（今天改变了记录方式，把原著的Chapter 8全文都记录下来啦。这样对于想读的童鞋可能看起来更加方便）

For a week, I barely saw Hassan. I woke up to find toasted bread,?brewed tea, and a boiled egg already on the kitchen table. My?clothes for the day were ironed and folded, left on the cane-seat?chair in the foyer where Hassan usually did his ironing. He used?to wait for me to sit at the breakfast table before he started ironing—that way, we could talk. Used to sing too, over the hissing of?the iron, sang old Hazara songs about tulip fields. Now only the?folded clothes greeted me. That, and a breakfast I hardly finished?anymore.

cane-seat?chair 大概就是这种椅子，也没查到中文名。在香港很多老人喜欢用这个。cane就是指那根拐杖，和seat结合起来就是可以当拐杖又可以坐。

One overcast morning, as I was pushing the boiled egg around?on my plate, Ali walked in cradling a pile of chopped wood. I?asked him where Hassan was.?“He went back to sleep,” Ali said, kneeling before the stove.?He pulled the little square door open.?Would Hassan be able to play today?

Ali paused with a log in his hand. A worried look crossed his?face. “Lately, it seems all he wants to do is sleep. He does his?chores—I see to that—but then he just wants to crawl under his?blanket. Can I ask you something?”

“If you have to.”

“After that kite tournament, he came home a little bloodied?and his shirt was torn. I asked him what had happened and he?said it was nothing, that he’d gotten into a little scuffle with some?kids over the kite.”

I didn’t say anything. Just kept pushing the egg around on my?plate.

“Did something happen to him, Amir agha? Something he’s?not telling me?”

I shrugged. “How should I know?”?“You would tell me, nay? Inshallah, you would tell me if something had happened?”?“Like I said, how should I know what’s wrong with him?” I?snapped. “Maybe he’s sick. People get sick all the time, Ali. Now,?am I going to freeze to death or are you planning on lighting the?stove today?”

That night I asked Baba if we could go to Jalalabad on Friday.?He was rocking on the leather swivel chair behind his desk, reading a newspaper. He put it down, took off the reading glasses I disliked so much—Baba wasn’t old, not at all, and he had lots of?years left to live, so why did he have to wear those stupid glasses?

rock verb：? to (cause someone or something to) move backwards and forwards or from side toside in a regular way

swivel chair noun[countable]: a chair whose seat part can be turned while the legs remain in the same position

（使）摇晃，（使）摇动He?picked?up the?baby?and?gently rocked her?to?sleep.他抱起了婴儿轻轻摇着哄她入睡。

“Why not!” he said. Lately, Baba agreed to everything I asked.?Not only that, just two nights before, he’d asked me if I wanted to?see El Cid with Charlton Heston at Cinema Aryana. “Do you want?to ask Hassan to come along to Jalalabad?”

Why did Baba have to spoil it like that? “He’s mareez,” I said.?Not feeling well.

“Really?” Baba stopped rocking in his chair. “What’s wrong?with him?”

I gave a shrug and sank in the sofa by the fireplace. “He’s got a?cold or something. Ali says he’s sleeping it off.”

“I haven’t seen much of Hassan the last few days,” Baba said.

“That’s all it is, then, a cold?” I couldn’t help hating the way his?brow furrowed with worry.

brow noun： the forehead?(=?part?of the?faceabove the?eyes)

额头

She?wrinkled?her brow as shethought.她思考时皱起眉头。

furrow verb： to?form?or?cut?a?long?line?orhollow?in the?surface?of something

皱纹；沟；车辙The?wheels?of the?heavy?tractorfurrowed the?soft?ground.重型拖拉机的轮子在柔软的土地上压出了车辙。

“Just a cold. So are we going Friday, Baba?”

“Yes, yes,” Baba said, pushing away from the desk. “Too bad?about Hassan. I thought you might have had more fun if he came.”

