了不起的盖茨比第五章（会面前的准备）

了不起的盖茨比第五章

     When I came home to West Egg that night I was afraid for a moment that my house was on fire. Two o’clock and the whole corner of the peninsula was blazing with light, which fell unreal on the shrubbery and made thin elongating glints upon the roadside wires. Turning a corner, I saw that it was Gatsby’s house, lit from tower to cellar.

         词汇：peninsula ：[pəˈnɪnsjələ]半岛。Blaze：[bleɪz] [V] 熊熊燃烧。Shrubbery：[ˈʃrʌbəri] 灌木丛。Elongate: [ˈiːlɒŋɡeɪt] （使）拉长;（使）延长。 Glint: [ɡlɪnt] 闪光;闪亮。lit :light的过去分词和过去式。

          那晚我回到西卵的时，惊吓了好一会儿，因为我的房子好像着了火。已夜至两点，而半岛处处却都被照得通明，照在灌木丛上仿若幻象，还照在路边的电线上，映出了一条条细长的闪光。我转过身，才发现原来是盖茨比的别墅，从高塔到地窖都明亮亮的。

    At first I thought it was another party, a wild rout that had resolved itself into “hide-and-go-seek.” or “sardines-in-the-box.” with all the house thrown open to the game. But there wasn’t a sound. Only wind in the trees, which blew the wires and made the lights go off and on again as if the house had winked into the darkness. As my taxi groaned away I saw Gatsby walking toward me across his lawn.

词汇：Rout: [raʊt]原意是“暴动”，这里“a wild rout”指“一场盛大狂欢”。    

sardines-in-the-box：a game like hide and seek; one person hides and everyone else looks for that person。    

Groan：[ɡrəʊn] 呻吟声；叹息声；哼哼声；嘎吱声。

    起初我还以为又在举办什么宴会，一次狂欢的盛会，整个别墅都门户大开，好让大家四散游戏，去玩“捉迷藏”或者“盒子里的沙丁鱼”了。可是里面一片寂静。只有树丛中的风声作响，吹动了电信，光线也随之忽明忽灭，那别墅便似在黑暗中眨眼一般。正当载我回来的出租车轰鸣着开走之时，我看到盖茨比踏过他的草坪朝着我走过来。 

 “Your place looks like the World’s Fair,” I said.

     "你那儿看上去像世界博览会一样。"我说。

 “Does it?” He turned his eyes toward it absently. “I have been glancing into some of the rooms. Let’s go to Coney Island, old sport. In my car.”

词汇：Absently：[ˈæbsəntli] adv.心不在焉地;出神地。

     "是吗？"他心不在焉地转过眼睛去望了望那别墅，"我刚才打开几间屋子随意看了看。咱俩到康尼岛①去玩吧，老兄。坐我的车子去。"

①康尼岛（Coney），纽约的一处游乐胜地。

　　“It’s too late.”

     "太晚了吧。"

　　“Well, suppose we take a plunge in the swimming-pool? I haven’t made use of it all summer.”

     "要不我们到游泳池去游泳吧？我这一夏天还没进过泳池呢。" 

　　“I’ve got to go to bed.”

    "我得睡觉了。"

　　“All right.”

     "好吧。"

　　 He waited, looking at me with suppressed eagerness.

他等了等，注视着我，透露出内心深处的渴望。

　　“I talked with Miss Baker,” I said after a moment. “I’m going to call up Daisy to-morrow and invite her over here to tea.”

     "我跟贝克小姐谈过了，"过了一会儿，我才说道，"我明天打电话给黛西，请她过来喝茶。"

　　“Oh, that’s all right,” he said carelessly. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

     "哦，那好吧，"他漫不经心地说，"我本不想给您添麻烦的。"           

　　“What day would suit you?”

     "哪天你有空？"

　　“What day would suit YOU?” he corrected me quickly. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble, you see.”

     "你哪天方便？"他马上纠正了我的话，"我不希望给您添麻烦，你明白。"

    “How about the day after to-morrow?”

"后天怎么样?"

     He considered for a moment. Then, with reluctance:“I want to get the grass cut,” he said.

    他想了一会。然后，他为难地说："我想修剪一下草坪。"

　　 We both looked at the grass—there was a sharp line where my ragged lawn ended and the darker, well-kept expanse of his began. I suspected that he meant my grass.

我们俩都低头看了看草坪—在我那乱蓬蓬的草坪和他那一大片剪得整整齐齐的深绿色草坪之间有一条很清楚的分界线。我猜他指的是我的草坪。

　　“There’s another little thing,” he said uncertainly, and hesitated.

     "另外还有一件小事。"他犹犹豫豫地说，然后迟疑了一会。

　　“Would you rather put it off for a few days?” I asked.

     "你是不是想推迟几天？"我问道。

　　“Oh, it isn’t about that. At least——” He fumbled with a series of beginnings. “Why, I thought—why, look here, old sport, you don’t make much money, do you?”

