殘忍而美麗的情誼:The Kite Runner 追風箏的人(184)

“I don’t think you’ll be safe here for long,” Farid said. He lowered his voice. “The Taliban have friends here. They will start looking for you.” “I think they already may have,” I murmured. I thought suddenly of the bearded man who’d wandered into the room and just stood there staring at me. Farid leaned in. “As soon as you can walk, I’ll take you to Islamabad. Not entirely safe there either, no place in Pakistan is, but it’s better than here. At least it will buy you some time.”“Farid Jan, this can’t be safe for you either. Maybe you shouldn’t be seen with me. You have a family to take care of.”
Farid made a waving gesture. “My boys are young, but they are very shrewd. They know how to take care of their mothers and sisters.” He smiled. “Besides, I didn’t say I’d do it for free.”“I wouldn’t let you if you offered,” I said. I forgot I couldn’t smile and tried. A tiny streak of blood trickled down my chin. “Can I ask you for one more favor?”“For you a thousand times over,” Farid , just like that, I was crying. I hitched gusts of air, tears gushing down my cheeks, stinging the raw flesh of my lips.“What’s the matter?” Farid said, alarmed.I buried my face in one hand and held up the other. I knew the whole room was watching me. After, I felt tired, hollow. “I’m sorry,” I said. Sohrab was looking at me with a frown creasing his I could talk again, I told Farid what I needed. “Rahim Khan said they live here in Peshawar.”
“Maybe you should write down their names,” Farid said, eyeing me cautiously, as if wondering what might set me off next. I scribbled their names on a scrap of paper towel. “John and Betty Caldwell.”Farid pocketed the folded piece of paper. “I will look for them as soon as I can,” he said. He turned to Sohrab. “As for you, I’ll pick you up this evening. Don’t tire Amir agha too much.”
But Sohrab had wandered to the window, where a half-dozen pigeons strutted back and forth on the sill, pecking at wood and scraps of old bread.

“我認爲你在這裏呆得太久不安全。”法裏德降低聲音說，“塔利班在這裏有朋友，他們會開始搜尋你。”“我想他們也許已經來過了。”我喃喃說。我突然想起那個留着鬍子的男人，他走進房間，只是站在那兒盯着我。法裏德低聲說：“一旦你能走動，我會帶你去伊斯蘭堡[Islamabad，基斯坦首都].那兒也不盡安全，巴基斯坦沒有安全的地方，但好過在這裏。至少這能爲你贏得一些時間。”“親愛的法裏德，這會把你也拖下水的。也許你不應該被他們見到跟我在一起，你有家庭需要照顧。”
法裏德擺擺手：“我的兒子是還小，但他們很聰明。他們知道如何保護他們的媽媽和姐妹。”他笑着說，“再說，我又沒說替你白乾。”“就算你願意，我也不會答應啊。”我說。我忘了自己無法微笑，想擠出個笑臉，一絲血從下巴流下來。“你能再幫我一個忙嗎？”“爲你，千千萬萬遍。”法裏德說。就這樣，我哭起來。我呼吸急促，淚水從臉上衝下，刺痛嘴脣翻開的肉。“你怎麼啦？”法裏德緊張地說。我一隻手掩着臉，一隻手擋在前面。我知道整個房間都在看着我。而後，我覺得很累，很空虛。“對不起，”我說。索拉博露出擔憂的神色望着我。我又能說話的時候，跟法裏德說我的要求：“拉辛汗說他們住在白沙瓦。”
“也許你應該將他們的名字寫下來。”法裏德說，慎重地看着我，似乎在想着接下來我又會爲什麼而崩潰。我在一張紙巾上寫下他們的名字：“約翰和貝蒂?卡爾德威。”法裏德把紙巾疊好，放進口袋。“我會盡快找到他們。”他說。他轉向索拉博：“至於你，我今晚再來接你。別累着阿米爾老爺。”
但索拉博走到窗邊，幾隻鴿子在窗臺上來回走動，啄食着木頭和麪包碎片。