We chased the "Kochi", the nomads¹ who passed through Kabul on their way to the mountains of the north. We would hear their caravans³ approaching our neighborhood, the mewling of their sheep, the "baaing" of their goats, the jingle⁴ of bells around their camels' necks. We'd run outside to watch the caravan² plod⁵ through our street, men with dusty, weather-beaten faces and women dressed in long, colorful shawls, beads⁶, and silver bracelets⁷ around their wrists and ankles. We hurled⁸ pebbles⁹ at their goats. We squirted water on their mules¹⁰. I'd make Hassan sit on the Wall of Ailing¹¹ Corn and fire pebbles with his slingshot at the camels' rears.

我们还追逐过路的游牧部落，他们经由喀布尔，前往北方的层峦叠嶂。我们能听到他们的牧群走近的声音：绵羊咪咪，山羊咩咩，还有那叮当作响的驼铃。我们会跑出去，看着他们的队伍在街道上行进，男人满身尘灰，脸色沧桑，女人披着长长的、色彩斑斓的肩巾，挂着珠链，手腕和脚踝都戴着银镯子。我们朝他们的山羊投掷石头，拿水泼他们的骡子。我让哈桑坐在"病玉米之墙"，拿弹弓用小圆石射他们的骆驼的屁股。

We saw our first Western together, "Rio Bravo" with John Wayne, at the Cinema Park, across the street from my favorite bookstore. I remember begging Baba to take us to Iran so we could meet John Wayne. Baba burst out in gales¹² of his deepthroated laughter--a sound not unlike a truck engine revving¹³ up--and, when he could talk again, explained to us the concept of voice dubbing¹⁴. Hassan and I were stunned¹⁵. Dazed. John Wayne didn't really speak Farsi and he wasn't Iranian! He was American, just like the friendly, longhaired men and women we always saw hanging around in Kabul, dressed in their tattered¹⁶, brightly colored shirts. We saw "Rio Bravo" three times, but we saw our favorite Western, "The Magnificent Seven", thirteen times. With each viewing, we cried at the end when the Mexican kids buried Charles Bronson--who, as it turned out, wasn't Iranian either.

我们第一次看西部电影也是两个人，在与那家我最喜欢的书店一街之隔的电影院公园，看的是约翰·韦恩的《赤胆屠龙》。我记得当时我求爸爸带我们到伊朗去，那样我们就可以见到约翰·韦恩了。爸爸爆发出一阵爽朗的狂笑--与汽车引擎加速的声音颇为相像，等他能说得出话的时候，告诉我们电影配音是怎么回事。哈桑跟我目瞪口呆，愣住了。原来约翰·韦恩不是真的说法尔西语，也不是伊朗人!他是美国人，就像那些我们经常看到的男男女女一样，他们神情友善，留着长发，吊儿郎当地穿着五颜六色的衣服，在喀布尔城里游荡。我们看了三遍《赤胆屠龙》，但我们最喜欢的西部片是《七侠荡寇志》，看了十三遍。每次电影快结束的时候，我们哭着观看那些墨西哥小孩埋葬查尔斯·勃朗森--结果他也不是伊朗人。

We took strolls in the musty-smelling bazaars¹⁸ of the Shar-e-Nau section of Kabul, or the new city, west of the Wazir Akbar Khan district. We talked about whatever film we had just seen and walked amid the bustling¹⁹ crowds of "bazarris". We snaked our way among the merchants and the beggars, wandered through narrow alleys²⁰ cramped²¹ with rows of tiny, tightly packed stalls. Baba gave us each a weekly allowance of ten Afghanis and we spent it on warm Coca-Cola and rosewater ice cream topped with crushed pistachios.

