“Sometimes, it takes a while,” I told Soraya one night. “有时生孩子需要花一点时间。”某天夜里我对索拉雅说。

“A year isn’t a while, Amir!” she said, in a terse¹ voice so unlike her. “Something’s wrong, I know it.” “一年了，可不是一点时间，阿米尔！”她冷冷说，声音完全像变了一个人，“肯定有问题，我知道。”

“Then let’s see a doctor.” “那么我们去看看大夫。”

DR. ROSEN, a round-bellied man with a plump face and small, even teeth, spoke² with a faint Eastern European accent, some thing remotely Slavic. He had a passion for trains--his office was littered with books about the history of railroads, model locomotives, paintings of trains trundling on tracks through green hills and over bridges. A sign above his desk read, LIFE IS A TRAIN. GET ON BOARD. 罗森大夫大腹便便，脸蛋圆润，一口细牙齿相当整齐，说话稍微带点东欧口音，有些像斯拉夫人。他对火车情有独钟——他的办公室到处都是跟铁路历史有关的书籍、火车头模型，还有各种照片：铁轨上的火车穿过如黛青山或者桥梁。他的桌子上方悬挂着一条标语：生命如火车，请上车。

He laid out the plan for us. I’d get checked first. “Men are easy,” he said, fingers tapping on his mahogany desk. “A man’s plumbing³ is like his mind: simple, very few surprises. You ladies, on the other hand... well, God put a lot of thought into making you.” I wondered if he fed that bit about the plumbing to all of his couples. 他替我们出谋策划。我先做检查。“男人简单些。”他说，手指在红木办公桌上轻轻敲打。“男人的管道就像他的头脑：简单，很少出入意外。你们女士就不同了……这么说吧，上帝造你们的时候花了很多心思。”我怀疑他是不是碰到每对夫妇，都要扯这套管道理论。

“Lucky us,” Soraya said. “我们真幸运。”索拉雅说。

Dr. Rosen laughed. It fell a few notches⁴ short of genuine. He gave me a lab slip and a plastic jar, handed Soraya a request for some routine blood tests. We shook hands. 罗森大夫大笑，不过笑声听上去很假。他给我一张测试纸和一个塑料罐，要求索拉雅定期做血检。我们握手作别。

“Welcome aboard,” he said, as he showed us out. “欢迎上车。”他说，请我们出去。

I PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS. 我通过了测试。

The next few months were a blur⁵ of tests on Soraya: Basal body temperatures, blood tests for every conceivable hormone⁶, urine tests, something called a “Cervical Mucus Test,” ultrasounds, more blood tests, and more urine tests. Soraya underwent a procedure called a hysteroscopy--Dr. Rosen inserted a telescope into Soraya’s uterus and took a look around. He found nothing. “The plumbing’s clear,” he announced, snapping off his latex gloves. I wished he’d stop calling it that--we weren’t bathrooms. When the tests were over, he explained that he couldn’t explain why we couldn’t have kids. And, apparently⁷, that wasn’t so unusual. It was called “Unexplained Infertility⁸.” 接下来几个月，索拉雅不断做检查：基础体温，抽血检查每一种所能想像得到的荷尔蒙，某种叫“子宫黏液测试”的检查，超声波，更多的血检，更多的尿检。索拉雅还接受了“宫腔镜”检查——罗森大夫将显微镜插进索拉雅的阴道，进行检视，他没发现异常。“管道很干净。”他一边脱掉橡胶手套，一边宣布。我希望他别这样称呼——我们又不是浴室！检查统统结束之后，他解释说他无法解释为什么我们怀不上小孩。而且，很显然，这并不罕见。这叫“原因不明性不孕症”。

Then came the treatment phase. We tried a drug called Clomiphene, and hMG, a series of shots which Soraya gave to herself. When these failed, Dr. Rosen advised in vitro fertilization. We received a polite letter from our HMO, wishing us the best of luck, regretting they couldn’t cover the cost. 接下来是治疗期。我们服用一种叫“克罗米芬”的药物，索拉雅还定期给自己注射“尿促性素”。这些全没效，罗森大夫建议我们考虑体外受孕。我们收到一封来自“健康维护组织”的信函，措辞礼貌，祝我们好运，并说恕不替我们支付那笔费用。