包头师范学院

by Gerhart A. Drucker 杰哈德 A 德鲁克

Information related to the text

Snowman: humanlike creature so named because it is associated with the perpetual snow region of the Himalayas. A figure unknown except through tracks ascribed to it and through alleged encounters, it is described as being 6 to 8 ft (1.8 to 2.4 m) tall and covered with long, dark hair. Attempts after the 1950s to verify the authenticity of its tracks (notably by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1960) have yielded no conclusive results. Most scholars dismiss the existence of the creature. A somewhat similarly described creature of W North America is known as Bigfoot or Sasquatch.

Language notes

1) These peaks all straddle the boundary between Nepal and China or Nepal and India.

（所有这些险峻的峰峦都座落在尼中或尼印边界上。）

This part means that these peaks are located on both sides of the border between Nepal and China or Nepal and India.

2) A wooden stairway, equipped with the luxury of a handrail, led upstairs.

（一段楼梯已经磨损，溜滑的木质楼梯直通楼上，楼梯居然还装有扶手。）

This sentence can be paraphrased as though very simple and crude, the stairway unexpectedly had a handrail that seemed not well matched with the crudeness of it.

3) And then, no doubt, breaking every rule of Sharpa etiquette....

（接着，我无疑打破了夏巴人礼节上的一切清规戒律......）

Etiquette means customs. This part means: and then, doubtlessly, acting against the customs of Sharpa tribe......

4) That night sleep confused me.

（那天晚上我难以成眠。）

The sentence means that night, I didn't sleep well.

5) At this moment my flashlight went completely dead, and neither shaking or cajoling could revive it.

（就在这时，我的手电筒灭了。无论我如何摆弄，就是不亮。）

To cajole means to coax or persuade someone to do something.

To revive it means to make it light up again.