LESSON 23 The polar world(I)

第二十三课 极地世界(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.

我们来想象一下自己上升到了北极地区的上空，在那里我们能够俯瞰整个北极圈的景象，那么我们第一眼看到的会是什么呢？答案很显然，我们第一眼看到的肯定会是凯恩探险队的海耶斯博士于1853年发现的那片广阔的北极海。这个被大多数地理学家所接受的观点已被证实是正确的。那里有一片宽约为1200英里的海洋环绕着北极点，海洋里面生活着大量的生物。受来自赤道并途径挪威的斯匹茨贝尔根群岛和诺瓦泽木布拉群岛暖流的影响，这片海洋在一年大部分的时间里都结不了冰。不过，除了这片未被开发的地区之外，我们还能看到另外三处别具一格的地带，那里也就是我们所说的“北极地区”，而那三个地带分别是冰雪屏障地带、无树的荒地地带以及广袤的森林地带。

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.

环绕着极地海洋和极地本身的冰冻地带曾是人类和统治这片荒地地区的冰雪之王多次进行殊死搏斗的地方，强行穿过这道屏障则是许多英勇的探险家一生追求的梦想，自17世纪以来已有成百上千名勇敢的探险家为此作出了牺牲。而就在1909年9月6日，美国海军司令皮里向全世界宣布了一则令人难忘的消息：5个月前，也就是1909年4月6日，他把美国的“星条旗插在了北极”。整个北极圈内部极其寒冷，而亚洲和美洲的内部甚至更加寒冷。冬季平均气温介于冰点以下50度到60度之间，水银在一年绝大部分时间里维持在固体状态。不过据了解，在人类已经深入的北方冰区的偏远地，酒精温度计最低可降至冰点以下90度甚至100度。那么问题来了：人类是如何在如此低的温度下生存的呢？这对生活在温带地区的居民来说是不可置信的。然而，他们在狭小的空间里用来抗冻的仅仅是一件厚厚的皮衣、一间低矮的小屋、一个用来取暖的火炉或者是一盏油灯，除此之外，还要感谢人体那种能够根据气候变化而做出相应调整以抵御严寒的神奇特质。