One time, a bratty¹ Hindi kid whose family had recently moved into the neighborhood told us that in his Hometown, kite fighting had strict rules and regulations. "You have to play in a boxed area and you have to stand at a right angle to the wind," he said proudly. "And you can't use aluminum² to make your glass string."

有一次，有个多嘴的印度小孩，他家最近才搬到附近，告诉我们，在他的家乡，斗风筝必须严格遵守一些规则和规定。"你必须在指定的区域放风筝，并且你必须站在风向成直角的地方。"他骄傲地说，"还有，你不能用铝来做玻璃线。"

Hassan and I looked at each other. Cracked up. The Hindi kid would soon learn what the British learned earlier in the century, and what the Russians would eventually learn by the late 1980s: that Afghans are an independent people. Afghans cherish custom but abhor³ rules. And so it was with kite fighting. The rules were simple: No rules. Fly your kite. Cut the opponents. Good luck.

哈桑和我对望了一眼。让你吹吧。这个印度小孩很快会学到的，跟英国人在这个世纪之初以及俄国人在1980年代晚期学到的如出一辙：阿富汗人是独立的民族。阿富汗人尊重风俗，但讨厌规则，斗风筝也是这样。规则很简单：放起你的风筝，割断对手的线，祝你好运。

Except that wasn't all. The real fun began when a kite was cut. That was where the kite runners came in, those kids who chased the windblown kite drifting through the neighborhoods until it came spiraling down in a field, dropping in someone's yard, on a tree, or a rooftop. The chase got pretty fierce; hordes⁴ of kite runners swarmed⁵ the streets, shoved past each other like those people from Spain I'd read about once, the ones who ran from the bulls. One year a neighborhood kid climbed a pine tree for a kite. A branch snapped under his weight and he fell thirty feet. Broke his back and never walked again. But he fell with the kite still in his hands. And when a kite runner had his hands on a kite, no one could take it from him. That wasn't a rule. That was custom.

不仅如此，若有风筝被割断，真正的乐趣就开始了。这时，该追风筝的人出动，那些孩子追逐那个在随风飘扬的风筝，在临近的街区奔走，直到它盘旋着跌落在田里，或者掉进某家的院子里，或挂在树上，或停在屋顶上。追逐十分激烈：追风筝的人蜂拥着漫过大街小巷，相互推搡，像西班牙人那样。我曾看过一本书，说起他们在斗牛节时被公牛追赶的景象。有一年某个邻居的小孩爬上松树，去捡风筝，结果树枝不堪重负，他从三十英尺高的地方跌下来，摔得再也无法行走，但他跌下来时手里还抓着那只风筝。如果追风筝的人手里拿着风筝，没有人能将它拿走。这不是规则，而是风俗。

For kite runners, the most coveted⁶ prize was the last fallen kite of a winter tournament. It was a trophy⁷ of honor, something to be displayed on a mantle⁸ for guests to admire. When the sky cleared of kites and only the final two remained, every kite runner readied himself for the chance to land this prize. He positioned himself at a spot that he thought would give him a head start. Tense muscles readied themselves to uncoil. Necks craned. Eyes crinkled. Fights broke out. And when the last kite was cut, all hell broke loose.

对追风筝的人来说，最大的奖励是在冬天的比赛中捡到最后掉落的那只风筝。那是无上的荣耀，人们会将其挂在壁炉架之下，供客人欢欣赞叹。每当满天风筝消失得只剩下最后两只，每个追风筝的人都厉兵秣马，准备摘取此项大奖。他们会朝向那个他们预计风筝跌落的地方，绷紧的肌肉蓄势待发，脖子抬起，眼睛眯着，斗志昂扬。当最后一只风筝被割断，立即一片骚动。

Over the years, I had seen a lot of guys run kites. But Hassan was by far the greatest kite runner I'd ever seen. It was downright eerie⁹ the way he always got to the spot the kite would land before the kite did, as if he had some sort of inner compass.

多年过去，我曾见到无数家伙参与追风筝，但哈桑是我见过的人中最精此道的高手。十分奇怪的是，在风筝跌落之前，他总是等在那个它将要跌落的地方，似乎他体内有某种指南针。