埃德蒙·希拉里爵士:站在世界之巅

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay stood on top of the world. Around them spread the snow-covered 1)ridges and peaks of the Himalayas. The explorers had conquered Everest, the highest of the mountain 2)range’s peaks.

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary died on January 11th at the age of 88, almost 55 years after the 3)ascent that made him and Tenzing two of the great heroes of the 20th century.

4)Humble Beginnings

Hillary grew up in Tuakau, New Zealand, a small town about 30 miles south of Auckland. His father, Percival, a strict man, edited the local newspaper. His mother, Gertrude, was a teacher.

Hillary studied law for two years, but left to work with his father as a beekeeper. Except for the last two years of World War II, when he served as a 5)navigator, Hillary worked as a beekeeper until 1970. He enjoyed skiing and hiking in the hills outside. As his climbing skills improved, he visited the New Zealand Alps in the South Island, a mountain range that reaches more than 12,300 feet. “I didn’t 6)visualize myself becoming a famous 7)mountaineer,” he explained later. “It happened gradually. Very few (people) suddenly decide they’re going to be a world champion at something.”

The Adventures Begin

After World War II, the 8)lure of the mountains grew stronger. In 1950, Hillary climbed the Swiss and Austrian Alps and a year later joined a New Zealand 9)expedition to the Himalayas. “I was very impressed,” he recalled of his first view of the 10)towering mountain range. Hillary was quickly becoming known as a talented climber.

At the end of 1951, Hillary joined a British Everest 11)Reconnaissance expedition and a year later was invited on another British expedition, this time to Cho Oyu, another mountain also in Nepal. Now 32, Hillary was reaching his peak as a mountaineer.

The 12)Summit Grows Closer

Although many had tried, no team had managed to conquer Everest. Between 1921 and 1953, eight major expeditions had 13)attempted the climb, mostly from the north through Tibet. All had failed, with some 16 deaths.

After World War II, several factors combined to make the climber’s job slightly easier. Nepal opened its doors to western expeditions, who discovered more 14)accessible 15)routes. Improvements in clothing and equipment helped 16)dull the freezing temperatures and 17)assisted breathing at high 18)altitude. 19)Nepalese Sherpas注, experienced climbers, were 20)recruited to help western adventurers.

Step by step, the summit grew closer. In 1952, Swiss climber Raymond Lambert and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached around about 27,100 feet on Everest. That was the highest anyone had ever climbed.

Success!

The following year, a British expedition led by Colonel John Hunt had begun establishing several camps up Everest. In May, they were ready for an attempt. Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans made the first attempt on May 26th. They got within 300 feet of their goal before being forced back. Three days later, Hillary and Tenzing set out in fine weather from their ridge camp at 27,900 feet. At 11:30 AM, after a five-hour climb, they reached the summit of Mount Everest: 29,028 feet above sea level. “My initial feelings were of 21)relief,” wrote Hillary in 1953.

Success was theirs! Even before the expedition had reached base camp, news of their success had made London in time for Queen Elizabeth II’s

22)coronation. The Queen 23)knighted Hillary, and New Zealand’s Prime Minister accepted the title 24)on his behalf. For New Zealand, with a population of less than two million, the achievement confirmed its proud place in the British Empire and marked an important step in its own history.

A Life of Adventure and Service

Through the years, Hillary’s passion for adventure remained unchanged. In 1958, he became the first person ever to reach the South Pole in a 25)motorized 26)vehicle. In 1968, he took a jet boat through the wild rivers of Nepal. And, in 1977, he traveled up the Ganges, in India, again in a jet boat.

Beginning in 1962, Hillary began working with the Nepalese Sherpas, the people who had so often helped him. Raising funds through his Himalayan Trust, he helped 27)install bridges and pipes, built nearly 30 schools, two hospitals, 12 medical clinics, two mountaineering clinics, restored 28)monasteries and planted more than a million seedlings in and around the towns of the poor Solu-Khumbu 29)region of Nepal.

Much of the last years of his life were dedicated to the work of the Trust, which opened offices in New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Britain and Germany. Even into his 70s, Hillary spent an average of five months away from New Zealand every year, raising money through lectures and visiting the projects in Nepal. “I would like to see myself not going (to Nepal) quite so often,” he said. “But at the moment...the 30)responsibility is there. It has to be done.”

Hillary always said that his image was largely a media creation. “I never deny the fact that I think I did pretty well on Everest,” he told a reporter in 1992. “But I was not the heroic figure the media and the public made me out to be.”

The first man to stand on top of the world didn’t see himself as a hero. Others will.

