I kept stealing glances at Baba sitting with Rahim Khan on the roof, wondered what he was thinking. Was he cheering for me? Or did a part of him enjoy watching me fail? That was the thing about kite flying: Your mind drifted with the kite.

我偷眼望向爸爸，看见他和拉辛汗坐在一起，寻思他眼下在想些什么。他在为我加油吗?还是希望我的失败给他带来愉悦?放风筝就是这样的，思绪随着风筝高低起伏。

They were coming down all over the place now, the kites, and I was still flying. I was still flying. My eyes kept wandering over to Baba, bundled up in his wool sweater. Was he surprised I had lasted as long as I had? You don't keep your eyes to the sky, you won't last much longer. I snapped my gaze back to the sky. A red kite was closing in on me--I'd caught it just in time. I tangled¹ a bit with it, ended up besting him when he became impatient and tried to cut me from below.

风筝纷纷坠下，而我的仍在翱翔。我仍在放着风筝，双眼不时瞟向爸爸，紧紧盯着他的羊毛衫。我坚持了这么久，他是不是很吃惊?你的眼睛没有看着天上，你坚持不了多久啦。我将视线收回空中。有只红色的风筝正在飞近--我发现它的时间恰到好处。我跟它对峙了一会，它失去耐心，试图从下面割断我，我将它送上了不归路。

Up and down the streets, kite runners were returning triumphantly², their captured kites held high. They showed them off to their parents, their friends. But they all knew the best was yet to come. The biggest prize of all was still flying. I sliced a bright yellow kite with a coiled white tail. It cost me another gash³ on the?index finger and blood trickled⁴ down into my palm. I had Hassan hold the string and sucked the blood dry, blotted⁵ my finger against my jeans.

街头巷尾满是凯旋而回的追风筝者，他们高举追到的战利品，拿着它们在亲朋好友面前炫耀。但他们统统知道最好的还没出现，最大的奖项还在飞翔。我割断了一只带有白色尾巴的黄风筝，代价是食指又多了一道伤口，血液汩汩流入我的掌心。我让哈桑拿着线，把血吸干，在牛仔裤上擦擦手指。

Within another hour, the number of surviving kites dwindled⁶ from maybe fifty to a dozen. I was one of them. I'd made it to the last dozen. I knew this part of the tournament would take a while, because the guys who had lasted this long were good--they wouldn't easily fall into simple traps like the old lift-and-dive, Hassan's favorite trick.

又过了一个钟头，天空中幸存的风筝，已经从约莫五十只剧减到十来只。我的是其中之一，我杀入前十二名。我知道巡回赛到了这个阶段，会持续一段时间，因为那些家伙既然能活下来，技术实在非同小可--他们可不会掉进简单的陷阱里面，比如哈桑最喜欢用的那招，古老的猛升急降。

By three o'clock that afternoon, tufts of clouds had drifted in and the sun had slipped behind them. Shadows started to lengthen⁷. The spectators on the roofs bundled up in scarves and thick coats. We were down to a half dozen and I was still flying. My legs ached and my neck was stiff. But with each defeated kite,?hope grew in my heart, like snow collecting on a wall, one flake⁸ at a time.

到下午三点，阴云密布，太阳躲在它们后面，影子开始拉长，屋顶那些看客戴上围巾，穿上厚厚的外套。只剩下六只风筝了，我仍是其中之一。我双腿发痛，脖子僵硬。但看到风筝一只只掉落，心里的希望一点点增大，就像堆在墙上的雪花那样，一次一片地累积。

My eyes kept returning to a blue kite that had been wreaking⁹ havoc¹⁰ for the last hour.

我的眼光转向一只蓝风筝，在过去那个钟头里面，它大开杀戒。

"How many has he cut?" I asked.

"它干掉几只?"我问。

"I counted eleven," Hassan said.

"我数过了，十一只。"哈桑说。

"Do you know whose it might be?"

"你知道放风筝的人是谁吗?"

Hassan clucked his tongue and tipped his chin. That was a trademark¹¹ Hassan gesture, meant he had no idea. The blue kite sliced a big purple one and swept twice in big loops. Ten minutes later, he'd cut another two, sending hordes¹² of kite runners racing¹³ after them.

哈桑啪嗒一下舌头，仰起下巴。那是哈桑的招牌动作，表示他不知道。蓝风筝割断一只紫色的大家伙，转了两个大圈。隔了十分钟，它又干掉两只，追风筝的人蜂拥而上，追逐它们去了。