第78章
《THE CATCHER IN THE RYE(麦田里的守望者英文版)》章节:第78章,宠文网网友提供全文无弹窗免费在线阅读。!
It played that
same song about fifty years ago when I was a little kid. That's one nice thing about
carrousels, they always play the same songs.
"I thought the carrousel was closed in the wintertime," old Phoebe said. It was the
first time she practically said anything. She probably forgot she was supposed to be sore
at me.
"Maybe because it's around Christmas," I said.
She didn't say anything when I said that. She probably remembered she was
supposed to be sore at me.
"Do you want to go for a ride on it?" I said. I knew she probably did. When she
was a tiny little kid, and Allie and D.B. and I used to go to the park with her, she was
mad about the carrousel. You couldn't get her off the goddam thing.
"I'm too big." she said. I thought she wasn't going to answer me, but she did.
"No, you're not. Go on. I'll wait for ya. Go on," I said. We were right there then.
There were a few kids riding on it, mostly very little kids, and a few parents were waiting
around outside, sitting on the benches and all. What I did was, I went up to the window
where they sell the tickets and bought old Phoebe a ticket. Then I gave it to her. She was
standing right next to me. "Here," I said. "Wait a second--take the rest of your dough,
too." I started giving her the rest of the dough she'd lent me.
"You keep it. Keep it for me," she said. Then she said right afterward--"Please."
That's depressing, when somebody says "please" to you. I mean if it's Phoebe or
somebody. That depressed the hell out of me. But I put the dough back in my pocket.
"Aren't you gonna ride, too?" she asked me. She was looking at me sort of funny.
You could tell she wasn't too sore at me any more.
"Maybe I will the next time. I'll watch ya," I said. "Got your ticket?"
"Yes."
"Go ahead, then--I'll be on this bench right over here. I'll watch ya." I went over
and sat down on this bench, and she went and got on the carrousel. She walked all around
it. I mean she walked once all the way around it. Then she sat down on this big, brown,
beat-up-looking old horse. Then the carrousel started, and I watched her go around and
around. There were only about five or six other kids on the ride, and the song the
carrousel was playing was "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes." It was playing it very jazzy and
funny. All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was
sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything.
The thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and
not say anything. If they fall off they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them.
When the ride was over she got off her horse and came over to me. "You ride
once, too, this time," she said.
"No, I'll just watch ya. I think I'll just watch," I said. I gave her some more of her
dough. "Here. Get some more tickets."
She took the dough off me. "I'm not mad at you any more," she said.
"I know. Hurry up--the thing's gonna start again."
Then all of a sudden she gave me a kiss. Then she held her hand out, and said,
"It's raining. It's starting to rain."
"I know."
Then what she did--it damn near killed me--she reached in my coat pocket and
took out my red hunting hat and put it on my head.
"Don't you want it?" I said.
"You can wear it a while."
"Okay. Hurry up, though, now. You're gonna miss your ride. You won't get your
own horse or anything."
She kept hanging around, though.
"Did you mean it what you said?