按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
佣人，然后我们锁上了门，让她洗个冷水澡。她死死捏住那封信不放。她把信带到澡盆里去，捏成湿淋淋的一团，直到她看见它碎得像雪花一样，才让我拿过去放在肥皂碟里。
But she didn’t say another word。 We gave her spirits of ammonia and put ice on her forehead and hooked her back into her dress； and half an hour later； when we walked out of the room； the pearls were around her neck and the incident was over。 Next day at five o’clock she married Tom Buchanan without so much as a shiver； and started off on a three months’ trip to the South Seas。 可是她一句话也没有再说。我们让她问阿摩尼亚精，把冰放在她脑门上，然后又替她把衣裳穿好。半小时后我们走出房间，那串珍珠套在她脖子上，这场风波就过去了。第二天下午五点钟，她没事儿似的跟汤姆？布坎农结了婚，然后动身到南太平洋去做三个月的旅行。
I saw them in Santa Barbara when they came back； and I thought I’d never seen a girl so mad about her husband。 If he left the room for a minute she’d look around uneasily； and say： “Where’s Tom gone？” and wear the most abstracted expression until she saw him ing in the door。 She used to sit on the sand with his head in her lap by the hour； rubbing her fingers over his eyes and looking at him with unfathomable delight。 It was touching to see them together—it made you laugh in a hushed； fascinated way。 That was in August。 A week after I left Santa Barbara Tom ran into a wagon on the Ventura road one night； and ripped a front wheel off his car。 The girl who was with him got into the papers； too； because her arm was broken—she was one of the chambermaids in the Santa Barbara Hotel。 他们回来以后，我在圣巴巴拉①见到了他们，我觉得我从来没见过一个女孩那么迷恋丈夫的。如果他离开屋子一会儿工夫，她就会惴惴不安地四下张望，嘴里说：〃汤姆上哪儿去啦？〃同时脸上显出一副神情恍惚的样子，直到她看见他从门口走进来。她往往坐在沙滩上，一坐个把钟头，让他把头搁在她膝盖上，一面用手指轻轻按摩他的眼睛，一而无限欣喜地看着他。看着他们俩在一起那种情景真使你感动使你人迷，使你莞尔而笑。那是八月里的事。我离开圣巴巴拉一个星期以后，汤姆一天夜晚在凡图拉公路上与一辆货车相撞，把他车上的前轮撞掉了一只。跟他同车的姑娘也上了报，因为她的胳膊撞断了…她是圣巴巴拉饭店里的一个收拾房间的女佣人。 ①加利福尼亚的海滨旅游胜地。
The next April Daisy had her little girl； and they went to France for a year。 I saw them one spring in Cannes； and later in Deauville； and then they came back to Chicago to settle down。 Daisy was popular in Chicago； as you know。 They moved with a fast crowd； all of them young and rich and wild； but she came out with an absolutely perfect reputation。 Perhaps because she doesn’t drink。 It’s a great advantage not to drink among harddrinking people。 You can hold your tongue； and； moreover； you can time any little irregularity of your own so that everybody else is so blind that they don’t see or care。 Perhaps Daisy never went in for amour at all—and yet there’s something in that voice of hers。 。 。 。 第二年四月黛西生了她那个小女儿，随后他们到法国去待了一年。有一个春天我在戛纳①见到他们，后来又在多维尔②见过，再后来他们就回芝加哥定居了。黛西在芝加哥很出风头，这是你知道的。他们和一帮花天酒地的人来往，个个都是又年轻又有钱又放荡的，但是她的名声却始终清清白白。也许因为她不喝酒的缘故。在爱喝酒的人中间而自己不喝酒，那是很占便宜的。你可以守口如瓶，而且，你可以为你自己的小动作选择时机，等到别人都喝得烂醉要么看不见要么不理会的时候再搞。也许黛西从来不爱搞什么桃色事件然而她那声音里却有点儿什么异样的地方。。。。。。 ①法国南部海港，旅游疗养胜地。 ②法国西北部旅游胜地。
Well； about six weeks ago； she heard the name Gatsby for the first time in years。 It was when I asked you—do you remember？—if you knew Gatsby in West Egg。 After you had gone home she came into my room and woke me up； and said： “What Gatsby？” and when I described him—I was half asleep—she said in the strangest voice that it must be the man she used to know。 It wasn’t until then that I connected this Gatsby with the officer in her white car。 后来，大约六个星期以前，她多年来第一次听到了盖茨比这个名宇。就是那次我问你…你还记得吗…你认识不认识西卵的盖茨比你回家之后，她到我屋里来把我推醒，问我：〃哪个姓盖茨比的？〃我把他形容了一番我半睡半醒…她用最古怪的声音说那一定是她过去认识的那个人。直到那时我才把这个盖茨比跟当年坐在她白色跑车里的那个军官联系起来。
