殘忍而美麗的情誼:The Kite Runner 追風箏的人(36)
I remember one overcast winter day, Hassan and I were running a kite. I was chasing him through neighborhoods, hopping gutters, weaving through narrow streets. I was a year older than him, but Hassan ran faster than I did, and I was falling behind.
我記得有個陰暗的冬日，哈桑和我追着一隻風箏。我跟着他，穿過各處街區，跳過水溝，側身跑過那些狹窄的街道。我比他大一歲，但哈桑跑得比我快，我落在後面。"Hassan! Wait!" I yelled, my breathing hot and ragged.[qh]"哈桑，等等我。"我氣喘吁吁地大喊，有些惱怒。
He whirled around, motioned with his hand. "This way!" he called before dashing around another corner. I looked up, saw that the direction we were running was opposite to the one the kite was drifting.
他轉過身，揮揮手:"這邊!"說完就衝進另外一個拐角處。我擡頭一看，那個方向與風箏跌落的方向恰好相反。
"We're losing it! We're going the wrong way!" I cried out.
"我們追不到它了!我們跑錯路了!"我高聲叫道。
"Trust me!" I heard him call up ahead. I reached the corner and saw Hassan bolting along, his head down, not even looking at the sky, sweat soaking through the back of his shirt. I tripped over a rock and fell--I wasn't just slower than Hassan but clumsier too; I'd always envied his natural athieticism. When I staggered to my feet, I caught a glimpse of Hassan disappearing around another street corner. I hobbled after him, spikes of pain battering my scraped knees.
"相信我!"我聽見他在前面說。我跑到拐角處，發現哈桑低首飛奔，根本就沒有擡頭看看天空，汗水浸透了他後背的衣服。我踩到一塊石頭，摔了一跤--我非但跑得比哈桑慢，也笨拙得多，我總是羨慕他與生俱來的運動才能。我站起身來，瞥見哈桑又拐進了另一條巷子。我艱難地追着他，摔破的膝蓋傳來陣陣劇痛。
I saw we had ended up on a rutted dirt road near Isteqial Middle School. There was a field on one side where lettuce grew in the summer, and a row of sour cherry trees on the other. I found Hassan sitting cross-legged at the foot of one of the trees, eating from a fistful of dried mulberries.
我看到我們最終停在一條車轍縱橫的泥土路上，就在獨立中學旁邊。路邊有塊田地，夏天會種滿萵苣；路的另外一邊有成排的酸櫻桃樹。只見哈桑盤起雙腿，坐在其中一棵樹下，吃着手裏的一捧桑椹幹。
"What are we doing here?" I panted, my stomach roiling with nausea.
"我們在這幹嗎呢?"我上氣不接下氣，胃裏翻江倒海，簡直要吐出來。
He smiled. "Sit with me, Amir agha."
他微笑:"在我這邊坐下，阿米爾少爺。"
I dropped next to him, lay on a thin patch of snow, wheezing. "You're wasting our time. It was going the other way, didn't you see?"
我在他旁邊頹然倒下，躺在一層薄薄的雪花上，喘着氣。"你在浪費時間。它朝另外一邊飛去了，你沒看到嗎?"
Hassan popped a mulberry in his mouth. "It's coming," he said. I could hardly breathe and he didn't even sound tired.
哈桑往嘴裏扔了一顆桑椹:"它飛過來了。"我呼吸艱難，而他一點都不累。
"How do you know?" I said.
"你怎麼知道?"我問。
"I know."
"我知道。"
"How can you know?"
"你是怎麼知道的?"
He turned to me. A few sweat beads rolled from his bald scalp. "Would I ever lie to you, Amir agha?"
他朝我轉過身，有些汗珠從他額頭流下來，"我騙過你嗎，阿米爾少爺?"
Suddenly I decided to toy with him a little. "I don't know. Would you?"
剎那間我決定跟他開開玩笑:"我不知道。你會騙我嗎?"
"I'd sooner eat dirt," he said with a look of indignation.
"我寧願吃泥巴也不騙你。"他帶着憤憤的表情說。
