The African desert produces only a few plants and animals; but it stamps them all with its own peculiar mark. From the tawny Bedouin to the worm scarcely distinguishable in the sand, it gives all its creatures the same dress—the same colour, which might justly be called the colour of the desert. It is the pale grayish-yellow tint which belongs as well to the gazelle as to the small lark of the sandy wastes. Among the birds there are no doubt many modifications of this general rule, and the deviations increase as the desert gradually merges into the more fertile steppes, but even here its characteristic mark is not to be mistaken.
非洲的沙漠上动植物稀少，这也正是它的与众不同之处。从棕皮肤的贝多因人到和沙子混为一体的虫子，沙漠给所有生活在沙漠里的生物穿上了同样的衣服-同样的颜色，可以恰当地称之为“沙漠之色”。那是一种灰黄色，它既属于瞪羚，也属于沙漠里的小云雀。这一通则无疑在鸟儿身上发生了变质，差异随着沙漠逐渐并入更加肥沃的草原而变得越来越明显。但是，即使到了这儿，它的特征标记同样显而易见。
When we consider the scanty vegetation of the Sahara, we cannot wonder that animal life is but sparingly scattered over its surface. The lion, so frequently misnamed "The king of the desert," only shows himself on its borders. As lions cannot exist without flesh and water, they avoid the sandy desert. In fact, they never leave the wooded mountains of the Atlas, or the fruitful plains of the Soudan, to wander far into the Sahara. There snakes and scorpions are the only dangerous animals to be met with.
当撒哈拉沙漠那稀少的植被映入我们的脑海时，我们会想到那里的动物肯定同样罕见。常被误称为“沙漠之王”的狮子也只会出现在沙漠的边缘地带。狮子因为离不开肉和水，所以它们不会进入沙漠腹地。其实，它们从未离开过阿特拉斯那郁郁葱葱的山脉，或者离开苏丹那肥沃的平原，更不用说远赴撒哈拉沙漠。在撒哈拉沙漠，你只会遇到蛇和蝎子这两种危险类动物。
According to the seasons, animal life fluctuates in the Sahara from north to south. In winter and spring, when heavy rains, falling on its northern borders, provide wide districts, thoroughly parched by the summer heat, with the water and pasturage needed for the herds, the nomadic tribes wander farther into the desert with their camels, horses, sheep, and goats, and retreat again to the coast-lands as the sun gains power. At that time of the year the wild animals—the lion, the gazelle, and the antelope—also wander farther to the south, which then provides them, each according to its taste, with the nourishment which the dry summer is unable to bestow. The ostrich, too, which during the summer ranged farther to the north, then retreats to the south; for hot and sandy plains are the paradise in which this singular bird delights to roam.
动物们的生活会随着季节变化在撒哈拉沙漠里从北向南来回迁徙。当冬春之时大雨落在沙漠的北部边缘，给那些已被夏热烘干了的大片地区带来湿润，给牧群带来了牧草。游牧族的牧民们也会将自己饲养的骆驼、马儿、绵羊、山羊漫步驱赶至沙漠并在太阳再次雄雄升起之时返回。每年的那个时候，野生动物们—狮子、瞪羚和羚羊也会迁徙至更遥远的南方，那里会根据每种动物的口味来为它们提供干燥的夏季无法为它们提供的食物。鸵鸟们也是如此，它们会在夏季漫步至北方，之后会再次返回南方，因为炎热多沙的平原是鸵鸟这种特殊鸟类可以愉快漫游的天堂之地。
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