuine and original country of the horse, yet in Arabia that generous animal attains the highest degree of spirit and swiftness. The tender familiarity with which the horses are treated trains them to habits of gentleness and attachment. When not employed in war or in travelling they loiter about the tents, often going over numbers of children lying on the ground, and carefully picking their steps lest they should hurt them. They are accustomed only to walk and to gallop. Their sensations are not blunted by the incessant abuse of the spur and the whip. Their powers are reserved for the movement of flight and pursuit, and no sooner do they feel the touch of the hand and the stirrup than they dart away with the swiftness of the wind; but if their friend be dismounted in the rapid career, they instantly stop till he has recovered his seat.

位于亞洲中部的高原地帶或許是馬兒們真正的故鄉(xiāng)，然而阿拉伯半島確是這眾多動物們收獲靈氣和速度的地方。在那里被溫柔以待的馬兒們變得溫順和忠誠。當(dāng)戰(zhàn)場和旅途不需要它們之時，它們便會在帳篷周圍悠閑自在，時而俯身看看躺在地上的孩子們，然后小心翼翼地從他們身旁走過以免傷到他們。馬兒們習(xí)慣了行走和疾馳，它們的感知并沒有因鞭子的不停抽打而變得遲鈍。它們保存實力為遷徙和追逐作準(zhǔn)備，每當(dāng)感觸到手和馬鐙便能如風(fēng)般飛奔而去；但是一旦有同伴下馬它們會迅速停止前行直到同伴再次上馬整裝待發(fā)。