I turned thirteen that summer of 1976, Afghanistan’s next to last summer of peace and anonymity. Things between Baba and me were already cooling off again. I think what started it was the stupid comment I’d made the day we were planting tulips, about getting new servants. I regretted saying it—I really did—but I think even if I hadn’t, our happy little interlude would have come to an end. Maybe not quite so soon, but it would have.

anonymity noun： the situation in which someone's name is not given or known

匿名；无名；不公开姓名

The police have reassured witnessesthat they will be guaranteedanonymity.警方已让那些可能害怕站出来作证的目击证人放心，保证不公开他们的姓名。

interlude noun： a short period when a situationor activity is different from what comes before and after it

插曲，间歇

The musical interludes don't really fitin with the rest of the play.穿插的音乐片段与这部剧的其他部分并不协调。

By the end of the summer, the scraping of spoon and fork against the plate had replaced dinner table chatter and Baba had resumed retreating to his study after supper. And closing the door. I’d gone back to thumbing through Hãfez and Khayyám ,gnawing my nails down to the cuticles, writing stories. I kept the stories in a stack under my bed, keeping them just in case, though I doubted Baba would ever again ask me to read them to him.

scrape verb：  to remove an unwantedcovering or a top layer from something, especially using asharp edge or something rough

去除；刮；擦

Scrape your boots cleanbefore you come in.进来前先把靴子擦干净。

chatter noun： conversation about things that are not important

喋喋不休的谈话；唠叨

I can't concentrate with Ann'sconstant chatter.安一直唠唠叨叨，我没法集中精力。

thumb through something： to look through a book, magazine etc quickly

gnaw verb： to bite or chew somethingrepeatedly, usually making ahole in it or graduallydestroying it

咬，啮，啃（通常指啃出孔洞或逐渐啃坏）

Babies like to gnaw hard objectswhen they're teething.婴儿在长牙时喜欢啃咬硬物。

cuticle noun： the thin skin at the base of thenails on the fingers and toes

（指甲或趾甲根部的）角质层

stack noun： a pile of things arranged one on top of another

（码放整齐的）堆，叠，摞

He chose a cartoon from the stack of DVDs on the shelf.他从架子上的一摞录像带中挑了盘卡通片。

Baba’s motto about throwing parties was this: Invite the whole world or it’s not a party. I remember scanning over the invitation list a week before my birthday party and not recognizing at least three-quarters of the four hundred–plus Kakas and Khalas who were going to bring me gifts and congratulate me for having lived to thirteen. Then I realized they weren’t really coming for me. It was my birthday, but I knew who the real star of the show was.

motto noun：a short sentence or phrase thatexpresses a belief or purpose

座右铭，格言，箴言

Her motto is "Work hard, play hard".她的座右铭是“努力工作，痛快玩乐”。

For days, the house was teeming with Baba’s hired help. There was Salahuddin the butcher, who showed up with a calf and two sheep in tow , refusing payment for any of the three. He slaughtered the animals himself in the yard by a poplar tree. “Blood is good for the tree,” I remember him saying as the grass around the poplar soaked red. Men I didn’t know climbed the oak trees with coils of small electric bulbs and meters of extension cords. Others set up dozens of tables in the yard, spread a tablecloth on each.

calf noun：  a young cow, or the youngof various other largemammals such as elephantsand whales

小牛，牛犊；（象、鲸等大型哺乳动物的）幼崽，幼兽

tow noun： to pull someone's vehicleusing a rope or chain tied toyour vehicle

拖，拉

When my car broke down, apolice car gave me a tow to thenearest garage.我的车抛锚后，一辆警车把我的车拖至最近的汽车维修站。

poplar noun ： a tall tree with branches thatform a thin pointed shape

白杨树

a tall row of poplars一排高大的白杨树

The night before the big party Baba’s friend Del-Muhammad, who owned a kabob house in Shar-e-Nau, came to the house with his bags of spices. Like the butcher, Del-Muhammad—or Dello, as Baba called him—refused payment for his services. He said Baba had done enough for his family already. It was Rahim Khan who whispered to me, as Dello marinated the meat, that Baba had lent Dello the money to open his restaurant. Baba had refused repayment until Dello had shown up one day in our driveway in a Benz and insisted he wouldn’t leave until Baba took his money.

