放风筝，忆故友

贵海娥

（武汉市江夏区第一高级中学）

“Do you like the seh-parcha（羊皮纸）?”I said,holding up the kite by the ends of the cross bars.His eyes shifted from the sky to me,to the kite,then back.A few rivulets of rain trickled from his hair,down his face.

I wet my index finger and held it up.“I remember the way your father checked the wind was to kick up dust with his sandal,see which way the wind blew it.He knew a lot of little tricks like that,”I said and lowered my finger.“West,I think.”

Sohrab wiped a raindrop from his earlobe and shifted on his feet,saying nothing.

“Did I ever tell you your father was the best kite runner in Wazir Akbar Khan? Maybe all of Kabul?”I said,knotting the loose end of the spool（卷轴）to the string loop tied to the center spar.“How jealous he made the neighborhood kids.He’d run kites and never look up at the sky,and people used to say he was chasing the kite’s shadow.But they didn’t know him like I did.Your father wasn’t chasing any shadows.He just...knew.”

Another half-dozen kites had taken flight.People had started to gather in clumps,teacups in hand,eyes glued to the sky.

“Okay.”I shrugged.“Looks like I’ll have to fly it tanhaii.”Solo.

I balanced the spool in my left hand and fed about three feet of tar.The yellow kite dangled（悬摆）at the end of it,just above the wet grass.“Last chance,”I said.But Sohrab was looking at a pair of kites tangling high above the trees.

“All right.Here I go.”I took off running,my sneakers splashing rainwater from puddles,the hand clutching the kite end of the string held high above my head.It had been so long,so many years since I’d done this,and I wondered if I’d make a spectacle of myself.I let the spool roll in my left hand as I ran,and felt the string cut my right hand again as it fed through.The kite was lifting behind my shoulder now,lifting,wheeling,and I ran harder.The spool spun faster and the glass string tore another gash in my right palm.I stopped and turned.I looked up and smiled.High above,my kite was tilting side to side like a pendulum,making that old paper-bird-flapping-its-wings sound I always associated with winter mornings in Kabul.I hadn’t flown a kite in a quarter of a century,but suddenly I was twelve again and all the old instincts came rushing back.

I felt a presence next to me and looked down.It was Sohrab.Hands dug deep in the pockets of his raincoat.He had followed me.“Do you want to try?”I asked.He said nothing.But when I held the string out for him,his hand lifted from his pocket.Hesitating,he took the string.My heart quickened as I spun the spool to gather the loose string.We stood quietly side by side.Necks bent up.

Sohrab was handing the string back to me.

“Are you sure?”I said,taking it.He took the spool from me.

故事背景简介

本文节选自美籍阿富汗作家卡勒德·胡赛尼所著的长篇小说《追风筝的人》。该书以第一人称的叙述角度，围绕风筝与阿富汗的两个少年展开，讲述了一个富家少年与其家中仆人关于风筝、人性的背叛与救赎的故事。富家少年阿米尔和仆人哈桑小时候一起长大，他们经常一起放风筝，一起追风筝，结下深厚友情。后因一件事两人友谊破裂。时过境迁，阿米尔远迁美国，但他对哈桑一直怀有负罪感，后来他知晓了有关家庭的巨大秘密，原来哈桑是他同父异母的弟弟。为了找回“再次成为好人的路”，阿米尔重返阿富汗，但哈桑已死，经过千难万险，阿米尔救出哈桑的孩子索拉博，回到美国。为了温暖孩子孤寂的心，他和孩子一起放风筝……

全篇译文

“你喜欢风筝吗？”我举起风筝横轴的两端。他的目光从天空落到我身上。他看看风筝，又看了看我。几点雨珠从他头发上滴下来，流下他的脸庞。

我舔舔食指，将它竖起来。“我记得你父亲测风向的办法是用他的拖鞋踢起尘土，看风将它吹到哪儿。他懂得很多这样的小技巧。”我放低手指说：“我觉得是西风。”

索拉博擦去耳垂上的一点雨珠，双脚磨地，什么也没说。

“我有没有跟你说过，你爸爸可是瓦兹尔•阿克巴•汗最棒的追风筝的人？也许还是全喀布尔最棒的？”我一边说，一边将卷轴的线头系在风筝中轴的圆环上。“邻居的小孩都很妒忌他。他追风筝的时候从来不用看着天空，大家经常说他追着风筝的影子。但他们不知道我知道的事情，你爸爸才不是在追什么影子，他就是……知道。”

又有几只风筝飞起来，人们开始三五成群聚在一起，手里端着茶杯，望向天空。

我耸耸肩，“好吧。看来我得一个人把它放起来了。”

