了不起的盖茨比（宴会描写）

导读：盖茨比为了满足客人需求，精心准备了菜肴、汽艇、滑水板、跳台、帆布帐篷等等，使得宴会喧闹无比，豪华炫丽。在这恣情享乐、歌舞升平中，作者以一种戏虐、欢笑的方式揭露当时人们极度的精神空虚和人性中的贪婪虚伪。

　　There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft_{【木筏的跳台】}, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes _{【滑水板】}over cataracts¹ of foam_{【翻腾的浪花】}. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus_{【公共汽车】}, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon² scampered³ like a brisk⁴ yellow bug _{【轻捷的黄硬壳虫】}to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages⁵ of the night before._{【每星期一，八个仆人，包括一个临时园丁，整整劳累一天，用拖把、板刷、榔头、修技剪来收拾前一晚的垃圾。】}

      Every Friday five crates⁶ of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiterer in New York—every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves⁷. There was a machine in the kitchen which could extract 【提取】the juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour if a little button【按钮】 was pressed two hundred times by a butler’s thumb【管家的大拇指】.

      At least once a fortnight _{【两周一次】}a corps⁸ of caterers ⁹came down with several hundred feet of canvas_{【帆布 】}and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden. On buffet tables_{【自助餐桌】}, garnished ¹⁰with glistening hors-d’oeuvre_{【琳琅满目的冷盘】}, spiced baked hams_{【五香火腿】} crowded against salads of harlequin¹¹ designs_{【五花八门的色拉】} and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold_{【烤得金黄的酥皮乳猪和火鸡】}. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail_【铜杆】 was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials _{【金酒、烈酒、果酒】}so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another.

了不起的盖茨比之词汇释义：

1、cataract：大瀑布；奔流 A cataract is a large waterfall。

2、station wagon：客货两用车 A station wagon is a car with a long body, a door at the rear, and space behind the back seats.

3、Scamper（步子小而轻地）奔跑，疾走;蹦蹦跳跳 When people or small animals scamper somewhere, they move there quickly with small, light steps.

4、Brisk：轻快的；生气勃勃的 A brisk activity or action is done quickly and in an energetic way.

例句：Taking a brisk walk can often induce a feeling of well-being...

快步行走常常会使人感到身心舒畅。

5、ravage：破坏；蹂躏；毁坏The ravages of time, war, or the weather are the damaging effects that they have.

Carol Drinkwater is blessed with a fine bone structure that stands up better to the ravages of time.

卡罗尔·德林克沃特生就一副好身板，经过岁月历练还那么硬朗。

6、crate：(运输或储藏物品的)板条箱，大木箱。

7、pulpless：无果肉的。halves：两半。a pyramid of pulpless halves：半个半个的果皮堆成的金字塔。

8、corps：(从事某种特殊工作的)一组人，一群人 A corps is a small group of people who do a special job.

9、Caterer：餐饮公司;酒席承办商 Caterers are people or companies that provide food and drink for a place such as an office or for special occasions such as weddings and parties.

10、Garnish：给（菜肴）加装饰菜
If you garnish cooked or prepared food, you decorate it with a garnish.

She had finished the vegetables and was garnishing the roast.

她已经做好了蔬，正在给烤肉添加饰菜。

11、Harlequin：滑稽角色，丑角；五颜六色的。

——以上英文释义和例句摘自《科林斯词典》

了不起的盖茨比经典名句： 

In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. _{【在他蔚蓝的花园里，男男女女像飞蛾一般穿梭于低语、美酒和繁星夜空中。】}