“Well, the two of us can have fun together,” I said.?Baba smiled. Winked. “Dress warm,” he said.?It should have been just the two of us—that was the way?I wanted it—but by Wednesday night, Baba had managed to invite?another two dozen people. He called his cousin Homayoun—he?was actually Baba’s second cousin—and mentioned he was going?to Jalalabad on Friday, and Homayoun, who had studied engineering in France and had a house in Jalalabad, said he’d love to have?everyone over, he’d bring the kids, his two wives, and, while he?was at it, cousin Shafiqa and her family were visiting from Herat,?maybe she’d like to tag along, and since she was staying with?cousin Nader in Kabul, his family would have to be invited as well?even though Homayoun and Nader had a bit of a feud going, and?if Nader was invited, surely his brother Faruq had to be asked too?or his feelings would be hurt and he might not invite them to his?daughter’s wedding next month and . . .

wink verb：?to?close?one?eye?for a?shorttime?as a way of?greetingsomeone or?showingfriendliness,?sexual?interest, etc., or of?showing?that you are not?serious?about something you have said

眨眼示意；使眼色

Laura winked?at?me as Stephenturned?his back.他转过身去的时候，她冲我眨了眨眼。

feud noun： an?argument?that has?existedfor a?long?time?between twopeople?or?groups,?causing?a lot of?anger?or?violence

夙怨；世仇；长期争斗

a?family?feud家族世仇

We filled three vans. I rode with Baba, Rahim Khan, Kaka?Homayoun—Baba had taught me at a young age to call any older?male Kaka, or Uncle, and any older female, Khala, or Aunt. Kaka?Homayoun’s two wives rode with us too—the pinch-faced older?one with the warts on her hands and the younger one who always?smelled of perfume and danced with her eyes close—as did Kaka?Homayoun’s twin girls. I sat in the back row, carsick and dizzy,?sandwiched between the seven-year-old twins who kept reaching?over my lap to slap at each other. The road to Jalalabad is a two-hour trek through mountain roads winding along a steep drop,?and my stomach lurched with each hairpin turn. Everyone in the?van was talking, talking loudly and at the same time, nearly shrieking, which is how Afghans talk. I asked one of the twins—Fazila or?Karima, I could never tell which was which—if she’d trade her?window seat with me so I could get fresh air on account of my car?sickness. She stuck her tongue out and said no. I told her that was?fine, but I couldn’t be held accountable for vomiting on her new?dress. A minute later, I was leaning out the window. I watched the?cratered road rise and fall, whirl its tail around the mountainside,?counted the multicolored trucks packed with squatting men lumbering past. I tried closing my eyes, letting the wind slap at my?cheeks, opened my mouth to swallow the clean air. I still didn’t?feel better. A finger poked me in the side. It was Fazila/Karima.

pinched adjective： A pinched face is thin and pale.

（脸）消瘦的，苍白清瘦的

He had that pinched?look?thatsuggests?poverty?and?lack?ofnourishment.他面容那么消瘦，说明他穷困潦倒、营养不良。

wart noun： a?small, hard?lump?(= a?raisedarea)?that?grows?on the?skin, often on the?face?and?hands

（常见于面部和手上的）疣，肉赘

hairpin noun： a?thin, U-shaped?metal?pin?that is used to?hold?part?of the?hairin a?suitable?position

（U 形）发卡，发夹 （这里应该指转U型的弯）

squat verb： to?position?yourself?close?to the?ground?balancing?on thefront?part?of?your?feet?with?yourlegs?bent?under?your?body

蹲，蹲坐

She squatted on the?ground?andwarmed?her?hands?by the?fire.她蹲在地上，伸出双手烤火。

“What?” I said.

“I was just telling everyone about the tournament,” Baba said

from behind the wheel. Kaka Homayoun and his wives were smiling at me from the middle row of seats.

“There must have been a hundred kites in the sky that day?”

Baba said. “Is that about right, Amir?”

“I guess so,” I mumbled.

mumble verb： to speak quietly and in a way that is not clear so that the words are difficult tounderstand

含糊地说，咕哝

She mumbled?something?about being too?busy.她嘟囔着说太忙了。

“A hundred kites, Homayoun jan. No laaf. And the only one?still flying at the end of the day was Amir’s. He has the last kite at?home, a beautiful blue kite. Hassan and Amir ran it together.”?“Congratulations,” Kaka Homayoun said. His first wife, the?one with the warts, clapped her hands. “Wah wah, Amir jan, we’re?all so proud of you!” she said. The younger wife joined in. Then?they were all clapping, yelping their praises, telling me how proud?I’d made them all. Only Rahim Khan, sitting in the passenger seat?next to Baba, was silent. He was looking at me in an odd way.