埃德蒙・希拉里和丹增・诺尔盖站立在世界之巅。围绕他们的是白雪皑皑的喜马拉雅山山脊和山峰。这对探险家征服了其最高峰――珠穆朗玛峰。

那次登峰之举令埃德蒙・珀西瓦尔・希拉里爵士和丹增一举挤身20世纪最伟大的英雄之列。近55年后，希拉里爵士于（2008年）1月11日逝世，享年88岁。

谦逊的开始

希拉里在新西兰的图阿考长大。这是一个小镇，位于奥克兰南面约30英里（约合48千米）。他的父亲珀西瓦尔很严厉，是当地报社的编辑。他的母亲格特鲁德是一名教师。

希拉里读了两年法律，便回家跟随父亲当上了养蜂人。除了在二战最后两年担任领航员以外，直到1970年他一直从事养蜂工作。他喜欢在山里滑雪和徒步旅行。随着登山技巧的进步，他登上了南岛上超过12300英尺（约合3749米）高的新西兰“阿尔卑斯山”。“我没有想过自己会成为一个著名登山者，”后来他解释道。“事情循序渐进，自然而然地发生了。很少有人突然之间就决定他们要成为某一方面的世界冠军。”

展开冒险征途

二战后，山峰对希拉里的诱惑越发强烈。1950年，希拉里登上了瑞士和奥地利的阿尔卑斯山；一年后，他加入了一个前往喜马拉雅山的新西兰探险队。“我被它折服了。”在回忆当时看到那些崇山峻岭的景象时，他这样说到。希拉里很快被公认为一位富有天分的登山家。

1951年底，希拉里加入了英国一个珠穆朗玛勘察探险队，一年后又受邀参加另一个英国探险队，这次是去尼泊尔境内的另一座山――卓奥友峰。希拉里当时32岁，逐步迈向其登山生涯的顶峰。

向峰顶挺进

虽然曾有很多人作出尝试，但始终没有一个探险队成功征服珠穆朗玛峰。1921到1953年间，曾有八个主要探险队试图攀登珠峰，其中大部分都是从珠峰北面的开始攀登。然而他们全都失败了，16人丧生。

二战后出现了几个因素，使登山变得容易一些。尼泊尔开始对西方探险队开放，探险者们在那里找到了更便于攀爬的路径。服装和设备方面的改善削弱了寒冷气温的威胁，让队员在海拔高处更容易呼吸。西方探险家还可以雇用富有经验的登山者――尼泊尔夏尔巴人协助登山。

一步一步，顶峰逐渐接近。1952年，瑞士登山家雷蒙德・兰伯特和尼泊尔夏尔巴人丹增・诺尔盖到达珠峰约27100英尺（约合8260米）处。这是当时人类到过的最高

纪录。

成功！

随后那年，由约翰・亨特上校带领的一个英国探险队开始在珠穆朗玛峰上建立几个营地。5月，他们已经做好登山准备。5月26日，汤姆・鲍迪伦和查尔斯・埃文斯作了第一次尝试。他们在离目标不到300英尺（约合91米）的地方被迫撤回。三天后，天气良好，希拉里和丹增从位于海拔27900英尺（约合8503米）的山脊处的营地出发。上午十一点半，历经5个小时的跋涉，他们终于到达珠穆朗玛峰的顶峰――海拔高度29028英尺（约合8848米）。“我的第一感受是松了一口气，”希拉里在1953年这样写道。

成功属于他们！探险队还没返回大本营，他们成功登上顶峰的消息就已经传到伦敦，刚好赶上英女王伊丽莎白二世的加冕礼。女王授予希拉里爵士头衔，由新西兰总理代表受礼。对于人口不到两百万的新西兰来说，这样的成就不仅巩固了它在大英帝国的骄傲地位，也在其历史中留下了重要的脚印。

充满冒险与服务精神的一生

这些年来，希拉里对探险的热情从未改变。1958年，他成为乘坐机动车到达南极的第一人。1968年，他驾驶一艘喷气船穿过尼泊尔荒无人烟的河流。1977年，他再一次驾驶喷气船沿着印度恒河游历。

从1962年开始，希拉里就和给过他很大帮助的尼泊尔夏尔巴人一起工作。他通过其喜玛拉雅基金会筹集资金，帮助当地人建设桥梁和管道，建起近30所学校、两间医院、12间诊所及两间登山诊所。另外，他还帮助修复寺庙，在贫穷的尼泊尔昆布地区的小镇及其周围种植了一百多万株树苗。

希拉里晚年大部分时间都献给了基金会的工作。这个基金会在新西兰、美国、加拿大、英国和德国都设有办事处。即使到了七十多岁，他每年平均有五个月时间会在新西兰以外的地方度过――通过演讲筹集资金，视察尼泊尔的各项工程等。“我也希望自己不必那么频繁地去（尼泊尔），”他说。“但就目前来说……这仍是责任所在，必须完成。”

希拉里总是说他的英雄形象是媒体一手打造的。“我从不否认自己在攀登珠穆朗玛峰这件事上做得还不错，”1992年，他曾对一位记者这样说道。“但我绝不是媒体和大众宣扬的那个英雄人物。”

第一个登上世界之巅的人并不认为自己是英雄。然而在其他人眼中，此事毋庸置疑。