我们在喀布尔新城那个弥漫着难闻气味的市场闲逛。新城叫沙里诺区，在瓦兹尔·阿克巴·汗区以西。我们谈论刚刚看完的电影，走在市场熙熙攘攘的人群中。我们在商人和乞丐中蜿蜒前进，穿过那些小店云集的拥挤过道。爸爸每周给我们每人十块阿富汗尼Afghanis，阿富汗货币名称。的零花钱，我们用来买温热的可口可乐，还有洒着开心果仁的玫瑰香露雪糕。

During the school year, we had a daily routine. By the time I dragged myself out of bed and lumbered²² to the bathroom, Hassan had already washed up, prayed the morning "namaz" with Ali, and prepared my breakfast: hot black tea with three sugar cubes and a slice of toasted "naan" topped with my favorite sour cherry marmalade, all neatly²³ placed on the dining table. While I ate and complained about homework, Hassan made my bed, polished my shoes, ironed my outfit²⁴ for the day, packed my books and pencils. I'd hear him singing to himself in the foyer as he ironed, singing old Hazara songs in his nasal voice. Then, Baba and I drove off in his black Ford²⁵ Mustang--a car that drew envious²⁶ looks everywhere because it was the same car Steve McQueen had driven in "Bullitt", a film that played in one theater for six months. Hassan stayed Home and helped Ali with the day's chores: hand-washing dirty clothes and hanging them to dry in the yard, sweeping²⁷ the floors, buying fresh "naan" from the bazaar¹⁷, marinating meat for dinner, watering the lawn.

上学那些年，我们每日有固定的程式。每当我从床上爬起来，拖拖沓沓走向卫生间，哈桑早已洗漱完毕，跟阿里做完早晨的祈祷，帮我弄好早餐：加了三块方糖的热红茶，一片涂着我最爱吃的樱桃酱的馕饼，所有这些整整齐齐地摆在桌子上。我边吃边抱怨功课，哈桑收拾我的床铺，擦亮我的鞋子，熨好我那天要穿的衣服，替我放好课本和铅笔。我听见他在门廊边熨衣服边唱歌，用他那带鼻音的嗓子唱着古老的哈扎拉歌曲。然后，爸爸和我出发，开着他的福特野马轿车--会引来艳羡的目光，因为当时有部叫《警网铁金刚》的电影在电影院已经上映了半年，主角史蒂夫·麦奎因在影片中就开这种车。哈桑留在家里，帮阿里做些杂务：用手将脏衣服洗干净，然后在院子里晾干；拖地板；去市场买刚出炉的馕饼；给晚餐准备腌肉；浇灌草坪。

After school, Hassan and I met up, grabbed a book, and trotted²⁸ up a bowl-shaped hill just north of my father's property in Wazir Akbar Khan. There was an old abandoned cemetery²⁹ atop the hill with rows of unmarked headstones and tangles³⁰ of brushwood clogging³¹ the aisles³². Seasons of rain and snow had turned the iron gate rusty³³ and left the cemetery's low white stone walls in decay. There was a pomegranate tree near the entrance to the cemetery. One summer day, I used one of Ali's kitchen knives to carve our names on it: "Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul. Those words made it formal: the tree was ours. After school, Hassan and I climbed its branches and snatched its bloodred pomegranates. After we'd eaten the fruit and wiped our hands on the grass, I would read to Hassan.

放学后，我跟哈桑碰头，抓起书本，一溜小跑，爬上瓦兹尔·阿克巴·汗区那座就在爸爸房子北边的碗状山丘。山顶有久已废弃的墓园，各条小径灌木丛生，还有成排成排的空白墓碑。多年的风霜雨雪锈蚀了墓园的铁门，也让那低矮的白色石墙摇摇欲坠。墓园的入口边上有株石榴树。某个夏日，我用阿里厨房的小刀在树干刻下我们的名字:"阿米尔和哈桑，喀布尔的苏丹。"这些字正式宣告：这棵树属于我们。放学后，哈桑和我爬上它的枝桠，摘下一些血红色的石榴果实。吃过石榴，用杂草把手擦干净之后，我会念书给哈桑听。