I t was wintertime, in the middle of the wild,cold lands of the Arctic. In this land, the sea was frozen all year long. The large, floating pieces of ice were slowly freezing together. They could have crushed the small ship that was trying to sail in the waters. Almost all the water in the oceans was frozen.

The ship's young English captain, Robert Walton, stood on the ship's deck and stared out at the frozen sea. He knew that all the men on the ship's lives were in danger. He had taken them here because of his own desires —to explore lands that had never been seen before. Walton had wanted to find a way through the oceans from Europe to the jewels and silks in Asia. He had believed that traveling through the North Pole's waters could show him the way to Asia. If he found a new path,all of Europe would become rich.

Walton came from a wealthy family, and he did not have to work. But instead, he had chosen to live a hard life at sea, being an ordinary sailor. He had experienced thirst, cold, hunger, and terrible weather to prepare himself for this great journey.

But now it seemed that the ice would destroy his ship. Walton did not know if any of his men would see their families in England again. In the afternoon, a thick mist that had covered the ship all morning began to disappear. When it did, the men saw something amazing .

“Look, Captain!” shouted one of the men. He pointed to a dark object near the ship. “It's a sled,sir. And those dogs are pulling it quickly!”

Walton ran over to look. “Look at that man on the sled!” he cried. “He is the biggest man I have ever seen. He can't be human! Why is he here, in the middle of a frozen sea, hundreds of miles away from civilization ?”

As the men watched, the strange person had disappeared into the distance. Walton and his crew did not know what to think or say. The next morning when Walton came onto the deck, he saw that his men were talking to someone on the ice below them. When he joined his men, he saw a sled sitting on a large piece of ice. The ice was slowly coming towards the ship. On the ice were a sled, some dogs and a man. All the dogs were dead, but the man was alive. Slowly, he moved himself towards them, using a piece of wood.

“Another man alone on the ice! What is happening? But this isn't the enormous person we saw yesterday,” Walton said to his men.

“Hello, sir! Here is our captain,” said one of the sailors to the man below. “Can we help you? Will you come onto our ship?”

“You look almost dead, friend!” said Walton.“Let us help you.”

“Thank you, sir,” answered the man in a weak voice, “but first, I must know where you are going.”

Walton did not understand why a man who was almost dead would ask these questions, when his life was in danger . But he said, “We're exploring the North Pole, sir.”

The strange man smiled and said to himself,“North is good.” Then, he let Walton's men help him up to the ship. When the man was on the ship, the ship's doctor told Walton that the man's legs were almost frozen, and his body was extremely thin.Probably, he had not eaten for many days.

“Give him some blankets, and put him near the fire,” said Walton. “Then when he is warm, give him some soup and put him in my room. He can sleep there. When he is better I will talk to him.”

But for two days the man could not speak.Walton was afraid the man was insane , because of the wild look in his eyes. Often, his face looked terribly frightened by something. But there were many moments when the man's eyes showed kindness. Walton knew he was glad to have a little care in this wild land.

Finally the man was strong enough to talk.Walton sat down in a chair and asked him, “Friend,what are you doing alone, out on the dangerous ice?”

In a weak voice the man said, “I'm looking for someone who is in a sled like mine.”

“The day before we found you, we saw a strange, enormous person in a sled. Is that the man you want to find?” asked Walton. The stranger's eyes became very large. He tried to climb out of the bed.

“Yes!” he cried. “Which way did the monster go? How many dogs did he have? How much food!I have to find him!” However, the man was so weak that he immediately fell back onto the bed in pain.

“Stay calm!” said Walton. “You are still very sick, and you should not become upset.”

“You are right,” said the stranger. “You have saved my life. You probably want to know why I am here, and who that other person is. The story is so terrible that I cannot talk about it now. But perhaps, I shall tell you the truth soon. I must tell someone this terrible secret before I die...”

After some days the man got better and was able to walk again. He spent his time looking for the mysterious sled, but he also listened to Walton talk about his dreams of finding a sea path to Asia and exploring the world.

One day when they were on the deck, Walton said, “Friend, I would give up my money and even my life in the search for knowledge. If Europe becomes strong because of my travels, my life would be a small price to pay!”

The stranger stared at Walton. “Don't think this way. You'll only have a life of misery if you do,”he said. “I will tell you my story, and you will see how I spent all my life looking for knowledge, like you. I believed I was helping human beings through the study of science. But I only brought misery and death to everyone I loved, and I will die soon myself. Listen to my story, and don't let this happen to you.”

Walton did not know what to think. “Perhaps if you tell me your story, I can help you, my friend.”

The man almost laughed. “No one can help me.I thank you for your great kindness, but nothing can change my future now. I must do one more thing while I am alive. Then I will be happy to die and leave this terrible life.”

The two men went to Walton's room, and the man began his story.

desire /dɪ ˈ z a ɪə/ n. 欲望；愿望

explore /ɪk ˈ splɔ:/ vt. 探索；冒险。例如：explore new solutions to the problem探索这一问题新的解决方法

amazing /ə ˈ meɪzɪŋ/ adj. 令人惊异的

mile /maɪl/ n. 英里。1 英里=1.609 344 公里

civilization / ˌ sɪvɪlaɪ ˈ zeɪʃən/ n. 文明；开化

enormous /ɪ ˈ nɔ:məs/ adj. 巨大的。例如：an enormous amount of money一笔巨款

in danger 处于危险之中

insane /ɪn ˈ seɪn/ adj. 疯狂的；精神失常的。例如：an insane person/policy一个疯子/一项疯狂的政策

dangerous / ˈ deɪndʒərəs/ adj. 危险的

spend /spend/ vt. 花费（时间、金钱等）

misery / ˈ mɪzərɪ/ n. 悲惨；不幸；痛苦。例如：the misery of toothache 牙疼的痛苦 SSzoMA4RC0dvUwUy6orqjMxofmk9887GTKy3R7uXAlz53v2nCCX2RWTpgFp1OMK5