shish kebab noun： a dish consisting of smallpieces of meat and vegetablesthat have been put on a long,thin stick or metal rod andcooked together

烤肉串

marinate verb：to pour a marinade over meator fish; to be left in a marinade

在肉类肉或鱼肉上浇些腌泡汁

Marinate the chicken in white wine for a couple of hours before frying.油炸之前，将鸡肉放在白葡萄酒中腌几个小时。

I guess in most ways, or at least in the ways in which parties are judged, my birthday bash was a huge success. I’d never seen the house so packed. Guests with drinks in hand were chatting in the hallways, smoking on the stairs, leaning against doorways.

bash noun： a party

聚会

He had a big bash for his 18thbirthday.他举办了盛大的聚会庆祝自己的18岁生日。

They sat where they found space, on kitchen counters, in the foyer, even under the stairwell . In the backyard, they mingled under the glow of blue, red, and green lights winking in the trees, their faces illuminated by the light of kerosene torches propped everywhere. Baba had had a stage built on the balcony that overlooked the garden and planted speakers throughout the yard. Ahmad Zahir was playing an accordion and singing on the stage over masses of dancing bodies.

stairwell noun： ​a long, vertical passagethrough a building around which a set of stairs is built

（建筑物内的）楼梯井

mingle verb：  to mix or combine, or be mixed or combined

（使）混合；（使）相混

The excitement of starting a new jobis always mingled with a certainapprehension.刚开始一份新工作时兴奋中总是掺杂着些许担忧。

accordion noun：a box-shaped musicalinstrument consisting of afolded central part with akeyboard, played by pushingthe two ends towards each other

手风琴

I had to greet each of the guests personally—Baba made sure of that; no one was going to gossip the next day about how he’d raised a son with no manners. I kissed hundreds of cheeks, hugged total strangers, thanked them for their gifts. My face ached from the strain of my plastered smile. I was standing with Baba in the yard near the bar when someone said, “Happy birthday, Amir.” It was Assef, with his parents.

plastered adjective ： extremely drunk

烂醉的

They went out to the bars and gotplastered.他们去酒吧喝了个烂醉。

Assef’s father, Mahmood, was a short, lanky sort with dark skin and a narrow face. His mother, Tanya, was a small, nervous woman who smiled and blinked a lot. Assef was standing between the two of them now, grinning, looming over both, his arms resting on their shoulders. He led them toward us, like he had brought them here. Like he was the parent, and they his children.

lanky adjective： tall and thin and often movingawkwardly as a result

瘦高的，细长的

I was your typical lanky teenager.以前我和你们一样，是典型的又瘦又高的少年。

loom verb：  to appear as a large, oftenfrightening or unclear shape orobject

（令人惊恐地）隐约显现；赫然耸现

Dark storm clouds loomed on thehorizon.天边隐约出现了一团团的乌云。

A wave of dizziness rushed through me. Baba thanked them for coming. “I picked out your present myself,” Assef said. Tanya’s face twitched and her eyes flicked from Assef to me. She smiled, unconvincingly, and blinked. I wondered if Baba had noticed.

“Still playing soccer, Assef jan?” Baba said. He’d always wanted me to be friends with Assef. Assef smiled. It was creepy how genuinely sweet he made it look. “Of course, Kaka jan.”

creepy adjective： strange or unnatural and making you feel frightened

怪异的，令人毛骨悚然的；让人起鸡皮疙瘩的

a creepy film令人毛骨悚然的电影

genuinue adjective：  If people or emotions are genuine, they are honest andsincere.

真诚的；诚实的；真心的

He's a very genuine person.他为人很真诚。

“Right wing, as I recall?”

“Actually, I switched to center forward this year,” Assef said.

“You get to score more that way. We’re playing the Mekro-Rayan team next week. Should be a good match. They have some good players.”

Baba nodded. “You know, I played center forward too when I was young.”

