In the center of each village they put up a tall pole carved and painted in the forms of birds and animals with big ugly faces.  在每个村子的中央他们竖立起一个高高的柱子， 上面刻画着鸟和动物的图案，这些动物都长着又大又丑的脸。

These are called Totem Poles.   这些柱子叫做图腾柱。

Each tribe or family has some bird or animal such as an eagle or a bear for its mascot, as you might call your club “the Lions” or “the Owls,” 每一个部落或家族都有某种鸟或动物作为他们的吉祥物， 比如鹰或熊，就像你可能把你的俱乐部叫做“狮子”或者“猫头鹰 ”一样， 

and the Totem Pole is the tribe’s sign. 图腾柱是部落的标志。

If you should suddenly see at night the whole northern sky hung with curtains of fire and ablaze with flashing flames shooting from the ground far up into the heavens, 如果你在夜晚突然发现整个北边的天空上悬着片片火幕， 熊熊燃烧的火焰从地面直冲到天上， 

you might think, as I did the first time I saw it when a boy, that the World was coming to an end.  你也许会像我小时候第一次看见这种景象的时候一样想： 世界末日到了。

It looked as if the World were on fire and were about to explode. 看起来好像整个世界都在燃烧，就像要爆炸了 。

This amazing sight is called the Aurora Borealis or Northern Light, and it may be seen often in Alaska and sometimes,  这种令人惊叹的景象叫做北极光，在阿拉斯加经常可以看到 ，

though perhaps only once or twice in a lifetime, much farther south.  不过有时候在较为南部的地方，很可能一生只能看到一两次 。

It is a terrifying sight to those who have never seen or even heard of such a thing before,  对那些从来没看过或听说这种景象的人来说， 这是很恐怖的现象，

and yet the Aurora Borealis does no more harm than a beautiful sunset or a rainbow in the sky. 然而北极光和天空中美丽的日落或彩虹一样， 不会对人有任何伤害。 

What causes the Aurora Borealis? That’s a hard question to answer.  是什么造成了北极光呢？这是个很难回答的问题。 

Electricity has something to do with it and so have sun spots. Have you ever heard of sun spots?  它与电和太阳黑子有关。你听说过太阳黑子吗？ 

Sometimes a dark spot will appear on the sun and move slowly across it. You can’t see sun spots because the sun is much too bright to be stared at. 有时候太阳上会出现一个黑点， 然后慢慢地在太阳表面从一边移到另一边。你看不到太阳黑子 ，因为太阳光太刺眼，不能盯着看。  

But men who look through telescopes with darkened glass to protect their eyes can see these spots and they can photograph them with special cameras. 但是人们可以用望远镜看到太阳黑子， 望远镜上配有暗色的镜片，能保护眼睛， 他们还可以用特殊的照相机把太阳黑子拍下来。 

After a sun spot appears on the sun there is usually a very bright Aurora Borealis. 太阳上出现一个太阳黑子之后通常会有很明亮的北极光。 

That’s all I can tell you. A little girl once asked, “What is a thought made of?” That’s a hard question to answer too. 我只能告诉你这么多。一个小女孩曾经问我：“ 思想是用什么做的？”那也是个很难回答的问题。