Baba’s father was a judge who had adopted the orpahan Ali (Hassan's father) and raised the boy along with his son (Baba). Baba never refers to Ali as a friend, and Amir realizes that he also never refers to Hassan as a friend. This is because they were conscious of their ethnic superiority.
Hassan and Ali are servants in Baba’s home. Amir goes to school, but Hassan does not, so Amir would often read to Hassan. His favourite story was "Rustom and Sohrab." This is significant because later on Hassan will name his son 'Sohrab.' They would, however, spend a lot of time together chasing the nomads, hurling stones from Hasan's slingshot and watching American movies. Once, Amir pretends to read but makes up his own story. When he finishes, Hassan claps and says it is the best story he has heard and remarks that he would love to hear stories like the one he just heard.
This remark of Hassan inspires Amir to write his first short story that night. Amir brings the story to Baba, but he is not interested, because Baba does not want his son to become a writer. Rahim Khan reads the story and writes Amir a note, encouraging him to write because he has a God-given talent, especially his understanding of irony. Amir wishes Rahim Khan was his father. He shares the story with Hassan who praises him by remarking "bravo" - the same remark which Rahim Khan also made after reading the story. Hassan encourages Amir saying that God willing he will become an internationally famous writer. However, Hassan is intelligent enough to spot a problem with the plot. Amir is astounded and slightly angry, because an illiterate, uneducated boy could find something he could not. At the end of this chapter Amir says that suddenly Afgahnistan changed forever.
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