“I’ll bet you still could if you wanted to,” Assef said. He favored

Baba with a good-natured wink. Baba returned the wink. “I see your father has taught you his world-famous flattering ways.” He elbowed Assef’s father, almost knocked the little fellow down. Mahmood’s laughter was about as convincing as Tanya’s smile, and suddenly I wondered if maybe, on some level, their son frightened them. I tried to fake a smile, but all I could manage was a feeble upturning of the corners of my mouth—my stomach was turning at the sight of my father bonding with Assef.

knock verb： to repeatedly hitsomething, producing a noise

（反复地）敲，击，打

She knocked on the window to attracthis attention.她敲敲窗想引起他的注意。

bonding noun： the process by which a closeemotional relationship isdeveloped

亲密关系的形成

Much of the bonding between motherand child takes place in those earlyweeks.母子之间的亲密关系大都是在早期几周里形成的。

Assef shifted his eyes to me. “Wali and Kamal are here too. They wouldn’t miss your birthday for anything,” he said, laughter lurking just beneath the surface. I nodded silently.

“We’re thinking about playing a little game of volleyball tomorrow at my house,” Assef said. “Maybe you’ll join us. Bring Hassan if you want to.”

volleyball noun： a game in which two teamsuse their hands to hit a largeball backwards and forwardsover a high net withoutallowing the ball to touch theground

排球（运动）

“That sounds fun,” Baba said, beaming. “What do you think, Amir?”

“I don’t really like volleyball,” I muttered. I saw the light wink out of Baba’s eyes and an uncomfortable silence followed.

“Sorry, Assef jan,” Baba said, shrugging. That stung, his apologizing for me.

“Nay, no harm done,” Assef said. “But you have an open invita- tion, Amir jan. Anyway, I heard you like to read so I brought you a book. One of my favorites.” He extended a wrapped birthday gift to me. “Happy birthday.”

He was dressed in a cotton shirt and blue slacks , a red silk tie and shiny black loafers . He smelled of cologne and his blond hair was neatly combed back. On the surface, he was the embodiment of every parent’s dream, a strong, tall, well-dressed and wellmannered boy with talent and striking looks, not to mention the wit to joke with an adult. But to me, his eyes betrayed him. When I looked into them, the facade faltered, revealed a glimpse of the madness hiding behind them.

slacks [ plural ]： a pair of trousers, that are not part of a suit

宽松长裤

loafer noun： a type of leather shoe without afastening, that a person's footslides into

懒汉鞋，平底便鞋（一种不用系带的皮鞋）

cologne noun： a type of perfume (= liquid with a pleasant smell, used on theskin)

科隆香水，古龙香水

embodiment noun： someone or something thatrepresents a quality or anidea exactly

（某种品质或思想的）化身，体现，典型

He was the embodiment of theEnglish gentleman.他是典型的英国绅士。

façade noun： a false appearance that makes someone or somethingseem more pleasant or betterthan they really are

假象，虚假的外表

We are fed up with this façade ofdemocracy.我们厌倦了这种民主的幌子。

falter verb： to lose strength or purpose andstop, or almost stop

衰弱；动摇；犹豫；畏缩

The dinner party conversation faltered for a moment.晚宴上的谈话出现了一会儿冷场。

“Aren’t you going to take it, Amir?” Baba was saying.

“Huh?”

“Your present,” he said testily. “Assef jan is giving you a present.”

testy adjective： easily annoyed and not patient

“Oh,” I said. I took the box from Assef and lowered my gaze. I wished I could be alone in my room, with my books, away from these people.

“Well?” Baba said.

“What?”

Baba spoke in a low voice, the one he took on whenever I embarrassed him in public. “Aren’t you going to thank Assef jan? That was very considerate of him.”

I wished Baba would stop calling him that. How often did he call me “Amir jan”? “Thanks,” I said. Assef’s mother looked at me like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t, and I realized that neither of Assef’s parents had said a word. Before I could embarrass myself and Baba anymore—but mostly to get away from Assef and his grin—I stepped away. “Thanks for coming,” I said.

