# ■ Chapter 3 The Ponies

On October 27th，the Terra Nova arrived in Wellington，New Zealand．When Scott came off the ship，a newspa-per man walked up to him．

Captain Scott！Captain Scott！Can I talk to you，please！'he said．

Scott stopped and smiled．'Yes，of course，'he said．'What do you want to know？'

Are you going to win？'the man asked．

Win？'Scott asked．'Win what？'

Win the race to the South Pole，of course，'the newspaper man said．'It's a race between you and Amundsen，now．Look at this！'He gave a newspaper to Scott．Scott looked at it．It said：Scott's face went white．'Give me that！'he said．He took the newspaper and read it carefully．The newspaper man watched him，and waited．'Well，Captain Scott，'he said at last．'Who's going to win this race？Tell me that！'

Scott looked at him angrily．'This is stupid！'he said．'It's not a race！I came here to learn about the Antarctic—I'm not interested in Amundsen，or in races！'Then he walked back on-to his ship，with the newspaper in his hand．

Later that day，he talked to his men．He gave them the newspaper，and laughed．

It doesn't matter，'he said．'We're in front of Amundsen，and we have more men，and more money．He has only eight men，and a lot of dogs．I know about dogs—they don't work in the Antarctic．We have sixteen men and the new motor sledges—they are much better．And tomorrow the ponies are coming．We need ponies，motor sledges，and good strong British men—that's all．Forget about Amundsen！He's not important！'

Scott asked Oates to look after the ponies，but he did not let Oates buy them．When Oates first saw the ponies，in New Zealand，he was very unhappy．Most of the ponies were old，and some of them were ill．

They're beautiful ponies，Titus，'Scott said．'They come from China—they're wonderful ponies！'

Oates looked at them angrily，and said nothing．Then he asked：'Where is their food，Captain？'

Here！'Scott opened a door．

Oates looked inside．He thought for a minute．'We need more food than this，Captain Scott！These ponies are going to work in the coldest place on earth—they need a lot of food—more than this！'

Scott smiled quietly．'We can't take more food on this ship，Titus．Where can we put it？But it doesn't matter，old boy．They're very strong ponies，you know．The best ponies on earth．'

Later that night，Oates wrote a letter to his mother．There are nineteen ponies on the Terra Nova now，he wrote．All the penies are in a small room at the front of the ship．We eat our food in the room under the ponies，so our table is often wet and dirty．Scott makes a lot of mistakes，I think，and Antarc-tica is a very dangerous place．

■ 3 小馬

10月27日，特若·諾瓦號船抵達新西蘭的惠靈頓。當斯科特走下船時，一位報社記者迎面走來。

“斯科特隊長！斯科特隊長！我能與你談談嗎？”他說。

斯科特停下來，面帶微笑。“行，當然可以！”他說，“你想知道什麼？”

“你們會是贏家嗎？”那人問。

“贏家？”斯科特問，“什麼贏家？”

“當然是贏得前往南極的競賽。”報社記者說。“現在這個競賽在你與阿蒙森之間展開。瞧！”他將一份報紙遞給斯科特。斯科特看著報紙。報上是這樣寫的：

弗雷門號正與斯科特爭先到達南極

阿蒙森說：“我們將贏得比賽！”

斯科特臉色變得蒼白。“給我報紙！”他說。他拿過報紙認真閱讀。記者觀察著他，期待著。“那麼，斯科特隊長，”他最終開口了，“誰將贏得這場比賽？請告訴我！”

斯科特憤怒地看著他。“真是愚蠢！”他說，“這不是比賽！我來這兒是為了瞭解南極。我對阿蒙森對比賽都不感興趣！”然後，他回到船上，手裡拿著那張報紙。

當天晚些時候，他對同行人員講起這事，將報紙遞給他們，並且大笑起來。

“沒關係，”他說，“我們現今還在阿蒙森前面。我們不僅人數佔優勢，而且錢也更多。他呢，除了許多狗外，只有8個人。我熟悉狗性：它們在南極洲幹不了活兒。我們有16個人，還配有新式機動雪橇。這些雪橇比狗好使多了。明天，還有小馬送來。我們需要小馬、機動雪橇以及身強力壯的英國人！這些就夠了。忘了那個阿蒙森！他並不重要！”

斯科特分配奧茨餵養小馬，但不讓他負責買馬。在新西蘭，奧茨一見到這些小馬，便大為光火。這些小馬大部分都已老態畢呈，有些還是病馬。

“這些都是漂亮的小馬，泰特斯，”斯科特說，“純中國貨，匹匹都極為出色！”

奧茨惱火地看著這些小馬，沒有說什麼。隨即他問：“隊長，它們的飼料在哪裡？”

“這兒！”斯科特打開一道門。

奧茨朝裡看了看，思索了一會兒。“我們需要更多飼料，斯科特隊長！這些小馬將在地球上最冷的地區幹活兒：它們需要許多飼料，遠不止這些！”

斯科特無聲地笑了。“這條船上，我們不可能帶許多飼料，泰特斯。往哪放呢？沒什麼關係，老兄。你看見了，這些馬十分壯實，是地球上最好的小馬。”

那天深夜，奧茨給他母親寫了封信。信是這樣寫的：特若·諾瓦號船上現在有 19匹小馬，所有小馬都養在船首的小艙裡。我們進餐的地方正好位於裝運小馬的船艙下面。所以我們的餐桌經常溼漉漉、髒兮兮的。我認為，斯科特犯了許多錯誤。南極洲其實是非常危險的地方。