24
第24节
Mr. and Mrs. Antolini had this very swanky apartment over on Sutton Place, with two steps that you go down to get in the living room, and a bar and all. I'd been there quite a few times, because after I left Elkton Hills Mr. Antoilni came up to our house for dinner quite frequently to find out how I was getting along. He wasn't married then. Then when he got married, I used to play tennis with he and Mrs. Antolini quite frequently, out at the West Side Tennis Club, in Forest Hills, Long Island. Mrs. Antolini, belonged there. She was lousy with dough. She was about sixty years older than Mr. Antolini, but they seemed to get along quite well. For one thing, they were both very intellectual, especially Mr. Antolini except that he was more witty than intellectual when you were with him, sort of like D.B. Mrs. Antolini was mostly serious. She had asthma pretty bad. They both read all D.B.'s stories--Mrs. Antolini, too--and when D.B. went to Hollywood, Mr. Antolini phoned him up and told him not to go. He went anyway, though. Mr. Antolini said that anybody that could write like D.B. had no business going out to Hollywood. That's exactly what I said, practically.
安多里尼夫妇住在苏敦广场一个十分阔气的公寓里，进客厅得下两个梯级，还有个酒吧间。我到那儿去过好几次，因为我离开爱尔克敦·希尔斯以后，安多里尼先生常常到我们家里来吃晚饭，打听我的情况。那时候他还没结婚。等他结婚以后，我常常在长岛森林山的“西区网球俱乐部”里跟他和安多里尼太太一起打网球。安多里尼太大是俱乐部的会员。她有的是钱。她比安多里尼先生约莫大六十岁，可他们在一起似乎过得挺不错。主要是，他们两个都很有学问，尤其是安多里尼先生，只是你跟他在一起的时候，他的小聪明往往胜过他的学问，有点儿象DB。安多里尼太太一般很严肃。她患着很严重的哮喘病。他们两个都看过DB写的所有短篇小说——安多里尼太太也看过——DB要到好莱坞去的时候，安多里尼先生还特地打电话给他，叫他别去。可他还是去了。安多里尼先生说象DB这样有才能的作家，不应该到好莱坞去。这话简直就跟我说的一样，一字不差。
I would have walked down to their house, because I didn't want to spend any of Phoebe's Christmas dough that I didn't have to, but I felt funny when I got outside. Sort of dizzy. So I took a cab. I didn't want to, but I did. I had a helluva time even finding a cab.
我本来想步行到他们家去，因为我想尽可能不花菲芘过圣诞节的钱，可我到了外边，觉得头晕目眩，很不好过，就叫了辆出租汽车。我实在不想叫汽车，可我终于叫了。我费了不知他妈的多少工夫才找到了一辆出租汽车。
Old Mr. Antolini answered the door when I rang the bell--after the elevator boy finally let me up, the bastard. He had on his bathrobe and slippers, and he had a highball in one hand. He was a pretty sophisticated guy, and he was a pretty heavy drinker. "Holden, m'boy!" he said. "My God, he's grown another twenty inches. Fine to see you."
开电梯的好容易最后才放我上去，那个杂种。我按门铃后，安多里尼先生出来开门。他穿着浴衣，趿着拖鞋，手里拿着一杯掺苏打水的冰威土忌。他是个很懂人情世故的人，也是个酒瘾很大的人。“霍尔顿，我的孩子！”他说。“天哪，你又长高了二十英寸。见到你很高兴。”
"How are you, Mr. Antolini? How's Mrs. Antolini?"
“您好，安多里尼先生？安多里尼太太好？”
"We're both just dandy. Let's have that coat." He took my coat off me and hung it up. "I expected to see a day-old infant in your arms. Nowhere to turn. Snowflakes in your eyelashes." He's a very witty guy sometimes. He turned around and yelled out to the kitchen, "Lillian! How's the coffee coming?" Lillian was Mrs. Antolini's first name.
“我们两个都挺好。把大衣给我。”他从我手里接过大衣接好。“我还以为你怀里会抱着个刚出生的娃娃哩。没地方可去。眼睫毛上还沾着雪花。”他有时候说话非常俏皮。他转身朝着厨房嚷道：“莉莉！咖啡煮好没有？”莉莉是安多里尼太太的小名。
"It's all ready," she yelled back. "Is that Holden? Hello, Holden!"
“马上好啦，”她嚷着回答。“是霍尔顿吗？哈罗，霍尔顿！”
"Hello, Mrs. Antolini!"
“哈罗，安多里尼太大！”
You were always yelling when you were there. That's because the both of them were never in the same room at the same time. It was sort of funny.
你到了他们家里，就得大声嚷嚷。原因是他们两个从来不同时在一间房里。说出来真有点儿好笑。
"Sit down, Holden," Mr. Antolini said. You could tell he was a little oiled up. The room looked like they'd just had a party. Glasses were all over the place, and dishes with peanuts in them. "Excuse the appearance of the place," he said. "We've been entertaining some Buffalo friends of Mrs. Antolini's . . . Some buffaloes, as a matter of fact."
