闖入中國高原上的神秘禁地
西藏自古以來便是個令人難以捉摸的禁忌之地，深深吸引西方人來此探索那神秘的首府拉薩。鞏固的城牆仰仗著天然地勢的屏障，想要到此必須先通過種種自然的艱難試煉，許多人終其一生仍不得其門而入。為了找到通往拉薩的道路，一位大英帝國的間碟偽裝成僧人悄悄地進入禁區，他以腳步測量的方式繪製了準確的西藏地圖交予英國，其間諜行為至終都未被人察覺。另一位英國的將軍則以武力和血腥打開了西藏的大門，取得英國與西藏間的貿易協定，最後這段經歷卻帶給他不同於以往的人生．．．
It was a forbidden place, and thus irresistible. A timeless land in the sky and another worldly people, and no use for the wheel but as a spinner of prayers, and so they came, westerners intent on exploring Tibet and its elusive capital--Lhasa. Few survived the trials of fire, ice and violence that awaited them on Tibet’s natural ramparts, where so many others had failed, two would succeed, one prevailed through stealth, a spy whose feats of espionage still rank among the greatest in the world, but have almost been forgotten. The other, prevailed through force, leaving a trail of blood and tears that will shock the world and utterly transformed the victor. These are the tales of their epic journeys, in the fantastic and deadly race for Tibet.
Winter,1865, an overburdened caravan descends from the snowy passes of the Himalayas into the forbidden land. Few tread lightly here, most foreigner are turned back or killed. But these hardy merchants carried coveted goods from neighbouring lands. The caravan has picked up a pious hitchhiker of sort, a lone holy man on a pilgrimage, the only other kind of incursion that Tibetans welcome. But strangely, the Buddhist’s strides are always exactly the same link, his rosary is missing several beads, and his prayer wheel contains no prayers. He is a spy,not a monk, if discovered ,he will die. The routes of NanXing secret journey run as deep and as old as the world's obsession with the magical kingdom on the rooftop of the world.
At the heart of Asia, thrusts some 3 miles in the air by a clash of continents, Tibet is an astounding natural fortress, the size of western Europe. For hundreds of years, Tibetans saw no need to bar foreigners, only a handful survived the trek through the surrounding mountains and deserts, and these proved no threat to their cherished Buddhist theocracy. Here, every fourth person was a monk or a nun.
But by the 1800s,Tibet began to feel the pressure of two new powers in Asia, Britain, effectively in control of India since 1833, had been steadily expanding its influence northward into the Himalayas. Russia, meanwhile, was swallowing up territory in central Asia, as it pushed its empire eastwards. Tibetan knew little about the outsiders, except that both powers were Christian, not Buddhist. Fearing for their way of their life, the land of monks closed its borders, paradoxically, it was the closing of Tibet that ensured the west would have to pry it open again.
“And this was during the era of exploration, where people wanted to get to ,into Antarctica, to the north pole,they wanted to go up the Nile ,and so Lhasa became a real ,as we might say toady, as a real destination, but nobody could get there.”
“You had the last European in Lhasa in 1811,and then you suddenly have a gap, when you right up into the very end of the 19th century, when you get no foreigners or no Europeans managing to go into Tibet, And this creates, it's great kind of mystery of Tibet, and the idea that somehow people had to break through and sort of reach the forbidden city of Lhasa.
spinner n.旋转器;离心式撒布器
rampart n.堡垒, 城墙;
feat n.
A notable act or deed, especially an act of courage; an exploit.
功绩引人注意的行为或事情，特指勇敢的行为；功劳
caravan n.
(商队, 游客经过沙漠时为安全起见而结队同行的)沙漠, 旅行队
hitchhike n.
沿途搭乘别人车旅行
rosary n.
A string of beads of 5 or 15 decades on which these prayers are counted.
念珠由5至15颗珠子组成的一串念珠，念玫瑰经时用来数算念珠
prayer wheel n.
A cylinder containing or inscribed with prayers or litanies that is revolved on its axis in devotions, especially by Tibetan Buddhists.
转经轮，祈祷轮尤指西藏佛教徒所用的滚筒，含有或刻有祈祷文或连祷文，祷告时可绕其轴旋转
obsession n.
A compulsive, often unreasonable idea or emotion.
妄想一种不由自主，常常是不合理的想法或情感
theocracy n.
A government ruled by or subject to religious authority.
神权统治由宗教权威统治或隶属宗教权威的政府 |
