北极故事

That’s just how they roll.
这是泽拉的第一次觅食
This is Seela’s first hunt,
她需要很好的消化能力
and she’ll need stamina,
因为吃过这一顿之后可以持续3天的时间
because it will last for three straight days.
他们分组行动去寻找上次觅食时候记住的标记
They work as a team looking for remembered landmarks.
你可能会想海象们如此认真谨慎地觅食
You’d think something as large and in charge as a walrus…
他们是不是要去猎杀 一些很大很凶残的猎物
would take on something fierce.
这就是他们的战场
This is the battleground.
他们要猎杀什么呢
And the prey?
蛤蜊
A clam.
每只海象一餐可以吃4000个蛤蜊
Each walrus can eat 4,000 clams per meal.
这得耗费泽拉 一年的时间去消化这么大批量的蛤蜊
lt’ll take Seela years to master the walrus way of clamming.
他们用胡子瘙蛤蜊的壳
Snuffling them out with whiskers,
然后喷鼻息使他们把壳张开 接着把他们的肉吸走
blasting them open with a snort, and sucking the meat out.
但首先得捉住这些滑溜溜的家伙
But first, you’ve got to catch the slippery little suckers.
在混乱中 有的邻居趁机逃跑了
ln the chaos, some neighbors run.
有些还飞走了
Some even fly.
他们不会吃光所有的蛤蜊
The herd never gets every clam.
他们吃剩的那些蛤蜊 会重新繁殖出新的集体
Those left behind will replenish the clam bed…
留给海象们5年后回来继续享用
for the herd’s return in five years.
3天之后 他们把蛤蜊消化完了
After three days of feasting on clams,
海象们什么事都喜欢共同进行
the herd’s tendency to do
甚至连消化系统也是同步的
everything together extends even to digestion.
有人开始放出噪音了
Someone starts a game of pull-my-flipper,
然后紧接着
and before you know it…
在春天快结束的时候
By the end of spring.
纳努一家跟所有在这冰雪
Nanu’s family and other bears
王国的动物们一样 都找到很多吃的
in the ice kingdom have also feasted.
要感谢那些环斑海豹填饱了他们的肚子
Seal hunts have filled their bellies.
在北极里 吃饱了 也可以作为一个值得庆祝的理由
ln the Arctic, a time of plenty is reason to celebrate.
根据冰雪王国古老的韵律
ln the ancient rhythms of the north,
纳努一家丰衣足食的日子
the days of abundance for Nanu and her family…
就在夏天悄悄逼近的时候 结束了
end with the approach of summer.
北极熊的禁食时间来临了
A time of fasting for bears,
因为气候变暖的关系 他们狩猎的地带裂开了
whose hunting grounds crack open in a brief season of warmth.
24小时的持续日照 深深地射进黑暗的水底世界
The 24-hour sun penetrates long-dark waters…
一个充满神秘的地方
and works its magic.
在求生的欲望下
An explosion of life
一大堆 饥饿的水底生物向遥远的北方游去
draws hungry sea creatures to the far north.
自古以来
Across the ages,
夏天的到来总会在短时间 之内减少冰层的陆地面♥积♥
summer has always shrunk the ice fields for a short time.
但是寒冷会随着秋天回来
But cold returns with autumn,
冰层会很快在海岸凝结 然后慢慢向海面延伸
and the ice quickly reclaims the coast, then grows slowly seaward.
为了更快地打发时间
Ready to break their summer fast.
纳努他们一边等待着 他们狩猎场的重新形成
Nanu and her family waited for their hunting grounds to reform…
冰层重新覆盖海面
out on the frozen ocean,
一边练习狩猎海狮的技术
practicing for the seal hunts to come.
妈妈不但教他们狩猎的技术
Their mother coaches them on technique.
还有别的东西
And something else as well.
她会激怒纳努 从而训练纳努的意志
Pressing Nanu, she tries to instill a kind of toughness.
还有面对逆境的抵抗能力
A determination not to give in.
很显然 纳努成功♥学♥习到这种性格
Nanu seems to have what it takes.
她的弟弟呢 在一旁被冷落了
Her brother lacks focus.
终于 一个征兆
Finally, a sign.
久违的天黑宣布了冬天的回归
Darker days herald the return of winter,
随之而来的是
and with it,
海面冰层 凝结的硬度已足够他们去狩猎了
sea ice frozen solid enough to hunt on.
正好 纳努一家感觉饥饿了
Just in time. Nanu and her family are hungry.
但是 今年与往年有点不一样
But something is different this year.
冰层不够硬了
The ice isn’t hard at all.
这是熊妈妈以往冬天从未碰见过的
This is not like any winter Mother Bear has seen before.
他们需要回到岸上 等待冰层变硬
They’ll have to go back and wait for the ice to thicken.
在这过程中 他们只能一直饿着肚子
And until it does, they’ll remain hungry.
泽拉一家也在寻找 足够硬的冰层做落脚点
Seela’s family is also looking for ice strong enough to hold them.
一个星期过去了
Weeks pass.
冰雪王国的动物们并不知道
What the animals of the ice kingdom can’t know…
他们祖传的生存技巧 将会得到考验
is that their ancient ways of surviving are about to be tested.
