" We have sixteen men and the new motor sledges—they are much better."

“我们有16个人，还配有新式机动雪橇。这些雪橇比狗好使多了。”

" We need ponies, motor sledges, and good strong British men—that's all."

“我们需要小马、机动雪橇以及身强力壮的英国人！这些就够了。”

We have sixteen men and the new motor sledges—they are much better. And tomorrow the ponies are coming.

我们有16个人，还配有新式机动雪橇。这些雪橇比狗好使多了。明天，还有小马送来。

On October 24th, the motor sledges started south from Cape Evans. Four men went with them, but Scott stayed at Cape Evans for another week.

10月24日，机动雪橇向南进发，离开了开普埃文斯。4人随雪橇同往，但斯科特在开普埃文斯又逗留了一星期。

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 journeys across the snow.

他们编了一份定名为《南极时报》的报纸，翻阅书籍。没有人学滑雪，也没有人保养机动雪橇。这些人两度进行过横穿雪原的漫长旅程。

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.'

约翰森怒极而笑。“真蠢，”他说，“也许机动雪橇可以整夜不停地跑，但是英国人不能啊！英国人不可能赢，罗阿尔。他们不懂雪性，而我们懂。而且他们行 进速度非常缓慢。”

'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. '

“很难料定。”阿蒙森说，“你虽是挪威最优秀的滑雪者，但是也有累乏的时候，狗也一样。而机动雪橇则不会累，它能没日没夜地跑个不停。”

One day, in midwinter, he talked to his men. 'Let's start early, before Scott, ' Amundsen said. 'Remember, Scott has more men than us, and he has motor sledges, too. Perhaps they can go faster than us.'

隆冬里的一天，他对众人说：“我们早些走，赶在斯科特之前。”阿蒙森说，“别忘了，斯科特的人比我们多，他还有机动雪橇。所以，他们可能比我们快 。”