Chapter4

Vocabulary

contrite  (con=共同；trit=rud 摩擦：全身全部摩擦—悔恨交加)  regretful 后悔的

impeccable：(pecc=斑点)： faultless, ferfect 无瑕疵的

原文：The police brought the somewhat contrite young men and the dead couple’s five-year-old orphan boy before my grandfather, who was a highly regarded judge and a man of impeccable reputation.

仿句：They come back with humble and contrite heart. 他们怀着谦卑并悔罪的心回来了。

           He sood before them, impeccable as ever.

plea: 请求

enlist in the army 从军

原文：After hearing the brothers’ account and their father’s plea for mercy, my grandfather ordered the two young men to go to Kandahar at once and enlist in the army for one year.

仿句：passionate pleas for help 急切寻求帮助

           Our nation calls for students in university to enlist in the army.

vehement: （veh= carry）（感情）激烈的，猛烈的

原文：Their father argued, but not too vehemently, and in the end, everyone agreed that the punishment had been perhaps harsh but fair.

仿句：Both women vehemently deny the charges against them.

mischief： prank 恶作剧，危害，损害

原文：Baba was always telling us about the mischief he and Ali used to cause, and Ali would shake his head and say, “But, Agha sahib, tell them who was the architect of the mischief and who the poor laborer?”

仿句：Peple make mischief on the first day of April every year.

perpetually 永恒地，终身地 everlastingly; eternally

原文：Never mind that to me, the face of Afghanistan is that of a boy with a thin-boned frame, a shaved head, and low-set ears, a boy with a Chinese doll face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile.

仿句：We belong perpetually to each other for life or for death. 我们永远相依为命，同生死，共患难。

tattered: rag

原文：He was American, just like the friendly, longhaired men and women we always saw hanging around in Kabul, dressed in their tattered, brightly colored shirts.

仿句： He was wearing a tattered coat.

marinate:  (marin= sea ) 用盐水泡

原文：Hassan stayed home and helped Ali with the day’s chores: hand-washing dirty clothes and hanging them to dry in the yard, sweeping the floors, buying fresh naan from the bazaar, marinating meat for dinner, watering the lawn.

仿句：The meat marinated in the brine for two days.

imbecile:  adj./n  unitelligent, stupid/ mentally handicapped person

仿句：I didn't call him an imbecile, I said it was imbecilic.

fleet-footed : 走路快的，快腿的

原文：But his favorite story, and mine, was “Rostam and Sohrab,” the tale of the great warrior Rostam and his fleet-footed horse, Rakhsh.

仿句： Scott is fleet-footed, so I can't keep up with him.

indecipherable： incomprehensible, 难以辨认的,破译不出的

原文：To him, the words on the page were a scramble of codes, indecipherable, mysterious.

仿句：He sent me an indecipherable message.

feigned 做作的，假的

原文：Baba nodded and gave a thin smile that conveyed little more than feigned interest.

仿句：He accepted the invitation with feigned enthusiasm.

buoy 支撑，鼓励

原文：Buoyed by Rahim Khan's note, I grabbed the story and hurried downstairs to the foyer where Ali and Hassan were sleeping on a mattress.

仿句：We were bouyed up by good news.

immerse in : 专注于

原文：Hassan was the perfect audience in many ways, totally immersed in the tale, his face shifting with the changing tones in the story.

仿写： The sculpter immersed in his works.

Shahnamah: 《列王纪》 伊朗作家菲尔杜西所作  主要分为三大故事：神话传说、勇士故事和历史故事

伊朗文学四大支柱：《列王纪》、哈菲兹的抒情诗集、萨迪全集、莫拉维叙事哲理诗集

Rostam and Sohrab: 《鲁斯塔姆与苏赫拉布》节选于菲尔杜西的史诗《列王纪》

Metaphor:

Words were secret doorways and I held all the keys.

Summary:

The first part of the story narrates Ali's background, and the funny things happened between Baba and Ali on the one hand and Amir and I on the other in our childhood. The words below can be the eye of the first part.

1."But in none of his stories did Baba ever refer to Ali as his friend."

2."The curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either."

However, a contrast made by the second part that Ali and Hassan's buoy to my first story. In Ali's mind, Baba is not only the master, but also is his friend, the same to Hassan when he treat me.

1.“That was the best story you’ve read me in a long time,” he said, still clapping.

2."Hassan was the perfect audience in many ways, totally immersed in the tale, his face shifting with the changing tones in the story."

3.“Mashallah, Amir agha. Bravo!” He was beaming.

4.“Some day, Inshallah, you will be a great writer,” Hassan said. “And people all over the world will read your stories.”

Adding to the letter from Ali, all these narrates demonstrate the good faith of Ali and Hassan.

But, looking at Amir's response, we can find that compliment is a necessity for human beings. Amir longing for Baba's praise, and when he received Ali's " Bravo", he was excited. And when Hassan said he will be a famous writer, he thought it's unbelievable.

When a child grows to maturity, he needs much support and encourage, and both of them come from his parents and teachers.

When it comes to the end of this chapter, we may think that Amir is  disguasting. However, when we stand on the point of him, we may say that it's not Amir's fault, human nature it is! Perhaps everyone dislikes that people under them give suggestions to them or criticize them. We want someone appreciate us. Because we set a location for ourselves. Once someone break up our self-location, we may frenetic. Sometimes, what we hate may be what we had. Therefore, we should treat everything with objective.