了不起的盖茨比（出场、笑容描写）

        There was dancing now on the canvas in the garden; old men pushing young girls backward in eternal graceless circles, superior couples holding each other tortuously, fashionably, and keeping in the corners—and a great number of single girls dancing individualistically or relieving the orchestra for a moment of the burden of the banjo or the traps. By midnight the hilarity had increased. A celebrated tenor had sung in Italian, and a notorious contralto had sung in jazz, and between the numbers people were doing “stunts.” all over the garden, while happy, vacuous bursts of laughter rose toward the summer sky. A pair of stage twins, who turned out to be the girls in yellow, did a baby act in costume, and champagne was served in glasses bigger than finger-bowls. The moon had risen higher, and floating in the Sound was a triangle of silver scales, trembling a little to the stiff, tinny drip of the banjoes on the lawn.

       此刻花园里帆布舞台上有人在跳舞。有些老男人推着年轻姑娘向后退，动作笨拙又无休止地绕着圈子；有高傲的男女抱在一起，按时髦的舞步，做作地扭来扭去，守在一个角落里跳--还有很多单身女郎独自舞动，或者帮乐队弹一会儿班卓琴或者敲一会儿鼓。到了午夜欢闹更甚。一位有名的男高音唱了意大利文歌曲，还有一位声名狼藉的女低音唱了爵士乐曲，还有人在两个节目之间在花园里到处表演"绝技"，同时一阵阵欢乐而空洞的笑声响彻夏夜的天空。一对舞台“双子星”——其实就是那两个黄裙女孩——装扮起来，演了一出娃娃戏，同时香槟也倒在比洗指碗^①大一些的玻璃杯里，一杯杯地送了过来。月亮升得更高了，海湾里飘着一副三角形的银色天秤，随着草坪上班卓琴铿锵的琴声微微颤动。

①  洗指碗，高档西餐晚宴上使用的餐具，是一种玻璃小碗，盛放清水，用于清洗拿过甜点或海鲜的手指。

　　I was still with Jordan Baker. We were sitting at a table with a man of about my age and a rowdy little girl, who gave way upon the slightest provocation to uncontrollable laughter. I was enjoying myself now. I had taken two finger-bowls of champagne, and the scene had changed before my eyes into something significant, elemental, and profound.

      我仍然和乔丹·贝克在一起。我们坐的一张桌上还有一位跟我年纪相仿的男子和一个聒噪的小姑娘，她动不动就忍不住要放声大笑。我这时玩得很开心。我已经喝了两大碗香槟，眼前的景象幻化成了一种有着重大意义、高深奥妙的东西。

　　At a lull in the entertainment the man looked at me and smiled.

    娱乐节目间隙，那男人看着我笑了笑。

   “Your face is familiar,” he said, politely. “Weren’t you in the Third Division during the war?”

     "您很面熟，"他很客气地说，"战争期间您是不是在第三师？"

　　“Why, yes. I was in the Ninth Machine-gun Battalion.”

     "正是啊。我在第九机枪营。"

　　“I was in the Seventh Infantry until June nineteen-eighteen. I knew I’d seen you somewhere before.”

     “我是第七步兵团的，一直服役到一九一八年六月。我就知道之前在哪儿见过你。”

　　 We talked for a moment about some wet, gray little villages in France. Evidently he lived in this vicinity, for he told me that he had just bought a hydroplane, and was going to try it out in the morning.

    我们聊了有关法国的一此阴雨、灰暗的小村庄，显而易见他就住在附近，因为他告诉我他刚买了一架水上飞机，并且准备明天早晨去试飞一下。

　　“Want to go with me, old sport? Just near the shore along the Sound.”

     "想跟我一块去吗，老兄？就在附近的海峡沿岸兜一圈。。"

　　“What time?”

     "什么时候？"

   　“Any time that suits you best.” 

     "看你什么时候方便。"

　　It was on the tip of my tongue to ask his name when Jordan looked around and smiled.

    我差点就脱口问他的名字，这时乔丹转头朝我一笑。

　　“Having a gay time now?” she inquired.

     "现在兴奋了吧？"她问。

　　“Much better.” I turned again to my new acquaintance. “This is an unusual party for me. I haven’t even seen the host. I live over there——” I waved my hand at the invisible hedge in the distance, “and this man Gatsby sent over his chauffeur with an invitation.”

     "好多了。"我又转向我的新交，"这对我来说是个不寻常的晚会。我连主人都还没见到哩。我就住在那边……"我朝着远处看不见的的篱笆把手一挥。"这个叫盖茨比的男人派他的司机过来送了封请柬。"

　　For a moment he looked at me as if he failed to understand.

    他看了我好一会儿，似乎没听懂我的话。

  　“I’m Gatsby,” he said suddenly.

    "我就是盖茨比"他突然说

　　“What!” I exclaimed. “Oh, I beg your pardon.”

     "什么！"我叫了一声，"噢，真对不起。"

　　“I thought you knew, old sport. I’m afraid I’m not a very good host.”

     "我还以为你知道哩，老兄。我恐怕不是个好客的主人。"

　　He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced—or seemed to face—the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. Precisely at that point it vanished—and I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. Some time before he introduced himself I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care. 

           他体谅地笑了——还远远不止是体谅。这是极为罕见的笑容，其中含有永久的认同之意，一生也许只能遇见四五次。有一瞬间，这是对着——或者说似乎是对着——整个外在世界笑的，然后就凝注在你身上，似乎在芸芸众生中，只有你能让他感到不由自主地喜欢。他理解你，正是你本人希望被理解的程度；他相信你，正如你乐于相信你自己那样；并且跟你保证，它准确无误地接收到了你竭尽所能希望传递给他人的印象。恰好在这一刻他的笑容消失了--于是我看着的不过是一个风度翩翩的年轻汉子，三十一二岁年纪，说话文绉绉的，几乎有点可笑。他还没开始介绍自己，我就已经有了一个强烈的印象：他的措辞都是字斟句酌过的。