Winter.

Here is what I do on the first day of snowfall every year: I step?out of the house early in the morning, still in my pajamas, hugging?my arms against the chill. I find the driveway, my father’s car, the?walls, the trees, the rooftops, and the hills buried under a foot of?snow. I smile. The sky is seamless and blue, the snow so white my?eyes burn. I shovel a handful of the fresh snow into my mouth, listen to the muffled stillness broken only by the cawing of crows. I?walk down the front steps, barefoot, and call for Hassan to come?out and see.

shovel verb: to move with a shovel

鏟起；用鏟子移動或移開

Would you give me a?hand?shovelling the?snow?away from the?garage?door?你能幫我把車庫門前的雪鏟走嗎？

For a few unfortunate kids, winter did not spell the end of the?school year. There were the so-called voluntary winter courses. No?kid I knew ever volunteered to go to these classes; parents, of?course, did the volunteering for them. Fortunately for me, Baba?was not one of them. I remember one kid, Ahmad, who lived across?the street from us. His father was some kind of doctor, I think.

Ahmad had epilepsy and always wore a wool vest and thick black-rimmed glasses—he was one of Assef’s regular victims. Every?morning, I watched from my bedroom window as their Hazara servant shoveled snow from the driveway, cleared the way for the?black Opel. I made a point of watching Ahmad and his father get?into the car, Ahmad in his wool vest and winter coat, his schoolbag?filled with books and pencils. I waited until they pulled away,?turned the corner, then I slipped back into bed in my flannel pajamas. I pulled the blanket to my chin and watched the snowcapped?hills in the north through the window. Watched them until I?drifted back to sleep.

epilepsy noun: a?condition?of the?brain?thatcauses?a?person?to?becomeunconscious?for?short?periodsor to?move?in a?violent?and uncontrolled way

癲癇，羊癇瘋，羊角風(fēng)

She can't?drive?because she?suffersfrom/has?epilepsy.她不能開車，因為她患有癲癇。

rim verb: to be round or along the?edgeof something

環(huán)繞（某物的邊緣）；形成…的邊沿；給…鑲邊

The?martini?glass?was rimmed?withsugar.杯口上沾了一圈糖。

flannel noun: a?light?cloth?usually made from?wool, used?especially?for making?clothes

法蘭絨

snowcapped adj. : 頂上積雪的

I?could?see?snowcapped?mountains?glittering?in?the?distance.

我可以看見冰雪蓋頂?shù)母呱皆谶h處閃閃發(fā)光。

I loved wintertime in Kabul. I loved it for the soft pattering of?snow against my window at night, for the way fresh snow?crunched under my black rubber boots, for the warmth of the?cast-iron stove as the wind screeched through the yards, the?streets. But mostly because, as the trees froze and ice sheathed?the roads, the chill between Baba and me thawed a little. And the?reason for that was the kites. Baba and I lived in the same house,?but in different spheres of existence. Kites were the one paper-thin slice of intersection between those spheres.

crunch verb: to?crush?hard?food?loudlybetween the?teeth, or to make asound?as if something is beingcrushed?or?broken

嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼；嘎吱作響

She was crunching noisily?on?anapple.她嘎吱嘎吱地嚼著蘋果。

screech verb?: to make an?unpleasant,?loud, high?noise

尖叫；發(fā)出刺耳聲

She was screeching at him at the?topof her?voice.她沖他聲嘶力竭地尖叫著。

Every winter, districts in Kabul held a kite-fighting tournament. And if you were a boy living in Kabul, the day of the tournament was undeniably the highlight of the cold season. I never slept?the night before the tournament. I’d roll from side to side, make?shadow animals on the wall, even sit on the balcony in the dark, a?blanket wrapped around me. I felt like a soldier trying to sleep in?the trenches the night before a major battle. And that wasn’t so far?off. In Kabul, fighting kites was a little like going to war.

far-off adjective: A time that is far-off, is a longtime before or after thepresent.

