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Modern alpinists try to climb mountains by a route
which will give them good
sport, and the more difficult it is, the more highly it is regarded.
In the pioneering
days, however, this was not the case at all. The early climbers were
looking for
the easiest way to the top because the summit was the prize they
sought, especially
if it had never been attained before. It is true that during their
explorations
they often faced difficulties and dangers of the most perilous
nature, equipped
in a manner which would make a modern climber shudder at the
thought, but
they did not go out of their way to court such excitement. They had
a single aim,
a solitary goal--the top!
It is hard for us to realize nowadays how difficult it was for the
pioneers. Except
for one or two places such as Zermatt and Chamonix, which had
rapidly
become popular, Alpine villages tended to be impoverished
settlements cut off
from civilization by the high mountains. Such inns as there were
were generally
dirty and flea-ridden; the food simply local cheese accompanied by
bread often
twelve months old, all washed down with coarse wine. Often a valley
boasted no
inn at all, and climbers found shelter wherever they
could--sometimes with the
local priest (who was usually as poor as his parishioners),
sometimes with shepherds
or cheesemakers. Invariably the background was the same: dirt and
poverty, and very uncomfortable. For men accustomed to eating
seven-course
dinners and sleeping between fine linen sheets at home, the change
to the Alps
must have been very hard indeed.
New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)
Matterhorn
n.
馬特霍恩峰（阿爾卑斯山之一，在意大利和瑞士邊境）
alpinist
n. 登山運動(dòng)員
pioneer
v. 開(kāi)辟，倡導；
n. 先鋒，開(kāi)辟者
summit
n. 頂峰
attain
v. 到達
perilous
adj. 危險的
shudder
v. 不寒而栗
court
v. 追求
solitary
adj. 唯一的
impoverish
v. 使貧困
Alpine
adj. 阿爾卑斯山的
flea-ridden
adj. 布滿(mǎn)跳蚤的
coarse
adj. 粗劣的
boast
v. 自恃有
parishioner
n. 教區居民
shepherd
n. 牧羊人
linen
n. 亞麻布床單
the Alps
n. 阿爾卑斯山脈
參考譯文
現代登山運動(dòng)員總想找一條能夠給他們帶來(lái)運動(dòng)樂(lè )趣的路線(xiàn)來(lái)攀登山峰。他們認為，
道路愈艱險愈帶勁兒。然而，在登山運動(dòng)的初期，全然不是這種情況。早期登山者所尋找的是通往山頂的最方便的途徑，因為頂峰特別是前人未曾到過(guò)的頂峰
--
才是他們尋求的目標。確實(shí)，在探險中他們經(jīng)常遇到驚心動(dòng)魄的困難和危險，而他們裝備之簡(jiǎn)陋足以使現代登山者一想起來(lái)就膽戰心驚。但是，他們并非故意尋求這種刺激，他們只有一個(gè)目標，唯一的目標
-- 頂峰！
我們今天很難想像昔日的登山先驅們是多么艱苦。除了澤曼特和夏蒙尼等一兩個(gè)很快出了名的地方外，阿爾卑斯山山區的小村幾乎全是高山環(huán)抱、與世隔絕的窮鄉僻壤。那里的小客棧一般都很骯臟，而且跳蚤猖獗。
食物是當地的干酪和通常存放了一年之久的面包，人們就著(zhù)劣酒吞下這種食物。山谷里常常沒(méi)有小客棧，登山者只好隨遇而安。有時(shí)同當地牧師
（他通常和他的教民一樣窮）住在一起，有時(shí)同牧羊人或制乳酪的人住在一起。無(wú)論住在哪兒，情況都一樣：骯臟、貧窮，極其不舒適。對于過(guò)慣了一頓飯吃7道菜、睡亞麻細布床單的人來(lái)說(shuō)，變換一下生活環(huán)境來(lái)到阿爾卑斯山山區，那一定是很艱難的。
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