为你，千千万万遍——《追风筝的人》赏析

文/晓菲

为你，千千万万遍
——《追风筝的人》赏析

文/晓菲

责任编辑：李丁文

◆原作节选◆

The next morning,Hassan told me he had a dream.“We were at Ghargha Lake,you,me,and thousands of other people,”he said.“It was warm and sunny,and the lake was clear like a mirror.But no one was swimming because they said a monster had come to the lake.It was swimming at the bottom, waiting.”

“So everyone is scared to get in the water,and suddenly you kick off（踢掉）your shoes,and take off your shirt.‘There’s no monster,’you say.‘I’ll show you all.’And before anyone can stop you,you dive into（跳入）the water,start swimming away.I follow you in and we’re both swimming.”

“But you can’t swim.”

Hassan laughed.“It’s a dream,Amir agha,you can do anything.Anyway,everyone is screaming,‘Getout!Get out!’but we just swim in the cold water. We make it way out to the middle of the lake and we stop swimming.We turn toward the shore and wave to the people.They look small like ants,but we can hear them clapping.They see now.There is no monster,just water.”

“So what does it mean?”I said.

“I don’t know.I was hoping you could tell me.”

“Well,it’s a dumb dream.Nothing happens in it.”

“Father says dreams always mean something.”

I sipped some tea.“Why don’t you ask him, then？He’s so smart.”I said,more curtly than I had intended.I hadn’t slept all night,and my eyes stung（刺痛）.Still, I had been mean to Hassan. I almost apologized,then didn’t.Hassan understood I was just nervous.Hassan always understood about me.

The streets glistened with（闪耀着）fresh snow and the sky was a blameless（清白的；无可责备的）blue.Snow blanketed every rooftop and weighed on the branches of the stunted mulberry（桑树）trees that lined our street.Overnight,snow had nudged（推进）its way into every crack（裂缝）and gutter（地沟）.I squinted（斜视）against the blinding white when Hassan and I stepped through the wrought-iron gates.

I had never seen so many people on our street. Kids were flinging snowballs,squabbling,chasing one another,giggling.Kite fighters were huddling with（蜷成一团）their spool holders,making last minute preparations.From adjacent（邻近的）streets,I could hear laughter and chatter.Already,rooftops were jammed with（充满）spectators（围观者）reclining in lawn chairs,hot tea steaming from thermoses,and the music of Ahmad Zahir blaring from cassette players.

I turned my gaze to our rooftop,found Baba and Rahim Khan sitting on a bench,both dressed in wool sweaters,drinking tea.Baba waved.I couldn’t tell if he was waving at me or Hassan.

“We should get started,”Hassan said.

Suddenly I wanted to withdraw（撤退).Pack it all in,go back home.What was I thinking？Why was I putting myself through this,when I already knew the outcome（结果）？Baba was on the roof,watching me.I felt his glare on me like the heat of a blistering sun.This would be failure on a grand scale, even for me.

“I’m not sure I want to fly a kite today,”I said.

“It’s a beautiful day,”Hassan said.

I shifted on my feet.Tried to peel my gaze away from our rooftop.“I don’t know.Maybe we should go home.”

Then he stepped toward me and,in a low voice, said something that scared me a little.“Remember, Amir agha.There’s no monster,just a beautiful day.”How could I be such an open book to him when, half the time,I had no idea what was milling around in his head?I was the one who went to school,the one who could read,write.I was the smart one. Hassan couldn’t read a first grade textbook but he’d read me plenty.That was a little unsettling（使人不安的）,but also sort of comfortable to have someone who always knew what you needed.

“No monster,”I said,feeling a little better,to my own surprise.

He smiled.“No monster.”

“Are you sure？”

He closed his eyes.Nodded.

“Let’s fly,”he said.

It occurred to me then that maybe Hassan had made up his dream.Was that possible？I decided it wasn’t.Hassan wasn’t that smart.I wasn’t that smart.But made up or not,the silly dream had lifted some of my anxiety.Maybe I should take off my shirt,take a swim in the lake.Why not？

“Let’s do it,”I said.

次日早晨，哈桑告诉我他做了一个梦。“我们在喀尔卡湖，你，我，还有几千个人。”他说，“天气暖和，阳光灿烂，湖水像镜子一样清澈。但是没有人游泳，因为他们说湖里有个鬼怪。它在湖底潜伏着，等待着。”

“所以大家都很害怕，不敢下水。突然你踢掉鞋子，脱掉衣服。‘里面没有鬼怪，’你说,‘我证明给你们看看。’大家还来不及阻止你，你便一头扎进湖里，游开了。我跟着你，我们都游着。”

“可是你不会游泳。”

哈桑哈哈大笑：“那是在梦里啊，阿米尔少爷,你能做任何事情。每个人都尖声叫唤‘快上来!快上来!’但我们只是在冰冷的湖水里面游泳。我们游到湖中央，停下来。我们转向湖岸，朝人们挥手。他们看起来像小小的蚂蚁，但我们能听到他们的掌声。现在他们知道了，湖里没有鬼怪，只有湖水。”

“这梦是什么意思呢？”我说。

“我不知道，我还指望你告诉我呢。”

“好吧，那是个愚蠢的梦而已，没有什么含义。”

“爸爸说梦总是意味着某种东西。”

我喝着茶：“那么你为什么不去问他呢？他多聪明呀。”我的不耐烦简直出乎自己意料。我彻夜未眠，眼睛刺痛。即使这样，我对哈桑也太刻薄了。我差点向他道歉，但是没有。哈桑明白我只是精神紧张。哈桑总是明白我。

