Imagine a tribal leader in a desert area where sand iseverywhere. There are no trees, rivers or mountains,nothing to look at and say, "This is the border of ourland, this is the place that we will fight to defend."Since there are no natural landmarks to relate to,that commander then takes a stick and drags italong the ground, (and in that sense "draws" a line inthe sand), and says, "Here is the border of our landthat we will fight to defend.

想象一下，沙漠地区有一个部落首领。那个地方到处都是沙子。没有树木，没有河流，没有山脉。首领说;“这是我们土地的边界，这是我们必须捍卫的地方。”但是，那个地方没有自然标志，因此首领拿过一只木棒在地上拖了一圈(也就是在沙子上划了一道线)，并说：“这里是我们土地的边界，我们将誓死维护它。”

Beyond this line, no enemy must come." It is from that exotic image that we get this idiommeaning to define a symbolic point beyond which there is no further compromise. Whateverideas or discussions are on one side of the line, that is okay, but beyond that point there can beno further discussion. The "line in the sand" represents a symbolic border for negotiations.

任何敌人不可越过这条线。通过这个形象的解释，我们知道了这个习语的意思——就是指定了一个象征性的界线，如果越过了这个界线，就不会达成进一步的妥协。你站在界线的那一侧，好的，任何想法或问题都可以谈;但越过了这个界限，休想做进一步的讨论。“沙线”代表着谈判的界限。