"Modern Alpinists try to climb mountains by a route which will give them good sport, and the more difficult it is, the more highly（高度地） it is regarded（把…看作）. In the pioneering days, however, this was not the case at all. The early climbers（登山者） were looking for the easiest way to the top, because the summit（最高点） was the prize they sought（寻找）, especially if it had never been attained（达到） before. It is true that during their explorations（探险） they often faced（向） difficulties（ 困难） and dangers of the most perilous nature, equipped（装备） in a manner which would make a modern climber（登山者） shudder（ 战栗） at the thought, but they did not go out of their way to caught such excitement（兴奋）. They had a single aim（目的）, a solitary（孤独的） goal, the top. It is hard for us to realize nowadays（现今） how difficult it was for the pioneers（拓荒者）. Except（除了） for one or two places, such as Zermatt and Chamonix, which had rapidly（快） become popular, Alpine（高山的） villages tended（趋向） to be impoverished（穷困的） settlements cut off from civilization by the high mountains.

  Such ends, as there were, were generally（一般地） dirty and flea-ridden. The food, simply（简单地） local cheese, accompanied（陪伴） by bread, often twelve months old, all was down with coarse（粗的） wine. Often a valley boasted（自夸） no in at all, and climbers found shelter（隐蔽处） wherever（无论在哪里） they could, sometimes with the local priest（牧师）, who was usually as poor as his parishioners, sometimes with shepherds（牧羊人） or cheese-makers. Invariably（总是） the background was the same, dirt（尘） and poverty（贫困）, and very uncomfortable（ 不舒服的）. For men accustomed to eating seven-course dinners and sleeping between fine linen（亚麻布） sheets at home, the change to the Alps must have been very hard indeed（真正地）.