〜ヒント〜
３月２９日出題分
あまりなじみの無い単語・熟語をちょっと解説。
Seven Years in Tibet :
Into Tibet-2For two days we tramped upward on the bank of the Spiti River; then we followed one of the nearby valleys, which would clearly bring us over the Himalayas. This region was not well marked on our maps, and we learned from the natives that we had already passed the frontier when we crossed a certain bridge known as Sangsam. During all this part of our journey, we had on the right of us Riwo Phargyul, a beautifully shaped peak more than 22,000 feet high on the crest of the Himalayas. We had reached Tibet at one of the few places where Tibetan territory extends into the Himalaya range. Of course we now began to be anxious and to wonder how far we should get this time. Luckily no one knew us here, and no unkind official had warned the people against us. When questioned, we said we were pilgrims bound for the holy mountain of Kailas.
The first Tibetan village we reached was called Kyurik. It consisted of two houses. The next, Dotso, was considerably larger. Here we ran into a number of monks - more than a hundred of them - in quest of poplar trunks, which they were going to carry over the pass to Trashigang and there use for one of the monastery buildings. This monastery is the largest in the province of Tsurubyin, and the abbot is at the same time the highest secular officer. We began to fear that our journey might come to a premature end when we met this dignitary. However, when he questioned us, we said we were the advance party of a large European force that had obtained official permission to enter Tibet from the central government at Lhasa. He appeared to believe us, and much relieved, we continued our journey. We had a grueling climb to the top of a pass called by the Tibetans Bud-Bud La. This pass must be over 18,000 feet high. The air was unpleasantly rarefied, and the ice tongues of a neighboring glacier projected over the route.
tramp：てくてく歩く
bank：土手
Spiti：川の名前
nearby：近くの
mark：記録する
Sangsam：橋の名前
Riwo Phargyul：山の名前
crest：稜線
range：山脈
unkind：薄情な
pilgrim：巡礼
Kailas：山の名前
Kyurik・Dotso：村の名前
ran into：出会った
quest：探索
poplar：ポプラ
they：a number of monksを指します
Trashigang：地名
Tsurubyin：県の名前
abbot：寺院長
secular：世俗の
premature：未熟な、早まった、時ならぬ
dignitary：高位聖職者
advance party：先発隊
Lhasa：チベットの首都
relieve：ほっとする
grueling：厳しい、へとへとに疲れる
Bud-Bud La：峠の名前
rarefied：希薄な