“Please pull over, Baba,” I said.

“What?”

“Getting sick,” I muttered, leaning across the seat, pressing?against Kaka Homayoun’s daughters.?Fazila/Karima’s face twisted. “Pull over, Kaka! His face is yellow! I don’t want him throwing up on my new dress!” she?squealed.

pull over： If a vehicle pulls over, itmoves to the side of the roadand stops.

（车辆）驶到路边

Just?pull?over here, and I'll get out and?walk?the?rest?of the way.就在这儿停车吧，剩下的路我下车走回去。

squeal verb： to make a long, very highsound or cry

发出长而尖的声音；尖叫

We could?hear?the?piglets?squealing as we?entered?the?farmyard.我们走进农场庭院时，可以听见猪崽在长嚎。

Baba began to pull over, but I didn’t make it. A few minutes?later, I was sitting on a rock on the side of the road as they aired?out the van. Baba was smoking with Kaka Homayoun who was?telling Fazila/Karima to stop crying; he’d buy her another dress in?Jalalabad. I closed my eyes, turned my face to the sun. Little?shapes formed behind my eyelids, like hands playing shadows on?the wall. They twisted, merged, formed a single image: Hassan’s?brown corduroy pants discarded on a pile of old bricks in the alley.

air something out： to let fresh?air into a room, especially one that has been closed for a long time

Kaka Homayoun’s white, two-story house in Jalalabad?had a balcony overlooking a large, walled garden with apple and?persimmon trees. There were hedges that, in the summer, the gardener shaped like animals, and a swimming pool with emerald-colored tiles. I sat on the edge of the pool, empty save for a layer?of slushy snow at the bottom, feet dangling in. Kaka Homayoun’s?kids were playing hide-and-seek at the other end of the yard. The?women were cooking and I could smell onions frying already,?could hear the phht-phht of a pressure cooker, music, laughter.

persimmon noun: a very?sweet?orange?tropicalfruit

柿，柿子

slushy?adjective: Slushy?snow?is?partly?melted.

（雪）半融的

Baba, Rahim Khan, Kaka Homayoun, and Kaka Nader were sitting on the balcony, smoking. Kaka Homayoun was telling them?he’d brought the projector along to show his slides of France. Ten?years since he’d returned from Paris and he was still showing?those stupid slides.

It shouldn’t have felt this way. Baba and I were finally friends.?We’d gone to the zoo a few days before, seen Marjan the lion, and?I had hurled a pebble at the bear when no one was watching. We’d?gone to Dadkhoda’s Kabob House afterward, across from Cinema?Park, had lamb kabob with freshly baked naan from the tandoor.?Baba told me stories of his travels to India and Russia, the people?he had met, like the armless, legless couple in Bombay who’d?been married forty-seven years and raised eleven children. That?should have been fun, spending a day like that with Baba, hearing?his stories. I finally had what I’d wanted all those years. Except?now that I had it, I felt as empty as this unkempt pool I was dan-?gling my legs into.说明Amir心里还是在意Hassan的

hurl verb: to throw something with a lot of force, usually in an angry orviolent way

（通常指愤怒或用力地）抛，扔

In a?fit?of?temper?he hurled the?bookacross?the?room.他一怒之下把书扔到了房间的另一头。

The wives and daughters serhurlverbved dinner—rice, kofta, and chicken qurma—at sundown. We dined the traditional way, sitting on cushions around the room, tablecloth spread on the floor, eating with our hands in groups of four or five from common platters. I wasn’t hungry but sat down to eat anyway with Baba, Kaka Faruq, and Kaka Homayoun’s two boys. Baba, who’d had a few scotches before dinner, was still ranting about the kite tourna- ment, how I’d outlasted them all, how I’d come home with the last kite. His booming voice dominated the room. People raised their heads from their platters, called out their congratulations. Kaka Faruq patted my back with his clean hand. I felt like sticking a knife in my eye.又一次印证Amir的愧疚

rant verb: to speak or shout in a loud, uncontrolled, or angry way, often saying confused or sillythings