（時間）遙遠的，久遠的

some?point?in the far-off?future遙遠未來的某個時刻

As with any war, you had to ready yourself for battle. For a?while, Hassan and I used to build our own kites. We saved our?weekly allowances in the fall, dropped the money in a little porcelain horse Baba had brought one time from Herat. When the?winds of winter began to blow and snow fell in chunks, we undid?the snap under the horse’s belly. We went to the bazaar and?bought bamboo, glue, string, and paper. We spent hours every day shaving bamboo for the center and cross spars, cutting the thin?tissue paper which made for easy dipping and recovery. And then,?of course, we had to make our own string, or tar. If the kite was?the gun, then tar, the glass-coated cutting line, was the bullet in?the chamber. We’d go out in the yard and feed up to five hundred?feet of string through a mixture of ground glass and glue. We’d?then hang the line between the trees, leave it to dry. The next day,?we’d wind the battle-ready line around a wooden spool. By the?time the snow melted and the rains of spring swept in, every boy?in Kabul bore telltale horizontal gashes on his fingers from a?whole winter of fighting kites. I remember how my classmates and?I used to huddle, compare our battle scars on the first day of?school. The cuts stung and didn’t heal for a couple of weeks, but I?didn’t mind. They were reminders of a beloved season that had?once again passed too quickly. Then the class captain would blow?his whistle and we’d march in a single file to our classrooms, longing for winter already, greeted instead by the specter of yet?another long school year.

undid the snap under the horse's belly結(jié)合上一句，應(yīng)該是把馬形狀的陶瓷存錢罐的塞子拔開，取出存的零錢

spar noun： a?strong?pole,?especially?one used as a?mast?to?hold?the?sailon a?ship

（尤指船上用作桅桿的）圓材

dip verb： to put something into aliquid?for a?short?time

涮，浸，蘸

Dip the?fish?in?the?batter, then?drop?it into the?hot?oil.先把魚在面糊中浸一下，然后再放進熱油中。

spool noun： a tube-shaped?object?with?topand?bottom?edges?that?stickout and around which a?lengthof?thread,?wire,?film, etc. iswrapped?in?order?to?store?it（線、金屬絲、膠片等的）卷軸，卷盤

a spool?of?cotton/film一軸棉線／一卷膠片

telltale noun： a?person,?especially?a?child, who secretly?tells?someone inauthority,?especially?a?teacher, that someone?else?has done something?bad, often in?orderto?cause?trouble

告密者，打小報告者（尤指向老師告狀的小孩）

gash noun： a?long,?deep?cut,?especially?in the?skin

（尤指皮膚上）深長的傷口，大而深的切口

telltale adjective： allowing?a?secret?to?becomeknown

泄露秘密的

She?found?lipstick?on his?shirts?- the telltale?sign?that he was having anaffair.她發(fā)現(xiàn)他的襯衫上有口紅印，這說明他有外遇。

Then the class captain would blow his whistle and we’d march in a single file to our classrooms, longing for winter already,greeted instead by the specter of yet?another long school year. 之后班長會吹個口哨，然后我們會排成一列回教室，剛回去就開始想念冬天了，但是相反迎接我們的是陰魂不散的另一個漫長的學(xué)年。

But it quickly became apparent that Hassan and I were better?kite fighters than kite makers. Some flaw or other in our design?always spelled its doom. So Baba started taking us to Saifo’s to?buy our kites. Saifo was a nearly blind old man who was a moochi?by profession—a shoe repairman. But he was also the city’s most?famous kite maker, working out of a tiny hovel on Jadeh Maywand,?the crowded street south of the muddy banks of the Kabul River. I?remember you had to crouch to enter the prison cell–sized store,?and then had to lift a trapdoor to creep down a set of wooden?steps to the dank basement where Saifo stored his coveted kites.

Baba would buy us each three identical kites and spools of glass?string. If I changed my mind and asked for a bigger and fancier?kite, Baba would buy it for me—but then he’d buy it for Hassan?too. Sometimes I wished he wouldn’t do that. Wished he’d let me?be the favorite.

hovel noun： a?small?home?that is?dirty?and in?bad?condition

破敗的小屋；骯臟簡陋的住所

crouch verb： to?bend?your?knees?and?loweryourself so that you are?closeto the?ground?and?leaningforward?slightly

