[00:04.39]Chapter 2 The Race
[00:09.27]The Fram went to an island in the south of Norway．
[00:14.77]It was a very little island,
[00:17.40]with only one small wooden house,
[00:20.56]two trees-and nearly a hundred dogs．
[00:26.57]'Look at that!'Bjaaland said．
[00:30.73]'It's an island of dogs!
[00:33.62]There are dogs in the water,
[00:35.94]near the trees,on the house-dogs everywhere!'
[00:42.36]Two men came out of the house．
[00:45.68]'Hassel!Lindstrom!'Amundsen said．
[00:50.60]'It's good to see you!
[00:53.19]How many dogs do you have for me?'
[00:56.25]'Ninety-nine,Roald,'said Hassel．
[00:59.80]'The best ninety-nine dogs from Greenland．
[01:03.66]And they're very happy!
[01:06.06]They don't work；
[01:07.53]they just eat and play all day!
[01:11.27]They're having a wonderful summer here!'
[01:14.85]'Good,good．'Amundsen laughed．
[01:18.47]'But that's finished now．
[01:20.94]Hey,Bjaaland!Stop laughing-come down here and help me．
[01:27.41]Let's get all these dogs onto the ship!'
[01:32.38]It was not easy．
[01:34.55]The dogs were fat and strong,
[01:37.43]and they didn't want to go on the ship．
[01:40.85]But at last,after three hours'hard work,
[01:46.05]all ninety-nine were on the ship,
[01:49.56]and the Fram went out to sea again．
[01:54.57]The men were not happy．
[01:57.34]The weather was bad,the dogs were dirty,
[02:01.57]and some of the men were ill．
[02:05.19]They began to ask questions．
[02:08.60]'Why are we bringing dogs with us?'
[02:12.03]asked one man,Jo- hansen．
[02:14.96]'We're going thousands of kilometres south,
[02:17.95]past Cape Horn,and then north to Alaska．
[02:22.43]Why not wait,and get dogs in Alaska?'
[02:28.06]'Don't ask me,'said his friend,
[02:30.93]Helmer Hanssen,'I don't understand it．'
[02:35.81]The men talked for a long time．
[02:39.65]Then,on September 9th,
[02:42.83]Amundsen called everyone to the back of the ship．
[02:47.10]He stood quietly and looked at them．
[02:51.21]Behind him was a big map．
[02:54.81]It was not a map of the Arctic．
[02:58.46]It was a map of Antarctica．
[03:02.71]Bjaaland looked at Helmer Hanssen,and laughed．
[03:07.65]Then Amundsen began to speak．
[03:12.44]'Boys,'he said．'I know you are unhappy．
[03:18.10]You often ask me difficult questions,
[03:21.34]and I don't answer．
[03:24.49]Well,I'm going to answer all those questions now,today．
[03:32.69]We began to work for this journey two years ago．
[03:37.72]Then,we wanted to be the first men at the North Pole．
[03:44.02]But last year,Peary,an American,
[03:48.15]found the North Pole．
[03:51.05]So America was first to the North Pole,not Norway．
[03:58.43]We're going there,but we're too late．'
[04:03.03]'I don't understand this,'Bjaaland thought．
[04:08.26]'Why is Amundsen talking about the North Pole,
[04:12.71]with a map of Antarctica behind him?'
[04:16.43]Amundsen stopped for a minute,
[04:20.71]and looked at all the men slowly．
[04:24.70]No one said anything．
[04:28.78]'We have to go a long way south before we get to Alaska,'
[04:34.65]he said．'Very near Antarctica,you know．
[04:40.61]And Captain Scott,the Englishman,
[04:44.38]is going to the South Pole this year．
[04:48.44]He wants to put his British flag there．
[04:52.41]An American flag at the North Pole,
[04:55.64]a British flag at the South Pole．'
[04:59.90]Bjaaland began to understand．
[05:04.19]He started to smile and couldn't stop．
[05:08.21]He was warm and excited．
[05:11.54]'Well,boys,'Amundsen said slowly．
[05:17.42]'Do we want the British to put their flag at the South Pole first?
[05:23.06]How fast can we travel?
[05:26.56]We have a lot of dogs,
[05:28.69]and some of the most wonderful skiers on earth-
[05:33.20]Bjaaland here is the best in Norway!
[05:37.81]So I have an idea,boys．
[05:42.07]Let's go to the South Pole,
[05:46.26]and put the Norwegian flag there before the British!
[05:52.16]What do you say?'
[05:56.03]For a minute or two it was very quiet．
[06:00.96]Amundsen waited,
[06:03.33]and the men watched him and thought．
[06:07.28]Then Bjaaland laughed．
[06:10.18]'Yes!'he said．'Why not?
[06:14.16]It's a ski race,isn't it,and the English can't ski!
[06:19.55]It's a wonderful idea,of course!Let's go!'
