V. M. 希利尔 （汤敏　译）

V. M. 希利尔（1875—1931），美国著名儿童教育家、科普作家， 创建了卡尔弗特教育体系。他为孩子们编写了一套趣味盎然的历史、地理、艺术读物， 即《写给孩子看的世界历史》《写给孩子看的世界地理》《写给孩子看的艺术史》。本文选自《写给孩子看的世界地理》。

When I was a boy the story I liked best was one about wolves in Russia. Some Russians in a sleigh were driving across the snow， when they were attacked by a pack of hungry wolves. The men whipped up their horses， but the wolves drew nearer and nearer. When the wolves were just about to spring upon the sleigh the men threw out food， which the wolves stopped a moment to devour， allowing the sleigh to get ahead. But the wolves caught up and again food was thrown out and again and again， till there was no food left. See if you can guess the end of the story， or make up an ending of your own.

Naturally， I used to think of Russia as a land of wolves， though for some reason people call Russia “The Bear.”

我小的时候，最喜欢听的一个故事，是关于一群俄罗斯人遭遇狼群的可怕经历。这群俄罗斯人驾驶雪橇穿过雪原，没想到遇上了饥饿的狼群。雪橇上的人不停地驱赶马快跑，可是狼群一直跟在雪橇后面，并且慢慢接近。每当狼群蠢蠢欲动想要扑上雪橇的时候，人们就扔出一点食物。这样狼群就会停下来抢食物吃。雪橇可以暂时跑出一段距离。可是当狼群吃完了食物，又会慢慢跟上来，这样人们只好又扔出一点食物。可是食物越来越少，最后全部都扔完了。但是狼群依然没有放弃，还是跟在雪橇后面。这个故事的结局我不告诉你，你猜猜最后发生了什么事情。当然你也可以运用自己的想象，给这个故事续写一个你喜欢的结局。

因为读了这个故事，自然而然地，我那时候认为俄罗斯遍地都是狼群。可是，不知出于什么原因，人们却喜欢把俄罗斯叫作“熊国”。

Russia is a huge country—it is the largest country in Europe—it is as large as all the other countries of Europe put together， and in the far north there are wolves， snow， and sleighs. But there is also a middle Russia which is not so cold and a southern Russia which is quite warm.

In the north of Russia it is so cold that even in summer when the snow has gone and the ground has thawed out on top， the ground underneath remains frozen stiff， and， though grass and even flowers grow above， the ground below remains hard and icy. These frozen lands are called “tundras”， and there are thousands of miles of such tundras across the north of Russia.

At the top of Russia is a sea called “White” and at the bottom of Russia a sea called “Black”. The White Sea， I suppose， is called “White” because it is frozen over most of the year and covered with snow—and yet， during a few months of the summer when the ice in it has melted， great ships sail into the White Sea， bringing in loads of all sorts of goods to the one great port on this sea—a city called Archangel—a name that makes one think of heaven.

俄羅斯有庞大的国土——它是欧洲面积最大的国家——它的面积比欧洲其他所有国家加起来都要大。在俄罗斯偏远的北边，那儿确实有狼群、冰雪和雪橇。可是在俄罗斯中部，天气并不是那么冷。而在俄罗斯南部，天气则是非常温暖和煦的。……