怒吼；抱怨；叫嚷；大声责骂

He's always ranting?(on) about?thegovernment.他总是抱怨政府。

Later, well past midnight, after a few hours of poker between?Baba and his cousins, the men lay down to sleep on parallel mattresses in the same room where we’d dined. The women went?upstairs. An hour later, I still couldn’t sleep. I kept tossing and?turning as my relatives grunted, sighed, and snored in their sleep.?I sat up. A wedge of moonlight streamed in through the window.?“I watched Hassan get raped,” I said to no one. Baba stirred in?his sleep. Kaka Homayoun grunted. A part of me was hoping?someone would wake up and hear, so I wouldn’t have to live with?this lie anymore. But no one woke up and in the silence that followed, I understood the nature of my new curse: I was going to?get away with it.

wedge noun: a?piece?of?metal,?wood,rubber, etc. with a?pointededge?at one end and a?wideedge?at the other, eitherpushed?between two?objects?tokeep?them still or?forced?into something to?break?pieces?off it

（金属、木头或橡胶等制成的）楔子，三角木

Push a wedge under the?door?to?keepit?open?while we're?carrying?the?boxesin.在门底下塞一个楔子让门敞开着，我们好往里搬箱子。

get away with sth: to?succeed?in?avoidingpunishment?for something

做（错事）而未被惩罚，做（坏事）而未被发觉

If I?thought?I could get away with it, I wouldn't?pay?my?taxes?at all.如果我认为逃税可以不受处罚的话，我就干脆一分钱都不交了。

I thought about Hassan’s dream, the one about us swimming?in the lake. There is no monster, he’d said, just water. Except he’d?been wrong about that. There was a monster in the lake. It had?grabbed Hassan by the ankles, dragged him to the murky bottom.?I was that monster.?That was the night I became an insomniac.

murky adjective: dark and dirty or difficult to seethrough

黑暗的；不清楚的；肮脏的

The?river?was?brown?and murky after the?storm.暴风雨过后，河水变成了褐色，浑浊不清。

?I didn’t speak to Hassan until the middle of the next?week. I had just half-eaten my lunch and Hassan was doing the?dishes. I was walking upstairs, going to my room, when Hassan?asked if I wanted to hike up the hill. I said I was tired. Hassan?looked tired too—he’d lost weight and gray circles had formed?under his puffed-up eyes. But when he asked again, I reluctantly?agreed.

puff up:If?part?of?your?body?puffs?up, itbecomes?bigger?because it isinfected?or?injured.

（因感染或受伤）肿胀

My?leg?puffed?up all around the?insectbite.我腿上被昆虫叮咬的部位肿了起来。

reluctant adjective: not?willing?to do something and?therefore?slow?to do it

We trekked up the hill, our boots squishing in the muddy?snow. Neither one of us said anything. We sat under our pome-?granate tree and I knew I’d made a mistake. I shouldn’t have come?up the hill. The words I’d carved on the tree trunk with Ali’s?kitchen knife, Amir and Hassan: The Sultans of Kabul ...I?couldn’t stand looking at them now.

He asked me to read to him from the Shahnamah and I told?him I’d changed my mind. Told him I just wanted to go back to my?room. He looked away and shrugged. We walked back down the?way we’d gone up: in silence. And for the first time in my life, I?couldn’t wait for spring.

