国家地理 一次翻越世界屋脊的历史性旅行(5)（在线收听）

My walk is a circle, albeit one with the radius of the world.

我的旅程也是一个环，虽然只是世界的半圆弧。

On the morning of September 23, in a coarse ice mist, we set out with two pack donkeys to climb Irshad Pass, a high and desolate gateway close to where the Hindu Kush meets the Karakoram Range, dividing Afghanistan from Pakistan.

9月23日的早晨浓密的冰雾中，我们赶着两头驮驴出发，要爬伊尔沙德山口，那是一座高高而荒凉的门户，紧靠兴都库什山脉和喀拉昆仑山脉交会的地方，是阿富汗和巴基斯坦的分界。

Climbing a mountain under such conditions is a strange and disorienting experience. It was like scaling a frozen and crazily tilted sea. Windblown ridges rippled the surface of the snow. We punched toeholds into the diamond waves with our ridiculous summer shoes. We tottered along ice-rimed cliffs. Snow hid fatal crevices. Sometimes the donkeys fell through the crust and refused to get up. We reached under their steaming bellies and lifted the animals to their feet. This exhausting ritual happened again and again. We were often lost.

在那么样的条件下爬山是一种新奇而无从辨识方向的经历，就像攀登一座冰冷且陡得令人发狂的海洋。风吹成的山脊在白皑皑的雪地上起伏，我们用自己可笑的夏鞋使劲在钻石般的冰碛上踩出立足点，我们沿着结满冰霜的悬崖蹒跚前行，雪花掩盖了致命的裂缝，有时驮驴都觉得踩穿了冰壳而不肯站起来。我们把手伸到它们冒着热气的肚子下，抬起驴子让它站起来。这种令人筋疲力尽的仪式一次又一次反复上演。我们还经常迷路。

By midday a blizzard was in full gust.

到中午的时候，一场暴风雪一阵阵地使劲吹。

"Hello, Arthur, can you do me a favor?"

“喂，亚瑟，能帮我个忙吗？”

Paley was shouting into the satellite phone. We couldn't see a hundred steps ahead, much less the peaks far above. Paley's brother in Paris googled and read out to us the GPS coordinates for Irshad.

佩利对着卫星电话大喊大叫。我们看不见100步之外，更不用说上面的山峰了。佩利的哥哥在巴黎用Google搜索并给我们读出伊尔沙德山口的GPS坐标。