英國語文第六冊(雙語):溫帶地區(qū)(2)
The excessive heat of the Tropics, on the other hand, enfeebles man. It invites to repose and inaction. Not only in the vegetable world and in the lower animals is the power of life carried to its highest degree, —in tropical man, too, physical nature excels. There the life of the body overmasters that of the soul. The physical instincts eclipse the higher faculties; passion predominates over intellect and reason; the passive over the active faculties.
另一方面，熱帶地區(qū)的酷熱使得人類變得虛弱無力，它誘惑人類修養(yǎng)身心、碌碌無為。生命的力量不僅在植物界和低等動物界得到最大限度的發(fā)揮，還有熱帶地區(qū)的人類，他們被大自然的物質資源所吞噬，致使肉體的發(fā)展碾壓了靈魂的升華。物理本能使得高級能力黯然失色，激情壓倒了理智，被動戰(zhàn)勝了主動。
"A nature too rich, too prodigal of her gifts, does not compel man to wrest from her his daily bread by his daily toil. A regular climate, and the absence of a dormant season, render forethought of little use to him. Nothing invites him to that struggle of intelligence against nature which raises the powers of man to their highest pitch. Thus he never dreams of resisting physical nature: he is conquered by her; he submits to the yoke, and becomes again the animal man, in proportion as he abandons himself to external influences, forgetful of his high moral destination."
“太過富有、太過慷慨的大自然不會強迫人類通過每天的勞動來從她那里換取每日的食物。有規(guī)律的氣候，沒有休眠季，提前做一些沒有用處的設想。人類不會有動力去參加和大自然之間的智力對決，即使這種對決有助于把人類的能力開發(fā)到極致。所以，人類從來沒有想過要和大自然抗爭：人類會被自然征服、屈服于束縛，之后又再次恢復獸性，任由自己被外界塑造，忘卻了那高尚的道德目標。
While a temperate climate is thus most favourable for developing man's intellectual vigour and physical strength, it is also most suitable for those animal and vegetable products which are best adapted to meet the wants of the great mass of mankind. Thus the ox and the sheep—the ruminants most useful to man—are natives of the Temperate Zone, and are diffused very widely and in vast numbers over it. From his home in Central Asia, the horse—the indispensable ally of man in every kind of industry, in war as in peace, in his pleasures as in his toils—has spread round and round the globe. The feathered tribes, too, exist in such abundance in these regions as to form in some countries a staple article of food.
然而，溫帶氣候是有利于開發(fā)人類智力活力和體力勞動的最佳氣候，也是生產滿足廣大人類需求的動植物產品的最佳時機。因此，像牛和羊這種對人類最有用處的反芻動物是溫帶地區(qū)的原住民，它們在溫帶地區(qū)的活動范圍很廣且數量極多。從中亞地區(qū)分布開來，不管在戰(zhàn)爭時代還是和平時代、不管是娛樂還是工作，馬作為人類在各行各業(yè)里不可或缺的盟友，它們的活動范圍已經遍及世界各地。此外，來自羽毛部落的鳥兒們也在這些地區(qū)大量繁殖，甚至成了某些國家的一道主要佳肴。