My memory of the rest of that winter of 1975 is pretty?hazy. I remember I was fairly happy when Baba was home. We’d?eat together, go to see a film, visit Kaka Homayoun or Kaka Faruq.?Sometimes Rahim Khan came over and Baba let me sit in his?study and sip tea with them. He’d even have me read him some of?my stories. It was good and I even believed it would last. And Baba?believed it too, I think. We both should have known better. For at?least a few months after the kite tournament, Baba and I?immersed ourselves in a sweet illusion, saw each other in a way?that we never had before. We’d actually deceived ourselves into?thinking that a toy made of tissue paper, glue, and bamboo could?somehow close the chasm between us.

deceive verb: ?to?persuade?someone that something?false?is the?truth, or to?keep?the?truth?hidden?from someone for?your?ownadvantage

欺骗，蒙骗；隐瞒

The?company?deceived?customers?byselling?old?computers?as new?ones.该公司用旧计算机冒充新机器欺骗顾客。

chasm noun: a very?deep,?narrow?opening?inrock,?ice, or the?ground

（岩石、地面或冰面的）裂隙，深坑

They?leaned?over the?rails?and?peereddown into the?dizzying?chasm below.他们靠在栏杆上向下凝视令人眩晕的深渊。

But when Baba was out—and he was out a lot—I closed?myself in my room. I read a book every couple of days, wrote stories, learned to draw horses. I’d hear Hassan shuffling around the?kitchen in the morning, hear the clinking of silverware, the whis-?tle of the teapot. I’d wait to hear the door shut and only then I?would walk down to eat. On my calendar, I circled the date of the?first day of school and began a countdown.

To my dismay, Hassan kept trying to rekindle things between?us. I remember the last time. I was in my room, reading an abbre-?viated Farsi translation of Ivanhoe, when he knocked on my door.

clink verb: to (cause?something to) make ashort?ringing?sound?like?piecesof?glass?or?metal?knockinglightly?together

（使）发出叮当声，（使）叮当作响

The?ice?clinked as she?dropped?it into the?glass.她把冰块丢入玻璃杯，冰块叮当作响。

rekindle verb: to make someone have afeeling?that they had in the past

重新激起；重新唤起

The?holiday?was a last?chance?to rekindle?their?love.这次休假是使他们重新燃起爱情之火的最后一次机会

“What is it?”

“I’m going to the baker to buy naan,” he said from the other?side. “I was wondering if you ...if you wanted to come along.”

“I think I’m just going to read,” I said, rubbing my temples.?Lately, every time Hassan was around, I was getting a headache.

“It’s a sunny day,” he said.

“I can see that.”

“Might be fun to go for a walk.”

“You go.”

“I wish you’d come along,” he said. Paused. Something?thumped against the door, maybe his forehead. “I don’t know?what I’ve done, Amir agha. I wish you’d tell me. I don’t know why?we don’t play anymore.”

thump verb: ?to hit someone with your fist(= closed hand)

重击，捶击

He thumped him in the?face.他一拳狠狠打在他的脸上。

“You haven’t done anything, Hassan. Just go.”

“You can tell me, I’ll stop doing it.”?I buried my head in my lap, squeezed my temples with my?knees, like a vice. “I’ll tell you what I want you to stop doing,” I?said, eyes pressed shut.

“Anything.”

“I want you to stop harassing me. I want you to go away,” I?snapped. I wished he would give it right back to me, break the?door open and tell me off—it would have made things easier, bet-?ter. But he didn’t do anything like that, and when I opened the?door minutes later, he wasn’t there. I fell on my bed, buried my?head under the pillow, and cried.

Hassan milled about the periphery of my life after that. I?made sure our paths crossed as little as possible, planned my day?that way. Because when he was around, the oxygen seeped out of?the room. My chest tightened and I couldn’t draw enough air; I’d?stand there, gasping in my own little airless bubble of atmosphere. But even when he wasn’t around, he was. He was there in?the hand-washed and ironed clothes on the cane-seat chair, in the?warm slippers left outside my door, in the wood already burning in?the stove when I came down for breakfast. Everywhere I turned, I?saw signs of his loyalty, his goddamn unwavering loyalty.

periphery noun: the less?important?part?of agroup?or?activity

（某一团体或活动的）次要部分，边缘

Many women?feel?they are being?kepton the periphery of the?armed?forces.许多妇女感到她们在武装部队中被边缘化了。

seep verb: to?move?or?spread?slowly?out of a?hole?or through something

渗出；渗漏

Pesticides are seeping?out offarmland?and?into?the?water?supply.杀虫剂正从农田中渗出，进入供水系统。

Early that spring, a few days before the new school year?started, Baba and I were planting tulips in the garden. Most of the?snow had melted and the hills in the north were already dotted?with patches of green grass. It was a cool, gray morning, and Baba?was squatting next to me, digging the soil and planting the bulbs I?handed to him. He was telling me how most people thought it was?better to plant tulips in the fall and how that wasn’t true, when I?came right out and said it. “Baba, have you ever thought about getting new servants?”

