Chapter 9.

It was early evening the following day by the time theyarrived at Rasheed's house.
"We're in Deh-Mazang," he said. They were outside, on thesidewalk. He had her suitcase in one hand and was unlockingthe wooden front gate with the other. "In the south and westpart of the city. The zoo is nearby, and the university too."Mariam nodded. Already she had learned that, though shecould understand him, she had to pay close attention when hespoke. She was unaccustomed to the Kabuli dialect of his Farsi,and to the underlying¹ layer of Pashto accent, the language ofhis native Kandahar. He, on the other hand, seemed to haveno trouble understanding her Herati Farsi.
Mariam quickly surveyed the narrow, unpaved road alongwhich Rasheed's house was situated³. The houses on this roadwere crowded together and shared common walls, with small,walled yards in front buffering⁴ them from the street. Most ofthe homes had flat roofs and were made of burned brick,some of mud the same dusty color as the mountains thatringed the city. Gutters⁵ separated the sidewalk from the roadon both sides and flowed with muddy water. Mariam saw smallmounds of flyblown garbage littering the street here and there.
Rasheed's house had two stories. Mariam could see that it hadonce been blue.
When Rasheed opened the front gate, Mariam found herselfin a small, unkempt yard where yellow grass struggled up inthin patches. Mariam saw an outhouse on the right, in a sideyard, and, on the left, a well with a hand pump, a row ofdying saplings. Near the well was a toolshed, and a bicycleleaning against the wall.
"Your father told me you like to fish," Rasheed said as theywere crossing the yard to the house. There was no backyard,Mariam saw. "There are valleys north of here. Rivers with lotsoffish. Maybe I'll take you someday."He unlocked the front door and let her into the house.
Rasheed's house was much smaller than Jalil's, but, comparedto Mariam and Nana'skolba, it was a mansion⁶. There was ahallway, a living room downstairs, and a kitchen in which heshowed her pots and pans and a pressure cooker and akeroseneLshiop. The living room had a pistachio green leathercouch. It had a rip down its side that had been clumsily sewntogether. The walls were bare. There was a table, two cane-seatchairs, two folding chairs, and, in the corner, a black, cast-ironstove.
Mariam stood in the middle of the living room, lookingaround. At thekolba, she could touch the ceiling with herfingertips. She could lie in her cot and tell the time of day bythe angle of sunlight pouring through the window. She knewhow far her door would open before its hinges creaked. Sheknew every splinter and crack in each of the thirty woodenfloorboards. Now all those familiar things were gone. Nana wasdead, and she was here, in a strange city, separated from thelife she'd known by valleys and chains of snow-cappedmountains and entire deserts. She was in a stranger's house,with all its different rooms and its smell of cigarette smoke,with its unfamiliar⁷ cupboards full of unfamiliar utensils⁸, itsheavy, dark green curtains, and a ceiling she knew she couldnot reach. The space of it suffocated⁹ Mariam. Pangs¹⁰ of longingbore into her, for Nana, for Mullah Faizullah, for her old life.
Then she was crying.
"What's this crying about?" Rasheed said crossly. He reachedinto the pocket of his pants, uncurled Mariam's fingers, andpushed a handkerchief into her palm. He lit himself a cigaretteand leaned against the wall. He watched as Mariam pressedthe handkerchief to her eyes.
"Done?"Mariam nodded.
"Sure?""Yes."He took her by the elbow then and led her to the living-roomwindow.
"This window looks north," he said, tapping the glass with thecrooked nail of his index finger. "That's the Asmai mountaindirectly in front of us-see?-and, to the left, is the Ali Abadmountain. The university is at the foot of it. Behind us, east,you can't see from here, is the Shir Darwaza mountain. Everyday, at noon, they shoot a cannon¹¹ from it. Stop your crying,now. I mean it."Mariam dabbed¹² at her eyes.
"That's one thing I can't stand," he said, scowling¹³, "the soundof a woman crying. I'm sorry. I have no patience for it.""I want to go home," Mariam said.
Rasheed sighed irritably¹⁴. A puff¹⁵ of his smoky breath hitMariam's face. "I won't take that personally. This time."Again, he took her by the elbow, and led her upstairs.
There was a narrow, dimly lit hallway there and twobedrooms. The door to the bigger one was ajar. Through itMariam could see that it, like the rest of the house, wassparsely furnished: bed in the corner, with a brown blanketand a pillow, a closet, a dresser. The walls were bare exceptfor a small mirror. Rasheed closed the door.
"This is my room."He said she could take the guest room. "I hope you don'tmind. I'm accustomed to sleeping alone."Mariam didn't tell him how relieved she was, at least aboutthis.
The room that was to be Mariam's was much smaller thanthe room she'd stayed in at Jalil's house. It had a bed, an old,gray-brown dresser, a small closet. The window looked into theyard and, beyond that, the street below. Rasheed put hersuitcase in a corner.
Mariam sat on the bed.
"You didn't notice," he said He was standing² in the doorway,stooping a little to fit.
"Look on the windowsill. You know what kind they are? I putthem there before leaving for Herat."Only now Mariam saw a basket on the sill. White tuberosesspilled from its sides.
"You like them? They please you?""Yes.""You can thank me then.""Thank you. I'm sorry.Tashakor -""You're shaking. Maybe I scare you. Do I scare you? Are youfrightened of me?"Mariam was not looking at him, but she could hear somethingslyly playful in these questions, like a needling. She quicklyshook her head in what she recognized as her first lie in theirmarriage.
"No? That's good, then. Good for you. Well, this is your homenow. You're going to like it here. You'll see. Did I tell you wehave electricity? Most days and every night?"He made as if to leave. At the door, he paused, took a longdrag, crinkled his eyes against the smoke. Mariam thought hewas going to say something. But he didn't. He closed the door,left her alone with her suitcase and her flowers.

1 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

4 buffering   

缓冲（作用）； 减震； 阻尼； 隔离

参考例句：

• Fig. 3-13 gives a suggested buffering arrangement for the data lines. 图3―13示出了一种缓冲数据线的方案。
• It requires buffering for most applications. 在大多数使用场合，它都需要缓冲。

5 gutters   

（路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地

参考例句：

• Gutters lead the water into the ditch. 排水沟把水排到这条水沟里。
• They were born, they grew up in the gutters. 他们生了下来，以后就在街头长大。

6 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

7 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

8 utensils   

器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物

参考例句：

• Formerly most of our household utensils were made of brass. 以前我们家庭用的器皿多数是用黄铜做的。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

9 suffocated   

（使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气

参考例句：

• Many dogs have suffocated in hot cars. 许多狗在热烘烘的汽车里给闷死了。
• I nearly suffocated when the pipe of my breathing apparatus came adrift. 呼吸器上的管子脱落时，我差点给憋死。

10 pangs   

突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛

参考例句：

• She felt sudden pangs of regret. 她突然感到痛悔不已。
• With touching pathos he described the pangs of hunger. 他以极具感伤力的笔触描述了饥饿的痛苦。

11 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

12 dabbed   

（用某物）轻触( dab的过去式和过去分词 )； 轻而快地擦掉（或抹掉）； 快速擦拭； （用某物）轻而快地涂上（或点上）…

参考例句：

• She dabbed her eyes and blew her nose. 她轻轻擦了几下眼睛，擤了擤鼻涕。
• He dabbed at the spot on his tie with a napkin. 他用餐巾快速擦去领带上的污点。

13 scowling   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里，穿着灰色的衣服，漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

14 irritably   

ad.易生气地

参考例句：

• He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了，暴躁地斥责孩子们。
• On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事，他妻子大声斥责，令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

15 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。