Başına bela sarıp düşmeye başlayan birine dibe vardığını anlama şansı verilmez. Düşer, düşer, düşer, ama düştüğünü anlayamaz. Tüm düzen, hayatlarının şu veya bu döneminde çevrelerinin onlara veremediği şeyleri arayan insanlar için kurulmuştur. Veya çevrelerinin onlara sağlayamadığını sandıkları şeyleri arayan insanlar için. Onlar da, aramaktan vazgeçerler.
A legjobb abban a múzeumban mégis az, hogy minden mindig ott marad a helyén, ahol van. Semmi nem mozdul. Százezerszer is odamehetsz, és az eszkimó mindig éppen akkor fogja ki a két halat, a madarak még mindig délre repülnek, a szarvasok isznak a tócsából, a szép kis agancsukkal és a sovány lábukkal, és az indián nő, meztelen mellével, még mindig ugyanazt a takarót szövi. Semmi nem változik; ami változik: az ember saját maga. Nem az, hogy idősebb lesz, vagy ilyesmi. Nem éppen azért. Csak éppen megváltozik. Mondjuk, most kabátban megy. Vagy az, aki legutóbb a párja volt, skarlátot kapott, és most más a párja. Vagy a Miss Aigletinger helyettese viszi az osztályt. Vagy az ember hallotta, hogy a szülei reggel állati nagy parádét rendeztek a fürdőszobában. Vagy az ember csak elment az utcán egy pocsolya mellett, amin szivárványszínű benzinfoltok úsznak. Úgy értem, az ember kicsit mindig más, nem tudom ezt pontosan megmagyarázni. És még ha tudnám is, nem biztos, hogy akarnám.
În mintea mea am văzut o mulţime de copii mititei jucând un joc în lanul întins de secară. Mii de copii - şi nimeni în jur, adică niciun om mare, în afară de mine. Şi eu stau la marginea unei prăpăstii ameţitoare. Şi ştii ce fac? Prind copiii să nu cadă în prăpastie. Vreau să spun, când aleargă şi nu se uită unde merg, trebuie să le ies în cale şi să-i prind. Asta aş face toată ziua. Aş sta de veghe în lanul de secară. Ştiu că-i o nebunie. Dar e singurul lucru care m-ar tenta. Ştiu că-i o nebunie.
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 mad me feel pretty sad. She bought me the wrong kind of skates - I wanted racing skates and she bought me hockey - but it made me sad anyway. Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad.
I'm not too sure what the name of the song was that he was playing when I came in, but whatever it was, he was really stinking it up. He was putting all these dumb, show-offy ripples in the high notes, and a lot of other very tricky stuff that gives me a pain in the ass. You should've heard the crowd, though, when he was finished... They went mad... I swear to God, if I were a piano player or an actor or something and all those dopes thought I was terrific, I'd hate it. I wouldn't even want them to clap for me.
I have a feeling that you're riding for some terrible, terrible fall. But I don't honestly know what kind. 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 the bottom. He just keeps 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...
It was lousy in the park. It wasn't too cold, but the sun still wasn't out, and there didn't look like there was anything in the park except dog crap and globs of spit and cigar butts from old men, and the benches all looked like they'd be wet if you sat down on them. It made you depressed, and every once in a while, for no reason, you got goose flesh while you walked. It didn't seem at all like Christmas was coming soon. It didn't seem like anything was coming.
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.
That´s something else that gives me a royal pain. I mean if you´re good at writing compositions and somebody starts talking about commas. Stradlater was always doing that. He wanted you to think that the only reason he was lousy at writing compositions was because he stuck all the commas in the wrong place.
I don't like any shows very much, if you want to know the truth. They're not as bad as movies, but they're certainly nothing to rave about. In the first place, I hate actors. They never act like people. They just think they do. Some of the good ones do, in a very slight way, but not in a way that's fun to watch. And if any actor's really good, you can always tell he knows he's good, and that spoils it. [...] They didn't act like people and they didn't act like actors. It's hard to explain. They acted more like they knew they were celebrities and all. I mean they were good, but they were too good. When one of them got finished making a speech, the other one said something very fast right after it. It was supposed to be like people really talking and interrupting each other and all. The trouble was, it was too much like people talking and interrupting each other. If you do something t-o-o good, then, after a while, if you don't watch it, you start showing off. And then you're not as good any more.
Главное, что как только дойдет до этого, так девчонка, если она не проститутка или вроде того, обязательно скажет: «Не надо, перестань». И вся беда в том, что я ее слушаюсь. Другие не слушаются. А я не могу. Я слушаюсь. Никогда не знаешь — ей и вправду не хочется, или она просто боится, или она нарочно говорит «перестань», чтобы ты был виноват, если что случится, а не она.
