英文名著精讲:The Kite Runner 追风筝的人(7)

      12岁的阿富汗富家少爷阿米尔与仆人哈桑情同手足。然而，在一场风筝比赛后，发生了一件悲惨不堪的事，阿米尔为自己的懦弱感到自责和痛苦，逼走了哈桑，不久，自己也跟随父亲逃往美国。

      成年后的阿米尔始终无法原谅自己当年对哈桑的背叛。为了赎罪，阿米尔再度踏上暌违二十多年的故乡，希望能为不幸的好友尽最后一点心力，却发现一个惊天谎言，儿时的噩梦再度重演，阿米尔该如何抉择？小说如此残忍而又美丽，作者以温暖细腻的笔法勾勒人性的本质与救赎，读来令人荡气回肠。

      Lore has it my father once wrestled a black bear in Baluchistan with his bare hands. If the story had been about anyone else, it would have been dismissed as "laaf", that Afghan tendency to exaggerate--sadly, almost a national affliction; if someone bragged that his son was a doctor, chances were the kid had once passed a biology test in high school. But no one ever doubted the veracity of any story about Baba. And if they did, well, Baba did have those three parallel scars coursing a jagged path down his back. I have imagined Baba\'s wrestling match countless times, even dreamed about it. And in those dreams, I can never tell Baba from the bear.

      It was Rahim Khan who first referred to him as what eventually became Baba\'s famous nickname, "Toophan agha", or "Mr. Hurricane."It was an apt enough nickname. My father was a force of nature, a towering Pashtun specimen with a thick beard, a wayward crop of curly brown hair as unruly as the man himself, hands that looked capable of uprooting a willow tree, and a black glare that would "drop the devil to his knees begging for mercy,?as Rahim Khan used to say. At parties, when all six-foot-five of him thundered into the room, attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun.

      Baba was impossible to ignore, even in his sleep. I used to bury cotton wisps in my ears, pull the blanket over my head, and still the sounds of Baba\'s snoring—so much like a growling truck engine—penetrated the walls. And my room was across the hall from Baba\'s bedroom. How my mother ever managed to sleep in the same room as him is a mystery to me. It\'s on the long list of things I would have asked my mother if I had ever met her.

      In the late 1960s, when I was five or six, Baba decided to build an orphanage. I heard the story through Rahim Khan. He told me Baba had drawn the blueprints himself despite the fact that he\'d had no architectural experience at all. Skeptics had urged him to stop his foolishness and hire an architect. Of course, Baba refused, and everyone shook their heads in dismay at his obstinate ways. Then Baba succeeded and everyone shook their heads in awe at his triumphant ways. Baba paid for the construction of the two-story orphanage, just off the main strip of Jadeh Maywand south of the Kabul River, with his own money. Rahim Khan told me Baba had personally funded the entire project, paying for the engineers, electricians, plumbers, and laborers, not to mention the city officials whose "mustaches needed oiling."

重点精讲：

wrestle v. 摔跤
He wrestled his opponent to the floor/ground.
他把对手摔倒在地上。
He taught his little brother how to wrestle.
他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。

with bare hands 赤手空拳
If he says that again I\'ll kill him with my bare hands!
要是他再说一遍，我会赤手空拳打死他。

affliction n. 痛苦，痛苦的原因
I have great sympathy for people in affliction.
我对那些受苦受难的人们充满同情。
Malnutrition is one of the common afflictions of the poor.
营养不良是致使穷人痛苦的常见原因之一。

brag v. 吹牛, 自夸
He used to brag that he would make lots of money.
他经常吹牛说自己会赚很多很多钱。

veracity n. 真实性
I don\'t doubt the veracity of your report.
我毫不怀疑你报告中的真实性。
The chairman disallowed the veracity of his report.
主席不承认他的报道的真实性。

uproot v. 连根拔起
Whthin seconds a tornado can uproot trees.
几秒钟内，龙卷风就能连根拔起大树。
The trunk of an elephant is powerful enough to uproot trees.
大象的长鼻强壮得足以将树木连根拔起。

growl v. 咆哮
We heard the thunder growling in the distance.
我们听见远处隆隆的雷声。

despite prep.  尽管
Despite old age, she is still learning to drive.
尽管年事已高,她还在学开车。
Despite all our efforts we still lost the game.
尽管我们尽了全力，我们还是输掉了比赛。

urge v. 极力主张，力劝
They urged on us the need for cooperation.
他们向我们强调合作的必要性。
I strongly urge you to give up smoking.
我力劝你戒烟。

obstinate adj. 固执的
The obstinate child refused to answer.
这固执的孩子拒绝回答。
Because their hearts had turned hard, stubborn and obstinate.
重点是在于他们的心已经是硬的，是固执的，是顽固的。

triumphant adj. 得意扬扬的
Albert was triumphant in his harlequin costume.
阿尔贝得意扬扬地穿着他那件小丑服装。
There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.
她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

 
      传说我父亲曾经在俾路支Baluchistan，巴基斯坦城市。赤手空拳，和一只黑熊搏斗。如果这是个关于别人的故事，肯定有人会斥之为笑话奇谈。阿富汗人总喜欢将事物夸大，很不幸，这几乎成了这个民族的特性。如果有人吹嘘说他儿子是医生，很可能是那孩子曾经在高中的生物学测验中考了个及格的分数。但凡涉及爸爸的故事，从来没人怀疑它们的真实性。倘使有人质疑，那么，爸爸背上那三道弯弯曲曲的伤痕就是证据。记不清有多少次，我想像着爸爸那次搏击的场面，甚至有时连做梦也梦到了。而在梦中，我分不清哪个是爸爸，哪个是熊。

      有一次拉辛汗管爸爸叫"飓风先生"，这随后变成远近闻名的绰号。这个绰号可是名副其实。爸爸是典型的普什图人，身材高大，孔武有力，留着浓密的小胡子，卷曲的棕色头发甚是好看，跟他本人一样不羁；他双手强壮，似乎能将柳树连根拔起；并且，就像拉辛汗经常说的那样，黑色的眼珠一瞪，会"让魔鬼跪地求饶"。爸爸身高近2米，每当他出席宴会，总是像太阳吸引向日葵那样，把注意力引到自己身上。

      爸爸即使在睡觉的时候，也是引人注目。我常在耳朵里面塞上棉花球，用毯子盖住头，但爸爸的鼾声宛如轰轰作响的汽车引擎，依然穿墙越壁而来，而我们的房间中间还隔着客厅呢。妈妈如何能跟他睡在同一个房间?我不得而知。要是能见到我的妈妈，我还有一长串问在1960年代晚期，我五六岁的样子，爸爸决定建造一座恤孤院。故事是拉辛汗告诉我的。他说爸爸亲自设计施工图，尽管他根本没有半点建筑经验。人们对此表示怀疑，劝他别犯傻，雇个建筑师得了。当然，爸爸拒绝了，人们大摇其头，对爸爸的顽固表示不解。然而爸爸成功了，人们又开始摇头了，不过这次是带着敬畏，对他成功的法门称赞不已。恤孤院楼高两层，位于喀布尔河南岸，在雅德梅湾大道旁边，所耗资费均由父亲自己支付。拉辛汗说爸爸独力承担了整个工程，工程师、电工、管道工、建筑工，这些人的工钱都是爸爸支付的。城里的官员也抽了油水，他们的“胡子得上点油”。

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