殘忍而美麗的情誼:The Kite Runner 追風箏的人(24)

THEY WEREN'T SHOOTING ducks after all. As it turned out, they hadn't shot much of anything that night of July 17, 1973. Kabul awoke the next Morning to find that the monarchy was a thing of the past. The king, Zahir Shah, was away in Italy. In his absence, his cousin Daoud Khan had ended the king's forty-year reign with a bloodless coup.

他們根本不是在獵殺野鴨。真相終於大白：1973年7月17日夜裏，他們根本就沒有對什麼東西開槍。翌日清晨，大夢初醒的喀布爾發現君主制已然成爲歷史。查希爾國王遠在意大利，他的堂兄達烏德汗（MohammedDaoudKhan1909～1978，1973年起任阿富汗共和國總統，直到1978年被刺殺）趁他不在，發動了政變，沒有多加殺戮，就終結了他四十年來的統治。

I remember Hassan and I crouching that next morning outside my father's study, as Baba and Rahim Khan sipped black tea and listened to breaking news of the coup on Radio Kabul.

我記得隔日早上，爸爸和拉辛汗喝着紅茶，聽着喀布爾廣播電臺播送的有關政變的最新消息，我跟哈桑躲在爸爸的書房外面。

"Amir agha?"Hassan whispered.

"阿米爾少爺?"哈桑低聲說。

"What?"

"怎麼啦?"

"What's a 'republic'?"

"什麼是'共和'?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."On Baba's radio, they were saying that word, "republic",over and over again.

我聳聳肩:"我不懂。"爸爸的收音機一遍又一遍地傳出"共和"這個詞。

"Amir agha?"

"阿米爾少爺?"

"What?"

"怎麼啦?"

"Does 'republic'mean Father and I will have to move away?"

"'共和'是不是要我和爸爸離開這裏?"

"I don't think so,"I whispered back.

"我覺得不是。"我低聲回答。

Hassan considered this. "Amir agha?"

哈桑想了想，說:"阿米爾少爺?"

"What?"

"什麼呀?"

"I don't want them to send me and Father away."

"我不想他們把我跟爸爸送走。"

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

我露出微笑:"好啦，你這頭驢子，沒有人會送走你們。"

"Amir agha?"

"阿米爾少爺?"

"What?"

"什麼呀?"

"Do you want to go climb our tree?"

"你想去爬我們的樹嗎?"

My smile broadened. That was another thing about Hassan. He always knew when to say the right thing--the news on the radio was getting pretty boring. Hassan went to his shack to get ready and I ran upstairs to grab a book. Then I went to the kitchen, stuffed my pockets with handfuls of pine nuts, and ran outside to find Hassan waiting for me. We burst through the front gates and headed for the hill.

我笑得更開心了。這也是哈桑的本領，他總是懂得在恰當的時間說恰當的事情--收音機的新聞實在是太悶了。哈桑回到他那寒磣的屋子去做準備，我跑上樓抓起一本書。接着我到廚房去，往口袋裏塞一把松子，然後跑出去，哈桑在外面等我。我們穿過前門，朝那座山頭進發。