“请坐，雹尔顿，”安多里尼先生说。你看得出他有点儿醉了。房间里的情景好象刚举行过晚会似的。只见杯盘狼藉，碟子里还有吃剩的花生。“请原谅房间乱得不象样，”他说，“我们在招待安多里尼太太的几个打水牛港来的朋友……事实上，也真是几只水牛。”
I laughed, and Mrs. Antolini yelled something in to me from the kitchen, but I couldn't hear her. "What'd she say?" I asked Mr. Antolini.
我笑了出来，安多里尼太太在厨房里嚷着不知跟我说了句什么话，可我没听清楚。“她说的什么？”我问安多里尼先生。
"She said not to look at her when she comes in. She just arose from the sack. Have a cigarette. Are you smoking now?"
“她说她进来的时候你别看她，她刚从床上起来。抽支烟吧。你现在抽烟了吗？”
"Thanks," I said. I took a cigarette from the box he offered me. "Just once in a while. I'm a moderate smoker."
“谢谢，”我说。我在他递给我的烟匣里取了支烟。“只是偶尔抽一支。抽得不凶。”
"I'll bet you are," he said. He gave me a light from this big lighter off the table. "So. You and Pencey are no longer one," he said. He always said things that way. Sometimes it amused me a lot and sometimes it didn't. He sort of did it a little bit too much. I don't mean he wasn't witty or anything--he was--but sometimes it gets on your nerves when somebody's always saying things like "So you and Pencey are no longer one." D.B. does it too much sometimes, too.
“我相信你抽得不凶，”他说着，从桌上拿起大打火机给我点火。“那么说来，你跟潘西不再是一体啦，”他说。他老用这方式说话。我有时候听了很感兴趣，有时候并不。他说的次数未免太多了点儿。我并不是说他的话不够俏皮——那倒不——可是遇到一个人老说着“你跟潘西不再是一体啦”这类话，有时候你会觉得神经上受不了。DB有时候也说的太多。
"What was the trouble?" Mr. Antolini asked me. "How'd you do in English? I'll show you the door in short order if you flunked English, you little ace composition writer."
“问题出在哪儿？”安多里尼先生问我。“你的英文考得怎样？要是你这个作文好手连英文都考不及格，那我可要马上开门请你出去了。”
"Oh, I passed English all right. It was mostly literature, though. I only wrote about two compositions the whole term," I said. "I flunked Oral Expression, though. They had this course you had to take, Oral Expression. That I flunked."
“哦，我英文倒及格了，虽说考的主要是文学。整个学期我只写过两篇作文，”我说。“不过‘口头表达’我没及格。他们开了一门叫作‘口头表达’的课程。这我没及格。”
"Why?"
“为什么？”
"Oh, I don't know." I didn't feel much like going into It. I was still feeling sort of dizzy or something, and I had a helluva headache all of a sudden. I really did. But you could tell he was interested, so I told him a little bit about it. "It's this course where each boy in class has to get up in class and make a speech. You know. Spontaneous and all. And if the boy digresses at all, you're supposed to yell 'Digression!' at him as fast as you can. It just about drove me crazy. I got an F in it."
“哦，我不知道。”我实在不想细说。我还有点儿头晕目眩，同时我的头也突然痛得要命。一点不假。可你看得出他对这问题很感兴趣，因此我只好约略告诉他些。“在这门功课里，每个学生都得在课堂里站起来演讲。你知道。而且是自发的。要是演讲的学生扯到了题外，你就得尽快地冲着他喊‘离题啦！’这玩艺儿都快把我逼疯啦。我考了个‘F’。”
"Why?"
“为什么？”
"Oh, I don't know. That digression business got on my nerves. I don't know. The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody digresses. It's more interesting and all."
“哦，我不知道。那个离题的玩艺儿真叫我受不了。我不知道。我的问题是，我喜欢人家离题，离了题倒是更加有趣。”
"You don't care to have somebody stick to the point when he tells you something?"
“要是有人跟你说什么，你难道不喜欢他话不离题？”
"Oh, sure! I like somebody to stick to the point and all. But I don't like them to stick too much to the point. I don't know. I guess I don't like it when somebody sticks to the point all the time. The boys that got the best marks in Oral Expression were the ones that stuck to the point all the time--I admit it. But there was this one boy, Richard Kinsella. He didn't stick to the point too much, and they were always yelling 'Digression!' 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.