When Jordan Baker had finished telling all this we had left the Plaza for half an hour and were driving in a victoria through Central Park。 The sun had gone down behind the tall apartments of the movie stars in the West Fifties； and the clear voices of girls； already gathered like crickets on the grass； rose through the hot twilight： 等到乔丹？贝克把上面这些都讲完，我们离开了广场饭店已经有半个钟头，两人乘着一辆敞篷马车穿过中央公园。太阳已经落在西城五十几号街那一带电影明星们居住的公寓大楼后面，这时儿童像草地上的蟋蟀一样聚在一起，他们清脆的声音在闷热的黄昏中歌唱：
“I’m the Sheik of Araby。Your love belongs to me。At night when you’re are asleepInto your tent I’ll creep——” 我是阿拉伯的首长， 你的爱情在我心上。 今夜当你睡意正浓， 我将爬进你的帐篷…
“It was a strange coincidence；” I said。 〃真是奇怪的巧合。〃我说。
“But it wasn’t a coincidence at all。” 〃但这根本不是什么巧合。〃
“Why not？” 〃为什么不是？〃
“Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay。” 〃盖茨比买下那座房子，就是因为这样一来黛西就在海湾对面嘛。〃
Then it had not been merely the stars to which he had aspired on that June night。 He came alive to me； delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor。 这么说来，六月里那个夜晚他所向往的不单单是天上的过斗了。盖茨比在我眼中有了生命，忽然之间从他那子宫般的毫无目的的豪华里分娩了出来。
“He wants to know；” continued Jordan； “if you’ll invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him e over。” 〃他想知道，〃乔丹继续说，〃你肯不肯哪一天下午请黛西到你住处来，然后让他过来坐一坐。〃
The modesty of the demand shook me。 He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths—so that he could “e over。” some afternoon to a stranger’s garden。 这个要求如此微不足道，真使我震惊。他居然等了五年，又买了一座大厦，在那里把星光施与来来往往的飞蛾为的是在哪个下午他可以到一个陌生人的花园里〃坐一坐〃。
“Did I have to know all this before he could ask such a little thing？” 〃我非得光知道这一切，然后他才能托我这点小事吗？〃
“He’s afraid； he’s waited so long。 He thought you might be offended。 You see； he’s a regular tough underneath it all。” 〃他害怕，他等得太久了。他想你也许会见怪。尽管如此，他其实是非常顽强的。〃
Something worried me。 我还是放不下心。
“Why didn’t he ask you to arrange a meeting？” 〃他为什么不请你安排一次见面呢？〃
“He wants her to see his house；” she explained。 “And your house is right next door。” 〃他要让她看看他的房子，〃她解释道，〃你的房子又刚好在紧隔壁。〃
“Oh！” 〃哦！〃
“I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties； some night；” went on Jordan； “but she never did。 Then he began asking people casually if they knew her； and I was the first one he found。 It was that night he sent for me at his dance； and you should have heard the elaborate way he worked up to it。 Of course； I immediately suggested a luncheon in New York—and I thought he’d go mad： 〃我想他大概指望哪天晚上她会翩然而至，光临他的一次宴会，〃乔丹继续说，〃但是她始终没有来过、后来他就开始有意无意地问人家是否认识她，而我是他找到的第一个人。就是在舞会上他派人去请我的那一晚，可惜你没听到他是怎样煞费苦心、转弯抹角才说到了正题，我自然马上建议在纽约吃一顿午餐不料他急得像要发疯：'我可不要做什么不对头的事情！'他一再说，'我只要在隔壁见见她。'
“‘I don’t want to do anything out of the way！’ he kept saying。 ‘I want to see her right next door。’ 〃后来我说你是汤姆的好朋友，他又想完全打消这个主意。他对汤姆的情况不太了解，虽然他说他有好几年天天看一份芝加哥报纸，希望碰巧可以看到黛西的名字。〃
It was dark now； and as we dipped under a little bridge I put my arm around Jordan’s golden shoulder and drew her toward me and asked her to dinner。 Suddenly I wasn’t thinking of Daisy and Gatsby any more； but of this clean； hard； limited person； who dealt in universal scepticism； and who leaned back jauntily just within the circle of my arm。 A phrase began to beat in my ears with a sort of heady excitement： “There are only t