Sherpt

[madonna at SOCRATES.BERKELEY.EDU]

another guess:

i don't know how recently sherpa (literally, a member of a tibetan people
noted for their mountaineering skills; figuratively, any third-world
bearer toting supplies for first world explorers, colonists or
tourists) came into use in english.  i think it's in _the man who would be
king_ (1888?).  my instinct is that it is a verb for what sherpas
do: bear, carry.  she is a mere skeleton because her flesh has been borne
away, carried off.

sylvia swift
madonna at socrates.berkeley.edu