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.

阿拉伯半岛虽然坐拥许多极其肥沃的土地且常年郁郁葱葱，然而占据这片巨大岛屿最大面积的却是一片炽热的沙漠，沙漠躺在天空之下，头顶几乎没有云朵经过。这片沙漠一路延伸至无边的平原之上，那里一眼望去空无一物，只有荒凉而枯燥的荒野那统一的地平线映入眼帘。这片光秃秃的沙漠被从巴勒斯坦边界到印度洋海岸向不同方向延伸的连绵山脉时而环绕、时而分割开来。它们的峰顶虽然高耸入云，但它们那坚硬的胸膛却无法为土壤提供水分，也无法聚集云朵来庇护那片已被杀伤性十足的热带天空烤焦了的土地。

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.

如果不是因为山脉间四处栖息着大片的绿洲-翠绿的山谷，如果不是周期的降雨提供了各种水井和给水站，那么阿拉伯半岛的大部分地区定然早已是无人区。对这样一个整年也下不了一场令人神清气爽的大雨的国家来说，能够拥有一汪泉水便是一个部落最值钱的财产了。然而，有大片富含水源的土地却正如其名般不为人所知，沙漠在那些土地上绵延不绝，旅行者们即使行走了数日也喜见不了哪怕一口水井。

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.

位于亚洲中部的高原地带或许是马儿们真正的故乡，然而阿拉伯半岛确是这众多动物们收获灵气和速度的地方。在那里被温柔以待的马儿们变得温顺和忠诚。当战场和旅途不需要它们之时，它们便会在帐篷周围悠闲自在，时而俯身看看躺在地上的孩子们，然后小心翼翼地从他们身旁走过以免伤到他们。马儿们习惯了行走和疾驰，它们的感知并没有因鞭子的不停抽打而变得迟钝。它们保存实力为迁徙和追逐作准备，每当感触到手和马镫便能如风般飞奔而去；但是一旦有同伴下马它们会迅速停止前行直到同伴再次上马整装待发。