牛津書蟲系列 世界上最冷的地方 01 Two ships

1 兩艘船

The race began in the summer of 1910.

比賽開始于1910年夏天。

On June lst，in London，a black ship，the Terra Nova， went down the river Thames to the sea.Thousands of people stood by the river to watch it.They were all excited and happy.

6月1日，倫敦。特若·諾瓦號(hào)這艘黑船順泰晤士河而下，向大海駛?cè)?。成千上萬的人佇立岸邊觀望，所有的人臉上都露出興奮與幸福。

On the Terra Nova，Captain Robert Falcon Scott smiled quietly.It was a very important day for him.He was a strong man，not very tall，in the blue clothes of a captain.He was forty-one years old，but he had a young face，like a boy.His eyes were dark and quiet.

特若·諾瓦號(hào)上，隊(duì)長羅伯特·福爾康·斯科特?zé)o聲地笑了。這一天對(duì)他來說太重要了。他個(gè)頭不高，但長得壯實(shí)，穿著藍(lán)色的隊(duì)長制服。他雖說已經(jīng)41歲，但是由于長著一張娃娃臉，所以看上去仍像個(gè)小孩。他雙眼烏黑而又沉靜。

One man on the ship，Titus Oates，smiled at Scott.

泰特斯·奧茨，船上的一位水手，沖著隊(duì)長笑了。

'What an exciting day，Captain!'he said.'Look at those people!I feel like an important man!'

“多么令人興奮的日子啊，隊(duì)長!”他說，“看看這些人!我覺得自己好似成為重要人物了!”

Scott laughed.'You are important，Titus，'he said.'And you're going to be famous，too.We all are.Do you see this flag?'He looked at the big British flag at the back of the ship，and smiled at Oates.'That flag is coming with us，'he said.

隊(duì)長朗聲笑了。“泰特斯，你的確是重要人物，”他說，“而且你很快就要名揚(yáng)天下，就同我們大家一樣。你看到這國旗了嗎?”他注視著船尾那面巨幅的英國國旗，微笑著對(duì)奧茨說：“那面國旗將會(huì)隨我們一道去。

'In the Antarctic，I'm going to carry it under my clothes. We're going to be the first men at the South Pole，and that flag is going to be first，too!'

在南極洲，我將把它夾在衣服里面帶著。我們將成為首批到達(dá)南極的人，那面國旗也將是第一面到達(dá)南極的旗幟。”

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Five days later，on June 6th，a man opened the door of his wooden house in Norway.He was a tall man，with a long face.He waited outside the house for a minute.Everything was very quiet.He could see no houses，only mountains，trees，and wa-ter.It was nearly dark.The sky was black over the mountains.

5天以后，6月6日。在挪威，一個(gè)人拉開了自己的木房子的門。這人高個(gè)、長臉。他在室外稍候片刻，四周萬籟俱寂。他目光所及之處，沒有住房，只有群山、樹林和大海。天近傍晚，群山上面是黑沉沉的一片天空。

The man smiled，and walked quickly away from the house，down to the sea.In the water，a big wooden ship waited for him.The man got onto the ship，and talked and laughed quietly with his friends.

這人臉上露出微笑，快步離開木屋，朝海邊走去。大海中，一艘大型木船正等著他。他來到船上，與朋友們聊著，悄悄地笑著。

The ship's name was Fram，and the man was Roald Amundsen.The Fram was the most beautiful ship on earth，Amundsen thought.

這船叫弗雷門號(hào)，這人便是羅阿爾·阿蒙森。阿蒙森認(rèn)為，弗雷門號(hào)是地球上最美麗的一艘船。

His friends were the best skiers on earth，too.One of them，Olav Bjaaland，smiled at him.

他的朋友是地球上最優(yōu)秀的滑雪者。其中有位朋友叫奧拉夫·比阿蘭德，正沖著他微笑。

'North Pole，here we come，Captain，'he said.

“北極，我們?nèi)ツ莾?，?duì)長。”他說。

'Yes.'Amundsen said.His friends could not see his face in the dark.'Fram is going to the Arctic.'

“是的，”阿蒙森說。由于天色已黑，這位朋友看不見他的面部表情。“弗雷門號(hào)正駛向北極。”

Everyone on the Fram was ready to go to the North Pole，to the Arctic.Amundsen wanted to go there，too.But first he wanted to go south.His friends didn't know that.

弗雷門號(hào)上的每個(gè)人全都準(zhǔn)備就緒：到北極圈，上北極。阿蒙森也想去那兒。然而他第一想做的事，便是向南航行。他的朋友卻毫不知情。

At midnight on June 6th，the Fram moved quietly away from Amundsen's house，out to sea.

6月6日午夜，弗雷門號(hào)無聲地駛離阿蒙森的家園，駛向大海。