He dropped the tulip bulb and buried the trowel in the dirt.

dot verb: ?to be?spreadacross?an?area, or to?spreadmany?similar?things?across?anarea

分布，分散

The?area?is dotted?with?beautifulchurches.乡间散落着很多漂亮的教堂。

bulb noun: a round?root?of some?plantsfrom which the?plant?grows

球茎，鳞茎

tulip?bulbs郁金香球茎

trowel noun: a?small?tool?with a?curvedpointed?metal?blade, used in the?garden?for?digging?smallholes?and?removing?smallplants?from the?ground

小泥铲，小铲子（一种园艺工具）

Took off his gardening gloves. I’d startled him. “Chi? What did you?say?”

“I was just wondering, that’s all.”

“Why would I ever want to do that?” Baba said curtly.

“You wouldn’t, I guess. It was just a question,” I said, my voice?fading to a murmur. I was already sorry I’d said it.

“Is this about you and Hassan? I know there’s something going?on between you two, but whatever it is, you have to deal with it,?not me. I’m staying out of it.”

“I’m sorry, Baba.”

He put on his gloves again. “I grew up with Ali,” he said?through clenched teeth. “My father took him in, he loved Ali like?his own son. Forty years Ali’s been with my family. Forty goddamn?years. And you think I’m just going to throw him out?” He turned?to me now, his face as red as a tulip. “I’ve never laid a hand on you,?Amir, but you ever say that again . . .” He looked away, shaking his?head. “You bring me shame. And Hassan . . . Hassan’s not going?anywhere, do you understand?”

clench verb: to close or hold something very tightly, often in adetermined or angry way

（常指坚决或生气地）捏紧，握紧，咬紧

"Get out of here," she said through clenched?teeth.“滚出去，”她咬牙切齿地说。

lay a hand on sb: to harm someone

对（某人）动手，伤害（某人）I never?laid?a?hand?on her!我从未伤害过她！

I looked down and picked up a fistful of cool soil. Let it pour?between my fingers.

“I said, Do you understand?” Baba roared.

I flinched. “Yes, Baba.”?“Hassan’s not going anywhere,” Baba snapped. He dug a new?hole with the trowel, striking the dirt harder than he had to. “He’s?staying right here with us, where he belongs. This is his home and?we’re his family. Don’t you ever ask me that question again!”

flinch verb: to make a sudden, smallmovement because of pain orfear

（因疼痛或恐惧）猛地一颤，畏缩，退缩

He didn't?even?flinch when the?nursecleaned?the?wound.护士清洗伤口的时候，他都一点也没畏缩。

“I won’t, Baba. I’m sorry.”

We planted the rest of the tulips in silence.

I was relieved when school started that next week. Students?with new notebooks and sharpened pencils in hand ambled about?the courtyard, kicking up dust, chatting in groups, waiting for the?class captains’ whistles. Baba drove down the dirt lane that led to?the entrance. The school was an old two-story building with bro-?ken windows and dim, cobblestone hallways, patches of its original dull yellow paint still showing between sloughing chunks of?plaster. Most of the boys walked to school, and Baba’s black Mustang drew more than one envious look. I should have been beam-?ing with pride when he dropped me off—the old me would?have—but all I could muster was a mild form of embarrassment.?That and emptiness. Baba drove away without saying good-bye.?I bypassed the customary comparing of kite-fighting scars and?stood in line. The bell rang and we marched to our assigned class,?filed in in pairs. I sat in the back row. As the Farsi teacher handed?out our textbooks, I prayed for a heavy load of homework.?School gave me an excuse to stay in my room for long hours.

