Later that night, I was passing by my father 8217;s study when I overheard him speaking to Rahim Khan. I pressed my ear to the closed door.
那天夜里，我路过爸爸的书房，偷听到他在跟拉辛汗说话。我将耳朵贴在门板上。
8220;-grateful that he 8217;s healthy, 8221; Rahim Khan was saying.
8220;……谢天谢地，他身体健康。 8221;拉辛汗说。
8220;I know, I know. But he 8217;s always buried in those books or shuffling around the house like he 8217;s lost in some dream. 8221;
8220;我知道，我知道，可他总是埋在书堆里，要不就在家里晃晃悠悠，好像梦游一般。 8221;
8220;And? 8221;
8220;那又怎样? 8221;
8220;I wasn 8217;t like that. 8221; Baba sounded frustrated, almost angry.
8220;我可不是这个样子。 8221;爸爸丧气地说，声音中还有些愤怒。
Rahim Khan laughed. 8220;Children aren 8217;t coloring books. You don 8217;t get to fill them with your favorite colors. 8221;
拉辛汗笑起来。 8221;孩子又不是图画练习册，你不能光顾着要涂上自己喜欢的色彩。 8221;
8220;I 8217;m telling you, 8221;Baba said, 8220;I wasn 8217;t like that at all, and neither were any of the kids I grew up with. 8221;
8220;我是说， 8221;爸爸说, 8221;我根本不是那个样子的。跟我一起长大的孩子也没有像他那样的。 8221;
8220;You know, sometimes you are the most self-centered man I know, 8221; Rahim Khan said. He was the only person I knew who could get away with saying something like that to Baba.
8220;你知道，有时你是我认识的人中最自以为是的了。 8221;拉辛汗说。在我认识的人中，只有他敢这么跟爸爸说话。
8220;It has nothing to do with that. 8221;
8220;跟这个没有任何关系。 8221;
8220;Nay? 8221;
8220;没有吗? 8221;
8220;Nay. 8221;
8220;没有。 8221;
8220;Then what? 8221;
8220;那跟什么有关系? 8221;
I heard the leather of Baba 8217;s seat creaking as he shifted on it. I closed my eyes, pressed my ear even harder against the door, wanting to hear, not wanting to hear. 8220;Sometimes I look out this window and I see him playing on the street with the neighborhood boys. I see how they push him around, take his toys from him, give him a shove here, a whack there. And, you know, he never fights back. Never. He just 8230; drops his head and 8230; 8221;
我听到爸爸挪动身子，皮椅吱吱作响。我合上双眼，耳朵更加紧贴着门板，又想听，又不想听。 8221;有时我从这扇窗望出去，我看到他跟邻居的孩子在街上玩。我看到他们推搡他，拿走他的玩具，在这儿推他一下，在那儿打他一下。你知道，他从不反击，从不。他只是……低下头，然后…… 8221;
8220;So he 8217;s not violent, 8221;Rahim Khan said.
8220;这说明他并不暴戾。 8221;拉辛汗说。
8220;That 8217;s not what I mean, Rahim, and you know it, 8221;Baba shot back. 8220;There is something missing in that boy. 8221;
8220;我不是这个意思，拉辛，你知道的。 8221;爸爸朝他嚷着, 8221;这孩子身上缺了某些东西。 8221;
8220;Yes, a mean streak. 8221;
8220;是的，缺了卑劣的性格。 8221;
8220;Self-defense has nothing to do with meanness. You know what always happens when the neighborhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off. I 8217;ve seen it with my own eyes. And when they come Home, I say to him,‘How did Hassan get that scrape on his face?’And he says, ‘He fell down.’I 8217;m telling you, Rahim, there is something missing in that boy. 8221;
8220;自我防卫跟卑劣毫不搭边。你知道事情总是怎么样的吗?每当那些邻居的孩子欺负他，总是哈桑挺身而出，将他们挡回去。这是我亲眼见到的。他们回家之后，我问他, 8217;哈桑脸上的伤痕是怎么回事? 8217;他说: 8217;他摔了一跤。 8217;我跟你说，拉辛，这孩子身上缺了某些东西。 8221;
8220;You just need to let him find his way, 8221;Rahim Khan said.
8220;你只消让他找到自己的路。 8221;拉辛汗说。
8220;And where is he headed? 8221;Baba said. 8220;A boy who won 8217;t stand up for himself becomes a man who can 8217;t stand up to anything. 8221;
8220;可是他要走去哪里呢? 8221;爸爸说， 8221;一个不能保护自己的男孩，长大之后什么东西都保护不了。 8221;
8220;As usual you 8217;re oversimplifying. 8221;
8220;你总是将问题过度简化了。 8221;
8220;I don 8217;t think so. 8221;
8220;我认为不是的。 8221;
8220;You 8217;re angry because you 8217;re afraid he 8217;ll never take over the Business for you. 8221;
8220;你生气，是因为你害怕他不会接管你的生意。 8221;
8220;Now who 8217;s oversimplifying? 8221;Baba said. 8220;Look, I know there 8217;s a fondness between you and him and I 8217;m happy about that. Envious, but happy. I mean that. He needs someone who 8230;understands him, because God knows I don 8217;t. But something about Amir troubles me in a way that I can 8217;t express. It 8217;s like 8230; 8221;I could see him searching, reaching for the right words. He lowered his voice, but I heard him anyway. 8220;If I hadn 8217;t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I 8217;d never believe he 8217;s my son. 8221;
8220;现在谁在简化问题? 8221;爸爸说， 8221;看吧，我知道你跟他关系很好，这我很高兴。我是说，我有些妒忌，但很高兴。他需要有人……有人能理解他，因为真主知道我理解不了。可是阿米尔身上有些东西让我很烦恼，我又说不清楚，它像是…… 8221;我能猜到他在寻觅，在搜寻一个恰当的字眼。他放低了声音，但终究还是让我听到了。 8221;要不是我亲眼看着大夫把他从我老婆肚子里拉出来，我肯定不相信他是我的儿子。 8221;
THE NEXT MORNING, as he was preparing my breakfast, Hassan asked if something was bothering me. I snapped at him, told him to mind his own Business.
次日清晨，哈桑在替我准备早餐，他问我是不是有什么烦心的事情。我朝他大吼，叫他别多管闲事。
Rahim Khan had been wrong about the mean streak thing.
至于那卑劣的性格，拉辛汗错了。