蹲下，蹲伏；蜷縮

She?saw?him coming and crouched(down)?behind a?bush.看見他來了，她便蜷伏在一簇灌木叢后面。

臥虎藏龍 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon（老是記得這個片名，但是看到crouch又老是眼生，還是看的太少啦）

trapdoor noun： a?small?door?in a?ceiling?or floor

（天花板或地板上的）活板門，地板門There's a trapdoor?into?the?attic.有扇活板門通向閣樓。

dank adjective： (especially?of?buildings?and?air)wet,?cold, and?unpleasant

（尤指建筑物或空氣）陰冷潮濕的，濕冷的

In the?cathedral?vaults?the?air?was dank and?stale.大教堂的地窖里空氣濕冷并帶有霉味。

covet verb： to?want?to have something very much,?especially?something that?belongs?to someone?else

覬覦，垂涎（尤指他人之物）；貪求，渴望

She always coveted?power?but neverquite?achieved?it.她一直貪求權(quán)力，但從未得逞。

The kite-fighting tournament was an old winter tradition in?Afghanistan. It started early in the morning on the day of the contest and didn’t end until only the winning kite flew in the sky—I?remember one year the tournament outlasted daylight. People?gathered on sidewalks and roofs to cheer for their kids. The?streets filled with kite fighters, jerking and tugging on their lines,?squinting up to the sky, trying to gain position to cut the opponent’s line. Every kite fighter had an assistant—in my case, Hassan—who held the spool and fed the line.

One time, a bratty Hindi kid whose family had recently moved?into the neighborhood told us that in his hometown, kite fighting?had strict rules and regulations. “You have to play in a boxed area?and you have to stand at a right angle to the wind,” he said?proudly. “And you can’t use aluminum to make your glass string.”

tug verb： to?pull?something?quickly?and usually with a lot of?force

（用力）拉，拖，拽

Tom tugged?at?his mother's?arm.湯姆拽著媽媽的胳膊。

squint verb： to?partly?close?your?eyes?inorder?to?see?more?clearly

瞇起眼看

The?sun?was?shining?straight?in hereyes?and made her squint.陽光刺眼，她不得不瞇起了眼睛。

bratty adjective： a bratty?child?or?person behaves?badly,?especially because they?expect?to get everything that they?want:

Hassan and I looked at each other. Cracked up. The Hindi kid?would soon learn what the British learned earlier in the century,?and what the Russians would eventually learn by the late 1980s:?that Afghans are an independent people. Afghans cherish custom?but abhor rules. And so it was with kite fighting. The rules were?simple: No rules. Fly your kite. Cut the opponents. Good luck.

cracked up：The whole audience cracked up.全體聽眾哄堂大笑。忍受不了了

For kite runners, the most coveted prize was the last fallen?kite of a winter tournament. It was a trophy of honor, something?to be displayed on a mantle for guests to admire. When the sky?cleared of kites and only the final two remained, every kite runner readied himself for the chance to land this prize. He positioned himself at a spot that he thought would give him a head?start. Tense muscles readied themselves to uncoil. Necks craned.?Eyes crinkled. Fights broke out. And when the last kite was cut,?all hell broke loose.

crinkle verb： to become covered in manysmall lines and folds, or tocause something to do this

（使）變皺，（使）起皺

She crinkled?(up)?her?nose?indistaste.她厭惡地皺了皺鼻子。

“Hassan! Wait!” I yelled, my breathing hot and ragged.?He whirled around, motioned with his hand. “This way!” he?called before dashing around another corner. I looked up, saw that?the direction we were running was opposite to the one the kite?was drifting.

“We’re losing it! We’re going the wrong way!” I cried out.

“Trust me!” I heard him call up ahead. I reached the corner?and saw Hassan bolting along, his head down, not even looking at?the sky, sweat soaking through the back of his shirt. I tripped over?a rock and fell—I wasn’t just slower than Hassan but clumsier?too; I’d always envied his natural athleticism. When I staggered to?my feet, I caught a glimpse of Hassan disappearing around?another street corner. I hobbled after him, spikes of pain battering?my scraped knees.

ragged adjective: suffering from exhaustion or stress he looked a little ragged, a little shadowy beneath the eyes.

bolt 查到的名詞是門閂或者閃電，沒有對應(yīng)閃電的動詞。但是我認為這里作者把bolt當動詞使用了，意為像閃電一樣快地移動。

trip verb： ?to?lose?your?balanceafter?knocking?your?footagainst something when you are?walking?or?running, or tocause?someone to do this