“哦，当然啦！我当然喜欢他话不离题。可我不喜欢他太不离题。我不知道怎么说好。我揣摩我不喜欢人家始终话不离题。‘口头表达’里得分最高的全是那些始终话不离题的学生——这一点我承认。可是有个名叫理查·金斯拉的学生，演讲的时候若是离题，他们老冲着他喊‘离题啦！’这种做法实在可怕，因为第一，他是个神经非常容易紧张的家伙——我是说他的神经的确非常容易紧张一一每次轮到他讲话，他的嘴唇总是哆嗦着，而且你要是坐在课堂后排，连他讲的什么都听不清楚。可是等到他嘴唇哆嗦得不那么厉害的时候，我倒觉得他讲的比别人好。不过他差点儿也没及格。他得了个D，因为他们老冲着他喊‘离题啦！’举例说，有一次他演讲的题目是他父亲在弗蒙特买下的农庄。在他演讲的时候大家一个劲儿地冲着他喊‘离题啦！’教这门课的老师文孙先生那一次给了他一个F，因为他没有说出农庄上种的什么蔬菜，养的什么家畜。理查·金斯拉讲了些什么呢？他开始讲的是农庄——接着他突然讲起他妈妈收到他舅舅寄来的一封信，讲到他舅舅怎样在四十二岁患了脊髓炎，他怎样不愿别人到医院去看他，因为他不愿有人看见他身上绑着支架。这跟农庄没有多大关系——我承认——可是很有意思。只要有人跟你谈起自己的舅舅，这就很有意思，尤其是他开始谈的是他父亲的农庄，跟着突然对自己的舅舅更感兴趣。我是说要是他讲得很有意思，也很兴奋，那么再冲着他一个劲儿喊‘离题啦’，实在有点近于下流……我不知道怎么说好。实在很难解释。”事实上我也不太想解释。尤其是，我突然头痛得厉害。我真希望老安多里尼太太快拿咖啡进来。这类事情最最让我恼火——我是说有人跟你说咖啡已经煮好，其实却没有煮好。
"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?"
“霍尔顿……再问你一个很简短的、稍稍有点儿沉闷、还带点儿学究气的问题。你是不是认为每样东西都该有一定的时间和地点？你是不是认为要是有人跟你谈起他父亲的农庄，他应该先把这问题谈完，随后再改换话题，谈他舅舅的支架？或者，他舅舅的支架既然是他那么感兴趣的题目，那么他一开头就应该选它作讲题，不应该选他父亲的农庄？”
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.
我实在懒得动脑筋和回答。我的头痛得厉害，心里也很不好过。甚至我的胃都还有点儿疼了，我老实告诉你说。
"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."
“嗯——我不知道。我想他应该这样。我是说我想他应该选他舅舅作演讲题目，不应该选他父亲的农庄，要是他最感兴趣的是他舅舅的话，不过我的意思是，很多时候你简直不知道自己对什么最感兴趣，除非你先谈起一些你并不太感兴趣的事情”我是说有时候你自己简直作不了主。我的想法是，演讲的人要是讲得很有趣，很激动，那你就不应该给他打岔。我很喜欢人家讲话激动。这很有意思，可惜你不熟悉那位老师，文孙先生。他有时真能逼得你发疯，他跟他那个混帐的班。我是说他老教你统一和简化。有些东西根本就没法统一和简化。我是说你总不能光是因为人家要你统一和简化，你就能做到统一和简化。可惜你不熟悉文孙先生的为人。我是说他学问倒真是有，可你看得出他没多少脑子。”
"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."
“咖啡，诸位，终于煮好啦，”安多里尼太太说。她用托盘端了咖啡和糕点进来。“霍尔顿，不许你偷看我一眼。我简直是一团糟。”
"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.
“哈罗，安多里尼太太。”我说着，开始站起来，可安多里尼先生一把攥住了我的上装，把我拉回到原处。老安多里尼太太的头发上全是那种卷头发的铁夹子，也没搽口红什么的，看上去可不太漂亮。她显得很老。
"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?"
“我就搁在这儿啦。快吃吧，你们两个，”她说着，把托盘放在茶几上，将原先放着的一些空杯子推到一旁。“你母亲好吗，霍尔顿？”
"She's fine, thanks. I haven't seen her too recently, but the last I--"
“很好，谢谢。最近我没见到她，不过我最后一次——”
"Darling, if Holden needs anything, everything's in the linen closet. The top shelf. I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted," Mrs. Antolini said. She looked it, too. "Can you boys make up the couch by yourselves?"
“亲爱的，霍尔顿要是需要什么，就在那个搁被单的壁橱里找好了。最高一层的架子上。我去睡啦。我真累坏啦，”安多里尼太太说。看她的样子也确实是累坏啦。“你们两个自己铺一下长蹋成吗？”
"We'll take care of everything. You run along to bed," Mr. Antolini said. He gave Mrs. Antolini a kiss and she said good-by to me and went in the bedroom. They were always kissing each other a lot in public.
“我们可以照顾自己。你快去睡吧，”安多里尼先生说。他吻了安多里尼太太一下，她跟我说了声再见，就到卧室里去了。他们两个老是当着人接吻。
I had part of a cup of coffee and about half of some cake that was as hard as a rock. All old Mr. Antolini had was another highball, though. He makes them strong, too, you could tell. He may get to be an alcoholic if he doesn't watch his step.