amble verb: to?walk?in a?slow?and?relaxedway

漫步，缓行

He was ambling?along?the?beach.他沿着沙滩漫步。

cobble noun also(cobblestone):　a?rounded?stone?used on thesurface?of an?old-fashionedroad

（老式路面用的）鹅卵石

The?cart?rumbled?over the cobbles.大车咕隆隆地碾过鹅卵石。

hallway noun: a?hall

礼堂，大厅，会堂

slough verb: (of some?animals) to have a?layer?of?skin?come off

（某些动物）蜕（皮）

Snakes slough?their?skin?regularly.蛇定期蜕皮。

plaster noun: a?substance?that?becomeshard as it?dries?and is usedespecially?for?spreading?onwalls?and?ceilings?in?order?to give a?smooth?surface

灰泥，灰浆

The plaster on the?walls?was?crackedand?flaking.墙上的灰浆出现了裂缝，正在剥落。

muster verb: to?produce?or?encouragesomething such as an?emotionor?support

鼓起（勇气）；激起（某种感情或支持）

She?managed?to muster the?courageto?ask?him to the?cinema.她终于鼓起勇气请他去看电影。

And, for a while, it took my mind off what had happened that win-?ter, what I had let happen. For a few weeks, I preoccupied myself?with gravity and momentum, atoms and cells, the Anglo-Afghan?wars, instead of thinking about Hassan and what had happened to?him. But, always, my mind returned to the alley. To Hassan’s?brown corduroy pants lying on the bricks. To the droplets of blood?staining the snow dark red, almost black.?One sluggish, hazy afternoon early that summer, I asked Hassan to go up the hill with me. Told him I wanted to read him a new?story I’d written. He was hanging clothes to dry in the yard and I?saw his eagerness in the harried way he finished the job.说明Hassan以为Amir要跟他和好了，急急忙忙把手上的活儿做完。

We climbed the hill, making small talk. He asked about?school, what I was learning, and I talked about my teachers, especially the mean math teacher who punished talkative students by?sticking a metal rod between their fingers and then squeezing?them together. Hassan winced at that, said he hoped I’d never?have to experience it. I said I’d been lucky so far, knowing that?luck had nothing to do with it. I had done my share of talking in?class too. But my father was rich and everyone knew him, so I was?spared the metal rod treatment.

rod noun: a?long,?thin?pole?made of?woodor?metal

竿，杆，棒

He was given a?fishing?rod for hisbirthday.别人送给他一根钓鱼竿作为生日礼物。

wince verb: to show?pain?suddenly?and for a?short?time?in the?face, oftenmoving?the?head?back at the same?time

（因疼痛而）脸部肌肉抽搐，皱眉蹙额

Did I?hurt?you? - I?thought?I?saw?you wince.我弄疼你了吗？——好像看到你皱了一下眉。

We sat against the low cemetery wall under the shade thrown?by the pomegranate tree. In another month or two, crops of?scorched yellow weeds would blanket the hillside, but that year?the spring showers had lasted longer than usual, nudging their?way into early summer(很棒的表达，慢慢地进入夏天。nudging their way into...), and the grass was still green, peppered?with tangles of wildflowers. Below us, Wazir Akbar Khan’s white-?walled, flat-topped houses gleamed in the sunshine, the laundry?hanging on clotheslines in their yards stirred by the breeze to?dance like butterflies.

scorched adjective: slightly?burned, or?damaged?byfire?or?heat

烧焦的；烧毁的；烫坏的

The?countryside?was scorched after several?weeks?of?hot?sun.经过几周的烈日暴晒，乡下的土地都焦了。

shower noun:a?short?period?of?rain?orsnow

阵雨；阵雪

showers of?rain,?hail?and?sleet一阵阵的雨、冰雹和雨夹雪

nudge verb: ?to?move?slowly?andalmost?reach?a?higher?point?orlevel

接近（更高点或水平）

Oil?prices?continue?to nudge?higher.油价持续上涨。

tangle noun: an?untidy?mass?of things that are not in a?state?of?order, or astate?of?confusion?or?difficulty

纠结的一团；纠结；混乱

a tangle?of?wires一团乱糟糟的电线

（每次作者写景色就会有很多好句噢）

We had picked a dozen pomegranates from the tree. I?unfolded the story I’d brought along, turned to the first page, then?put it down. I stood up and picked up an overripe pomegranate?that had fallen to the ground.

