英國(guó)語(yǔ)文第六冊(cè)(雙語(yǔ)):極地世界(二)(3)

00:00

00:00

MP3下載

https://online2.tingclass.net/lesson/shi0529/10000/10357/ygyw6_78.mp3

https://image.tingclass.net/statics/js/2012

The most useful, however, of all the Arctic animals is the reindeer. Indeed it is as indispensable to the Laplander, the Siberian, and the Esquimaux, as the camel is to the Bedouin, or the mule to the Peruvian, or as the cocoa-nut palm—the tree of a hundred uses—is to the islanders of the Indian Ocean. Living and dead, he renders to the busy Lapp all the services which it requires three or four animals—the horse, the cow, and the sheep or the goat—to render to the inhabitants of temperate climes. He is tractable and easily tamed. He even saves his master the trouble of providing him with food. For the most remarkable circumstance about him is the unerring instinct with which he discovers his favourite moss, even when the snow covers it to the depth of several feet. As the camel is the "ship" of the ocean of sand, so assuredly is the reindeer the camel of the desert of snow!

對(duì)于人類(lèi)來(lái)說(shuō)，馴鹿是所有北極動(dòng)物當(dāng)中用處最多的，對(duì)拉普蘭人、西伯利亞人和愛(ài)斯基摩人來(lái)說(shuō)更是必不可缺，就如同駱駝和貝多因人、騾子和秘魯人以及有著上百種用途的椰子樹(shù)和印度洋上的居民一樣密不可分。不管是活著的馴鹿還是死去的馴鹿都對(duì)拉普蘭人大有用處，一頭馴鹿能為溫帶氣候的居民提供相當(dāng)于三到四只馬、牛、綿羊或者山羊所提供的服務(wù)。除此之外，馴鹿性格好且容易馴服，甚至還不需勞煩主人為自己提供食物，因?yàn)轳Z鹿有一種極其突出的才華，即他能依靠本能準(zhǔn)確無(wú)誤地找到自己最?lèi)?ài)吃的苔蘚，即使它們被雪埋藏在地下數(shù)英尺的地方。正如駱駝是沙漠中的“船”，而馴鹿無(wú)疑是沙漠中的“駱駝”！

The Antarctic regions are far more desolate than the Arctic. There no energetic hunters like the Esquimaux chase the seal or the walrus; no patient herdsmen like the Lapps follow their reindeer to the brink of the icy ocean: all is one dreary, cheerless waste, uninhabited and uninhabitable, except by migratory birds,—the petrel, the albatross, the penguin. No plant of any description is found on any part of the Antarctic continent; no land quadruped lives there; everywhere the snow-line descends to the water's edge.

南極比北極要荒涼得多。在南極，沒(méi)有像愛(ài)斯基摩人那樣精力充沛的獵人去追逐海豹或海象；也沒(méi)有像拉普人那樣耐心十足的牧民會(huì)跟隨他們的馴鹿來(lái)到冰冷的海洋邊緣：到處都是慘淡、毫無(wú)生機(jī)的荒野，除了像海燕、信天翁這種候鳥(niǎo)和企鵝之外，這里無(wú)人居住，也不宜居住。此外，南極大陸上沒(méi)有絲毫植物生長(zhǎng)的痕跡，也沒(méi)有陸地四足動(dòng)物生活的痕跡，整個(gè)南極除了水就是雪。

Certainly the grandest feature which nature presents in these regions is the Parry mountain-chain, about 1700 miles south of New Zealand. The most conspicuous object of the chain is Mount Erebus, an active volcano, of which Sir James Ross—the greatest of Antarctic explorers—had the good fortune to witness a magnificent eruption in 1841. The enormous column of flame and smoke rising 2000 feet above the mouth of the crater, which is elevated 12, 400 feet above the level of the sea, together with the snow-white mountain-chain and the deep blue ocean, formed a magnificent scene. The South Pole was first reached on December 10, 1911, by a Norwegian expedition under Captain Amundsen, which was favoured in crossing the ice by exceptionally good weather. Little more than a month later it was also reached under the most adverse conditions by Captain Scott, who perished on the return journey.

當(dāng)然，南極也有令人驚嘆的美景，其中最出類(lèi)拔萃的就是距離新西蘭南部1700英里的帕里山脈，而帕里山脈下最引人注目的則屬埃里伯斯火山，埃里伯斯火山是一座活火山，偉大的南極探險(xiǎn)家詹姆斯·羅斯爵士曾于1841年有幸目睹了該火山噴發(fā)時(shí)的壯觀景象：巨大的火柱和濃煙在火山口上方2000英尺處隆隆躥起至高出海平面12400英尺的地方，再加上雪白的山脈和深藍(lán)色的海洋，那景觀怎一個(gè)壯觀了得！1911年12月10日，一支由阿蒙森船長(zhǎng)率領(lǐng)的挪威探險(xiǎn)隊(duì)第一次到達(dá)南極，由于天氣尚好，他們的探險(xiǎn)進(jìn)程格外地順利。一個(gè)多月之后，斯科特船長(zhǎng)也在最?lèi)毫拥臈l件之下到達(dá)了南極，不過(guò)在回程途中不幸罹難。