“Hey, man, this guy needs help!” the Filipino man said with alarm. I turned around and found Baba on the ground. His arms and legs were jerking. “喂，小子，这个家伙需要帮忙!”菲律宾人焦急地喊道。我转过身，发现爸爸倒在地上，四肢抽搐。

“Komak!” I cried. “Somebody help!” I ran to Baba. He was frothing at the mouth, the foamy¹ spittle soaking his beard. His upturned eyes showed nothing but white. “救命!”我大喊，“来人啊!”我奔向爸爸。他口吐白沫，流出的泡泡浸湿了胡子。他眼珠上翻，只见一片白。

People were rushing to us. I heard someone say seizure². Some one else yelling, “Call 911!” I heard running footsteps. The sky darkened as a crowd gathered around us. 大家都朝我们涌过来。我听见有人说发作了，另外有人说“快打911!”，我听见一阵跑步声。人群围过来，天空变得阴暗。

Baba’s spittle turned red. He was biting his tongue. I kneeled beside him and grabbed his arms and said I’m here Baba, I’m here, you’ll be all right, I’m right here. As if I could soothe³ the convulsions out of him. Talk them into leaving my Baba alone. I felt a wetness on my knees. Saw Baba’s bladder had let go. Shhh, Baba jan, I’m here. Your son is right here. 爸爸的泡沫变红了，他在咬自己的舌头。我跪在他身旁，抓住他的手臂，说我在这里爸爸，我在这里，你会好的，我就在这里。好像如此这般，我就能减缓他的病痛，让它们不再烦我爸爸。我感到膝盖一片潮湿。爸爸小便失禁了。嘘，亲爱的爸爸，我在这里。你的儿子就在这里。

THE DOCTOR, white-bearded and perfectly⁴ bald, pulled me out of the room. “I want to go over your father’s CAT scans with you,” he said. He put the films up on a viewing box in the hallway and pointed⁵ with the eraser end of his pencil to the pictures of Baba’s cancer, like a cop showing mug shots of the killer⁶ to the victim’s family. Baba’s brain on those pictures looked like cross sections of a big walnut⁷, riddled⁸ with tennis ball-shaped gray things. 那个白胡子的大夫头顶油光可鉴，把我拉出病房。“我想跟你一起看看你爸爸的CAT扫描。”他说。他把菲林放在走廊的灯箱上，用铅笔带橡皮擦的那头指着爸爸的癌症所在的图片，好像警察将凶手的大头像展示给罹难者的家属看。在那些照片上，爸爸的大脑看起来像个胡桃的切面，点缀着几个网球状的灰色阴影。

“As you can see, the cancer’s metastasized,” he said. “He’ll have to take steroids to reduce the swelling⁹ in his brain and antiseizure medications. And I’d recommend palliative radiation. Do you know what that means?” “正如你看到的，癌症转移了。”他说，“他必须服用类固醇，以便缩减他大脑里的肿块，还得吃抗中风的药物。我建议做放射线治疗，你明白的我意思吗?”

I said I did. I’d become conversant¹⁰ in cancer talk. 我说我明白。我已经熟悉癌症的相关术语了。

“All right, then,” he said. He checked his beeper. “I have to go, but you can have me paged if you have any questions.” “那就好，”他说，看看他的寻呼机，“我得走了，不过如果你有任何问题，可以给我打传呼。”

“Thank you.” “谢谢你。”

I spent the night sitting on a chair next to Baba’s bed. 那天晚上，我彻夜坐在爸爸床边的椅子上。

THE NEXT MORNING, the waiting room down the hall was jammed with Afghans. The butcher from Newark. An engineer who’d worked with Baba on his orphanage¹¹. They filed in and paid Baba their respects in hushed tones. Wished him a swift recovery. Baba was awake then, groggy¹² and tired, but awake. 翌日早晨，走廊那端的候诊室挤满了阿富汗人，有纽瓦克来的屠夫，爸爸建造恤孤院时的工程师。他们纷纷走进来，语调沉痛地向爸爸表达他们的敬意，祝福他尽早康复。那时爸爸已经醒了，他虚弱而疲倦，但清醒。

Midmorning, General Taheri and his wife came. Soraya followed. We glanced at each other, looked away at the same time. “How are you, my friend?” General Taheri said, taking Baba’s hand. 早晨过了一半，塔赫里将军和他太太也来了。索拉雅跟在后面，我们对望了一眼，同时将眼光移开。“你好吗，老朋友。”塔赫里将军说，捂着爸爸的手。

Baba motioned to the IV hanging from his arm. Smiled thinly. The general smiled back. 爸爸示意他看着臂上的输液管，露出孱弱的微笑。将军回以微笑。

“You shouldn’t have burdened yourselves. All of you,” Baba croaked¹³. “你们不应如此麻烦的，你们大家。”爸爸呻吟着说。

“It’s no burden,” Khanum Taheri said. “这不麻烦。”塔赫里太太说。