雙語(yǔ)名著·追風(fēng)箏的人 The Kite Runner(87)

12歲的阿富汗富家少爺阿米爾與仆人哈桑情同手足。然而，在一場(chǎng)風(fēng)箏比賽后，發(fā)生了一件悲慘不堪的事，阿米爾為自己的懦弱感到自責(zé)和痛苦，逼走了哈桑，不久，自己也跟隨父親逃往美國(guó)。

成年后的阿米爾始終無(wú)法原諒自己當(dāng)年對(duì)哈桑的背叛。為了贖罪，阿米爾再度踏上暌違二十多年的故鄉(xiāng)，希望能為不幸的好友盡最后一點(diǎn)心力，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)驚天謊言，兒時(shí)的噩夢(mèng)再度重演，阿米爾該如何抉擇?

故事如此殘忍而又美麗，作者以溫暖細(xì)膩的筆法勾勒人性的本質(zhì)與救贖，讀來(lái)令人蕩氣回腸。

下面就跟小編一起來(lái)欣賞雙語(yǔ)名著·追風(fēng)箏的人 The Kite Runner(87)的精彩內(nèi)容吧！

IT WENT ON LIKE THAT for a few weeks. I’d wait until the general went for a stroll, then I’d walk past the Taheris’ stand. If Khanum Taheri was there, she’d offer me tea and a kolcha and we’d chat about Kabul in the old days, the people we knew, her arthritis. Undoubtedly, she had noticed that my appearances always coincided with her husband’s absences, but she never let on. “Oh you just missed your Kaka,” she’d say. I actually liked it when Khanum Taheri was there, and not just because of her amiable ways; Soraya was more relaxed, more talkative with her mother around. As if her presence legitimized whatever was happening between us--though certainly not to the same degree that the general’s would have. Khanum Taheri’s chaperoning made our meetings, if not gossip-proof, then less gossip-worthy, even if her borderline fawning on me clearly embarrassed Soraya.
One day, Soraya and I were alone at their booth, talking. She was telling me about school, how she too was working on her general education classes, at Ohlone Junior College in Fremont.
“What will you major in?”
“I want to be a teacher,” she said.
“Really? Why?”
“I’ve always wanted to. When we lived in Virginia, I became ESL certified and now I teach at the public library one night a week. My mother was a teacher too, she taught Farsi and history at Zarghoona High School for girls in Kabul.”
A potbellied man in a deerstalker hat offered three dollars for a five-dollar set of candlesticks and Soraya let him have it. She dropped the money in a little candy box by her feet. She looked at me shyly. “I want to tell you a story,” she said, “but I’m a little embarrassed about it.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s kind of silly.”
“Please tell me.”
She laughed. “Well, when I was in fourth grade in Kabul, my father hired a woman named Ziba to help around the house. She had a sister in Iran, in Mashad, and, since Ziba was illiterate, she’d ask me to write her sister letters once in a while. And when the sister replied, I’d read her letter to Ziba. One day, I asked her if she’d like to learn to read and write. She gave me this big smile, crinkling her eyes, and said she’d like that very much. So we’d sit at the kitchen table after I was done with my own schoolwork and I’d teach her Alef-beh. I remember looking up sometimes in the middle of homework and seeing Ziba in the kitchen, stirring meat in the pressure cooker, then sitting down with a pencil to do the alphabet homework I’d assigned to her the night before.
“Anyway, within a year, Ziba could read children’s books. We sat in the yard and she read me the tales of Dara and Sara--slowly but correctly. She started calling me Moalem Soraya, Teacher Soraya.” She laughed again. “I know it sounds childish, but the first time Ziba wrote her own letter, I knew there was nothing else I’d ever want to be but a teacher. I was so proud of her and I felt I’d done something really worthwhile, you know?”
“Yes,” I lied. I thought of how I had used my literacy to ridicule Hassan. How I had teased him about big words he didn’t know.
“My father wants me to go to law school, my mother’s always throwing hints about medical school, but I’m going to be a teacher. Doesn’t pay much here, but it’s what I want.”
“My mother was a teacher too,” I said.