我倒了半杯咖啡，吃了约莫半块硬得象石头一样的饼。可是老安多里尼先生只是另外给自己调了杯加苏打水的冰威士忌。他还把水掺得很少，你看得出来。他要是再不检点，很可能变成个酒鬼的。
"I had lunch with your dad a couple of weeks ago," he said all of a sudden. "Did you know that?"
“两个星期前我跟你爸爸在一起吃午饭，”他突然说。“你知道不知道？”
"No, I didn't."
“不，我不知道。”
"You're aware, of course, that he's terribly concerned about you."
“你心里明白，当然啦，他对你非常关切。”
"I know it. I know he is," I said.
“这我知道。我知道他对我非常关切，”我说。
"Apparently before he phoned me he'd just had a long, rather harrowing letter from your latest headmaster, to the effect that you were making absolutely no effort at all. Cutting classes. Coming unprepared to all your classes. In general, being an all-around--"
“他在打电话给我之前，显然刚接到你最近的这位校长写给他的一封颇让他伤心的长信，信里说你一点不肯用功。老是旷课。每次上课从来不准备功课。一句话，由于你各方面——”
"I didn't cut any classes. You weren't allowed to cut any. There were a couple of them I didn't attend once in a while, like that Oral Expression I told you about, but I didn't cut any."
“我并没旷课，学校里是不准旷课的。我只是偶尔有一两课没上，例如我刚才跟你谈起的那个‘口头表达’课，可是我并不旷课。”
I didn't feel at all like discussing it. The coffee made my stomach feel a little better, but I still had this awful headache.
我实在不想讨论下去。喝了咖啡我的胃倒是好过了些，不过我的头还是疼得厉害。
Mr. Antolini lit another cigarette. He smoked like a fiend. Then he said, "Frankly, I don't know what the hell to say to you, Holden."
安多里尼先生又点了支香烟。他抽得凶极了。接着他说：“坦白说，我简直不知道跟你说什么好，霍尔顿。”
"I know. I'm very hard to talk to. I realize that."
“我知道。很少有人跟我谈得来。我自己心里有数。”
"I have a feeling that you're riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall. But I don't honestly know what kind. . . Are you listening to me?"
“我仿佛觉得你是骑在马上瞎跑，总有一天会摔下来，摔得非常厉害。说老实话，我不知道你到底会摔成什么样子……你在听我说吗？”
"Yes."
“在听。”
You could tell he was trying to concentrate and all.
你看得出他正在那里用心思索哩。
"It may be the kind where, at the age of thirty, you sit in some bar hating everybody who comes in looking as if he might have played football in college. Then again, you may pick up just enough education to hate people who say, 'It's a secret between he and I.' Or you may end up in some business office, throwing paper clips at the nearest stenographer. I just don't know. But do you know what I'm driving at, at all?"
“或许到了三十岁年纪，你坐在某个酒吧间里，痛恨每个看上去象是在大学里打过橄榄球的人进来。或者，或许你受到的教育只够你痛恨一些说‘这是我与他之间的秘密’的人。或者，你最后可能坐在哪家商号的办公室里，把一些文件夹朝离你最近的速记员扔去。我真不知道。可你懂不懂我说的意思呢？”
"Yes. Sure," I said. I did, too. "But you're wrong about that hating business. I mean about hating football players and all. You really are. I don't hate too many guys. What I may do, I may hate them for a little while, like this guy Stradlater I knew at Pencey, and this other boy, Robert Ackley. I hated them once in a while--I admit it--but it doesn't last too long, is what I mean. After a while, if I didn't see them, if they didn't come in the room, or if I didn't see them in the dining room for a couple of meals, I sort of missed them. I mean I sort of missed them."
“懂。我当然懂，”我说。我确实懂。“可你说的关于痛恨的那番话并不正确。我是说关于痛恨那些橄榄球运动员什么的。你真的说得不正确。我痛恨的人并不多。有些人我也许能痛恨那么一会儿，象我在潘西认识的那个家伙斯特拉德莱塔，还有另外那个家伙罗伯特·阿克莱。我偶尔也痛恨他们——这点我承认———可我的意思是说我痛恨的时候并不太长。我要是有一阵子不见他们，要是他们不到我房里来，或者我要是在饭厅里吃饭时候有一两次没碰到他们，我反倒有点儿想念他们。我是说我反倒有点儿想念他们。”
Mr. Antolini didn't say anything for a while. He got up and got another hunk of ice and put it in his drink, then he sat down again. You could tell he was thinking. I kept wishing, though, that he'd continue the conversation in the morning, instead of now, but he was hot. People are mostly hot to have a discussion when you're not.
安多里尼先生有一会儿工夫没说话。他起身又拿了块冰搁在酒杯里，重新坐了下来。你看得出他正在那里思索。不过我真希望他这会儿别说下去了，有话明天再谈，可他正在兴头上。通常都是这样，你越是不想说话，对方却越是有兴头，越是想跟你展开讨论。
"All right. Listen to me a minute now . . . I may not word this as memorably as I'd like to, but I'll write you a letter about it in a day or two. Then you can get it all straight. But listen now, anyway." He started concentrating again. Then he said, "This fall I think you're riding for--it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with. Or they thought their own environment couldn't supply them with. So they gave up looking. They gave it up before they ever really even got started. You follow me?"