I squirmed my way through the throng of guests and slipped through the wrought-iron gates. Two houses down from our house, there was a large, barren dirt lot. I’d heard Baba tell Rahim Khan that a judge had bought the land and that an architect was working on the design. For now, the lot was bare, save for dirt, stones, and weeds.

squirm verb： to move from side to side in anawkward way because ofnervousness, embarrassment, or pain

（因紧张、尴尬或疼痛）动来动去，来回扭动

Nobody spoke for at least fiveminutes and Rachel squirmed in herchair with embarrassment.至少有5分钟谁也没说话，雷切尔尴尬地在椅子上扭来扭去。

throng noun： a crowd or large group ofpeople

人群；群众

A huge throng had gathered around the speaker.演讲者周围聚集了一大群人。

I tore the wrapping paper from Assef’s present and tilted the book cover in the moonlight. It was a biography of Hitler. I threw it amid a tangle of weeds. I leaned against the neighbor’s wall, slid down to the ground. I just sat in the dark for a while, knees drawn to my chest, looking up at the stars, waiting for the night to be over.

tilt verb： to (cause to) move into asloping position

（使）倾斜

He tilted his chair backwards and put his feet up on his desk.他把椅子向后倾，双脚搁在写字台上。

“Shouldn’t you be entertaining your guests?” a familiar voice said. Rahim Khan was walking toward me along the wall. “They don’t need me for that. Baba’s there, remember?” I said. The ice in Rahim Khan’s drink clinked when he sat next to me. “I didn’t know you drank.”

“Turns out I do,” he said.Elbowedme playfully. “But only on the most important occasions.”

I smiled. “Thanks.”

He tipped his drink to me and took a sip. He lit a cigarette, one of the unfiltered Pakistani cigarettes he and Baba were always smoking. “Did I ever tell you I was almost married once?” “Really?” I said, smiling a little at the notion of Rahim Khan getting married. I’d always thought of him as Baba’s quiet alter ego, my writing mentor, my pal, the one who never forgot to bring me a souvenir, a saughat, when he returned from a trip abroad. But a husband? A father?

He nodded. “It’s true. I was eighteen. Her name was Homaira. She was a Hazara, the daughter of our neighbor’s servants. She was as beautiful as a pari, light brown hair, big hazel eyes ...she had this laugh . . . I can still hear it sometimes.” He twirled his glass. “We used to meet secretly in my father’s apple orchards, always after midnight when everyone had gone to sleep. We’d walk under the trees and I’d hold her hand . . . Am I embarrassing you, Amir jan?”

hazel adjective： (especially of eyes) greenish-brown or yellowish-brown incolour

（尤指眼睛）绿褐色的，黄褐色的

twirl verb： to (cause to) give a suddenquick turn or set of turns in acircle

（使）旋转；（使）转动；（使）缠绕

She danced and twirled across theroom.她在房间里转着圈跳舞。

“A little,” I said.

“It won’t kill you,” he said, taking another puff . “Anyway, we had this fantasy. We’d have a great, fancy wedding and invite family and friends from Kabul to Kandahar. I would build us a big house, white with a tiled patio and large windows. We would plant fruit trees in the garden and grow all sorts of flowers, have a lawn for our kids to play on. On Fridays, after namaz at the mosque, everyone would get together at our house for lunch and we’d eat in the garden, under cherry trees, drink fresh water from the well. Then tea with candy as we watched our kids play with their cousins . . .”

puff noun： a small amount of smoke,air, or something that can riseinto the air in a small cloud

一小口（烟雾），一小股（空气）

Sean blew a puff of smoke at hisreflection in the mirror.肖恩朝镜中的自己喷了一口烟。

tiled adjective： (of a surface) covered with tiles

（表面）铺瓦的，铺砖的

The kitchen has a tiled floor.厨房地面铺了地砖。

patio noun： an area outside a house with asolid floor but no roof, used in good weather for relaxing,eating, etc.