好幾個(gè)星期都是如此這般。我等到將軍散步離開，然后走過(guò)塔赫里的貨攤。如果塔赫里太太在，她會(huì)請(qǐng)我喝茶、吃餅干，我們會(huì)談起舊時(shí)在喀布爾的光景，那些我們認(rèn)識(shí)的人，還有她的關(guān)節(jié)炎。她顯然注意到我總是在她丈夫離開的時(shí)候出現(xiàn)，但她從不揭穿?！芭?，你家叔叔剛剛才走開?！彼龝?huì)說(shuō)。我真的喜歡塔赫里太太在那兒，并且不僅是由于她和善的態(tài)度，還因?yàn)橛兴赣H在場(chǎng)，索拉雅會(huì)變得更放松、更健談。何況她在也讓我們之間的交往顯得正?！m然不能跟塔赫里將軍在場(chǎng)相提并論。有了塔赫里太太的監(jiān)護(hù)，我們的約會(huì)就算不能杜絕風(fēng)言風(fēng)語(yǔ)，至少也可以少招惹一些。不過(guò)她對(duì)我套近乎的態(tài)度明顯讓索拉雅覺(jué)得尷尬。
某天，索拉雅跟我單獨(dú)在他們的貨攤上交談。她正告訴我學(xué)校里的事情，她如何努力學(xué)習(xí)她的通選課程，她在弗里蒙特的“奧龍?？茖W(xué)?！本妥x。
“你打算主修什么呢?”
“我想當(dāng)老師。”她說(shuō)。
“真的嗎?為什么?”
“這是我一直夢(mèng)想的。我們?cè)诟ゼ醽喩畹臅r(shí)候，我獲得了英語(yǔ)培訓(xùn)證書，現(xiàn)在我每周有一個(gè)晚上到公共圖書館教書。我媽媽過(guò)去也是教師，她在喀布爾的高級(jí)中學(xué)教女生法爾西語(yǔ)和歷史。”
一個(gè)大腹便便的男人頭戴獵帽，出價(jià)3塊錢，想買一組5塊錢的燭架，索拉雅賣給他。她把錢丟進(jìn)腳下那個(gè)小小的糖果罐，羞澀地望著我?！拔蚁虢o您講個(gè)故事，”她說(shuō)，“可是我有點(diǎn)難為情?！?br />“講來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)?！?br />“它有點(diǎn)傻。”
“告訴我吧?！?br />她笑起來(lái),“好吧，在喀布爾，我四年級(jí)的時(shí)候，我爸爸請(qǐng)了個(gè)打理家務(wù)的傭人，叫茲芭。她有個(gè)姐妹在伊朗的馬夏德。因?yàn)槠澃挪蛔R(shí)字，每隔不久，她就會(huì)求我給她姐妹寫信。每當(dāng)她姐妹回信，我會(huì)念給茲芭聽(tīng)。有一天，我問(wèn)她想不想讀書識(shí)字。她給我一個(gè)大大的微笑，雙眼放光，說(shuō)她很想很想。所以，我完成自己的作業(yè)之后，我們就坐在廚房的桌子上，我教她認(rèn)字母。我記得有時(shí)候，我作業(yè)做到一半，抬起頭，發(fā)現(xiàn)茲芭在廚房里，攪攪高壓鍋里面的牛肉，然后坐下，用鉛筆做我前一天夜里給她布置的字母表作業(yè)?！?br />“不管怎樣，不到一年，茲芭能讀兒童書了。我們坐在院子里，她給我念達(dá)拉和沙拉的故事——念得很慢，不過(guò)全對(duì)。她開始管我叫‘索拉雅老師’。”她又笑起來(lái)，“我知道這聽(tīng)起來(lái)很孩子氣，但當(dāng)茲芭第一次自己寫信，我就知道自己除了教書，別的什么都不想做。我為她驕傲，覺(jué)得自己做了些真正有價(jià)值的事情。您說(shuō)呢?”
“是的?！蔽艺f(shuō)謊。我想起自己如何愚弄不識(shí)字的哈桑，如何用他不懂的晦澀字眼取笑他。
“我爸爸希望我去念法學(xué)院，我媽媽總是暗示我選擇醫(yī)學(xué)院。但我想要成為教師。雖然在這里收入不高，但那是我想要的?！?br />“我媽媽也是教師?！蔽艺f(shuō)。