英文朗读：追风筝的人（节选）

追风筝的人

I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it' s wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.

我成为今天的我，是在1975年某个阴云密布的寒冷冬日，那年我12岁。我清楚地记得当时我趴在一堵坍塌的泥墙后面，窥视着那条小巷，旁边是结冰的小溪。许多年过去了，人们说陈年旧事可以被埋葬，然而我终于明白这是错的，因为往事会自行爬上来。回首往事，我意识到在过去的这26年里，自己始终在窥视着那荒芜的小径。

One day last summer, my friend Rahim Khan called from Pakistan. He asked me to come see him. Standing in the kitchen with the receiver to my ear, I knew it wasn't just Rahim Khan on the line. It was my past of unatoned sins. After I hung up, I went for a walk along Spreckels Lake on the northern edge of Golden Gate Park. The early afternoon sun sparkled on the water where dozens of miniature boats sailed, propelled by a crisp breeze. Then I glanced up and saw a pair of kites, red with long blue tails, soaring in the sky. They danced high above the trees on the west end of the park, over the windmills, floating side by side like a pair of eyes looking down on San Francisco, the city I now call home. And suddenly Hassan's voice whispered in my head: For you, a thousand times over. Hassan the harelipped kite runner.

去年夏季的一天，朋友拉辛汗从巴基斯坦打来电话，要我回去探望他。我站在厨房里，听筒贴在耳朵上，我知道电话线连着的，并不只是拉辛汗，还有我过去那些未曾赎还的罪行。挂了电话，我离开家门，到金门公园北边的斯普瑞柯湖边散步。晌午的骄阳照在波光粼粼的水面上，数十艘轻舟在和风的吹拂中漂行。我抬起头，望见两只红色的风筝，带着长长的蓝色尾巴，在天空中冉冉升起。它们舞动着，飞越公园西边的树林，飞越风车，并排漂浮着，如同一双眼睛俯视着旧金山，这个我现在当成家园的城市。突然间，哈桑的声音在我脑海中响起:为你，千千万万遍。哈桑，那个兔唇的哈桑，那个追风筝的人。

I sat on a park bench near a willow tree. I thought about something Rahim Khan said just before he hung up, almost as an after thought. There is a way to be good again. I looked up at those twin kites. I thought about Hassan. Thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul. I thought of the life f had lived until the winter of 1975 came and changed everything. And made me what I am today.

我在公园里柳树旁的长凳上坐下，想着拉辛汗在电话里说的那些事情，再三思量。那儿有再次成为好人的路。我抬头看了看那比翼齐飞的风筝。我忆起哈桑。我缅怀爸爸。我想念阿里。我思念喀布尔。我想起曾经的生活，想起1975年那个改变了一切的冬天。所有那一切造就了今天的我。

卡勒德·胡赛尼，1965年3月4日出生于阿富汗喀布尔市，后随父亲移居美国。胡赛尼毕业于加州大学圣地亚哥医学系，现居加州执业。《追风筝的人》是他的第一本小说，因书中角色刻画生动，故事情节震撼感人，出版后大获好评，获得各项新人奖，并跃居全美各大畅销排行榜榜首。

这是一个身在美国的阿富汗移民童年的往事，和他成人后的心灵救赎的故事。全书类似自传体小说，主人公的经历和背景跟作者本人的经历背景非常相似。主人公儿时出身阿富汗上流社会，父亲经商积德，在当地非常有声望。而主人公由于孩童的自私，非常想获得父亲全部的爱，总是因为父亲对仆人孩子的温情而心生嫉妒。主人公儿时性格懦弱，仆人的孩子勇敢忠诚，心态失衡的主人公后来用不光彩的手段陷害了仆人一家，导致仆人一家流落异乡。后来阿富汗爆发战争，主人公一家被迫出走美国。后来父亲的合伙人在临过世前鼓励主人公回阿富汗寻找当年仆人的小孩，并通过努力去平复自己多年的负罪感。已经是事业有成的主人公鼓起勇气，找到了老朋友。在得知惊人的秘密后，他赎罪般的努力.最终完成了一个男人的成长。