絆，絆倒

He tripped and?fell?down,?grazing?hisknee.他絆了個跟頭，擦傷了膝蓋。

stagger verb： ?to?walk?ormove?with?difficulty?as if you are going to?fall

搖晃；蹣跚；踉踉蹌蹌地走

After he was?attacked, he?managed?to stagger?to?the?phone?and?call?forhelp.他遇襲后，跌跌撞撞地走到電話機旁打電話求救。

hobble verb： ?to?walk?in anawkward?way, usually because the?feet?or?legs?are?injured

一瘸一拐地行走，跛行

The last?time?I?saw?Rachel she was hobbling around with a?stick.上次我見到雷切爾的時候，她拄著拐杖一瘸一拐的。

（這個詞昨天有，又查了一遍）

spike noun： a?narrow,?thin?shape?with asharp?point?at one end, or something,?especially?a?pieceof?metal, with this?shape

尖頭，尖刺；（尤指金屬的）尖狀物

There were?large?spikes on?top?of therailings?to?stop?people?climbing?over them.欄桿頂端裝著粗大的尖釘，防止有人攀越。

scrape?verb： to (cause?to)rub?against a?surface?so thatslight?damage?or an?unpleasantnoise?is?produced

刮壞；擦傷；蹭破

Jackie?fell?over and scraped her?knee(on?the?pavement).杰基跌倒了，（在路面上）擦傷了膝蓋。

I saw we had ended up on a rutted dirt road near Isteqlal Middle School. There was a field on one side where lettuce grew in?the summer, and a row of sour cherry trees on the other. I found

Hassan sitting cross-legged at the foot of one of the trees, eating?from a fistful of dried mulberries.

“What are we doing here?” I panted, my stomach roiling with?nausea.

He smiled. “Sit with me, Amir agha.”

I dropped next to him, lay on a thin patch of snow, wheezing.

“You’re wasting our time. It was going the other way, didn’t you

see?”

Hassan popped a mulberry in his mouth. “It’s coming,” he?said. I could hardly breathe and he didn’t even sound tired.

rutted adjective： If a surface is rutted, it hasdeep narrow marks in it made by wheels.

有車轍的

a?deeply/badly?rutted?road一條被軋出了深深車轍／滿是車轍坑洼不平的道路

pop verb：? to put or take something quickly

迅速地拿；快速地放（pop的意思有很多，我查的是劍橋詞典，這個釋義較為接近。應(yīng)該為塞一口桑葚到嘴里）

If you pop the?pizza?in?the?oven?now, it'll be?ready?in 15?minutes.如果你現(xiàn)在把比薩餅放在爐子里，15分鐘就好了。

“How can you know?”

He turned to me. A few sweat beads rolled from his bald scalp.

“Would I ever lie to you, Amir agha?”

Suddenly I decided to toy with him a little. “I don’t know.

Would you?”

“I’d sooner eat dirt,” he said with a look of indignation.

“Really? You’d do that?”?He threw me a puzzled look. “Do what?”

indignation noun ：anger about a situation that you think is wrong or not fair

（由錯誤或不公正的事激起的）憤怒；憤慨

His eyes searched my face for a long time. We sat there, two?boys under a sour cherry tree, suddenly looking, really looking, at?each other. That’s when it happened again: Hassan’s face?changed. Maybe not changed, not really, but suddenly I had the?feeling I was looking at two faces, the one I knew, the one that?was my first memory, and another, a second face, this one lurking?just beneath the surface. I’d seen it happen before—it always?shook me up a little. It just appeared, this other face, for a fraction?of a moment, long enough to leave me with the unsettling feeling?that maybe I’d seen it someplace before. Then Hassan blinked and?it was just him again. Just Hassan.

lurk verb：? (of anunpleasant feeling or quality) to exist although it is not always noticeable

（不好的感覺或特征）潛伏，潛藏

Danger?lurks around every?corner.每個角落里都潛伏著危險。

I didn’t know what to think. Or what to say. Was that what it?would take? Had he just slipped me a key? I was a good kite?fighter. Actually, a very good one. A few times, I’d even come close?to winning the winter tournament—once, I’d made it to the final?three. But coming close wasn’t the same as winning, was it? Baba?hadn’t come close. He had won because winners won and?everyone else just went home. Baba was used to winning, winning?at everything he set his mind to. Didn’t he have a right to expect?the same from his son? And just imagine. If I did win . . .

