LESSON 23 The polar world(I)
第二十三課 極地世界(一)
Let us imagine ourselves elevated above the region of the North Pole to a height sufficient to enable us to take in at one view the whole Arctic Circle. What we should see immediately beneath us can now be certainly affirmed. It would be the open Polar Sea discovered by Dr. Hayes of Kane's Expedition, in 1853. The view adopted by most geographers has been found correct, and there rolls around the Pole a sea about twelve hundred miles in breadth, abounding in animal life, and kept free from ice during a great part of the year by the influence of equatorial waters, which reach it by way of Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. But beyond this unexplored region we should see three distinct zones, forming what are called the Arctic Regions,—an icy barrier, treeless wastes, and vast forests.
我們來想象一下自己上升到了北極地區的上空，在那里我們能夠俯瞰整個北極圈的景象，那么我們第一眼看到的會是什么呢？答案很顯然，我們第一眼看到的肯定會是凱恩探險隊的海耶斯博士于1853年發現的那片廣闊的北極海。這個被大多數地理學家所接受的觀點已被證實是正確的。那里有一片寬約為1200英里的海洋環繞著北極點，海洋里面生活著大量的生物。受來自赤道并途徑挪威的斯匹茨貝爾根群島和諾瓦澤木布拉群島暖流的影響，這片海洋在一年大部分的時間里都結不了冰。不過，除了這片未被開發的地區之外，我們還能看到另外三處別具一格的地帶，那里也就是我們所說的“北極地區”，而那三個地帶分別是冰雪屏障地帶、無樹的荒地地帶以及廣袤的森林地帶。
The belt of ice which girdles the Polar Sea and the Pole itself has been the scene of many a deadly struggle between man and the frost-king, who reigns supreme in these inhospitable regions. To force a passage across or through this barrier has been the life-dream of many a heroic explorer; and hundreds of brave men, from the 17th century onwards, have perished in making the attempt. On September 6, 1909, the memorable announcement was made to the world by Commander Peary of the United States Navy that five months previously, on April 6th, he had "nailed the Stars and Stripes to the Pole." So intense is the cold within the whole Arctic Circle, and in the interior of Asia and America even beyond it, that, the average winter temperature ranges from 50°to 60°below the freezing point of water, and during a great part of the year converts mercury into a solid body. But at the remote points to which man has penetrated in the northern ice-zone the spirit-thermometer has been known to fall as low as 90°, and even 100°, below the point at which water freezes! It may well be asked how man is able to bear these excessively low temperatures, which must seem appalling to an inhabitant of the temperate zone. But thick fur clothing; a hut small and low, where the warmth of a stove, or simply of an oil-lamp, is husbanded in a narrow space; above all, the wonderful power of the human constitution to adapt itself to every change of climate, go far to counteract the rigour of the cold.
環繞著極地海洋和極地本身的冰凍地帶曾是人類和統治這片荒地地區的冰雪之王多次進行殊死搏斗的地方，強行穿過這道屏障則是許多英勇的探險家一生追求的夢想，自17世紀以來已有成百上千名勇敢的探險家為此作出了犧牲。而就在1909年9月6日，美國海軍司令皮里向全世界宣布了一則令人難忘的消息：5個月前，也就是1909年4月6日，他把美國的“星條旗插在了北極”。整個北極圈內部極其寒冷，而亞洲和美洲的內部甚至更加寒冷。冬季平均氣溫介于冰點以下50度到60度之間，水銀在一年絕大部分時間里維持在固體狀態。不過據了解，在人類已經深入的北方冰區的偏遠地，酒精溫度計最低可降至冰點以下90度甚至100度。那么問題來了：人類是如何在如此低的溫度下生存的呢？這對生活在溫帶地區的居民來說是不可置信的。然而，他們在狹小的空間里用來抗凍的僅僅是一件厚厚的皮衣、一間低矮的小屋、一個用來取暖的火爐或者是一盞油燈，除此之外，還要感謝人體那種能夠根據氣候變化而做出相應調整以抵御嚴寒的神奇特質。
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