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[00:05.35]Chapter 8 Across the Plateau
[00:11.09]On November 21st,the Norwegians killed thirty dogs．
[00:16.73]'They were happy,'Amundsen said．
[00:19.41]'And now tney're going to die quickly．
[00:22.04]We need three sledges,
[00:23.95]and eighteen dogs, to go to the Pole．'
[00:28.47]When the dogs were dead,
[00:30.08]the other dogs ate them．
[00:32.20]The men ate them,too．
[00:35.44]They were good friends,Bjaaland wrote in his diary．
[00:39.46]And now they are good food．
[00:42.80]Two days later,the dogs were fat．
[00:47.85]Then,in a snowstorm,
[00:50.10]they began the journey again．
[00:53.34]After the snowstorm,there was fog,
[00:56.45]and in the fog,
[00:58.02]they got lost on an ice river with hundreds of big holes in it．
[01:03.12]They could see nothing,and it was very dangerous．
[01:08.64]In four days they moved nine kilometres．
[01:13.81]But the ice is beautiful,Bjaaland wrote．
[01:18.11]Blue and green and white．
[01:21.15]This is a wonderful place -
[01:24.20]but I don't want to stay a long time．
[01:29.09]After the ice,there were strong winds and bad snowstorms．
[01:34.36]They could see nothing in front of them．
[01:37.58]But every day,they travelled twenty-five or thirty kilometres．
[01:43.32]Then,on December 9th,the sun came out．
[01:48.96]They were at 88°23′South-
[01:53.75]175 kilometres from the Pole．
[01:59.01]Five more long days,Bjaaland wrote．
[02:03.19]That's all now．But where is Scott?
[02:08.52]For four days,Scott's men stayed in their tents near the mountains．
[02:15.83]There is a bad snowstorm outside,Oates wrote．
[02:20.52]It's too cold for the ponies,
[02:22.85]and our clothes and skis are bad,too．
[02:27.52]On December 9th,Oates killed the ponies．
[02:31.75]They were tired and ill and they could not walk up to the plateau．
[02:37.44]Then Meares and his dogs went back to Cape Evans．
[02:41.85]'We can pull the sledges ourselves,'
[02:44.14]Scott said．'We can do it-we're all strong men．
[02:50.62]There were two sledges and eight men．
[02:54.18]They went twenty-four kilometres a day．
[02:57.99]On December 31st,Scott said to Teddy Evans,
[03:02.30]and the men on the second sledge：'You can't ski well．
[03:06.26]Leave your skis here．
[03:08.77]'So they pulled their sledge twenty-four kilometres without skis．
[03:14.72]Next day,Scott went to Teddy Evans's tent．
[03:19.42]'You are ill,Teddy,'he said．
[03:22.06]'You can't come to the Pole．
[03:24.92]Take two men and go back,tomorrow．'
[03:29.38]Teddy Evans was very unhappy．
[03:32.62]'Two men,Captain?'he said．
[03:35.72]'Why not three?'
[03:38.10]'Because Bowers is going to come with me,'
[03:41.10]Scott said．'He's strong-we need him．'
[03:46.28]'But…you have food on your sledge for four men,not five!'
[03:51.25]Evans said．'And Bowers has no skis!'
[03:56.53]'I'm the Captain,Teddy!'Scott said．
[04:00.04]'You do what I say．
[04:02.46]Take two men and leave Bowers with me!'
[04:07.08]Oates wrote to his mother：
[04:10.14]I am going to the Pole with Scott．
[04:12.77]I am pleased and I fell strong．
[04:16.12]But in his diary he wrote；
[04:19.55]My feet are very bad．
[04:22.54]They are always wet now,
[04:25.40]and they don't look good．
[04:29.39]On January 4th Scott's men left Teddy Evans and went on．
[04:35.02]Scott,Oates,Wilson and Edgar Evans had skis,
[04:40.78]but Bowers did not．
[04:43.30]They were 270 kilometres from the Pole．
[04:50.15]December 14th 1911 was a warm,sunny day．
[04:55.70]Five Norwegians skied over the beautiful white snow．
[05:00.53]It was very quiet．
[05:02.62]No one spoke．
[05:04.78]They were excited,and happy．
[05:08.37]'Six more kilometres,'Bjaaland thought．
[05:12.57]Is there a British flag?
[05:14.91]I can't see a flag,but…
[05:17.95]'Look!'Hassel said．
[05:20.53]'What's that over there?'
[05:22.97]Bjaaland left his sledge and skied quickly away over the snow．
[05:27.70]'What is it?'he thought．
[05:30.00]'Is it…?No!'
[05:33.00]'It's nothing!'he called．
[05:35.89]'There's nothing there… nothing!'
[05:40.56]Three kilometres,two．'Roald!'Hanssen called to Amundsen．
[05:47.61]'Go in front of me,please．It helps my dogs．'
[05:52.63]'That's not true,'Bjaaland thought．'
[05:55.81]His dogs are running well today．
[05:58.50]But Hanssen wants Amundsen to be first．
[06:01.90]The first man at the South Pole!'
[06:06.41]They skied on and on,over the beautiful snow．
[06:11.12]'Stop!'Amundsen said．
[06:15.64]He waited quietly for his men．
[06:19.16]'This is it,'he said．
[06:23.93]Bjaaland looked at him．
[06:26.37]'But there's nothing here,'he said．
[06:29.56]Amundsen smiled．'Oh yes there is,'he said．
[06:35.43]'There's something very important here,Olav．
[06:39.85]Very,very important．'
[06:43.69]'What's that,Roald?'
[06:45.77]'Us．We're here now．Isn't that important,Olav?'
[06:53.21]The four men stood on the snow,
[06:56.05]and looked at him．
[06:58.54]Then,slowly,they all began to laugh．