英文名著精講:The Kite Runner 追風箏的人(7)

12歲的阿富汗富家少爺阿米爾與僕人哈桑情同手足。然而，在一場風箏比賽後，發生了一件悲慘不堪的事，阿米爾爲自己的懦弱感到自責和痛苦，逼走了哈桑，不久，自己也跟隨父親逃往美國。

成年後的阿米爾始終無法原諒自己當年對哈桑的背叛。爲了贖罪，阿米爾再度踏上暌違二十多年的故鄉，希望能爲不幸的好友盡最後一點心力，卻發現一個驚天謊言，兒時的噩夢再度重演，阿米爾該如何抉擇？小說如此殘忍而又美麗，作者以溫暖細膩的筆法勾勒人性的本質與救贖，讀來令人蕩氣迴腸。

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."

重點精講：

wrestle v. 摔跤
He wrestled his opponent to the floor/ground.
他把對手摔倒在地上。
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!
要是他再說一遍，我會赤手空拳打死他。

affliction n. 痛苦，痛苦的原因
I have great sympathy for people in affliction.
我對那些受苦受難的人們充滿同情。
Malnutrition is one of the common afflictions of the poor.
營養不良是致使窮人痛苦的常見原因之一。

brag v. 吹牛, 自誇
He used to brag that he would make lots of money.
他經常吹牛說自己會賺很多很多錢。

veracity n. 真實性
I don't doubt the veracity of your report.
我毫不懷疑你報告中的真實性。
The chairman disallowed the veracity of his report.
主席不承認他的報道的真實性。

uproot v. 連根拔起
Whthin seconds a tornado can uproot trees.
幾秒鐘內，龍捲風就能連根拔起大樹。
The trunk of an elephant is powerful enough to uproot trees.
大象的長鼻強壯得足以將樹木連根拔起。

growl v. 咆哮
We heard the thunder growling in the distance.
我們聽見遠處隆隆的雷聲。

despite prep. 儘管
Despite old age, she is still learning to drive.
儘管年事已高,她還在學開車。
Despite all our efforts we still lost the game.
儘管我們盡了全力，我們還是輸掉了比賽。

urge v. 極力主張，力勸
They urged on us the need for cooperation.
他們向我們強調合作的必要性。
I strongly urge you to give up smoking.
我力勸你戒菸。

obstinate adj. 固執的
The obstinate child refused to answer.
這固執的孩子拒絕回答。
Because their hearts had turned hard, stubborn and obstinate.
重點是在於他們的心已經是硬的，是固執的，是頑固的。

triumphant adj. 得意揚揚的
Albert was triumphant in his harlequin costume.
阿爾貝得意揚揚地穿着他那件小丑服裝。
There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.
她的聲音裏帶有一種極爲得意的語氣。

傳說我父親曾經在俾路支Baluchistan，巴基斯坦城市。赤手空拳，和一隻黑熊搏鬥。如果這是個關於別人的故事，肯定有人會斥之爲笑話奇談。阿富汗人總喜歡將事物誇大，很不幸，這幾乎成了這個民族的特性。如果有人吹噓說他兒子是醫生，很可能是那孩子曾經在高中的生物學測驗中考了個及格的分數。但凡涉及爸爸的故事，從來沒人懷疑它們的真實性。倘使有人質疑，那麼，爸爸背上那三道彎彎曲曲的傷痕就是證據。記不清有多少次，我想像着爸爸那次搏擊的場面，甚至有時連做夢也夢到了。而在夢中，我分不清哪個是爸爸，哪個是熊。

有一次拉辛汗管爸爸叫"颶風先生"，這隨後變成遠近聞名的綽號。這個綽號可是名副其實。爸爸是典型的普什圖人，身材高大，孔武有力，留着濃密的小鬍子，捲曲的棕色頭髮甚是好看，跟他本人一樣不羈；他雙手強壯，似乎能將柳樹連根拔起；並且，就像拉辛汗經常說的那樣，黑色的眼珠一瞪，會"讓魔鬼跪地求饒"。爸爸身高近2米，每當他出席宴會，總是像太陽吸引向日葵那樣，把注意力引到自己身上。

爸爸即使在睡覺的時候，也是引人注目。我常在耳朵裏面塞上棉花球，用毯子蓋住頭，但爸爸的鼾聲宛如轟轟作響的汽車引擎，依然穿牆越壁而來，而我們的房間中間還隔着客廳呢。媽媽如何能跟他睡在同一個房間?我不得而知。要是能見到我的媽媽，我還有一長串問在1960年代晚期，我五六歲的樣子，爸爸決定建造一座恤孤院。故事是拉辛汗告訴我的。他說爸爸親自設計施工圖，儘管他根本沒有半點建築經驗。人們對此表示懷疑，勸他別犯傻，僱個建築師得了。當然，爸爸拒絕了，人們大搖其頭，對爸爸的頑固表示不解。然而爸爸成功了，人們又開始搖頭了，不過這次是帶着敬畏，對他成功的法門稱讚不已。恤孤院樓高兩層，位於喀布爾河南岸，在雅德梅灣大道旁邊，所耗資費均由父親自己支付。拉辛汗說爸爸獨力承擔了整個工程，工程師、電工、管道工、建築工，這些人的工錢都是爸爸支付的。城裏的官員也抽了油水，他們的“鬍子得上點油”。