了不起的盖茨比（聚会）

          There was the boom of a bass drum, and the voice of the orchestra leader rang out suddenly above the echolalia of the garden.

   大鼓轰隆隆一阵响，管弦乐团指挥的声音忽然盖过了花园里嘈杂的人声。

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he cried. “At the request of Mr. Gatsby we are going to play for you Mr. Vladimir Tostoff’s latest work, which attracted so much attention at Carnegie Hall last May. If you read the papers, you know there was a big sensation.” He smiled with jovial condescension, and added: “Some sensation!” Whereupon everybody laughed.

[sensation:轰动，激动；引起轰动的人（事）]

     "女士们，先生们，"他喊道，"应盖茨比先生的要求，我们现在为各位演奏弗拉基米尔·托斯托夫先生的最新作品，去年五月，这部作品在卡内基音乐厅获得了极高的关注。各位看报就知道那是轰动一时的事件。"他一脸愉悦，充满傲气地微微一笑，又说："可真叫轰动！"这句话引得大家都放声大笑。 

　 “The piece is known,” he concluded lustily[energetically], “as Vladimir Tostoff’s JAZZ HISTORY OF THE WORLD.”

    “这支乐曲，叫作——”他激情澎湃地作了结语，“《弗拉基米尔·托斯托夫的世界爵士乐史》！”

          The nature of Mr. Tostoff’s composition eluded _{[不为…所明白]}me, because just as it began my eyes fell on Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another with approving eyes. His tanned skin was drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked as though it were trimmed every day. I could see nothing sinister about him. I wondered if the fact that he was not drinking helped to set him off from his guests, for it seemed to me that he grew more correct as the fraternal_{[兄弟般的]} hilarity _[狂欢]increased. 

我没能听懂托斯托夫先生这首乐曲，因为演奏一开始，我就一眼看到了盖茨比独自站在大理石台阶上，用满意的目光从这一群人扫视到那一群人。他脸上黝黑的皮肤紧致迷人，一头短发看上去好像是每天都修剪似的。我看不出他身上有什么凶恶之处。我寻思是否他始终滴酒不沾这一点有助于把他跟聚会中的客人们截然分开，因为我觉得随着臭味相投的欢闹的高涨，他却变得越发端庄了。

When the JAZZ HISTORY OF THE WORLD was over, girls were putting their heads on men’s shoulders in a puppyish, convivial[friendly] way, girls were swooning[神魂颠倒] backward playfully into men’s arms, even into groups, knowing that some one would arrest their falls—but no one swooned backward on Gatsby, and no French bob touched Gatsby’s shoulder, and no singing quartets were formed with Gatsby’s head for one link.

等到《爵士音乐世界史》演奏完毕，在聚会中，姑娘们有的像小狗一样亲昵地靠在男人肩膀上，有的醉醺醺的，玩闹着向后倒在男人怀抱里，甚至倒进人群里，因为她们清楚总是有人会把她们托住--可是没有人陶醉地倒向盖茨比身上，也没有法国式波波头碰到盖茨比的肩头，也没有人组织四人合唱团来拉盖茨比加入。

   “I beg your pardon.”

     "打扰一下"

　　 Gatsby’s butler was suddenly standing beside us.

          盖茨比的男管家忽然站在我们身旁。

        “Miss Baker?” he inquired. “I beg your pardon, but Mr. Gatsby would like to speak to you alone.”

         贝克小姐？抱歉打扰您，盖茨比先生想跟您单独聊一聊。”

　　“With me?” she exclaimed in surprise.

     "跟我谈？"她惊奇地叫道。

　　“Yes, madame.”

         "是的，小姐。"

　　She got up slowly, raising her eyebrows at me in astonishment, and followed the butler toward the house. I noticed that she wore her evening-dress, all her dresses, like sports clothes—there was a jauntiness[活泼] about her movements as if she had first learned to walk upon golf courses on clean, crisp mornings.

        她慢慢地站起身来，向我惊愕地扬了扬眉毛，然后跟着男管家向宅子里走去。我注意到她穿了晚礼服——她所有的裙子，都像穿运动服一样--她的动作有一股矫健之风，好像在过去那些空气清新的早晨，她就是在高尔夫赛道上学会走路的。

　　I was alone and it was almost two. For some time confused and intriguing sounds had issued from a long, many-windowed room which overhung the terrace_[阳台]. Eluding Jordan’s undergraduate, who was now engaged in an obstetrical_[产科的] conversation with two chorus girls, and who implored me to join him, I went inside.

