EIGHT 第八章

For a week, I barely saw Hassan. I woke up to find toasted bread, brewed¹ tea, and a boiled egg already on the kitchen table. My clothes for the day were ironed and folded, left on the cane-seat chair in the foyer where Hassan usually did his ironing. He used to wait for me to sit at the breakfast table before he started ironing--that way, we could talk. Used to sing too, over the hissing² of the iron, sang old Hazara songs about tulip fields. Now only the folded clothes greeted me. That, and a breakfast I hardly finished anymore. 有一个星期，我几乎没有看见哈桑。我起床，发现面包已经烤好，茶已经泡好，还有个水煮蛋，统统放在厨房的桌子上。我当天要穿的衣服已经熨好叠好，摆在门廊的藤椅上，过去哈桑就在那儿熨衣服。他总是等我坐下来吃早餐才熨——这样我们就有机会谈谈心了。过去他还唱歌，在熨斗的嘶嘶声中，哼着那些古老的哈扎拉民谣，歌唱那郁金香盛开的原野。现在迎接我的，只有叠好的衣服，此外，还有那顿我已经吃不下去的早餐。

One overcast³ morning, as I was pushing the boiled egg around on my plate, Ali walked in cradling a pile of chopped wood. I asked him where Hassan was. 某个阴天的早晨，我正在拨弄着餐盘里的水煮蛋。阿里背着一捆劈好的柴走进来，我问他哈桑到哪里去了。

“He went back to sleep,” Ali said, kneeling before the stove. He pulled the little square door open. “他回去睡觉了。”阿里说，他在火炉前跪低，拉开那个小方门。

Would Hassan be able to play today? “哈桑今天会陪我玩吗?”

Ali paused with a log in his hand. A worried look crossed his face. “Lately, it seems all he wants to do is sleep. He does his chores--I see to that--but then he just wants to crawl under his blanket. Can I ask you something?” 阿里怔了怔，手里拿着一根木头，脸上掠过一丝担忧。“迟些吧，看起来他只想睡觉。他把活干完——我看着他做完——可是随后他就只愿意裹在毛毯下面了。我能问你一些事情吗?”

“If you have to.” “你问吧。”

“After that kite tournament, he came home a little bloodied⁴ and his shirt was torn. I asked him what had happened and he said it was nothing, that he’d gotten into a little scuffle with some kids over the kite.” “风筝比赛过后，他回家的时候有点流血，衬衣也破了。我问他发生什么事情了，他说没事，只是在争风筝的时候跟几个小孩发生了冲突。”

I didn’t say anything. Just kept pushing the egg around on my plate. 我什么也没说，只是继续在盘子里拨弄着那个鸡蛋。

“Did something happen to him, Amir agha? Something he’s not telling me?” “他到底怎么了，阿米尔少爷?他对我隐瞒了什么吗?”

I shrugged⁵. “How should I know?” 我耸耸肩:“我哪里知道?”

“You would tell me, nay⁶? _Inshallah_, you would tell me if some thing had happened?” “你会告诉我的，对吗?安拉保佑，如果你知道发生了什么事，你会告诉我吗?”

“Like I said, how should I know what’s wrong with him?” I snapped. “Maybe he’s sick. People get sick all the time, Ali. Now, am I going to freeze to death or are you planning on lighting⁷ the stove today?” “就像我说的，我哪里知道他出了什么问题?”我不耐烦地说，“也许他生病了。人们总是会生病的，阿里。看吧，你想冻死我呢，还是准备给炉子点火?”