殘忍而美麗的情誼:The Kite Runner 追風箏的人(108)

“No,” I said. “If we’re going to do it, we shouldn’t have any doubts at all about it, and we should both be in agreement. It wouldn’t be fair to the baby otherwise.”
She rested her head on the window and said nothing else the rest of the way.
Now the general sat beside her. “Bachem, this adoption... thing, I’m not so sure it’s for us Afghans.” Soraya looked at me tiredly and sighed.
“For one thing, they grow up and want to know who their natural parents are,” he said. “Nor can you blame them. Sometimes, they leave the home in which you labored for years to provide for them so they can find the people who gave them life. Blood is a powerful thing, bachem, never forget that.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Soraya said.
“I’ll say one more thing,” he said. I could tell he was getting revved up; we were about to get one of the general’s little speeches. “Take Amir jan, here. We all knew his father, I know who his grandfather was in Kabul and his great-grandfather before him, I could sit here and trace generations of his ancestors for you if you asked. That’s why when his father--God give him peace--came khastegari, I didn’t hesitate. And believe me, his father wouldn’t have agreed to ask for your hand if he didn’t know whose descendant you were. Blood is a powerful thing, bachem, and when you adopt, you don’t know whose blood you’re bringing into your house.
“Now, if you were American, it wouldn’t matter. People here marry for love, family name and ancestry never even come into the equation. They adopt that way too, as long as the baby is healthy, everyone is happy. But we are Afghans, bachem.”
“Is the fish almost ready?” Soraya said. General Taheri’s eyes lingered on her. He patted her knee.
“Just be happy you have your health and a good husband.”
“What do you think, Amir jan?” Khala Jamila said.

“不，”我說，“如果我們打算那麼做，我們根本就不應該有任何動搖，並且，我們的意見必須一致。要不然對孩子不公平。”
她把頭靠在車窗上，在剩下的路程中一言不發。
當時將軍坐在她身旁：“我的孩子，關於收養……這件事，我不知道對我們阿富汗人來說是否合適。”索拉雅疲憊地看着我，幽幽嘆氣。
“首先，他們長大成人，想要知道親生父母是誰，”他說，“你們對此不能抱怨。你們操勞多年，所做全爲了他們，有時候，他們會離家出走，去尋找給他們生命的人。血緣是最重要的，我的孩子，千萬不能忘記。”
“我不想再談論這個話題了。”索拉雅說。
“我再說一件事。”他說。我察覺到他激動起來了，我們聽到將軍的一番高談闊論：“這裏就拿親愛的阿米爾來說吧。我們都認得他的父親，我在喀布爾之時，便認得他的祖父是什麼人，還認得他的曾祖父。如果你們問起，我可以坐下來，細數他好幾代祖先。這就是爲什麼他的爸爸——真主保佑他安息——前來提親，我不假思索就應承的原因。而且，相信我，如果他的爸爸不瞭解你祖上的歷史，也不會要你當他的媳婦。血緣是最重要的，我的孩子，你們收養別人的時候，根本不知道將誰的血帶進家門。”
“現在，如果你們是美國人，這不成問題。這裏的人們爲了愛情結合，家族和祖輩根本不起作用。他們收養孩子也是這樣的，只要嬰兒健康，每個人都很高興。但我們是阿富汗人，我的孩子。”
“魚烤好了嗎？”索拉雅說。塔赫裏將軍眼睛盯着她，他拍拍她的膝蓋。
“高興點吧，就爲你身體健康，還有個好丈夫。”
“你怎麼想呢，親愛的阿米爾？”雅米拉阿姨問。