    我独自一人，时间已快两点了。有好一会儿，从悬在阳台上方一间长长的、有很多窗户的屋子里传来了一阵阵混乱而引人注意的声响。乔丹的那位大学生此刻正在和两个歌舞团的舞女滔滔不绝地聊着助产术，还央求我去加人，可是我溜掉了，进了室内。

The large room was full of people. One of the girls in yellow was playing the piano, and beside her stood a tall, red-haired young lady from a famous chorus, engaged in song. She had drunk a quantity of champagne, and during the course of her song she had decided, ineptly[笨拙的], that everything was very, very sad—she was not only singing, she was weeping too. 

大房间里挤满了人。那两个黄裙女孩之一在弹钢琴，身旁站着一位年轻高挑的红发女郎，是从一个有名的歌舞团来的，正在那里唱歌。她已经喝了大量的香摈，在她唱歌的过程中她又不合时宜地认定一切都悲惨至极--她不仅在唱，还不停地抽泣。

Whenever there was a pause in the song she filled it with gasping, broken sobs, and then took up the lyric again in a quavering[shaking] soprano. The tears coursed down her cheeks—not freely, however, for when they came into contact with her heavily beaded eyelashes they assumed an inky color, and pursued the rest of their way in slow black rivulets[小溪]. A humorous suggestion was made that she sing the notes on her face, whereupon she threw up her hands, sank into a chair, and went off into a deep vinous sleep._{[ （葡萄）酒的;酒醉的]} 

    每逢歌里的每一个停顿，她就用断断续续的抽噎来填补，然后又用震颤的女高音继续去唱词。眼泪沿着她的面颊缓缓流下--可流得不太顺畅，因为眼泪一沾上浓浓的睫毛之后就变成了墨色，像两条黑色的小溪似的慢慢地继续往下流。有人幽默地建议她唱脸上的那些音符，她便双手一撂，瘫进一把椅子，醉得不省人事。

　　“She had a fight with a man who says he’s her husband,” explained a girl at my elbow.

    "她跟一个自称是她丈夫的人吵过一架。"我身旁一个姑娘解释说。

　　I looked around. Most of the remaining women were now having fights with men said to be their husbands. Even Jordan’s party, the quartet from East Egg, were rent_[撕裂] asunder_[碎；散] by dissension. One of the men was talking with curious intensity to a young actress, and his wife, after attempting to laugh at the situation in a dignified and indifferent way, broke down entirely and resorted to flank[_{侧面，侧翼]} attacks—at intervals she appeared suddenly at his side like an angry diamond, and hissed: “You promised!” into his ear.

    我四下看了看，还没走的女客现在多半都在跟她们所谓的丈夫吵架。连乔丹的同伴们，从东卵来的那四位，也由于意见不和而四分五裂了。其中一个男人，正在跟一个年轻的女演员畅谈，他的妻子起先还保持尊严，装得满不在乎，想一笑置之，到后来完全垮了，就开始采取侧面攻击——时不时地突然出现在丈夫身边，像一条愤怒的毒蛇一样对着他的耳朵嘶嘶吐信：“你明明保证过！”

　　The reluctance to go home was not confined to wayward_{[难以控制的]} men. The hall was at present occupied by two deplorably sober_[清醒的] men and their highly indignant wives. The wives were sympathizing with each other in slightly raised voices.

    舍不得回家的并不只是任性不羁的男客。大厅里此刻有两个毫无醉意的男客，还有他们怒气冲冲的太太。两位太太略微提高了嗓门在互相表示同情。

　　“Whenever he sees I’m having a good time he wants to go home.”

     "每次他一看见我玩得开心他就要回家。"

　　“Never heard anything so selfish in my life.”

        “我这辈子就没听过这么自私的要求。”

 　　“We’re always the first ones to leave.”

       “我们总是最先走的。”

　　“So are we.”

     "我们也是。"

　　“Well, we’re almost the last to-night,” said one of the men sheepishly[羞怯地]. “The orchestra left half an hour ago.”

     "不过，今晚我们几乎是最后走了，"其中一个男人怯怯地说，"乐队半个小时以前就走了。"

　　In spite of the wives’ agreement that such malevolence was beyond credibility, the dispute ended in a short struggle, and both wives were lifted, kicking, into the night.

    尽管两位太太一致认为如此的恶毒简直叫人难以置信，这场争论还是以一场扭打而告终，两位太太都被提抱起来，两腿乱踢，消失在夜色里。