这海水 还有上面的空气 都比以往更加暖了
The sea, and the air above it, are warmer than in the past.
冰层难以融合
The ice struggles to reform.
最后 冰层在这里出现了
Finally, the ice returns here,
但这已是三个月以后的事情了
but three months late.
冰雪王国的所有事物仿佛都恢复了正常
All seems normal again in the ice kingdom.
但雪太少了 连个分娩的洞穴都做不成
But there’s been too little snow to create a birthing cave,
以致环斑海豹的孩子 毫无防备地频繁出现在冰层上
so the ringed seal’s pup is exposed on the ice,
被他们的天敌看得一清二楚
in plain sight of her greatest enemy.
对纳努的妈妈来说 这同样是一个挑战
lt’s a challenge as well for Nanu’s mother,
她那捕食的技术变得毫无用处了
who specializes in catching hidden prey.
她怎么可能去偷袭一只 看着她走过来的海狮呢
How is she going to surprise a seal that can see her coming?
这次捕食完全失败了
Her charge is a complete failure.
纳努提醒妈妈改进捕食的方法
Nanu reminds her mom how it’s done.
“谢谢你的示范啊 孩子”
‘Yeah, thanks for the pointers, kiddo.’
北极熊妈妈知道这些鸟正前往觅食
Mother Bear knows that birds flock to food,
所以他们尾随着鸟儿
so they follow the birds.
食物就在那儿附近
There’s a meal somewhere nearby.
但到达那里的唯一路线 被食物的主人阻挡着
But the only way to reach it is to pass right by its owner,
一只雄性的北极熊
a male bear.
在饥饿的驱使下 他们只能冒这个极大的险
Driven by hunger, they take a tremendous risk.
他们逃跑了 这将使他们变得更饥饿
They escape, but their hunger grows.
现在 一个新的危机又来了
And now a fresh danger gathers.
北极暴风雪
An Arctic blizzard.
风暴在狂怒地咆哮着
Storm winds seem to blast with more fury than in the past,
在没有冰层的保护下 暴风直接摧残着海岸
slamming harder into coastal seas once shielded by solid ice.
海象们潜到水下 想避开这风暴
The herd heads to deeper waters to ride out the storm.
但在海里 他们却要努力挣扎保持大家挤在一起
But at sea, they struggle to keep together,
海浪卷起了4 5米的高度
battered by 15-foot swells.
一道强烈的海浪把泽拉与大家冲散了
A strong one separates Seela from the others.
妈妈和姨妈在疯狂地寻找着泽拉
Her mother and aunt search desperately,
但是她并没有出现
but she’s nowhere in sight.
陆地上 气温下降到了零下40度
On land, the temperature drops to -40.
风速达到了每小时80里
The wind reaches 80 miles per hour.
这就是风暴过后的情形
The storm is taking a toll.
纳努的弟弟显得很虚弱
Brother Bear is suffering.
这是纳努有生以来 第一次没看到弟弟紧随着她
For the first time in Nanu’s life, he’s not right at her back.
北极熊妈妈叫他跟紧点
Their mother pleads with him to press on.
他努力地尝试着服从
He tries to obey,
但饥饿使他有心无力
but hunger has made him too weak.
纳努还有妈妈蜷伏着围在 他身旁 用体温去暖和他
Nanu and her mother snuggle with him, sharing their warmth.
但随着时间慢慢地流逝 他的体力随之消散掉了
But as time passes, he drifts further away.
最后 他离去了
And then, he’s gone.
纳努和妈妈依依不舍 地守候在他的遗体旁边
Nanu and her mother stay at his side.
最后 他们必须得上路
But finally, they must move on.
海上 泽拉的妈妈和阿姨仍然在搜索着她
At sea, Mother and Auntie are still looking for Seela.
然而泽拉在她们的视野范围外
Beyond their range of vision,
她静静地浮在水面上
she barely clings to life.
在那恶劣的环境下 她并不能坚持多久
She can’t last much longer.
生命的气息
Her strength fades,
随着大家一直在寻找着她的希望慢慢地消失了
along with the herd’s hopes of finding her.
但她的妈妈和姨妈拒绝放弃
But mother and Auntie refuse to give up.
她们随着一股强劲的水流 前往更远的地方
Following a strong current, they go farther than before,
然而最终等待她们的 并不是一具尸体
and manage to find what seemed lost forever.
而是一个小生命
A youngster who held out,
一个知道妈妈和姨妈总会 及时到达她身边的小生命
waiting for the two adults who always come for her.
冰雪王国又经历了两个春秋
Two springs pass in the ice kingdom,
在这两个春天里
and through each,
总会有些 奇怪的声音从冰层底下传来
a strange music rises from below the ice.
在泽拉两岁的时候 她已经在炫耀自己的长牙了
ln her second year, now showing off little tusks.
她开始注意着地底下的奇怪声响
Seela’s begun to notice the odd sounds.
那是年轻海象男士们奏出的求爱歌♥曲
They’re walrus love songs, produced in the throats of young males,
这门极为复杂的技术 需要用整整一年的时间去熟练
and so complex in structure it takes years to perfect them.
直到奏出完整的爱歌♥
Until they’re worth listening to,
但在他们奏乐的时候 女士们似乎有别的事情要干