got nearer than any other human being ever had before—within a few hundred feet of the top. 到达了以前别人从未到过的高度，离山顶只有几百英尺了。

A companion whom they left at their last stop watched them as they plunged upward in their last desperate struggle, 有个同伴被留在最后一个停留地点，注视他俩奋力向上攀登，作最后一搏。

and then—whish!—an icy blast of snow and sleet swept them from sight—forever. 就在这时，——“唿嘘”一声——一阵凛冽的狂风带着雪和冻雨吹来，把两人刮走了，从视线中消失——永远地消失了。

The native people think a goddess lives at the top and that she will let no one climb to her, 当地人认为山顶上住着一位女神，这位女神不愿让任何人爬上山顶，接近她。

and that it brings bad luck and even death to try to reach such a holy place. 任何人想要登上如此神圣的地方，就会遭遇厄运，甚至死亡。

At the other end of the Himalaya Mountains is a high valley which is so beautiful that poets call it a vale instead of a valley. 在喜马拉雅山脉的另一端是一个很高的山谷，非常美丽，诗人都称它为河谷而不是山谷，

It is the Vale of Kashmir. "Who has not heard of the Vale of Kashmir," says one poet, "with its roses, the brightest the earth ever gave?" 那就是克什米尔河谷。“谁没有听说过克什米尔河谷？”一位诗人说，“那里盛开着地球上最美丽的玫瑰花。”

Beautiful lakes with snow-topped mountains, and roses, roses everywhere. 美丽的湖泊、白雪皑皑的山峰，到处都是玫瑰花，

It seems as if this should have been the Garden of Eden instead of that sun-baked mud bank between the Tigris and Euphrates. 似乎这儿应当就是伊甸园，而不是底格里斯河与幼发拉底河之间那块被太阳烤干了的土地。

If you will look at your map of Asia carefully you will see something strange about two of the countries that touch India. 如果仔细看亚洲地图，你会发现，与印度相连的两个国家，有什么不同寻常的地方。

The country next to India on the west and the country next to India on the east have the same name, Pakistan. 在西边与印度相邻的国家，和在东部与印度相邻的国家，有一个共同的名字——巴基斯坦。

How can two separate countries have the same name? The answer is that Pakistan is one country in two parts. 两个分开的国家怎么会有相同的名字？答案是巴基斯坦是一个分成了两个部分的国家。