“好吧。再听我说一分钟的话……我的措辞也许不够理想，可我会在一两天内就这个问题写信给你的。那样你就可以彻底理解了。可现在先听我说吧。”他又开始用心思索起来。接着他说：“我想象你这样骑马瞎跑。将来要是摔下来，可不是玩儿的——那是很特殊、很可怕的一跤。摔下来的人，都感觉不到也听不见自己着地。只是一个劲儿往下摔。这整个安排是为哪种人作出的呢？只是为某一类人，他们在一生中这一时期或那一时期，想要寻找某种他们自己的环境无法提供的东西。或者寻找只是他们认为自己的环境无法提供的东西。于是他们停止寻找。他们甚至在还未真正开始寻找之前就已停止寻找。你在听我说吗？”
"Yes, sir."
“在听，先生。”
"Sure?"
“真的吗？”
"Yes."
“真的。”
He got up and poured some more booze in his glass. Then he sat down again. He didn't say anything for a long time.
他站起来，又往自己的杯子里倒了些威士忌，重又坐下。他有好一会儿工夫没说话。
"I don't want to scare you," he said, "but I can very clearly see you dying nobly, one way or another, for some highly unworthy cause." He gave me a funny look. "If I write something down for you, will you read it carefully? And keep it?"
“我不是成心吓唬你，”他说，“不过我可以非常清楚地预见到，你将会通过这样或那样方式，为了某种微不足道的事业英勇死去。”他用异样的目光望了我一眼。“我要是给你写下什么，你肯仔细看吗？肯给我好好保存吗？”
"Yes. Sure," I said. I did, too. I still have the paper he gave me.
“好的。当然啦，”我说。我也的确做到了。他给我的那张纸，我到现在还保存着呢。
He went over to this desk on the other side of the room, and without sitting down wrote something on a piece of paper. Then he came back and sat down with the paper in his hand. "Oddly enough, this wasn't written by a practicing poet. It was written by a psychoanalyst named Wilhelm Stekel. Here's what he--Are you still with me?"
他走到房间另一头的书桌边，也不坐下，在一张纸上写了些什么。随后他拿着那张纸回来坐下。“奇怪的是，写下这话的不是个职业诗人，而是个名叫威尔罕姆·斯塔克尔的精神分析学家。他写的——你是不是在听我说话？”
"Yes, sure I am."
“是的，当然在听。”
"Here's what he said: 'The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.'"
“他说的是：‘一个不成熟男子的标志是他愿意为某种事业英勇地死去，一个成熟男子的标志是他愿意为某种事业卑贱地活着。’”
He leaned over and handed it to me. I read it right when he gave it to me, and then I thanked him and all and put it in my pocket. It was nice of him to go to all that trouble. It really was. The thing was, though, I didn't feel much like concentrating. Boy, I felt so damn tired all of a sudden.
他探过身来，把纸递给了我。我接过来当场读了，谢了他，就把纸放进衣袋。他为我这样操心，真是难得。的的确确难得。可问题是，我当时实在不想用心思索。嘿，我突然觉得他妈的疲倦极了。
You could tell he wasn't tired at all, though. He was pretty oiled up, for one thing. "I think that one of these days," he said, "you're going to have to find out where you want to go. And then you've got to start going there. But immediately. You can't afford to lose a minute. Not you."
可你看得出他一点也不疲倦。主要是，他已经很醉了。“我想总有一天，”他说，“你得找出你想要去的地方。随后你非开步走去不可。不过你最好马上开步走。你决不能再浪费一分钟时间了。尤其是你。”
I nodded, because he was looking right at me and all, but I wasn't too sure what he was talking about. I was pretty sure I knew, but I wasn't too positive at the time. I was too damn tired.
我点了点头，因为他正目不转睛地看着我，我可不太清楚他在讲些什么。我倒是挺有把握懂得他的意思，不过我当时并不太清楚他在讲些什么。我实在他妈的太疲倦了。
"And I hate to tell you," he said, "but I think that once you have a fair idea where you want to go, your first move will be to apply yourself in school. You'll have to. You're a student--whether the idea appeals to you or not. You're in love with knowledge. And I think you'll find, once you get past all the Mr. Vineses and their Oral Comp--"
“我不愿意跟你说这话，”他说，“可我想，你一旦弄清楚了自己要往哪儿走，你的第一步就应该是在学校里用功。你非这样做不可。你是个学生——不管愿意也好，不愿意也好。你应该爱上学问。而且我想，你一旦经受了所有的维纳斯先生和他们的‘口头表达’课的考验，你就会发现——”
"Mr. Vinsons," I said. He meant all the Mr. Vinsons, not all the Mr. Vineses. I shouldn't have interrupted him, though.
