牛津書蟲系列 世界上最冷的地方 05 A long cold winter

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　　It was dark for four months.Outside the wooden house at Framheim，it was often -60°Centigrade.The dogs lived in warm holes under the snow.The men stayed in the house，and worked in their rooms under the snow.

　　The skis and sledges came from the best shops in Norway，but Bjaaland wasn't happy with them.He changed a lot of things on the skis and sledges.Soon the sledges were stronger than before.The skis were better and faster，too.

　　All the Norwegians worked hard.They looked after their dogs，and worked on their equipment—the sledges，skis，tents.Every day they thought about their journey to the Pole，and talked about it.And every day，Amundsen thought about Scott.One day，in midwinter，he talked to his men.

　　'Let's start early，before Scott，'Amundsen said.'Remem-ber，Scott has more men than us，and he has motor sledges，too.Perhaps they can go faster than us.'

　　Bjaaland laughed.'Oh no，they can't go faster than me，'he said.'On snow，nothing can go faster than a good man on skis.'

　　'We don't know，'Amundsen said.'You're the best skier in Norway，but you get tired，and dogs get tired，too.Motor sledges don't get tired.They can go all day and all night.'

　　Johansen laughed angrily.'That's stupid，'he said.'Perhaps the motor sledges can go all night，but the Englishmen can't.The English can't win，Roald—they don't understand snow，but we do.And they're too slow.'

　　'Perhaps，'Amundsen said.'But I want to win this race.So we're going to start early!Do you understand?'

　　It was quiet and warm inside Framheim.Bjaaland looked at Amundsen，and thought about the long，cold journey in front of him.He thought about the dogs in their holes under the snow，and listened to the wind over the house.'When，Roald?'he said quietly.

　　'On August 24th.The sun comes back on that day.We start then.'

　　'But we can't!'Johansen said.He looked angry，and un-happy.'That's too early!We can't start then—it's danger-ous and stupid!'

　　Amundsen looked at Johansen coldly.'You're wrong，Jo-hansen，'he said.'We want to win，remember?So we start on August 24th.'

　　Bjaaland listened to the winter wind outside.

　　* * * * *

　　In Scott's camp，at Cape Evans，no one talked about Amundsen and no one worked hard.They had good food，and they played football on the snow.They wrote a newspaper—The south Polar Times—and read books.No one learnt to ski，no one worked on the motor sledges.Twice，men went for long jour-neys across the snow.They walked，and pulled the sledges themselves.Oates stayed at Cape Evans and looked after his ponies.

　　Over the window in Cape Evans，Scott put a map of Antarc-tica.With a pen，he made a line from Cape Evans to the South Pole，and he put a little Britisn Flag at the Pole.Under the map，Scott wrote the day for the start of their journey.

　　We start on November 3rd，he wrote.

　　5 漫長的寒冬

　　4個月中不見天日，一片昏暗。在弗雷門海姆木屋外面，氣溫低到-60℃。狗兒們生活在溫暖的雪洞里。眾人則留在木屋里，在白雪覆蓋下的房間里，忙著各自的活兒。

　　盡管滑雪板與雪橇都是從挪威最好的商店內(nèi)購買的，但是比阿蘭德對這些設(shè)備并不滿意。于是，他在滑雪板與雪橇上換了許多部件。一會兒功夫雪橇變得結(jié)實多了?；┌遄兊酶檬垢炝恕?/p>

　　所有這些挪威人干活兒都很賣力。他們照顧狗群，改良設(shè)備：雪橇、滑雪板、帳篷。每天，他們都想著遠(yuǎn)赴南極的旅程，談?wù)撝@次旅程。每天，阿蒙森腦子里都裝著斯科特。隆冬里的一天，他對眾人說：

　　“我們早些走，趕在斯科特之前。”阿蒙森說，“別忘了，斯科特的人比我們多，他還有機(jī)動雪橇。所以，他們可能比我們快。”

　　比阿蘭德大笑起來。“啊，不，他們不可能比我快，”他說，“在雪地上，沒有任何東西能快過優(yōu)秀的滑雪者。”

　　“很難料定。”阿蒙森說，“你雖是挪威最優(yōu)秀的滑雪者，但是也有累乏的時候，狗也一樣。而機(jī)動雪橇則不會累，它能沒日沒夜地跑個不停。”

　　約翰森怒極而笑。“真蠢，”他說，“也許機(jī)動雪橇可以整夜不停地跑，但是英國人不能啊!英國人不可能贏，羅阿爾。他們不懂雪性，而我們懂。而且他們行進(jìn)速度非常緩慢。”

　　“也許如此，”阿蒙森說，“無論如何我想贏得這次競賽，所以我們要早些出發(fā)!你們理解嗎?”

　　弗雷門海姆的房內(nèi)寧靜而溫暖。比阿蘭德看著阿蒙森，思考起擺在面前漫長寒冷的旅程;想著那些躲在雪洞里的狗兒們;聽著屋外的寒風(fēng)。“什么時候出發(fā)，羅阿爾?”他輕聲地問。

　　“8月24日，從那天起就又要出太陽了。我們就在那時出發(fā)。”

　　“我們不能那時就出發(fā)!”約翰森說。他顯得很生氣，一臉不快。“這太早了!我們不能在那個時候出發(fā)，那是危險又愚蠢的做法!”

　　阿蒙森冷冷地看著約翰森。“你錯了，約翰森，”他說，“別忘了，我們想取得勝利。所以，我們的出發(fā)時間為8月 24日。”

　　比阿蘭德聆聽著窗外的寒風(fēng)。

　　* * * * *

　　開普埃文斯，斯科特的營地里，沒有任何人談?wù)撈鸢⒚缮那闆r，沒有任何人在努力地干活兒。他們吃好東西，在雪地上踢足球，編了一份定名為《南極時報》的報紙，翻閱書籍。沒有人學(xué)滑雪，也沒有人保養(yǎng)機(jī)動雪橇。這些人兩度進(jìn)行過橫穿雪原的漫長旅程。他們走路不算，反而還得拉著雪橇走。奧茨留在開普埃文斯，喂養(yǎng)小馬。

　　在開普埃文斯的窗戶上，斯科特掛著一張南極洲地圖。他在開普埃文斯與南極之間，用鋼筆劃了條線，并將一面小小的英國國旗插在南極上。地圖下面，斯科特寫下了他們的出發(fā)日期。

　　我們于11月 3 日出發(fā)，他寫道。