slipped me a key是給我一把鑰匙？不太理解這句

Baba smoked his pipe and talked. I pretended to listen. But I?couldn’t listen, not really, because Baba’s casual little comment?had planted a seed in my head: the resolution that I would win?that winter’s tournament. I was going to win. There was no other?viable option. I was going to win, and I was going to run that last?kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once?and for all that his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost?in this house would finally be over. I let myself dream: I imagined?conversation and laughter over dinner instead of silence broken?only by the clinking of silverware and the occasional grunt. I envisioned us taking a Friday drive in Baba’s car to Paghman, stopping?on the way at Ghargha Lake for some fried trout and potatoes.

We’d go to the zoo to see Marjan the lion, and maybe Baba?wouldn’t yawn and steal looks at his wristwatch all the time.

Maybe Baba would even read one of my stories. I’d write him a?hundred if I thought he’d read one. Maybe he’d call me Amir jan?like Rahim Khan did. And maybe, just maybe, I would finally be?pardoned for killing my mother.

viable adjective： ?able?to?work?as?intended?orable?to?succeed

可以實施的；可望成功的

In?order?to make the?company?viable, it will?unfortunately?be?necessary?toreduce?staffing?levels.很遺憾，為使公司繼續(xù)運轉(zhuǎn)下去，將不得不裁員。

yawn verb?：to?open?the?mouth?wideand take a lot of?air?into thelungs?and?slowly?send?it out, usually when?tired?or?bored

打哈欠

I can't?stop?yawning - I must be?tired.我一個勁兒打哈欠——肯定是累了。

I killed Hassan’s ten of diamonds, played him two jacks and a?six. Next door, in Baba’s study, Baba and Rahim Khan were discussing business with a couple of other men—one of them I recognized as Assef’s father. Through the wall, I could hear the?scratchy sound of Radio Kabul News.

Hassan killed the six and picked up the jacks. On the radio,?Daoud Khan was announcing something about foreign investments.

“He says someday we’ll have television in Kabul,” I said.

“Who?”

“Daoud Khan, you ass, the president.”

Hassan giggled. “I heard they already have it in Iran,” he said.?I sighed. “Those Iranians . . .” For a lot of Hazaras, Iran represented a sanctuary of sorts—I guess because, like Hazaras, most?Iranians were Shi’a Muslims. But I remembered something my?teacher had said that summer about Iranians, that they were grinning smooth talkers who patted you on the back with one hand?and picked your pocket with the other. I told Baba about that and?he said my teacher was one of those jealous Afghans, jealous?because Iran was a rising power in Asia and most people around?the world couldn’t even find Afghanistan on a world map. “It hurts?to say that,” he said, shrugging. “But better to get hurt by the truth?than comforted with a lie.”

scratchy adjective: 帶沙沙的雜音的making a rough, unpleasant sound like sth being scratched across a surface

sanctuary noun:? protection or asafe place, especially for someone or something beingchased or hunted庇護，保護；避難所，庇護所

Illegal?immigrants?found/sought/tooksanctuary in a?local?church.非法移民把當?shù)氐囊蛔烫卯斪鞅茈y所。

I killed his king and played him my final card, the ace of?spades. He had to pick it up. I’d won, but as I shuffled for a new?game, I had the distinct suspicion that Hassan had let me win.

spade noun:? a playing card from the suitof spades

（紙牌中的）黑桃Don't you have any spades?

Summary

Winter had come in the book, the most exciting season for kids because of the vacation and a variety of activities. More significantly, for Amir winter was the time to fly kite: maybe the only activity that Amir and his father were both interested in. Apart from flying kite, running for the last falling kite was also a great honor during the tournament. It is the first time that this book mentions the kite runner.

Coincidently, Hassan was endowed with the unique talent to catch the kite. I reckon this crucial information would indicate the main event or plot for the book. And Amir’s desire to win this game to please his father might led to some unexpected aftermath. Let’s wait and see.