“是文孙先生，”我说。他要说的是所有的文孙先生，并不是所有的维纳斯先生。可我不该打断他的话。
"All right--the Mr. Vinsons. Once you get past all the Mr. Vinsons, you're going to start getting closer and closer--that is, if you want to, and if you look for it and wait for it--to the kind of information that will be very, very dear to your heart. Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them--if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry."
“好吧——所有的文孙先生。你一旦经受了所有的文孙先生的考验，你就可以学到越来越多的知识——那是说，只要你想学，肯学，有耐心学——你就可以学到一些你最最心爱的知识。其中的一门知识就是，你将发现对人类的行为感到惶惑、恐惧、甚至恶心的，你并不是第一个。在这方面你倒是一点也不孤独，你知道后一定会觉得兴奋，一定会受到鼓励。历史上有许许多多人都象你现在这样，在道德上和精神上都有过困扰的时期。幸而，他们中间有几个将自己彷徨的经过记录下来了。你可以向他们学习——只要你愿意。正如你有朝一日如果有什么贡献，别人也可以向你学习。这真是个极妙的轮回安排。而且这不是教育。这是历史。这是诗。”
He stopped and took a big drink out of his highball. Then he started again. Boy, he was really hot. I was glad I didn't try to stop him or anything. "I'm not trying to tell you," he said, "that only educated and scholarly men are able to contribute something valuable to the world. It's not so. But I do say that educated and scholarly men, if they're brilliant and creative to begin with--which, unfortunately, is rarely the case--tend to leave infinitely more valuable records behind them than men do who are merely brilliant and creative. They tend to express themselves more clearly, and they usually have a passion for following their thoughts through to the end. And--most important--nine times out of ten they have more humility than the unscholarly thinker. Do you follow me at all?"
说到这里他停住了，从酒杯里喝了一大口酒，接着又往下说。嘿，他确确实实在兴头上。我很高兴自己没打算拦住他什么的。“我并不是想告诉你，”他说，“只有受过教育的和有学问的人才能够对这世界作出伟大的贡献。这样说当然不对。不过我的确要说，受过教育的和有学问的人如果有聪明才智和创造能力——不幸的是，这样的情况并不多——他们留给后世的记录比起那般光有聪明才智和创造能力的人来，确实要宝贵得多。他们表达自己的思想更清楚，他们通常还有热情把自己的思想贯彻到底。而且——最最重要的一点——他们十有九个要比那种没有学问的思想家谦恭得多。你是不是在听我的话哪？”
"Yes, sir."
“在听，先生。”
He didn't say anything again for quite a while. I don't know if you've ever done it, but it's sort of hard to sit around waiting for somebody to say something when they're thinking and all. It really is. I kept trying not to yawn. It wasn't that I was bored or anything--I wasn't--but I was so damn sleepy all of a sudden.
他有好一会儿没再吭声。我不知道你是否有过这经历，不过坐在那里等别人说话，眼看着他一个劲儿思索，实在很不好受。的确很不好受。我尽力不让自己打呵欠。倒不是我心里觉得腻烦——那倒不是——可我突然困得要命。
"Something else an academic education will do for you. If you go along with it any considerable distance, it'll begin to give you an idea what size mind you have. What it'll fit and, maybe, what it won't. After a while, you'll have an idea what kind of thoughts your particular size mind should be wearing. For one thing, it may save you an extraordinary amount of time trying on ideas that don't suit you, aren't becoming to you. You'll begin to know your true measurements and dress your mind accordingly."
“学校教育还能给你带来别的好处。你受这种教育到了一定程度，就会发现自己脑子的尺寸，以及什么对它合适，什么对它不合适。过了一个时期，你就会心里有数，知道象你这样尺寸的头脑应该具有什么类型的思想。主要是，这可以让你节省不少时间，免得你去瞎试一些对你不合适、不贴切的思想。你慢慢就会知道你自己的正确尺寸，恰如其分地把你的头脑武装起来。”
Then, all of a sudden, I yawned. What a rude bastard, but I couldn't help it!
接着突然间，我打了个呵欠，真是个无礼的杂种、可我实在是身不由己！
Mr. Antolini just laughed, though. "C'mon," he said, and got up. "We'll fix up the couch for you."
不过安多里尼先生只是笑了一笑。“来吧，”他说着就站了起来。“咱们去把长蹋收拾一下。”
I followed him and he went over to this closet and tried to take down some sheets and blankets and stuff that was on the top shelf, but he couldn't do it with this highball glass in his hand. So he drank it and then put the glass down on the floor and then he took the stuff down. I helped him bring it over to the couch. We both made the bed together. He wasn't too hot at it. He didn't tuck anything in very tight. I didn't care, though. I could've slept standing up I was so tired.
我跟着他走到壁橱那里，他想从最高一层的架子上拿下些被单和毯子什么的，可他一手拿着酒杯，没法拿那些东西。所以他先把酒喝干，随后把杯子搁到地板上，随后把那些玩艺儿搬了下来。我帮着他把东西搬到长榻上。我们两个—起铺床。他干这个并不起劲。他把被单什么的都没塞好。可我不在乎。我实在累了，就是站着都能睡觉。
"How're all your women?"