我左手拿稳卷轴，放开大约三英尺的线。黄色的风筝吊在线后摇晃，就在湿草地上面。“最后的机会了哦。”我说。可是索拉博看着两只高高飞在树顶之上的风筝。

“好吧，那我开始了。”我撒腿开跑，运动鞋在水洼中溅起阵阵雨水，手里抓着线连着风筝的那头，高举在头顶。我已经有很久、很多年没这么做过了，我不知自己会不会出洋相。我边跑边让卷轴在我手里转开，感到线放开的时候又割伤了我的右手。风筝在我肩膀后面飞起来了，飞翔着，旋转着，我跑得更快了。卷轴迅速旋转，风筝线再次在我右掌割开一道伤痕。我站住，转身，举头，微笑。在高高的上方，我的风筝像钟摆那样从一边荡到另一边，发出那久远的“鸟儿扑打翅膀”的声音，那种总是让我联想起喀布尔冬天早晨的声音。我已经有四分之一个世纪没放过风筝了，但刹那之间，我又回到了十二岁，过去那些感觉统统涌上心头。

我感到有人在我旁边，低头一瞅，是索拉博。他的双手深深地插在他雨衣的口袋里。他跟在我身后。“你想试试吗？”我问。他一语不发，但我把线递给他的时候，他的手从口袋伸出来，犹疑不决，接过线。我转动卷轴把线松开，心跳加速。我们静静地并排站着，脖子仰起。

索拉博把线交还给我。

“你确定吗？”我说，拿着它。他从我手里拿回卷轴。

语言积累

trickle v.小股流淌

knot v.把……打成结

clump n.（人的）群，组

glue to 使（目光、注意力等）固定在……上

solo n.独奏，独唱 adj.单独的 adv.单独地

splash v.泼溅，溅落

make a spectacle of oneself 出洋相，使当众出丑

tilt v.倾斜

pendulum n.摆，钟摆，摇摆不定的事态（或局面）

associate with 联系，关联

presence n.感觉在附近的人（或鬼魂）

阅读小练

1.Why did Sohrab’s father kick up the dust?

A.To strengthen the kite.

B.To catch people’s attention.

C.To check the power of the kite.

D.To ensure the direction of the wind.

2.Why did the author say “Last chance” in Paragraph 7?

A.To train Sohrab.

B.To make fun of Sohrab.

C.To demonstrate his skill.

D.To arouse Sohrab’s interest.

3.How can the process of the author’s flying the kite be described?

A.It caused him great pain.

B.It was difficult but joyful.

C.It was in fact a piece of cake.

D.It was rather tiresome for him.

4.When Sohrab was asked to fly the kite,how did he respond?

A.He rejected the invitation.

B.He hesitated and gave it up.

C.He accepted it without thinking.

D.He struggled but decided to try eventually.

素材积累

1.他的目光从天空落到我身上。他看看风筝，又看了看我。

His eyes _______________________________,to the kite,then back.

2.人们开始三五成群聚在一起，手里端着茶杯，望向天空。

People had started to ______________________,teacups in hand,eyes glued to the sky.

3.我已经有很久，很多年没这么做过了，我不知自己会不会出洋相。

It had been so long,so many years since I’d done this,and I wondered if ________________________.

4.他的双手深深地插在他雨衣的口袋里。

___________________________ of his raincoat.

答案和解析

阅读小练：

1.D。细节理解题。根据第二段第二句“I remember the way your father checked the wind was to kick up dust with his sandal,see which way the wind blew it.”可知，索拉博的父亲测风向的办法是用他的拖鞋踢起尘土，看风将它吹到哪儿。由此可知，索拉博的父亲用拖鞋踢尘土的目的是为了测风向。故选D。

2.D。推理判断题。通读全文可知，作者多次提出让索拉博尝试放风筝。由此可知，作者说这句话的目的是为了激起索拉博放风筝的兴趣。故选D。

3.B。推理判断题。根据第八段第四句“...and I wondered if I’d make a spectacle of myself .”可知，作者担心会不会出洋相。以及最后一句“I hadn’t flown a kite in a quarter of a century,but suddenly I was twelve again and all the old instincts came rushing back.”可知，作者已经有四分之一个世纪没放过风筝了，但刹那之间，又回到了十二岁，过去那些感觉统统涌上心头。由此可知，整个过程有点困难，但又令人愉快。故选B。

4.D。推理判断题。根据第七段最后一句“But Sohrab was looking at a pair of kites tangling high above the trees.”可知，最初，索拉博只是看着两只高高飞在树顶之上的风筝。以及最后一段最后一句“He took the spool from me.”可知，他从我手里拿过了卷轴。通过对索拉博前后两次态度的对比可推知，他开始有过挣扎和纠结，但最后决定尝试 。故选D。

素材积累：

1.shifted from the sky to me 2.gather in clumps

3.I’d make a spectacle of myself 4.Hands dug deep in the pockets