又中又英｜Pristine

Mount Everest was in pristine condition when New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese-Indian Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa, became the first climbers to reach its summit on May 29, 1953. Mount Everest is the world’s tallest mountain above sea level. There were very few climbers in those days with the skill and money to try to reach the summit. That’s why Everest was in pristine condition. The word “pristine” means unspoiled and unpolluted. A Sherpa is a Himalayan person skilled in climbing mountains. The word “summit” used this way means the highest point of a mountain.

Sadly, Mount Everest is no longer pristine. The world has become richer. Thousands of people with money, including unskilled climbers, have climbed Everest since Hillary and Norgay climbed it. Kanccha Sherpa, 91, who is the only surviving member of the team that assisted Hillary and Norgay, recently said Everest has become too crowded and dirty. Climbers and their support teams throw away rubbish, including food wrappings and tins, even though rules require them to bring the rubbish down. He said Nepal should limit the number of permits for climbers.

I saw Everest from a distance in Kathmandu decades ago. It looked beautiful even from afar. But now it is full of not only rubbish but also poop, a slang word for faeces (feces in American English). A rude slang for poop is shit. New rules now require climbers to bring their poop down with them. I will have to wait till the cows come home for that to happen because I don’t think climbers will do that. Till the cows come home means a very long time.

當紐西蘭人艾德蒙‧希拉里和尼泊爾籍印度雪巴人（Sherpa）丹增‧諾蓋於一九五三年五月二十九日，成為首次登上珠穆朗瑪峰頂峰（summit）的登山人士之時，珠峰還是純淨、未被污染過的（pristine）。珠峰是世界海拔最高的山峰。那個年頭，只有非常少的登山者有足夠的技術和金錢可以嘗試攻頂。因此珠峰仍能保存 pristine的狀態—— pristine一字解作未受破壞、玷污的。A Sherpa是精於登山、居於喜馬拉雅山區的雪巴人。Summit在這裏解作山的峰頂。

不幸地，珠峰已不再是純淨而未受污染（pristine）。自從希拉里與諾蓋登頂以來，全世界變得富裕起來，數以千計有錢的人，包括缺乏技術的登山者，也去爬珠峰。年屆九十一歲的坎查‧雪巴（Sherpa），是當時協助希拉里與諾蓋的團隊中，唯一還在世的隊員，他說珠峰已變得太擁擠、太骯髒。登山者和他們的支援隊，隨意丟棄垃圾，包括食物包裝和鋁罐，即使規例要求他們要帶走垃圾。他說，尼泊爾好應限制登山許可證的批發。

我曾在幾十年前，於加德滿都遠眺珠峰。即使遠望，也能見到它很美麗。但到現在，它不但充滿垃圾，還滿是 poop，就是糞便的俚語。Poop的粗俗俚語是shit。現在新規例要求登山者也帶同他們的糞便（poop）下山。這件事要發生，恐怕我要無了期地「等到乳牛回家」（till the cows come home）吧，因為我不認為登山者真的會這樣做。Till the cows come home是指很長很長的時間。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