Imagine a tribal leader in a desert area where sand is everywhere.
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。
There are no trees, rivers or mountains, nothing to look at and say," This is the border of our land,
没有树木，没有河流，没有山脉。首领说；“这是我们土地的边界，
this is the place that we will fight to defend." Since there are no natural landmarks to relate to,
这是我们必须捍卫的地方。”但是，那个地方没有自然标志，
that commander then takes a stick and drags it along the ground,( and in that sense" draws" a line in the sand),
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），
and says," Here is the border of our land that we will fight to defend. Beyond this line,
并说：“这里是我们土地的边界，我们将誓死维护它。”
no enemy must come." It is from that exotic image that we get this idiom meaning to define a symbolic point beyond which there is no further compromise.
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