第20章
《THE CATCHER IN THE RYE(麦田里的守望者英文版)》章节:第20章,宠文网网友提供全文无弹窗免费在线阅读。!
he said.
"No idea. I just want to thank you for being such a goddam prince, that's all," I
said. I said it in this very sincere voice. "You're aces, Ackley kid," I said. "You know
that?"
"Wise guy. Someday somebody's gonna bash your--"
I didn't even bother to listen to him. I shut the damn door and went out in the
corridor.
Everybody was asleep or out or home for the week end, and it was very, very
quiet and depressing in the corridor. There was this empty box of Kolynos toothpaste
outside Leahy and Hoffman's door, and while I walked down towards the stairs, I kept
giving it a boot with this sheep-lined slipper I had on. What I thought I'd do, I thought I
might go down and see what old Mal Brossard was doing. But all of a sudden, I changed
my mind. All of a sudden, I decided what I'd really do, I'd get the hell out of Pencey--
right that same night and all. I mean not wait till Wednesday or anything. I just didn't
want to hang around any more. It made me too sad and lonesome. So what I decided to
do, I decided I'd take a room in a hotel in New York--some very inexpensive hotel and
all--and just take it easy till Wednesday. Then, on Wednesday, I'd go home all rested up
and feeling swell. I figured my parents probably wouldn't get old Thurmer's letter saying
I'd been given the ax till maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. I didn't want to go home or
anything till they got it and thoroughly digested it and all. I didn't want to be around
when they first got it. My mother gets very hysterical. She's not too bad after she gets
something thoroughly digested, though. Besides, I sort of needed a little vacation. My
nerves were shot. They really were.
Anyway, that's what I decided I'd do. So I went back to the room and turned on
the light, to start packing and all. I already had quite a few things packed. Old Stradlater
didn't even wake up. I lit a cigarette and got all dressed and then I packed these two
Gladstones I have. It only took me about two minutes. I'm a very rapid packer.
One thing about packing depressed me a little. I had to pack these brand-new ice
skates my mother had practically just sent me a couple of days before. That depressed
me. I could see my mother going in Spaulding's and asking the salesman a million dopy
questions--and here I was getting the ax again. It made me feel pretty sad. She bought me
the wrong kind of skates--I wanted racing skates and she bought hockey--but it made me
sad anyway. Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad.
After I got all packed, I sort of counted my dough. I don't remember exactly how
much I had, but I was pretty loaded. My grandmother'd just sent me a wad about a week
before. I have this grandmother that's quite lavish with her dough. She doesn't have all
her marbles any more--she's old as hell--and she keeps sending me money for my
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birthday about four times a year. Anyway, even though I was pretty loaded, I figured I
could always use a few extra bucks. You never know. So what I did was, I went down the
hail and woke up Frederick Woodruff, this guy I'd lent my typewriter to. I asked him how
much he'd give me for it. He was a pretty wealthy guy. He said he didn't know. He said
he didn't much want to buy it. Finally he bought it, though. It cost about ninety bucks,
and all he bought it for was twenty. He was sore because I'd woke him up.
When I was all set to go, when I had my bags and all, I stood for a while next to
the stairs and took a last look down the goddam corridor. I was sort of crying. I don't
know why. I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I
liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, "Sleep tight, ya morons!"