Something roared like thunder. The earth shook a little and we heard the "rat-a-tat-tat" of gunfire. "Father!"Hassan cried. We sprung to our feet and raced out of the living room. We found Ali hobbling frantically¹ across the foyer.

不知道什么东西发出一阵雷鸣般的声响，接着大地微微抖动，我们听见"砰--砰--砰"的枪声。"爸爸!"哈桑大声叫喊。我们拔腿跑出起居室，看见阿里跛着脚在走廊狂奔。

"Father! What's that sound?"Hassan yelped², his hands outstretched toward Ali. Ali wrapped his arms around us. A white light flashed, lit the sky in silver. It flashed again and was followed by a rapid staccato of gunfire.

"爸爸!那是什么声音?"哈桑大叫，伸开双臂朝阿里奔过去。阿里伸手揽住我们。一道白光闪起，夜空亮起银辉。又是一道白光，随后是暴风骤雨般的枪声。

"They're hunting ducks,"Ali said in a hoarse³ voice. "They hunt ducks at night, you know. Don't be afraid."

"他们在猎杀野鸭。"阿里嘶哑地说，"他们在夜里猎鸭子，别害怕。"

A siren went off in the distance. Somewhere glass shattered and someone shouted. I heard people on the street, jolted⁴ from sleep and probably still in their pajamas⁵, with ruffled⁶ hair and puffy eyes. Hassan was crying. Ali pulled him close, clutched him with tenderness. Later, I would tell myself I hadn't felt envious⁷ of Hassan. Not at all.

远处传来警报声。不知道从什么地方传来玻璃破裂的声音，还有人高声叫嚷。我听见人们从睡梦中惊醒，跑到街道上，也许身上还穿着睡衣，披头散发，睡眼惺忪。哈桑在哭，阿里将他抱紧，轻轻地抚摸着他。后来我告诉自己，我没有妒忌哈桑，一点都没有。

We stayed huddled⁸ that way until the early hours of the morning. The shootings and explosions had lasted less than an hour, but they had frightened us badly, because none of us had ever heard gunshots in the streets. They were foreign sounds to us then. The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born. Huddled together in the dining room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended. Our way of life. If not quite yet, then at least it was the beginning of the end. The end, the "official" end, would come first in April 1978 with the communist coup⁹ d'état, and then in December 1979, when Russian tanks would roll into the very same streets where Hassan and I played, bringing the death of the Afghanistan I knew and marking the start of a still ongoing¹⁰ era of bloodletting.

我们就那样哆嗦地抱成一团，直到天快破晓。枪声和爆炸声还没一个钟头就结束，可是把我们吓坏了，因为我们从来没听过街道上会有枪响。当时这些声音对我们来说太奇怪了。那些耳朵里面除了枪响再没有其他声音的阿富汗孩子当时还没出世。在餐厅里，我们挤成一堆，等待太阳升起，没有人意识到过去的生活方式已然告终。我们的生活方式，即使尚未全然终结，那也是苟延残喘。终结，正式的终结是在1978年4月，其时政变发生，接着是1979年12月，俄国坦克在我和哈桑玩耍的街道上耀武扬威，给我的父老乡亲带来死亡，开启了如今仍未过去的、血流成河的时代。

Just before sunrise, Baba's car peeled into the driveway. His door slammed shut and his running footsteps pounded the stairs. Then he appeared in the doorway¹¹ and I saw something on his face. Something I didn't recognize right away because I'd never seen it before: fear. "Amir! Hassan!"he exclaimed as he ran to us, opening his arms wide. "They blocked all the roads and the tele phone didn't work. I was so worried!"

太阳快升起的时候，爸爸的轿车驶进车道。他重重地关上车门，匆忙的脚步在台阶上发出沉重的声音。接着他在门口出现，我看见他脸色挂着某种神情，那种脸色我一时辨认不出来，因为此前从未在他身上见过：恐惧。"阿米尔!哈桑!"他大喊，张开双臂朝我们跑过来,"他们封锁了所有的道路，电话又坏了，我很担心。"

We let him wrap us in his arms and, for a brief insane moment, I was glad about whatever had happened that night.

我们停在他怀里，有那么一会儿，我竟然发疯似的觉得很高兴，而不管当晚究竟发生了什么事情。