     "哦，跟那个没关系。至少……"他欲言又止地开了好几次头，"呃，我猜……呃，我说，老兄，你挣钱不多，对吧？"

　　“Not very much.”

     "不太多。"

　　 This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.

这个答案似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。

　　“I thought you didn’t, if you’ll pardon my—You see, I carry on a little business on the side, a sort of side line, you understand. And I thought that if you don’t make very much—You’re selling bonds, aren’t you, old sport?”

     "我猜想你挣钱不多，希望你别见怪--你知道，我附带做点小生意，算是个副业吧，你懂的。我就想到既然你挣钱不多--你在卖债券，是吧，老兄？"

　　“Trying to.”

     "学着卖吧。"

    “Well, this would interest you. It wouldn’t take up much of your time and you might pick up a nice bit of money. It happens to be a rather confidential sort of thing.”

Confidential： [ˌkɒnfɪˈdenʃl] 机密的；保密的；秘密的。

     "那么，这事你应该会有兴趣。它可以让你赚取不错的收入，而且不会占用你太多时间。就是这事得好好保密。" 

     I realize now that under different circumstances that conversation might have been one of the crises of my life. But, because the offer was obviously and tactlessly for a service to be rendered, I had no choice except to cut him off there.

词汇：Crisis:紧要关头，决定性时刻。tactless [ˈtæktləs]   (言行)未经考虑的，冒失的，没分寸的。
    If you describe someone as tactless, you think what they say or do is likely to offend other people.

我现在意识到，如果在不同的情境下，那次谈话可能会是我一生中的一个转折点。但是，因为这个建议很不得体，明摆着是为了酬谢我接下来要帮的忙，我别无选择，只能当场打断他。

　　“I’ve got my hands full,” I said. “I’m much obliged but I couldn’t take on any more work.”

     "我手头工作很忙，"我说，"我非常感激，但我接不了更多的活了。。"

　　“You wouldn’t have to do any business with Wolfshiem.” Evidently he thought that I was shying away from the “gonnegtion.” mentioned at lunch, but I assured him he was wrong. He waited a moment longer, hoping I’d begin a conversation, but I was too absorbed to be responsive, so he went unwillingly home.

     "你无需和沃尔夫山姆打交道。"显然他以为我想回避午餐时提到的那种"关系"，但我跟他保证，是他搞错了。他又等了好一会，希望我找个话题，但我正专心想事，就没理会他，他便只好不情愿地回家了。

　　The evening had made me light-headed and happy; I think I walked into a deep sleep as I entered my front door. So I didn’t know whether or not Gatsby went to Coney Island, or for how many hours he “glanced into rooms.” while his house blazed gaudily on. I called up Daisy from the office next morning, and invited her to come to tea.

    这一晚使我感到又茫然又开心。大概我一走进自己的大门就倒头大睡，所以我不知道盖茨比到底去没去康尼岛，也不知道他在光亮的宅子里花了几个小时”看看房间“。第二天早晨，我在办公室给黛西打了个电话，请她来喝茶。

　　“Don’t bring Tom,” I warned her.

     "别带汤姆来。"我警告她。

　　“What?”

     "什么？"

　　“Don’t bring Tom.”

     "别带汤姆来。" 

　　“Who is ‘Tom’?” she asked innocently.

    “‘汤姆’是谁？”她装傻反问。

    The day agreed upon was pouring rain. At eleven o’clock a man in a raincoat, dragging a lawn-mower, tapped at my front door and said that Mr. Gatsby had sent him over to cut my grass. This reminded me that I had forgotten to tell my Finn to come back, so I drove into West Egg Village to search for her among soggy, whitewashed alleys and to buy some cups and lemons and flowers.

词汇：Soggy：潮湿的Something that is soggy is unpleasantly wet.。Alley：（建筑群中间或后面的）小街，小巷，胡同。

    我们约定的那天大雨倾盆。上午十一点钟，一个身穿雨衣的男人拖着一台割草机来敲我家的大门，说盖茨比先生派他过来帮我修剪草坪。这使我想起我忘了叫我那芬兰女佣人回来，于是我就开车到西卵镇上去，在湿淋淋的、两边都刷成白石灰墙的小巷子里找她，顺便买了几个杯子，还有柠檬和花。

　　The flowers were unnecessary, for at two o’clock a greenhouse arrived from Gatsby’s, with innumerable receptacles to contain it. An hour later the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in. He was pale, and there were dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes.

    花是无需另买的，因为下午两点钟从盖茨比家里送来足够充满一个温室的鲜花，连同无数插花的器皿。一小时以后，大门被人提心吊胆地打开，盖茨比穿着一身白法兰绒西装，搭配银色衬衫和金色领带，慌慌张张走了进来。他脸色苍白，眼圈黑黑的，似一夜未眠。 

　　“Is everything all right?” he asked immediately.

