“We saw reindeer

“我们见过驯鹿

browsing,”a friend who’d been in Lapland, said:

在草地漫步，觅食；” 一位

“finding their own food; they are adapted

曾到过拉普兰的朋友说：“它们能适应

to scant reino Reino

瑞诺即草原的

or pasture, yet they can run eleven

艰苦条件，50分钟内 

 miles in fifty minutes; the feet spread when

能奔跑11 英里；足蹄在柔软的雪地上 

the snow is soft,

可以扩张，

and act as snowshoes. They are rigorists,

其作用如雪鞋一样。不管拉普兰

however handsomely cutwork artists

和西伯利亚的绣艺家

of Lapland and

制作多么漂亮的齿状皮革饰边，

Siberia elaborate the trace

来装饰它们的挽缰和鞍带，

or saddle-girth with saw-tooth leather lace.

它们仍然是苦行者。 

One looked at us

一只驯鹿面对着我们，它坚硬的脸，

With its firm face part brown, part white,－a queen

一半是棕色，一半是白色——阿尔卑斯山的

of alpine flowers. Santa Claus’ reindeer, seen

花中皇后，圣诞老人的驯鹿，终于

at last, had grey-

为我们所见。它有棕灰色的

brown fur, with a neck like edelweiss or

毛发，脖子像雪绒花

Lion’s foot,－leontopodium more

或斗篷草，——更精确地说，像 

exactly.”and

列奥讷坡蒂姆。”它们

this candelabrum-headed omament

枝状烛台似的角

for a place where ornaments are scarce, set

点缀着一个不毛之地，作为一种礼物

to Alaska,

被引进到阿拉斯加， 

was a gift preventing the extinction

避免了爱斯基摩人的

of the Esquimo. The battle was won

灭绝。这场战役

by a quiet man,

由一个沉默的男人打赢，

Sheldon Jackson, evangel to that race

希尔顿 杰克逊，他为这个种族带去了福音，

Whose reprieve he read in the reindeer’s face.

在驯鹿的脸上宣判了对他们的缓刑。