“你的那些女朋友都好？”
"They're okay." I was being a lousy conversationalist, but I didn't feel like it.
“她们都不错。”我的谈吐真是糟糕透了，可我当时实在没那心情。
"How's Sally?" He knew old Sally Hayes. I introduced him once.
“萨丽好吗？”他认识老萨丽·海斯。我曾向他介绍过。
"She's all right. I had a date with her this afternoon." Boy, it seemed like twenty years ago! "We don't have too much in common any more."
“她挺好。今天下午我跟她约会了。”嘿，那好象是二十年前的事了！“我们两个的共同之点并不多。”
"Helluva pretty girl. What about that other girl? The one you told me about, in Maine?"
“漂亮极了的姑娘。还有另外那个姑娘呢？从前你跟我讲起过的那个，在缅因的？”
"Oh--Jane Gallagher. She's all right. I'm probably gonna give her a buzz tomorrow."
“哦——琴·迦拉格。她挺好。我明天大概要跟她通个电话。”
We were all done making up the couch then. "It's all yours," Mr. Antolini said. "I don't know what the hell you're going to do with those legs of yours."
这时我们已把长蹋铺好。“就当是在自己家里一样，”安多里尼先生说。“我真不知道你的两条腿往哪搁。”
"That's all right. I'm used to short beds," I said. "Thanks a lot, sir. You and Mrs. Antolini really saved my life tonight."
“没关系。我睡惯了短小的床铺。”我说。“感谢你极了，先生。你和安多里尼太大今晚上真是救了我的命。”
"You know where the bathroom is. If there's anything you want, just holler. I'll be in the kitchen for a while--will the light bother you?"
“你知道浴室在哪儿，你要是需要什么，只顾喊好了。我还要到厨房去一会儿——你怕不怕灯光？”
"No--heck, no. Thanks a lot."
“不——一点儿也不。太谢谢啦。”
"All right. Good night, handsome."
“好吧。明天见，漂亮小伙子。”
"G'night, sir. Thanks a lot."
“明天见，先生。谢谢您。”
He went out in the kitchen and I went in the bathroom and got undressed and all. I couldn't brush my teeth because I didn't have any toothbrush with me. I didn't have any pajamas either and Mr. Antolini forgot to lend me some. So I just went back in the living room and turned off this little lamp next to the couch, and then I got in bed with just my shorts on. It was way too short for me, the couch, but I really could've slept standing up without batting an eyelash. I laid awake for just a couple of seconds thinking about all that stuff Mr. Antolini'd told me. About finding out the size of your mind and all. He was really a pretty smart guy. But I couldn't keep my goddam eyes open, and I fell asleep.
他出去到厨房里，我就走进浴室，把衣服脱了。我没法刷牙，因为我身上没带牙刷。我也没睡衣裤，安多里尼先生忘了借我一套，所以我只好回到客厅，把长榻边的小灯关了，光穿着裤衩钻进了被窝。那长榻我睡起来确实太短，可我真的站着都能睡觉，连眼皮都不眨一下。我醒着躺了只几秒钟，想着安多里尼先生刚才告诉我的那些玩艺儿。关于找出你自己头脑的尺寸什么的。他的的确确是个挺聪明的家伙。可我的那两只混帐眼睛实在张不开了，所以我就睡着了。
Then something happened. I don't even like to talk about it.
接着发生了一件事。我甚至连谈都不愿谈。
I woke up all of a sudden. I don't know what time it was or anything, but I woke up. I felt something on my head, some guy's hand. Boy, it really scared hell out of me. What it was, it was Mr. Antolini's hand. What he was doing was, he was sitting on the floor right next to the couch, in the dark and all, and he was sort of petting me or patting me on the goddam head. Boy, I'll bet I jumped about a thousand feet.
我一下子醒了。我也不知道是什么时候，可我一下子醒了。我感觉到头上有什么东西，象是一个人的手。嘿，这真把我吓坏了。那是什么呢，原来是安多里尼先生的手。他在干什么呢，他正坐在长榻旁边的地板上，在黑暗中抚摸着或者轻轻拍着我的混帐脑袋。嘿，我敢打赌我跳得足足有一千英尺高。
"What the hellya doing?" I said.
“你这是他妈的干什么？”我说。
"Nothing! I'm simply sitting here, admiring--"
“没什么！我只是坐在这儿，欣赏——”
"What're ya doing, anyway?" I said over again. I didn't know what the hell to say--I mean I was embarrassed as hell.
“你到底在干什么，嗯？”我又说了一遍。我真他妈的不知说什么好——我是说我当时窘得要命。
"How 'bout keeping your voice down? I'm simply sitting here--"
“你把声音放低些好不好？我只是坐在这儿——”
"I have to go, anyway," I said--boy, was I nervous! I started putting on my damn pants in the dark. I could hardly get them on I was so damn nervous. I know more damn perverts, at schools and all, than anybody you ever met, and they're always being perverty when I'm around.
