Цветы для Элджернона

           That’swhentheonewiththefreshmanbeaniesaidhehadheardacoupleofguysinthemen’sroomtalk­ingabouthowShakespeare’splayswerereallywrittenbyalady.

           AndtheytalkedaboutpoliticsandartandGod.IneverbeforeheardanyonesaythattheremightnotbeaGod.Thatfrightenedme,becauseforthefirsttimeIbegantothinkaboutwhatGodmeans.

           NowIunderstandoneoftheimportantreasonsforgoingtocollegeandgettinganeducationistolearnthatthethingsyou’vebelievedinallyourlifearen’ttrue,andthatnothingiswhatitappearstobe.

           Allthetimetheytalkedandargued,Ifelttheexcite­mentbubbleupinsideme.ThiswaswhatIwantedtodo—gotocollegeandhearpeopletalkaboutimportantthings.

           Ispendmostofmyfreetimeatthelibrarynow,read­ingandsoakingupwhatIcanfrombooks.I’mnotcon­centratingonanythinginparticular,justreadingalotoffictionnow—Dostoevski,Flaubert,Dickens,Hemingway,Faulkner—everythingIcangetmyhandson—feedingahungerthatcan’tbesatisfied.

           April28

           InadreamlastnightIheardMomscreamingatDadandtheteacherattheelementaryschoolP.S.13(myfirstschoolbeforetheytransferredmetoP.S.222)....

           "He’snormal!He’snormal!He’llgrowuplikeotherpeople.Betterthanothers."Shewastryingtoscratchtheteacher,butDadwasholdingherback."He’llgotocollegesomeday.He’llbesomebody."Shekeptscreamingit,claw­ingatDadsohe’dletgoofher."He’llgotocollegesome­dayandhe’llbesomebody."