They sat across from her, Jalil and his wives, at a long, darkbrown table. Between them, in the center of the table, was acrystal vase of fresh marigolds and a sweating pitcher¹ of water.
The red-haired woman who had introduced herself as Niloufar'smother, Afsoon, was sitting on Jalil's right. The other two,Khadija and Nargis, were on his left. The wives each had on aflimsy black scarf, which they wore not on their heads but tiedloosely around the neck like an afterthought. Mariam, whocould not imagine that they would wear black for Nana,pictured one of them suggesting it, or maybe Jalil, just beforeshe'd been summoned.
Afsoon poured water from the pitcher and put the glassbefore Mariam on a checkered² cloth coaster. "Only spring andit's warm already," she said. She made a fanning motion withher hand.
"Have you been comfortable?" Nargis, who had a small chinand curly black hair, asked. "We hope you've been comfortable.
This… ordeal…must be very hard for you. So difficult."The other two nodded. Mariam took in their pluckedeyebrows, the thin, tolerant smiles they were giving her. Therewas an unpleasant hum in Mariam's head. Her throat burned.
She drank some of the water.
Through the wide window behind Jalil, Mariam could see arow of flowering apple trees. On the wall beside the windowstood a dark wooden cabinet. In it was a clock, and a framedphotograph of Jalil and three young boys holding a fish. Thesun caught the sparkle in the fish's scales. Jalil and the boyswere grinning.
"Well," Afsoon began. "I-that is, we-have brought you herebecause we have some very good news to give you."Mariam looked up.
She caught a quick exchange of glances between the womenover Jalil, who slouched in his chair looking unseeingly at thepitcher on the table. It was Khadija, the oldest-looking of thethree, who turned her gaze to Mariam, and Mariam had theimpression that this duty too had been discussed, agreed upon,before they had called for her.
"You have a suitor," Khadija said.
Mariam's stomach fell. "A what?" she said through suddenlynumb lips.
"Akhasiegar. A suitor. His name is Rasheed," Khadija went on.
"He is a friend of a business acquaintance of your father's.
He's a Pashtun, from Kandahar originally, but he lives in Kabul,in the Deh-Mazang district, in a two-story house that he owns."Afsoon was nodding. "And he does speak Farsi, like us, likeyou. So you won't have to learn Pashto."Mariam's chest was tightening

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点击收听单词发音  

1 pitcher
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手
参考例句：
He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。 Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

2 checkered
adj.有方格图案的
参考例句：
The ground under the trees was checkered with sunlight and shade.林地光影交错。 He’d had a checkered past in the government.他过去在政界浮沉。

3 tightening
上紧，固定，紧密
参考例句：
Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。 It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

4 diplomats
n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人
参考例句：
These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。 The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 fixed
adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的
参考例句：
Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？ Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

6 enroll
v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol
参考例句：
I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。 They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

7 erase
v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹
参考例句：
He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。 Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

8 intimacies
亲密( intimacy的名词复数 )； 密切； 亲昵的言行； 性行为
参考例句：
He is exchanging intimacies with his friends. 他正在和密友们亲切地交谈。 The stiffness of the meeting soon gave way before their popular manners and more diffused intimacies. 他们的洒脱不羁和亲密气氛的增加很快驱散了会场上的拘谨。

9 perversity
n.任性；刚愎自用
参考例句：
She's marrying him out of sheer perversity.她嫁给他纯粹是任性。 The best of us have a spice of perversity in us.在我们最出色的人身上都有任性的一面。

10 bruised
[医]青肿的，瘀紫的
参考例句：
his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子 She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

11 groan
vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音
参考例句：
The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。 The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

12 sleek
adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢
参考例句：
Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。 The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

13 sinuous
adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的
参考例句：
The river wound its sinuous way across the plain.这条河蜿蜒曲折地流过平原。 We moved along the sinuous gravel walks,with the great concourse of girls and boys.我们沿着曲折的石径,随着男孩女孩汇成的巨流一路走去。

14 rattling
adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词
参考例句：
This book is a rattling good read. 这是一本非常好的读物。 At that same instant,a deafening explosion set the windows rattling. 正在这时，一声震耳欲聋的爆炸突然袭来，把窗玻璃震得当当地响。