“我要走了，嗯，”我说——嘿，我心里可紧张极了；我开始在黑暗中穿我的那条混帐裤子。我真他妈的紧张到了极点，连裤子都穿不上了。我在学校之类的地方遇到过的性变态者要比谁都多，他们总是看见我在的时候毛病发作。
"You have to go where?" Mr. Antolini said. He was trying to act very goddam casual and cool and all, but he wasn't any too goddam cool. Take my word.
“你要上哪儿去？”安多里尼先生说。他想装出他妈的很随便、很冷静的样子，可他并不他妈的太冷静。相信我的话好了。
"I left my bags and all at the station. I think maybe I'd better go down and get them. I have all my stuff in them."
“我的手提箱什么的全都在车站上。我想我最好去一趟把它们取出来。我的东西全在里面呢。”
"They'll be there in the morning. Now, go back to bed. I'm going to bed myself. What's the matter with you?"
“到早晨也能取。现在快睡吧。我也要去睡了。你这是怎么啦？”
"Nothing's the matter, it's just that all my money and stuff's in one of my bags. I'll be right back. I'll get a cab and be right back," I said. Boy, I was falling all over myself in the dark. "The thing is, it isn't mine, the money. It's my mother's, and I--"
“没什么，就是有一只手提箱放着我所有的钱什么的。我马上回来。我会叫辆出租汽车，马上回来，”我说。嘿，我在黑暗中跌跌撞撞地简直站不稳脚。“问题是，那钱不是我的。它是我母亲的，我——”
"Don't be ridiculous, Holden. Get back in that bed. I'm going to bed myself. The money will be there safe and sound in the morn--"
“别胡扯啦，霍尔顿。快睡吧。我也要去睡了。钱不会少的，你可以到早晨——”
"No, no kidding. I gotta get going. I really do." I was damn near all dressed already, except that I couldn't find my tie. I couldn't remember where I'd put my tie. I put on my jacket and all without it. Old Mr. Antolini was sitting now in the big chair a little ways away from me, watching me. It was dark and all and I couldn't see him so hot, but I knew he was watching me, all right. He was still boozing, too. I could see his trusty highball glass in his hand.
“不，我不是说着玩的。我非去不可。我真的非去不可。”我他妈的都已穿好衣服，只是找不着领带。我再也记不起把领带放在什么地方了。我就不打领带，穿好上装。老安多里尼先生这会儿正坐在离我不远的一把大椅子上，拿眼望着我。房里漆黑一团，我看不太清楚他的动作，可我照样知道他正拿眼望着我。而且他还在那儿喝酒呢。我都看得见他手里拿着那只盛有冰威士忌的酒杯。
"You're a very, very strange boy."
“你是个十分、十分奇怪的孩子。”
"I know it," I said. I didn't even look around much for my tie. So I went without it. "Good-by, sir," I said, "Thanks a lot. No kidding."
“这我知道，”我说。我甚至没仔细寻找我的领带。所以我不打领带就走了。“再见吧，先生，”我说。“非常感谢您。一点不假。”
He kept walking right behind me when I went to the front door, and when I rang the elevator bell he stayed in the damn doorway. All he said was that business about my being a "very, very strange boy" again. Strange, my ass. Then he waited in the doorway and all till the goddam elevator came. I never waited so long for an elevator in my whole goddam life. I swear.
我往前门走去的时候，他一直跟在我后边；当我按电梯的铃的时候，他就站在那个混帐的门道里。他什么也没说，只是重复了一遍刚才的话，说我是个“十分、十分奇怪的孩子”。奇怪个屁！随后他就站在门道里等着，直等到混帐电梯上来。我这混帐一辈子里等电梯再也没等过这么久的，我能对天发誓。
I didn't know what the hell to talk about while I was waiting for the elevator, and he kept standing there, so I said, "I'm gonna start reading some good books. I really am." I mean you had to say something. It was very embarrassing.
我在那儿等电梯，他也一直站着不动窝儿，我真不知道他妈的跟他说些什么好，所以我就说：“我要开始读几本好书了。真的。”我是说你总得讲些什么才好。那情况真是尴尬极了。
"You grab your bags and scoot right on back here again. I'll leave the door unlatched."
“你拿了手提箱，马上就回这儿来。我不把门闩上。”
"Thanks a lot," I said. "G'by!" The elevator was finally there. I got in and went down. Boy, I was shaking like a madman. I was sweating, too. When something perverty like that happens, I start sweating like a bastard. That kind of stuff's happened to me about twenty times since I was a kid. I can't stand it.
“非常感谢，”我说。“再见！”电梯终于上来了，我就进了电梯下楼。嘿，我象个疯子似的索索乱抖。我浑身还在冒汗。每次遇到这类性变态玩艺儿，我就会浑身冒汗。我从孩提时候起，这类的事遇到总有二十次了。我实在受不了。