Once you get past all the Mr. Vinsons, you're going yo 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.
Hava güneşliyse durum o kadar kötü sayılmazdı, ama iki kez -tam iki kez- biz mezarlıktayken yağmur başladı. Korkunçtu. Yağmur yağıyordu çocuğun başındaki mezar taşına, karnının üstündeki çimlere. Her yer sırılsıklam olmuştu. Mezarlığı ziyarete gelen herkes deli gibi arabalarına koşmaya başladı. İşte bunu görünce deli oluyordum neredeyse. Bütün ziyaretçiler arabalarına atlayıp, radyolarını açabilirler, yemeğe bir yerlere gidebilirlerdi. Buna dayanamamıştım.
Her neyse, hep, büyük bir çavdar tarlasında oyun oynayan çocuklar getiriyorum gözümün önüne. Binlerce çocuk, başka kimse yok ortalıkta yetişkin hiç kimse, yani benden başka. Ve çılgın bir uçurumun kenarında durmuşum. Ne yapıyorum, uçuruma yaklaşan herkesi yakalıyorum; nereye gittiklerine hiç bakmadan koşarlarken, ben bir yerlerden çıkıyor, onları yakalıyorum. Bütün gün yalnızca bu işi yapıyorum. Ben, çavdar tarlasında çocukları yakalayan biri olmak isterdim. Çılgın bir şey bu, biliyorum, ama ben yalnızca böyle biri olmak isterdim. Biliyorum, bu çılgın bir şey.
Eso es lo malo. Que no hay forma de dar con un sitio tranquilo porque no existe. Cuando tu crees que por fin lo has encontrado, te encuentras con que alguien ha escrito un "joder" en la pared. De verdad les digo que cuando me muera y me entierren en un cementerio y me pongan encima una lápida que diga Holden Caufield y los años de mi nacimiento y de mi muerte, debajo alguien escribirá la dichosa palabrita.
Verás que no eres el primero a quien la conducta humana ha confundido, asustado y hasta asqueado. Te alegrará y te estimulará saber que no estás solo en ese sentido. Son muchos los hombres que han sufrido moral ni espiritualmente del mismo modo que tú ahora. Felizmente, algunos de ellos han dejado constancia de su sufrimiento. Y de ellos aprenderás si lo deseas. Del mismo modo que alguien aprenderá algún día de ti si tienes algo que ofrecer. Se trata de un hermoso acuerdo de reciprocidad. No se trata de educación. Es historia. Es poesía.
Problema e că, de cele mai multe ori, cînd aproape c-ai ajuns să te culci cu o fată - bineînţeles dacă fata nu-i prostituată sau mai ştiu eu ce - , îţi spune mereu să te opreşti. Şi nenorocirea e că eu mă opresc. Majoritatea nici nu se gîndesc să se oprească. Dar eu nu pot altfel. Nu ştii niciodată dacă vor într-adevăr să te opreşti sau dacă le e îngrozitor de frică sau dacă-ţi spun să te opreşti numai pentru ca vina - dacă totuşi mergi pînă la capăt - să fie a ta şi nu a lor. Totuşi, continui să mă opresc. Nenorocirea e că mi-e milă de ele. Adică majoritatea fetelor sînt atît de proaste şi de neajutorate! După ce le săruţi şi le mîngîi un pic, le vezi cum încep să-şi piardă capul. Orice fată, cînd începe să se încălzească, îşi pierde uzul raţiunii. Nici eu nu pricep de ce le ascult cînd îmi spun să mă opresc. Şi după ce le duc acasă începe să-mi pară rău că m-am oprit, dar totuşi continui să mă opresc.
M-am întors în cameră şi m-am băgat în pat. Mi-a trebuit foarte mult timp pînă s-adorm - nici măcar nu eram obosit - , dar, în cele din urmă, tot am aţipit. De fapt, ceea ce doream atunci era să mă sinucid. Îmi venea să mă arunc pe fereastră. Şi probabil că m-aş fi aruncat dac-aş fi fost sigur c-are să mă acopere cineva îndată ce voi ajunge jos. N-aş fi vrut ca nişte tîmpiţi de gură-cască să se zgîiască la mine, în timp ce-aş fi zăcut acolo plin de sînge.
Bajé por una escalera diferente y vi otro «Que te jodan» en la pared. Quise borrarlo con la mano también, pero este lo habían grabado con una navaja o algo así. No había forma de quitarlo. De todos modos, es inútil. Aunque se dedicara uno a eso un millón de años, nunca podría borrar ni la mitad de todos los «Que te jodan» del mundo. Es imposible.