37、February 9,1952

                          14 East 95th St.
                          February 9, 1952

SLOTH:
    i could ROT over here before you’d send
me anything to read.  i oughta run straight
down  to  brentano’s  which   i  would  if
anything i wanted was in print.
    You may add Walton’s Lives to the list
of  books  you  aren’t  sending  me.  It’s
against  my  principles  to  buy  a book I
haven’t read, it’s like buying a dress you
haven’t tried on,  but  you can’t even get
Walton’s Lives in a library over here.
    You can look at it.  They have it down
at the 42nd street branch. But not to take
home! the lady said to me, shocked. eat it
here.  just sit right down in room 315 and
read the whole book without a cut of coffee,
a cigarette or air.
    Doesn’t matter,  Q quoted enough of it
so i know i’ll like it.  anything he liked
i’ll like except if it’s fiction.  i never
can  get  interested in things that didn’t
happen to people who never live.
    what do you do with yourself all day,
sit in the back of the store and read? why
don’t you try selling a book to somebody?

            MISS Hanff to you.
            (I’m helene only to my FRIENDS)

p.s.  tell the girls and nora if all goes
well they’re getting nylons for Lent.

注释：
sloth 懒散; 懒惰; <动>树獭;
oughta <口>应当，应该
Brentano's 巴诺书店
run straight down to 直接跑到...
Walton’s Lives 沃尔顿的《五人传》
Q 之前有提到过的一个人（第13封信中：thanks to a Cambridge professor named Quiller-Couch, known as Q,）
Lent 大斋节