Baba spoke¹ in a low voice, the one he took on whenever I embarrassed him in public. “Aren’t you going to thank Assef jan? That was very considerate of him.”

爸爸放低了声音，每次我当众给他难堪，他就会这样,“你不谢谢亲爱的阿塞夫吗?他太周到了。”

I wished Baba would stop calling him that. How often did he call me “Amir jan”? “Thanks,” I said. Assef’s mother looked at me like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t, and I realized that neither of Assef’s parents had said a word. Before I could embarrass myself and Baba anymore--but mostly to get away from Assef and his grin--I stepped away. “Thanks for coming,” I said.

我希望爸爸别那样叫他，他叫过我几次“亲爱的阿米尔”呢?“谢谢。”我说。阿塞夫的母亲看着我，欲言又止。我意识到阿塞夫的双亲还没说过一句话。为了不再让我自己和爸爸难堪——但主要是因为不想看到阿塞夫和他的笑脸——我走开了。“谢谢你来。”我说。

I squirmed my way through the throng² of guests and slipped through the wrought-iron gates. Two houses down from our house, there was a large, barren dirt lot. I’d heard Baba tell Rahim Khan that a judge had bought the land and that an architect was working on the design. For now, the lot was bare, save for dirt, stones, and weeds.

我从拥挤的宾客中走出来，偷偷溜出那扇锻铁大门。我们家往下两座房子，有一片很大的空地。我听爸爸告诉拉辛汗，有个法官买下了那片地，建筑师正在设计蓝图。现在，那块地皮是荒芜的，只有泥土、石块和野草。

I tore the wrapping paper from Assef’s present and tilted³ the book cover in the moonlight. It was a biography of Hitler. I threw it amid a tangle⁴ of weeds.

我扯开阿塞夫的礼物外面那层包装纸，借着月光端详书的封面。那是一本希特勒自传。我将它扔在杂草中。

I leaned against the neighbor’s wall, slid down to the ground. I just sat in the dark for a while, knees drawn⁵ to my chest, looking up at the stars, waiting for the night to be over.

我倚着邻居的墙壁，滑坐在地上，只是在黑暗中坐一会儿，膝盖抵着胸膛，抬眼望着星星，等着夜晚结束。

“Shouldn’t you be entertaining your guests?” a familiar voice said. Rahim Khan was walking toward me along the wall.

“你不用去陪你的客人吗?”一个熟悉的声音说，拉辛汗沿着墙壁朝我走来。

“They don’t need me for that. Baba’s there, remember?” I said. The ice in Rahim Khan’s drink clinked when he sat next to me. “I didn’t know you drank.”

“他们不用我陪。爸爸在那边呢，你忘了?”我说。拉辛汗酒杯中的冰块叮咚响，他坐在我身边。“我不知道原来你也喝酒。”

“Turns out I do,” he said. Elbowed me playfully. “But only on the most important occasions.”

“我喝酒，”他说，高兴地用手肘撞了我一下，“不过只有在重要的场合才喝。”

I smiled. “Thanks.”

我微笑:“谢谢。”