院子，天井；露台，平台

In the summer we have breakfast outon the patio.夏天我们在外面露台上吃早饭。

He took a long gulp of his scotch. Coughed. “You should have seen the look on my father’s face when I told him. My mother actually fainted. My sisters splashed her face with water. They fannedher and looked at me as if I had slit her throat. My brother Jalal actually went to fetch his hunting rifle before my father stopped him.” Rahim Khan barked a bitter laughter. “It was Homaira and me against the world. And I’ll tell you this, Amir jan: In the end, the world always wins. That’s just the way of things.”

slit verb： to make a long, straight,narrow cut in something

撕裂，切开；在…上开狭长口子

He slit open the envelope with aknife.他用刀将信封裁开。

“So what happened?”

“That same day, my father put Homaira and her family on a lorry and sent them off to Hazarajat. I never saw her again.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Probably for the best, though,” Rahim Khan said, shrugging.

“She would have suffered. My family would have never accepted her as an equal. You don’t order someone to polish your shoes one day and call them ‘sister’ the next.” He looked at me. “You know, you can tell me anything you want, Amir jan. Anytime.”

“I know,” I said uncertainly. He looked at me for a long time, like he was waiting, his black bottomless eyes hinting at an unspoken secret between us. For a moment, I almost did tell him.

bottomless adjective： without a limit or end

无底的；极深的；深不可测的；无限的

The generosity of the local people is bottomless.当地人热情无比。

Almost told him everything, but then what would he think of me? He’d hate me, and rightfully.

“Here.” He handed me something. “I almost forgot. Happy birthday.” It was a brown leather-bound notebook. I traced my fingers along the gold-colored stitching on the borders. I smelled the leather. “For your stories,” he said. I was going to thank him when something exploded and bursts of fire lit up the sky.

stitch verb： to sew two things together, or to repairsomething by sewing

缝；缝合；缝补This button needs to be stitched backonto my shirt.这粒纽扣得缝回到我的衬衫上。

“Fireworks!”

We hurried back to the house and found the guests all standing in the yard, looking up to the sky. Kids hooted and screamed with each crackle and whoosh. People cheered, burst into applause each time flares sizzled and exploded into bouquets of fire. Every few seconds, the backyard lit up in sudden flashes of red, green, and yellow.

hoot verb： to make a short loud highsound

发出短促响亮的声音

She hooted her horn at the dog in theroad.她向路中间的那条狗按响了喇叭。

sizzle verb： to make a sound like foodcooking in hot fat

发出（油炸食物般的）咝咝声

The sausages are sizzling in the pan.香肠在平底锅里发出咝咝声。

bouquet noun： a group of flowers that have been fastened together and attractively arranged so that they can be given as a presentor carried on formal occasions花束

a bouquet of flowers一束花

In one of those brief bursts of light, I saw something I’ll never forget: Hassan serving drinks to Assef and Wali from a silver platter. The light winked out, a hiss and a crackle, then another flicker of orange light: Assef grinning, kneading Hassan in the chest with a knuckle.

Then, mercifully, darkness.

flicker noun： a situation in which a light is sometimes bright and sometimes weak

（光的）摇曳，闪烁

the soft flicker of candlelight烛光的轻轻摇曳

knead verb： to press something, especiallya mixture for making bread,firmly and repeatedly with thehands and fingers

揉，捏（尤指面）

Knead the dough until smooth.把面团揉匀为止。

这儿应该为像揉捏面团一样肆意揉捏Hassan

Summary

Amir really regretted, but he used wrong ways to deal with.

Many may believe that it was the incidence in the corner that broke these beloved friends. From my perspective, the harassment was just the beginning of their inevitable alienation. What he had done after the harassment contributes to their tragic ending.

In fact, Hassan did not blame Amir. From the descriptions Hassan was still consistent with his loyalty and great care to Amir. But poor Amir, who could not overcome his weakness from his negative act, in turn became even more passive. How he wished Hassan stop taking so care about him so that his compunction could ease a little. He used ripe pomegranate to hit Hassan, sending him a message that your master was a bad person who did not deserve you to show this much respect. Nonetheless, Hassan was still not fight back.

It was Hassan’s purity and constant love that makes Amir fail to forgive himself. If Hassan had fought back or stopped being so nice to Amir, maybe Amir would carry less burden. But the fact is they could not go back to their earlier stage anymore.