IT SNOWED HEAVILY the night before the tournament. Hassan and I sat under the kursi and played panjpar as wind-rattled tree branches tapped on the window. Earlier that day, I'd asked Ali to set up the kursi for us--which was basically an electric heater under a low table covered with a thick, quilted blanket. Around the table, he arranged mattresses² and cushions, so as many as twenty people could sit and slip their legs under. Hassan and I used to spend entire snowy days snug³ under the kursi, playing chess, cards--mostly panjpar.

巡回赛前夜大雪纷飞。哈桑和我坐在暖炉桌前玩一种叫做"番吉帕"的扑克游戏，寒风吹着树枝，打在窗户上嗒嗒作响。当天早些时候，我要阿里替我们布置暖炉桌--在一张低矮的桌子下面，摆放电暖片，然后盖上厚厚的棉毯。他在桌旁铺满地毯和坐垫，足够供二十个人坐下，把腿伸进桌子下面。每逢下雪，哈桑和我经常整天坐在暖炉桌边，下棋或者打牌，主要是玩"番吉帕"。

I killed Hassan's ten of diamonds, played him two jacks⁴ and a six. Next door, in Baba's study, Baba and Rahim Khan were discussing Business with a couple of other men-one of them I recognized as Assef's father. Through the wall, I could hear the scratchy sound of Radio Kabul News.

我杀了哈桑两张方块10，打给他两条J和一张6。隔壁是爸爸的书房，他和拉辛汗在跟几个人谈生意。其中有个我认得是阿塞夫的父亲。隔着墙，我能听到喀布尔新闻广播电台沙沙的声音。

Hassan killed the six and picked up the jacks. On the radio, Daoud Khan was announcing something about foreign investments.

哈桑杀了6，要了两条J。达乌德汗在收音机中宣布有关外国投资的消息。

"He says someday we'll have television in Kabul," I said.

"他说有一天喀布尔也会拥有电视。"我说。

"Who?"

"谁?"

"Daoud Khan, you ass¹, the president."

"达乌德汗，你这个家伙，我们的总统。"

Hassan giggled⁵. "I heard they already have it in Iran," he said.

哈桑咯咯笑起来，"我听说伊朗已经有了。"他说。

I sighed. "Those Iranians..." For a lot of Hazaras, Iran represented a sanctuary⁶ of sorts--I guess because, like Hazaras, most Iranians were Shi'a Muslims. But I remembered something my teacher had said that summer about Iranians, that they were grinning smooth talkers who patted you on the back with one hand and picked your pocket with the other. I told Baba about that and he said my teacher was one of those jealous Afghans, jealous because Iran was a rising power in Asia and most people around the world couldn't even find Afghanistan on a world map. "It hurts to say that," he said, shrugging. "But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie."

我叹了一口气:"那些伊朗人……"对多数哈扎拉人来说，伊朗是个避难所，我猜想也许是因为多数伊朗人跟哈扎拉人一样，都是什叶派穆斯林。但我记得夏天的时候有个老师说起伊朗人，说他们都是笑面虎，一边用手拍拍你的后背示好，另一只手却会去掏你的口袋。我将这个告诉爸爸，爸爸说我的老师不过是个嫉妒的阿富汗人，他嫉妒，因为伊朗在亚洲声望日隆，而世界上多数人看世界地图的时候还找不到阿富汗在哪里。"这样说很伤感情，"他说，耸着肩，"但被真相伤害总比被谎言安慰好。"

"I'll buy you one someday," I said.

"有一天我会给你买的。"我说。

Hassan's face brightened. "A television? In truth?"

哈桑笑逐颜开:"电视机?真的吗?"

"Sure. And not the black-and-white kind either. We'll probably be grown-ups by then, but I'll get us two. One for you and one for me."

"当然，还不是黑白的那种。到时我们也许都是大人了，不过我会给我们买两个。一个给你，一个给我。"

"I'll put it on my table, where I keep my drawings," Hassan said.

"我要把它放在我画画的桌子上。"哈桑说。