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。
成年后的阿米爾始終無法原諒自己當(dāng)年對哈桑的背叛。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)一個驚天謊言,兒時的噩夢再度重演,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,讀來令人蕩氣回腸。
下面就跟小編一起來欣賞雙語名著·追風(fēng)箏的人 The Kite Runner(150)的精彩內(nèi)容吧!
“He’s great with the slingshot.”
I smiled.
“He’s inseparable from that thing. He tucks it in the waist of his pants everywhere he goes.”
THE MAN WHO LET US IN introduced himself as Zaman, the director of the orphanage. “I’ll take you to my office,” he said.
We followed him through dim, grimy hallways where barefoot children dressed in frayed sweaters ambled around. We walked past rooms with no floor covering but matted carpets and windows shuttered with sheets of plastic. Skeleton frames of steel beds, most with no mattress, filled the rooms.
“How many orphans live here?” Farid asked.
“More than we have room for. About two hundred and fifty,” Zaman said over his shoulder. “But they’re not all yateem. Many of them have lost their fathers in the war, and their mothers can’t feed them because the Taliban don’t allow them to work. So they bring their children here.” He made a sweeping gesture with his hand and added ruefully, “This place is better than the street, but not that much better. This building was never meant to be lived in--it used to be a storage warehouse for a carpet manufacturer. So there’s no water heater and they’ve let the well go dry.” He dropped his voice. “I’ve asked the Taliban for money to dig a new well more times than I remember and they just twirl their rosaries and tell me there is no money. No money.” He snickered.
He pointed to a row of beds along the wall. “We don’t have enough beds, and not enough mattresses for the beds we do have. Worse, we don’t have enough blankets.” He showed us a lit tle girl skipping rope with two other kids. “You see that girl? This past winter, the children had to share blankets. Her brother died of exposure.” He walked on. “The last time I checked, we have less than a month’s supply of rice left in the warehouse, and, when that runs out, the children will have to eat bread and tea for breakfast and dinner.” I noticed he made no mention of lunch.
He stopped and turned to me. “There is very little shelter here, almost no food, no clothes, no clean water. What I have in ample supply here is children who’ve lost their childhood. But the tragedy is that these are the lucky ones. We’re filled beyond capacity and every day I turn away mothers who bring their children.” He took a step toward me. “You say there is hope for Sohrab? I pray you don’t lie, Agha. But... you may well be too late.”
“What do you mean?”
Zaman’s eyes shifted.
“Follow me.”
“他的彈弓射得很了不起!”
我笑了。
“那東西跟他形影不離。他無論走到那兒,都會將它塞在褲帶上?!?br />那人放我們進(jìn)去,自我介紹,他叫察曼,恤孤院的負(fù)責(zé)人?!拔?guī)銈內(nèi)ノ业霓k公室?!彼f。
我們跟著他,穿過陰暗污穢的走廊,孩子們穿著殘破的羊毛衫,赤著腳走來走去。我們走過一些房間,沒有一間鋪著地毯,窗子蒙著塑料膜。房間塞滿鐵床,但多數(shù)沒有被褥。
“這里有多少個孤兒?”法里德問。
“多到我們都裝不下了,大概兩百五十個?!辈炻仡^說,“但他們并非全都無親無故。有很多人因?yàn)閼?zhàn)爭失去了父親,母親無法撫養(yǎng)他們,因?yàn)樗嗖辉S女人工作。所以她們把孩子送到這里?!彼檬肿隽四ㄑ蹨I的動作,傷心地補(bǔ)充道:“這個地方總比街頭好,但也好不了多少。這座房子本來就不是給人住的——它過去是倉庫,用來存放地毯。所以這里沒有熱水器,他們留下的井也干了?!彼诺吐曇?,“我求過塔利班,跟他們要錢,用來掘一眼更深的井,次數(shù)多得記不清了,他們只是轉(zhuǎn)動念珠,告訴我他們沒有錢。沒有錢?!彼湫?。
他指著墻邊的一排床鋪?!拔覀兊拇膊粔?,已經(jīng)有的床也缺少褥子。更糟糕的是,我們沒有足夠的毛毯?!彼屛覀兛粗粋€在跳繩的女孩,“你們見到那個女孩嗎?有兩個孩子陪著她。上個冬天,孩子們不得不共用毛毯。她哥哥被凍死了?!彼^續(xù)走,“上次我檢查的時候,發(fā)現(xiàn)倉庫里面只有不到夠一個月吃的大米了,等用完之后,這些孩子的早飯和晚飯只有面包和紅茶可吃了。”我注意到他沒提起午飯。
他站住,轉(zhuǎn)向我:“這里提供的庇護(hù)少得可憐,幾乎沒有食物,沒有衣服,沒有干凈的水。我這里大量過剩的是那些失去童年的孩子。但可悲的是,這些孩子算是幸運(yùn)的了。我們負(fù)荷過重,每天我都要拒絕帶著孩子到這里來的母親?!彼易呱弦徊剑澳阏f索拉博還有希望?我祈望你沒有說謊,老爺??墒恰苍S你來得太遲了。”
“什么意思?”
察曼移開眼光。
“跟我來?!?