殘忍而美麗的情誼:The Kite Runner 追風箏的人(28)

"Just let us go, Assef,"I said, hating the way my voice trembled. "We're not bothering you."

"放我們走，阿塞夫，"我說，對自己顫抖的聲音感到厭惡，"我們沒有礙着你。"

"Oh, you're bothering me,"Assef said. And I saw with a sinking heart what he had fished out of his pocket. Of course. His stainless-steel brass knuckles sparkled in the sun. "You're bothering me very much. In fact, you bother me more than this Hazara here. How can you talk to him, play with him, let him touch you?"he said, his voice dripping with disgust. Wali and Kamal nodded and grunted in agreement. Assef narrowed his eyes. Shook his head. When he spoke again, he sounded as baffled as he looked. "How can you call him your friend?"

"哦，你們礙着我了。"阿塞夫說。看到他從褲兜裏掏出那個東西，我的心開始下沉。當然，他掏出來的是那黃銅色的不鏽鋼拳套，在陽光下閃閃發亮。"你們嚴重地礙着我。實際上，你比這個哈扎拉小子更加礙着我。你怎麼可以跟他說話，跟他玩耍，讓他碰你?"他的聲音充滿了嫌惡。瓦里和卡莫點頭以示同意，隨聲附和。阿塞夫雙眉一皺，搖搖頭。他再次說話的時候，聲音顯得跟他的表情一樣困惑。"你怎麼可以當他是'朋友'?"

"But he's not my friend!" I almost blurted. "He's my servant!" Had I really thought that? Of course I hadn't. I hadn't. I treated Hassan well, just like a friend, better even, more like a brother. But if so, then why, when Baba's friends came to visit with their kids, didn't I ever include Hassan in our games? Why did I play with Hassan only when no one else was around?

可是他並非我的朋友!我幾乎衝口說出。我真的想過這個問題嗎?當然沒有，我沒有想過。我對哈桑很好，就像對待朋友，甚至還要更好，像是兄弟。但如果這樣的話，那麼何以每逢爸爸的朋友帶着他們的孩子來拜訪，我玩遊戲的時候從來沒喊上哈桑?爲什麼我只有在身邊沒有其他人的時候才和哈桑玩耍?

Assef slipped on the brass knuckles. Gave me an icy look. "You're part of the problem, Amir. If idiots like you and your father didn't take these people in, we'd be rid of them by now. They'd all just go rot in Hazarajat where they belong. You're a disgrace to Afghanistan."

阿塞夫戴上他的不鏽鋼拳套，冷冷瞟了我一眼。"你也是個問題，阿米爾。如果沒有你和你父親這樣的白癡，收容這些哈扎拉人，我們早就可以清除他們了。他們全都應該去哈扎拉賈特Hazarajat，阿富汗中部山區，爲哈扎拉人聚居地。，在那個屬於他們的地方爛掉。你是個阿富汗敗類。"

I looked in his crazy eyes and saw that he meant it. He really meant to hurt me. Assef raised his fist and came for me.

我看着他那狂妄的眼睛，看懂了他的眼色，他是真的要傷害我。阿塞夫舉起拳頭，向我走來。

There was a flurry of rapid movement behind me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hassan bend down and stand up quickly. Assef's eyes flicked to something behind me and widened with surprise. I saw that same look ol astonishment on Kamal and Wali's faces as they too saw what had happened behind me.

我背後傳來一陣急遽的活動聲音。我眼角一瞄，看見哈桑彎下腰，迅速地站起來。阿塞夫朝我身後望去，吃驚地瞪大了眼睛。我看見瓦里和卡莫也看着我身後，眼裏同樣帶着震驚的神色。

I turned and came face to face with Hassan's slingshot. Hassan had pulled the wide elastic band all the way back. In the cup was a rock the size of a walnut. Hassan held the slingshot pointed directly at Assef's face. His hand trembled with the strain of the pulled elastic band and beads of sweat had erupted on his brow.

我轉過身，正好看到哈桑的彈弓。哈桑把那根橡皮帶滿滿拉開，弓上是一塊核桃大小的石頭。哈桑用彈弓對着阿塞夫的臉，他用盡力氣拉着彈弓，雙手顫抖，汗珠在額頭上滲出來。

"Please leave us alone, Agha,"Hassan said in a flat tone. He'd referred to Assef as "Agha",and I wondered briefly what it must be like to live with such an ingrained sense of one's place in a hierarchy.

"請讓我們走，少爺。"哈桑語氣平靜地說。他稱呼阿塞夫爲少爺，有個念頭在我腦裏一閃而過：帶着這種根深蒂固的意識，生活在一個等級分明的地方，究竟是什麼滋味?

Assef gritted his teeth. "Put it down, you motherless Hazara."

阿塞夫咬牙切齒:"放下來，你這個沒有老孃的哈扎拉小子。"

"Please leave us be, Agha,"Hassan said.

"請放過我們，少爺。"哈桑說。

Assef smiled. "Maybe you didn't notice, but there are three of us and two of you."

阿塞夫笑起來:"難道你沒有看到嗎?我們有三個人，你們只有兩個。"