The Kite Runner Page #2

Can't you pay someone here to go?

I'll pay for it if it's a matter of money.

It's not about money.

You are a storyteller.

Some part of you

has always known this story.

Ali's first wife was from Jaghori.

What does that

have to do with anything?

After five years she left him childless,

and married a man from Khost.

She bore that man three daughters.

Do you understand

what I'm trying to tell you?

Ali was sterile.

But he had Hassan.

He raised Hassan. He didn't father him.

Your father loved you both

because you were both his sons,

- and Sohrab...

- No.

- He lied to me.

- He lied to both of you.

And now there is a way

to be good again.

"In the name of God,

the merciful, the compassionate,

"Amir agha, with my deepest respects.

"My wife and son and I

pray this letter finds you in fine health,

"and in the light of God's good graces.

"I'm hopeful that one day I will hold

one of your letters in my hands

"and read of your life in America.

"I am trying to learn English.

It's such a tricky language.

"But one day, agha. I miss your stories.

"I've included a picture of me

and my son, Sohrab.

"He's a good boy.

"Rahim Khan and I

taught him how to read and write,

"so he doesn't grow up

stupid like his father.

"And can he shoot

with that slingshot you gave me!

"But I fear for him, Amir agha.

"The Afghanistan of our youth

is long dead.

"Kindness is gone from the land,

and you cannot escape the killings.

"Always the killings.

"I dream that God will guide us

to a better day.

"I dream that my son will grow up

to be a good person,

"a free person,

"an important person.

"I dream that flowers will bloom

in the streets of Kabul again,

"and music will play

in the samovar houses,

"and kites will fly in the skies.

"And I dream that someday

you will return to Kabul

"to revisit the land of our childhood.

"If you do, you'll find

an old faithful friend waiting for you.

"May God be with you always.

"Hassan."

Hello?

Hi.

- Did I wake you up?

- No.

You all right?

I have to tell you a story.

What's his name?

Stop playing with it.

You know what the Taliban will do to

you if they see you are clean-shaven?

So what brings you back

to Afghanistan?

Come to sell off your father's land,

pocket the money?

I'm not here to sell anything.

I'm going to Kabul to find a boy.

A boy?

This boy?

This Hazara boy?

Yeah.

What he means to you?

His father meant a lot to me.

He's the man in the photo.

He's dead now.

It was a friend of yours?

He was my brother.

You've always been a tourist here.

You just didn't know it.

- What happened to the trees?

- The Russians chopped them down.

You know what they're doing?

He's selling his leg?

He can get good money for it.

Feed your kids for a couple of weeks.

- What's that smell?

- Diesel.

The power's always going off

so people use generators.

Pull over here.

Nothing that you remember

has survived.

Sohrab?

Sohrab?

Sohrab?

Sohrab?

- Missed you.

- Missed you, too.

You don't look so bad.

I don't think he's looked at me once.

Give him time.

Amir jan.

- Amir?

- It's all right.

You see, General Sahib,

my father slept with his servant's wife.

And she bore him a son named Hassan.

Hassan is dead now.

That boy sleeping in the other room

is Hassan's son.

He's my nephew.

That's what you tell people

when they ask.

And one more thing, General Sahib.

You will never again refer to him

as ''a Hazara boy'' in my presence.

He has a name, and it's Sohrab.

- It felt so real.

- Thank you.

My pleasure. Thank you.

Look. Look at that.

Excuse me a second.

I'd like that kite, please.

What are you doing,

you can't hold it right?

I'm sorry!

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