了不起的盖茨比（邀请尼克参加派对）

     I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited—they went there. They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island, and somehow they ended up at Gatsby’s door. Once there they were introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby, and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement parks. Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission.

      我第一次到盖茨比家的那晚，应该算是少数几个真正接到请帖的客人之一。很多人并没有被邀请--他们是自己来的。他们坐着汽车，被送到长岛，后来也不知怎的他们最终出现在盖茨比的门口。一到之后总会被认识盖茨比的人引荐进去，之后他们的言行举止就像在娱乐场所一般了。有时候他们从来到走根本没见过盖茨比，他们怀着一片诚心前来赴会，这便是他们独有的入场券了。

      I had been actually invited. A chauffeur_【司机】 in a uniform of robin’s-egg blue crossed my lawn early that Saturday morning with a surprisingly formal note from his employer: the honor would be entirely Gatsby’s, it said, if I would attend his “little party.” that night. He had seen me several times, and had intended to call on me long before, but a peculiar combination of circumstances had prevented it—signed Jay Gatsby, in a majestic¹ hand.【1、majestic：very big, impressive, or beautiful】

  我确实是收到了邀请。那个周六的清晨，一个身穿蛋壳蓝制服的司机穿过我的草坪，为他的雇主送来一封正式得令人惊讶的请柬，上面写道：如蒙我光临当晚他的"小聚会"，盖茨比当感到不胜荣幸。他已经看到我几次，并且早就打算造访，但由于一连串特殊情况未能如愿--落款处字迹潇洒，署名杰伊·盖茨比。

      Dressed up in white flannels I went over to his lawn a little after seven, and wandered around rather ill at ease² among swirls and eddies _【漩涡】of people I didn’t know—though here and there was a face I had noticed on the commuting train. I was immediately struck by the number of young Englishmen dotted about_【布满】; all well dressed, all looking a little hungry, and all talking in low, earnest voices to solid and prosperous_{【殷实的】} Americans. I was sure that they were selling something: bonds or insurance or automobiles. They were at least agonizingly_{【折磨人的】} aware of the easy money in the vicinity_【附近】 and convinced that it was theirs for a few words in the right key.

[2、ill at ease:紧张；不自在]

    晚上七点一过，我身穿一套白法兰绒便装踏上盖茨比家的的草坪，很不自在地在一群素不相识的人中间逛了逛--虽然偶尔能看见一个我在通勤火车上见过的面孔。我当即注意到人群中有不少年轻的英国人，这让我颇为震动。他们个个衣着整齐，个个面有饥色，个个都在低声下气地跟殷实的美国人谈话。我敢说他们都在推销什么：要么是债券，要么是保险，或是汽车。他们最起码都眼馋难耐地意识到，唾手可得的钱近在咫尺，并且相信，只要几句话说得投机，钱就到手了。

As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host, but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way, and denied so vehemently³ any knowledge of his movements, that I slunk off_{【偷偷摸摸走】} in the direction of the cocktail table—the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone.

【3、vehemently：情绪激烈的；观点激烈的very strong feelings or opinions and expresses them forcefully】

我一到之后就设法去找主人，可是问了两三个人，他们竟全都大为惊异地瞪着我，同时矢口否认知道他的行踪，我只好悄悄往鸡尾酒台的方向溜去--整个花园里只有这个地方，能让一个单身汉逗留，而不至于显得无聊和孤独。