美国学生世界地理教材 第136期:极昼之地(1)

 IN "Through the Looking-Glass" the story of "The Walrus 1 and the Carpenter" starts this way: 在《镜中奇缘》这部童话小说里，“海象与木匠”故事的开头是这样的：

The sun was shining on the sea, Shining with all his might: …And this was odd 2, because it was The middle of the night. 太阳照射在海面上，阳光灿烂……这很奇怪，因为现在是午夜。
Sun shining at midnight! 午夜太阳还在照射！
You probably think this can't be true and is only a joke, but it is true up at the top of Norway and Sweden. 你很可能认为，这不是真的，只不过是个玩笑吧。但是，在挪威和瑞典的最北端真的就是这样的。
At the top of Norway is a great rock sticking out into the Arctic 3 Ocean, it is called the North Cape 4, 在挪威的最北端，有一块巨大的岩石伸出去，伸进北冰洋，叫做“北角”。
and although there is no town there, people make long journeys from other lands to the North Cape to see the sun shining on the sea in the middle of the night. 尽管那儿没有城镇，人们还是从世界各地长途跋涉来到北角，观看午夜太阳照射海面的情景。
You have always been told that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and probably you have never seen it do anything else; 别人总是告诉你，太阳从东边升起，在西边落下。而且你很可能从来没有见过与此不同的情况。
but the boys and girls in the north of Norway and Sweden know differently, 但是，挪威和瑞典北部的孩子们所知道的就和我们不一样，
for up there the sun doesn't rise in the east and set in the west. 因为在那儿，太阳并不是东升西落。
It goes completely round the house low down in the sky near the ground and keeps on going round and round this way every day for six months 太阳完全是围着房子转，始终低低地挂在空中，离地面很近，就这样日复一日，在天空持续转六个月。
and in that time never sets—is never out of sight—there is always daylight for six months. 在这段时间里没有日落——太阳总是在你视力范围之内——连续六个月都是白天。
But the sun gradually gets closer and closer to the ground as it goes round the sky and then at last sinks out of sight below the edge of the World, 但是，随着太阳在空中转动，它离地面越来越近，最后，终于落下去，离开你的视野，落在世界边缘以下
and there it stays out of sight for another six months and for six months it is night. 这样，连续六个月你看不到太阳，连续六个月都是黑夜。
How can such a thing be? 怎么会发生这样的事呢？
Isn't it the same sun we see here? 难道那边的太阳和我们天天看到的太阳不是同一个吗？
Yes, of course it's the same sun; there's only one sun. 是的，当然是同一个太阳，只有一个太阳。
But we are living on the side of the World and we can't see the sun when it goes round to the other side of the World. 但是，我们生活在世界的这一边，当太阳转到世界的另一边的时候，我们就看不见它了。
If, however, we climb up the side of the World to the top where the North Cape is, we can see the sun go all the way round. 然而，如果我们往北来到北角所在的地球顶点，我们就会看到太阳始终都在那里转动。
It is as if you lived on the side of a hill and some one went round the hill and came back on the other side. 这就好像是你住在山的这边，看见有个人绕过这座山再从另一边回来。
You could see him go off one way and come back the other way, but you couldn't see him when he was on the other side. 你可以看见他从这边离开，也可以看见他从另一边回来；
If, however, you went to the top of the hill you could see him all the way round. 但是，如果你来到山顶，你就总是都能看到他。