I stood at the edge of the circle, rubbing ice from my eyelashes. It was too cold to take notes, so I watched faces and read the frostbite scars, little badges of honor that told of lives spent outdoors on one of the planet's most unyielding landscapes. The group soon broke up and began smoking last cigarettes before the long ride into darkness. Atqittuq walked over to ask whether I was warm enough. He was tall, broad shouldered, laughed easily. He'd been a ranger for many years before the others had voted him their new commander. In a friendly way, he warned me not to fall asleep on the journey ahead.
我站在围成圈的人群外围，把冰从睫毛上擦下来。天太冷了，记不了笔记，所以我盯着他们的脸，注意到冻伤所留下的疤痕，那是些小小的荣誉勋章，讲述了人们在地球上最坚硬的土地上的户外生活的故事。这群人很快散开，在展开黑暗中的漫漫长行前抽最后一根烟。艾奇图克走过来问我是否穿得够暖。他是个肩膀宽大的高个子，经常把笑容挂在脸上。在别人把他选为他们的新指挥官之前，他已经当了好多年的巡逻民兵。他亲切地告诫我别在接下来的旅程中睡着。
It happened, he said. Sometimes people tumbled off their snowmobiles and went missing. He reminded me that there was currently no cell service on the island or anywhere else in the territory of Nunavut -- three times the size of Texas. "If anything happens and you get separated, just sit tight till someone comes back for you," he said. "And try not to meet any polar bears."
确实有这种情况发生，他说。有时会有人从雪地摩托车上摔落，接着就不见踪影。他提醒我，岛上以及整个奴纳武特领地目前都没有手机服务，这片领地是德州的三倍大。“如果发生了任何事让你与队伍走散，待在原地直到有人回来找你，”他说。“尽量不要碰上北极熊。”
The rangers are called "Canada's eyes and ears in the north," and their units have been patrolling the country's outermost regions since the 1940s. Most rangers in the far north are indigenous volunteers, and over the years they've acted as scouts, participated in war games, and helped regular troops learn to build igloos, navigate the tundra, and generally stay alive in the cold. Their role, like the far north itself, isn't well-known, and the rangers have always managed to keep going on shoestring budgets and hand-me-down equipment, including government-issued bolt-action rifles made in the 1940s and stamped with the British crown.
巡逻民兵有“加拿大北方耳目”之称，他们自19世纪40年代起就在加拿大最偏远地区执行巡逻任务。在这些遥远的北方领土上的巡逻民兵大多是原住民志愿兵，多年来他们担任侦察兵，参与军事演习，也协助正规部队学习搭建冰屋、在这片冻原上移动，大体上就是教他们如何在严寒中生存。他们的角色，就像遥远的北方一样，并不为人所知，巡逻民兵总是在预算吃紧和装备代代相传的状况下设法维持，他们的装备包括政府于19世纪40年代制造、印着英国王冠的步枪。
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