Vocabulary

belt out 大声唱；大声演奏；

That whole winter, Hassan and I took turns wearing the hat, and belted out the film's famous music as we climbed mounds of snow and shot each other dead.

Excerpt

枪战场景

Something roared like thunder. The earth shook a little and we heard the 'rat-a-tat-tat' of gunfire.“Father!” Hassan cried. We sprung to our feet and raced out of the living room. We found Ali hobbling frantically across the foyer.

对于枪战场景描写，我们可以参考的是：

1、比喻修辞手法的使用（roar like thunder）；

2、拟声（rat-a-tat-tat）的加入；

3、周遭环境的描写（the earth shook）；

4、人物对此的反应（Amir和Hassan：race-争先恐后的跑，Ali：hobble frantically）。

几个小词和修辞手法的妙用让画面更具连续性、更完整。

父亲的爱

Just before sunrise, Baba's car peeled into the driveway. His door slammed shut and his running footsteps pounded the stairs. Then he appeared in the doorway and I saw something on his face. Something I didn't recognize right away because I'd never seen it before: fear. “Amir! Hassan!” he exclaimed as he ran to us, opening his arms wide.

虽然Amir对父亲不满，但其实父亲还是非常爱他的，就算再不符合他的期望，也是亲生的儿子，怎能不疼爱。以上几个句子一气呵成。

car peel into - door slammed - footsteps pound the stairs - apear in the doorway -fear - exclaim - open his arm wide.

中国人在写作时常会忘记原来物也可以作主语，前面car，door和footsteps就是可以借鉴的例子。作者用了大量的侧面描写，让父亲的焦虑跃然纸上，十分到位。

故事背景

FOR THE NEXT COUPLE of years, the words ‘economic development’ and ‘reform’ danced on a lot of lips in Kabul. The constitutional monarchy had been abolished, replaced by a republic, led by a president of the republic. For a while, a sense of rejuvenation and purpose swept across the land. People spoke of women's rights and modern technology.

danced on a lot of lips 直译：“在很多人唇上跳舞”，也就是指：“被……放在嘴边”；

A sense of…swept across the land. 直译：“一种……感席卷这片土地”，指：……人尽皆知。

生日礼物

Hassan and I traded blank looks. There was no gift-wrapped box in sight. No bag. No toy. Just Ali standing behind us, and Baba with this slight Indian fellow who looked a little like a mathematics teacher.

traded blank looks 茫然对望

in sight在视线中，可替换see

who looked a little like a mathematics teacher. 看起来像是数学老师（的印度人）。

（中国人和印度人的数学好看来是毋庸置疑）

Thoughts

除了日常的嬉戏玩耍之外，Amir把Hassan看做是他的朋友吗？虽然Amir口头不承认，但他对Hassan的感情从字里行间中却透露着诚实的好感与愧疚。

在给不识字的Hassan读书时：

My favorite part of reading to Hassan was when we came cross a big word that he didn't know. I'd tease him, expose his ignorance.

但是在这之后：

I would always feel guilty about it later.

当他们遇到强调种族的Assef时，Amir为了脱身说：

But he's not friend, he's my servant.

而他也在心里责问自己：

Had I really thought that? Of course I hadn't. I hadn't. I treated Hassan well, just like a friend, better even, more like a brother. But if so, then why, when Baba's friends came to visit with their kids, didn't I ever include Hassan in our games? Why did I play with Hassan only when no one else was around?

当他们了解国王政权被推翻后，Hassan问Amir自己会不会被送走，

Amir smiled, "Bas, you donkey. No one's sending you away"。

那时候的感情都是真的。

Notes

战争打破了安逸的生活，宗教矛盾越发激烈，敏感的Hassan隐约知道这意味着什么。文章通过描述Amir，Hassan和Assef三个小孩的紧张激烈的矛盾冲突，映射了当时阿富汗地区一触即发的紧张局势。在被纳粹思想浸染的Assef的威逼之下，两个孩子的举动反差极大，一边是Amir颤抖恐惧地希望爸爸出现，与Hassan撇清关系，一边是Hassan沉着冷静地拉开弹弓瞄准Assef的眼睛，让Assef放两人走。Hassan的勇敢与忠诚值得敬佩，在根深蒂固的等级观念下的忍耐与屈服也让人心疼。虽然一时的反抗颇有成效，但自此埋下的仇恨的种子却在地下蠢蠢欲动。

政变发生后，人们把经济发展和改革放在嘴边，君主立宪制被废弃，国家开始实行共和制，但其实人们的生活还是一如既往。转眼Hassan的生日到了，从未忘记Hassan生日的Baba这次的生日礼物是为Hassan做兔唇修复手术.手术很成功，Hassan的兔唇变成了浅浅的一道疤痕，可也是从这个冬天开始，Hassan那温暖的笑容再也没有出现过。