街上新下的积雪银光闪闪，天空蓝得无可挑剔。雪花覆盖了每一个屋顶，矮小的桑椹树在我们这条街排开，树枝上也堆满了积雪。一夜之间，雪花塞满了所有的裂缝和水沟。哈桑和我走出锻铁大门时，雪花反射出白晃晃的光芒，照得我睁不开眼。

我从来没有见到街上有这么多人。儿童在打雪仗，拌嘴，相互追逐，咯咯笑着。风筝斗士和帮他们拿卷轴的人挤在一起，做最后的准备。周围的街道传来欢声笑语，各处屋顶已经挤满了看客，他们斜躺在折叠椅上，暖水壶里的红茶热气腾腾，录音机传出艾哈迈德·查希尔喧闹的音乐。

我朝自家的屋顶看去，发现爸爸和拉辛汗坐在一张长凳上，两人都穿着羊毛衫，喝着茶。爸爸挥挥手，我不知道他究竟是跟我还是跟哈桑打招呼。

“我们得开始了。”哈桑说。

突然间我想放弃，把东西收起来，转身回家。我在想什么呢？我既然已经知道结局，何必还要让自己来体验这一切呢？爸爸在屋顶上看着我。我觉得他的目光像太阳那样热得令人发烫。今天，即使是我，也必定难逃惨败。

“我有点不想在今天放风筝了。”我说。

“今天是个好日子。”哈桑说。

我转动双脚，试图让目光离开我们家的屋顶。“我不知道，也许我们该回家去。”

接着他上前一步，低声说了一句让我有些吃惊的话。“记住，阿米尔少爷，没有鬼怪，只是个好日子。”我对他脑海盘桓的念头常常一无所知，可是我在他面前怎么就像一本打开的书?到学校上学的人是我，会读书写字的人是我，聪明伶俐的也是我。哈桑虽然看不懂一年级的课本，却能看穿我。这让人不安，可是有人永远对你的需求了如指掌，毕竟也叫人宽心。

“没有鬼怪。”我低声说。出乎意料的是，我竟然觉得好些了。

他微笑：“没有鬼怪。”

“你确定？”

他闭上双眼，点点头。

“我们来放风筝吧。”他说。

当时我觉得哈桑那个梦可能是他编出来的。那可能吗?我确定不是，哈桑没那么聪明，我也没那么聪明。但不管是否是编造的，那个愚蠢的梦缓解了我的焦虑。兴许我该除去衣服，到湖里去游一游。为什么不呢？

“我们来放。”我说。

◆赏析◆

如果你只看过一本阿富汗作家写的书，那一定出自卡勒德·胡赛尼（Khaled Hosseini）之手。胡赛尼于1965年出生于阿富汗喀布尔市，后随家人移民美国加州，成为一名著名的内科医生。美国安逸的生活方式、加州温暖的阳光，并未让胡赛尼安于现状。1999年，得知塔利班禁止阿富汗民众放风筝——这是他童年很喜爱的休闲活动，胡赛尼感触很深。凭着对儿时的零星记忆，他写下了这部改变他一生的作品——《追风筝的人》（The Kite Runner）。

很难定义这本书最打动人心的到底是哪一点，因为它更像是多层情感的汇集。比如一扇让世界了解阿富汗的窗，一段儿时纯真的友情，一曲父与子之间未完待续的歌，一个成年后拼死想要去弥补的错误，等等。

主人公阿米尔，出生在阿富汗一个中上层家庭。在政局尚且稳定的环境下，尽管从未感受过母爱，还需要很费劲才能体会到父爱，却依旧不阻碍他度过一个无忧无虑的童年。而这一切的快乐，多半是他的仆人兼玩伴哈桑给的。本期节选的段落，讲述的是两个小伙伴即将参与风筝比赛的故事。彼时的阿富汗，阳光尚好，春暖花开。纵使并不富足，等级观念浓郁，但至少并未被战火的硝烟笼罩。一年一度的风筝比赛，更是家家户户最期待的活动。如选篇中描述的“Already,rooftops were jammed with spectators”，房屋的顶上，老早就被围观者挤满了。

父亲对阿米尔最爱的写作事业甚少过问，但对于放风筝比赛无比上心。选最好的工匠、最结实的材料，希望儿子能在比赛中独占鳌头。在众目睽睽之下，切掉所有对手的风筝线。就因为深知这些压力，越临近比赛，阿米尔心中越忐忑。而这一切，都被哈桑看在了眼里。他拼尽全部智慧，讲述了一个能让主人平静下来的梦，最终让阿米尔顺利参加比赛，赢得了冠军。原来那句以友谊之名许下的诺言“为你，千千万万遍”，是可以让目不识丁的哈桑变得聪敏、让手无寸铁的孩童战胜敌人、让这个民族根深蒂固的等级观念逐渐淡漠的。

在这一篇章里，作者用最朴实的言语还原了热闹的街、情同手足的友情、耐人寻味的父爱。这一切，都和小说后半段刻画的战争、背叛、逃避、死亡形成鲜明的对比。

年幼时脱口许下的诺言，曾经以为弱小的肩膀可以承受住那般山盟海誓；童年时一起抬头仰望蓝天，又怎会想到这奢侈的和平其实无法永恒。感谢胡赛尼替我们打开了一扇窗，透过它，我们方能更谦卑地珍惜当下。唯有如此，才不辜负此刻云淡风轻的美好。

陈晓菲（Sherly Chen）：毕业于北京师范大学英美文学专业，获美国俄勒冈州政府奖学金赴美留学深造。7年一线英语教学经验。精通英语，酷爱文学。愿用手中笔，记下心中爱。