第68章
《THE CATCHER IN THE RYE(麦田里的守望者英文版)》章节:第68章,宠文网网友提供全文无弹窗免费在线阅读。!
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at him. It was terrible, because in the first place, he was a very nervous guy--I mean he
was a very nervous guy--and his lips were always shaking whenever it was his time to
make a speech, and you could hardly hear him if you were sitting way in the back of the
room. When his lips sort of quit shaking a little bit, though, I liked his speeches better
than anybody else's. He practically flunked the course, though, too. He got a D plus
because they kept yelling 'Digression!' at him all the time. For instance, he made this
speech about this farm his father bought in Vermont. They kept yelling 'Digression!' at
him the whole time he was making it, and this teacher, Mr. Vinson, gave him an F on it
because he hadn't told what kind of animals and vegetables and stuff grew on the farm
and all. What he did was, Richard Kinsella, he'd start telling you all about that stuff--then
all of a sudden he'd start telling you about this letter his mother got from his uncle, and
how his uncle got polio and all when he was forty-two years old, and how he wouldn't let
anybody come to see him in the hospital because he didn't want anybody to see him with
a brace on. It didn't have much to do with the farm--I admit it--but it was nice. It's nice
when somebody tells you about their uncle. Especially when they start out telling you
about their father's farm and then all of a sudden get more interested in their uncle. I
mean it's dirty to keep yelling 'Digression!' at him when he's all nice and excited. I don't
know. It's hard to explain." I didn't feel too much like trying, either. For one thing, I had
this terrific headache all of a sudden. I wished to God old Mrs. Antolini would come in
with the coffee. That's something that annoys hell out of me--I mean if somebody says
the coffee's all ready and it isn't.
"Holden. . . One short, faintly stuffy, pedagogical question. Don't you think there's
a time and place for everything? Don't you think if someone starts out to tell you about
his father's farm, he should stick to his guns, then get around to telling you about his
uncle's brace? Or, if his uncle's brace is such a provocative subject, shouldn't he have
selected it in the first place as his subject--not the farm?"
I didn't feel much like thinking and answering and all. I had a headache and I felt
lousy. I even had sort of a stomach-ache, if you want to know the truth.
"Yes--I don't know. I guess he should. I mean I guess he should've picked his
uncle as a subject, instead of the farm, if that interested him most. But what I mean is,
lots of time you don't know what interests you most till you start talking about something
that doesn't interest you most. I mean you can't help it sometimes. What I think is, you're
supposed to leave somebody alone if he's at least being interesting and he's getting all
excited about something. I like it when somebody gets excited about something. It's nice.
You just didn't know this teacher, Mr. Vinson. He could drive you crazy sometimes, him
and the goddam class. I mean he'd keep telling you to unify and simplify all the time.
Some things you just can't do that to. I mean you can't hardly ever simplify and unify
something just because somebody wants you to. You didn't know this guy, Mr. Vinson. I
mean he was very intelligent and all, but you could tell he didn't have too much brains."
"Coffee, gentlemen, finally," Mrs. Antolini said. She came in carrying this tray
with coffee and cakes and stuff on it. "Holden, don't you even peek at me. I'm a mess."
"Hello, Mrs. Antolini," I said. I started to get up and all, but Mr. Antolini got hold
of my jacket and pulled me back down. Old Mrs. Antolini's hair was full of those iron
curler jobs, and she didn't have any lipstick or anything on. She didn't look too gorgeous.
She looked pretty old and all.
"I'll leave this right here. Just dive in, you two," she said. She put the tray down
on the cigarette table, pushing all these glasses out of the way. "How's your mother,
Holden?"