My grandfather had a different dream for his youngest son – he longed for him to be a doctor – and as one of just two sons, he expected him to contribute to the household budget. My father’s elder brother Saeed Ramzan had worked for years as a teacher at a local school. He and his family lived with my grandfather, and whenever he saved up enough of his salary, they built a small concrete hujra at the side of the house for guests. He brought logs back from the mountains for firewood, and after teaching he would work in the fields where our family had a few buffaloes. He also helped Baba with heavy tasks like clearing snow from the roof.

对于父亲的未来，祖父和他有着不同的设想--他希望儿子能成为一位医生。父亲是家里仅有的两个儿子之一，祖父希望他能够帮家里负担生计。父亲的哥哥赛义德.拉姆赞已经在当地的公立学校当了好多年老师。他们一家子和我祖父住在一起。每当大伯存够一小笔钱的时候，他们就在屋子旁增建一间小小的会堂。学校下课后，大伯会到农场里做事，从山上采集木柴回来生火，照顾家里的那几头水牛，也帮祖父做那些比如清除屋顶上积雪一类的粗活。

When my father was offered a place for his A Levels at Jehanzeb College, which is the best further education institution in Swat, my grandfather refused to pay for his living expenses. His own education in Delhi had been free – he had lived like a talib in the mosques, and local people had provided the students with food and clothes. Tuition at Jehanzeb was free but my father needed money to live on. Pakistan doesn’t have student loans and he had never even set foot in a bank. The college was in Saidu Sharif, the twin town of Mingora, and he had no family there with whom he could stay. There was no other college in Shangla, and if he didn’t go to college, he would never be able to move out of the village and realise his dream.

大学入学考后，父亲收到杰哈兹布大学的入学许可，那可是斯瓦特地区最好的大学。可祖父却不愿意支付他的生活开销。祖父在德里念书是免费的--他住在清真寺里，像宗教学生一般度日，当地人为他们这些学生提供饮食和衣着用品。杰哈兹布大学是免学费的，但父亲需要生活费。巴基斯坦没有学生贷款，他也从没踏进过银行一步。大学位于赛杜.沙里夫--明戈拉的姐妹城，那里也没有任何亲戚家可以借住。如果他不能去杰哈兹布，香拉也没有其他大学了。而如果他不能去念大学，他就再也没有机会离开村子实现梦想了。

My father was at his wits’ end and wept with frustration. His beloved mother had died just before he graduated from school. He knew if she had been alive, she would have been on his side. He pleaded with his father but to no avail. His only hope was his brother-in-law in Karachi. My grandfather suggested that he might take my father in so he could go to college there. The couple would soon be arriving in the village as they were coming to offer condolences after my grandmother’s death.

当时，父亲已智穷计尽，走投无路。亲爱的祖母刚在他毕业前夕过世。他知道如果祖母还活着，一定会支持他的决定。他企图说服祖父，却徒劳无功。他只能把唯一的希望寄托在住在卡拉奇的姐夫身上。祖父说如果他们愿意收留父亲，他就可以去那里念大学。父亲祈祷姐姐、姐夫能够答应。他们夫妻两人为了悼念祖母，已经在赶回村子的路上了。

My father prayed they would agree, but my grandfather asked them as soon as they arrived, exhausted after the three-day bus journey, and his son-in-law refused outright. My grandfather was so furious he would not speak to them for their entire stay. My father felt he had lost his chance and would end up like his brother teaching in a local school. The school where Uncle Khan dada taught was in the mountain village of Sewoor, about an hour and a half ‘s climb from their house. It didn’t even have its own building. They used the big hall in the mosque, where they taught more than a hundred children ranging from five to fifteen years old.

祖父在他们刚结束三天的车程、筋疲力尽地抵达村子的当下，就开口提出这个请求。他的女婿当即就拒绝了。祖父震怒之下，在他们拜访期间，竟然一句话都不跟他们说。父亲认为自己已经失去最后的机会了，终将和他的哥哥一样，在当地的学校里教书。赛义德大伯任教的学校在一个名叫瑟雾的山中村庄，每天要走大概一个半小时的山路才能抵达。学校没有教室。老师们在清真寺的穿堂里，为一百多名五到十五岁之间的孩子们上课。

The people in Sewoor were Gujars, Kohistanis and Mians. We regard Mians as noble or landed people, but Gujars and Kohistanis are what we call hilly people, peasants who look after buffaloes. Their children are usually dirty and they are looked down upon by Pashtuns, even if they are poor themselves. ‘They are dirty, black and stupid, ’ people would say. ‘Let them be illiterate.’ It is often said that teachers don’t like to be posted to such remote schools and generally make a deal with their colleagues so that only one of them has to go to work each day. If the school has two teachers, each goes in for three days and signs the other in. If it has three teachers, each goes in for just two days. Once there, all they do is keep the children quiet with a long stick as they cannot imagine education will be any use to them.

住在瑟雾的是古扎尔人、科希斯坦人和米安人。对我们来说，米安人算是文明人，而古扎尔人和科希斯坦人则被我们称为“山番”，大多是照顾水牛的乡下人。他们的孩童往往看起来脏兮兮的。虽然村民们自己也很穷，仍会看不起这些孩子。“他们又脏又黑又笨，”他们会这么说，“就让他们当文盲好了。”老师们都很不愿意被派驻到这么偏远的学校，所以他们彼此间会达成协议，每天只派一位老师去为学生们上课。如果学校里有两位老师，就由其中一位去教课，然后帮另一位签到。如果有三位老师，那么他们每人每周就只需要去学校两天。而所谓上课，也就是老师用教鞭让学生保持安静而已，因为大家一致认为教育对这些孩子不会有什么作用。