“What would you do if I hit you with this?” I said, tossing the?fruit up and down.

Hassan’s smile wilted. He looked older than I’d remembered.?No, not older, old. Was that possible? Lines had etched into his?tanned face and creases framed his eyes, his mouth. I might as?well have taken a knife and carved those lines myself.

wilt verb： (of a?plant) to?become?weakand?begin?to?bend?towards theground, or (of a?person) tobecome?weaker,?tired, or lessconfident

（植物）枯萎，凋谢；（人）变得萎靡不振

Cut?flowers?will?soon?wilt withoutwater.切花没有水会很快枯萎。

etch verb： to?cut?a?pattern,?picture, etc. into a?smooth?surface,especially?on?metal?or?glass, using?acid?or a?sharpinstrument

（尤指在金属或玻璃上）蚀刻，凿出

He etched his?name?on a?piece?ofglass.他把自己的名字蚀刻在一块玻璃上。

crease noun： ?a?line?on?cloth?or?paperwhere it has been?folded?orcrushed

（布或纸上的）褶痕，皱褶

He?ironed?a crease down the?front?of each?trouser?leg.他在每条裤腿的正面熨出一条褶痕来。

“What would you do?” I repeated.

The color fell from his face. Next to him, the stapled pages of?the story I’d promised to read him fluttered in the breeze. I?hurled the pomegranate at him. It struck him in the chest,?exploded in a spray of red pulp. Hassan’s cry was pregnant with?surprise and pain.

staple verb： to fasten something using staples

用钉书钉钉住

Would you?mind?stapling the?reportstogether?你能把报告用订书钉订好吗？

“Hit me back!” I snapped. Hassan looked fro

m the stain on his?chest to me.

“Get up! Hit me!” I said. Hassan did get up, but he just stood?there, looking dazed like a man dragged into the ocean by a riptide?when, just a moment ago, he was enjoying a nice stroll on the?beach.?I hit him with another pomegranate, in the shoulder this time.

The juice splattered his face. “Hit me back!” I spat. “Hit me back,?goddamn you!” I wished he would. I wished he’d give me the punishment I craved, so maybe I’d finally sleep at night. Maybe then?things could return to how they used to be between us. But Has-?san did nothing as I pelted him again and again. “You’re a cow-?ard!” I said. “Nothing but a goddamn coward!”

I don’t know how many times I hit him. All I know is that,?when I finally stopped, exhausted and panting, Hassan was?smeared in red like he’d been shot by a firing squad. I fell to my?knees, tired, spent, frustrated.

spat verb： past simple and past participle of?spit?verb

争吵，争执，口角

pelt verb： ?to?throw?a?number?of thingsquickly?at someone or something

连续投掷

We?saw?rioters pelting?police?withbricks?and?bottles.我们看见暴乱分子向警察投掷砖头和瓶子。

smear verb： ?to?spread?aliquid?or a?thick?substance?over a?surface

涂抹（黏腻的东西）

The?children?had smeared?peanutbutter?all?over?the?sofa.孩子们把花生酱抹得沙发上到处都是。

Then Hassan did pick up a pomegranate. He walked toward?me. He opened it and crushed it against his own forehead.?“There,” he croaked, red dripping down his face like blood. “Are?you satisfied? Do you feel better?” He turned around and started?down the hill.

I let the tears break free, rocked back and forth on my knees.?“What am I going to do with you, Hassan? What am I going to do?with you?” But by the time the tears dried up and I trudged down?the hill, I knew the answer to that question.

croak verb： If you croak, you speak with arough voice because you have a sore or dry throat.

（因喉咙疼或干哑而）发出沙哑的声音，用沙哑的声音说出

trudge verb： to?walk?slowly?with a lot ofeffort,?especially?over a?difficultsurface?or while?carryingsomething?heavy

（尤指在崎岖的路上或携重物时）步履艰难地走，费力地走，跋涉

We trudged back up the?hill.我们跋涉回到山上。