殘忍而美麗的情誼:The Kite Runner 追風箏的人(19)
One day, in July 1973, I played another little trick on Hassan. I was reading to him, and suddenly I strayed from the written story. I pretended I was reading from the book, flipping pages regularly, but I had abandoned the text altogether, taken over the story, and made up my own. Hassan, of course, was oblivious to this. To him, the words on the page were a scramble of codes, indecipherable, mysterious. Words were secret doorways and I held all the keys. After, I started to ask him if he'd liked the story, a giggle rising in my throat, when Hassan began to clap.
1973年7月某天，我開了哈桑另外一個玩笑。我念書給他聽，接着突然不管那個寫好的故事。我假裝念着書，像平常那樣翻着書，可是我說的跟書本毫無關係，而是拋開那個故事，自己杜撰一個。當然，哈桑對此一無所知。對他而言，書頁上的文字無非是一些線條，神祕而不知所云。文字是扇祕密的門，鑰匙在我手裏。完了之後，我嘴裏咯咯笑着，問他是否喜歡這個故事，哈桑拍手叫好。 
"What are you doing?"I said.
"你在幹嗎呢?"我說。"That was the best story you've read me in a long time,"he said, still clapping.
"你很久沒念過這麼精彩的故事了。"他說，仍拍着雙手。
I laughed. "Really?"
我大笑:"真的嗎?""Really."
"真的。""That's fascinating,"I muttered. I meant it too. This was... wholly unexpected. "Are you sure, Hassan?"
"太奇妙了，"我喃喃說道。我是說真的，這真是……完全意料不到。"沒騙我吧，哈桑?"He was still clapping. "It was great, Amir agha. Will you read me more of it tomorrow?"
他仍在鼓掌:"太棒了，阿米爾少爺。你明天可以多念一些給我聽嗎?""Fascinating,"I repeated, a little breathless, feeling like a man who discovers a buried treasure in his own backyard. Walking down the hill, thoughts were exploding in my head like the fireworks at "Chaman". "Best story you've read me in a long time", he'd said. I had read him a "lot" of stories. Hassan was asking me something.
"太奇妙了。"我又說了一遍，有些喘不過氣，好比有個男人在自家後院發現了一處寶藏。下山的時候，各種念頭在我腦海炸開來，如同在察曼大道燃放的煙花。你好久沒念過這麼精彩的故事了。他這麼說。哈桑在問我問題。"What?"I said.
"什麼?"我說。"What does that mean, ‘fascinating'?"
"'奇妙'是什麼意思?"I laughed. Clutched him in a hug and planted a kiss on his cheek.
我哈哈大笑，給了他一個擁抱，在他臉上親了一下。"What was that for?"he said, startled, blushing.
"幹嗎這樣啊?"他紅着臉，吃吃地說。I gave him a friendly shove. Smiled. "You're a prince, Hassan. You're a prince and I love you."
我友善地推了他一把，微笑着說:"你是王子，哈桑。你是王子，我愛你。"