     "一切都准备好了吗？"他一来就问。

　　“The grass looks fine, if that’s what you mean.”

     "草坪看着不错，如果你是问这个的话。"

　　“What grass?” he inquired blankly. “Oh, the grass in the yard.” He looked out the window at it, but, judging from his expression, I don’t believe he saw a thing.

   “什么草坪？”他茫然地问，“哦，院子里的草坪。” 他从窗子里向外看，不过从他的表情来看，我不信他真留意了窗外的事物。 

　“Looks very good,” he remarked vaguely. “One of the papers said they thought the rain would stop about four. I think it was the JOURNAL. Have you got everything you need in the shape of—of tea?”

     "看起来非常好，"他含糊地说，"有一家报纸预测雨在四点左右会停，大概是《华尔街日报》。喝……喝茶的东西，都准备好了吗？？"

    I took him into the pantry, where he looked a little reproachfully at the Finn. Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop.

pantry（通常与厨房相连的）食品储藏室，食品储藏柜。

Reproachful：（表情或话语）责备的，责怪的，谴责的。

我把他带到食品储藏室里去，他有点责备地看着那芬兰女佣。我们一起仔细打量从甜品店里买来的十二块柠檬蛋糕。

　　“Will they do?” I asked.

     "这些蛋糕行吗？"我问道。 

   “Of course, of course! They’re fine!” and he added hollowly, “. . .old sport.”

     "当然行，当然行！蛋糕很好！"然后他又假惺惺地加了一声，"老兄！"

Hollow：[ˈhɒləʊ]无诚意的；虚伪的。

            The rain cooled about half-past three to a damp mist, through which occasional thin drops swam like dew. Gatsby looked with vacant eyes through a copy of Clay’s ECONOMICS, starting at the Finnish tread that shook the kitchen floor, and peering toward the bleared windows from time to time as if a series of invisible but alarming happenings were taking place outside. Finally he got up and informed me, in an uncertain voice, that he was going home.

词汇：Mist：薄雾;水汽;液体喷雾。Swam:游;游动。swim的过去式。Vacant：无神的；呆滞的；茫然的；若有所失的。tread：步法；步态；脚步声。 Blear: （轮廓）模糊的；朦胧的。

    三点半钟左右，雨势小了，变成了湿雾，不时夹杂着细如露珠的雨滴在雾里飘着。盖茨比呆滞地翻阅着一本克莱的《经济学》，每当芬兰女佣人的脚步把厨房地板踩得直颤,他就一惊，并且盯着模糊的窗户看，好像外面正发生着一系列看不见却又吓人的事件。最后他站了起来，用犹疑的语气对我说，他要回家了。

　　“Why’s that?”

     "为什么？"

　　“Nobody’s coming to tea. It’s too late!” He looked at his watch as if there was some pressing demand on his time elsewhere. “I can’t wait all day.”

     "不会有人来喝茶了。很晚了！"他看了看他的表，仿佛别处还有紧急的事等着他去办。"我不能干等一整天。"

　　“Don’t be silly; it’s just two minutes to four.”

     "别傻了，现在刚刚是四点差两分。"

    He sat down miserably, as if I had pushed him, and simultaneously there was the sound of a motor turning into my lane. We both jumped up, and, a little harrowed myself, I went out into the yard.

Lane：小巷；胡同；里弄。harrow ：[ˈhæroʊ]  耙地;折磨，使苦恼。

他苦恼地坐了下来，仿佛我逼迫他似的，正在这时外面传来一辆汽车拐进我家巷道的马达声。我们俩都跳了起来。我自己也有点苦恼，便赶紧出去走到院子里。

    Under the dripping bare lilac-trees a large open car was coming up the drive. It stopped. Daisy’s face, tipped sideways beneath a three-cornered lavender hat, looked out at me with a bright ecstatic smile.

Ecstatic：[ɪkˈstætɪk]狂喜的；热情极高的。

    在滴着水的光秃秃的紫丁香树下，一辆大敞篷汽车沿着车道开了上来。它停了。黛西的脸在一顶淡紫色的三角帽下面侧露出来，满面春风、心花怒放地朝我看着。 

　“Is this absolutely where you live, my dearest one?”

     "你真的是住在这儿吗，我最亲爱的？"

    The exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild tonic in the rain. I had to follow the sound of it for a moment, up and down, with my ear alone, before any words came through. A damp streak of hair lay like a dash of blue paint across her cheek, and her hand was wet with glistening drops as I took it to help her from the car.

词汇：Exhilarating：使人兴奋的；令人激动的；令人高兴的。Ripple：波纹;细浪;涟漪;(外观或运动)如波纹的东西;起伏的声音。Tonic：补药;滋补品;护发液;护肤液；使精神振奋的东西。

    她那悠扬的嗓音在雨中听了使人欢欣振奋。我忍不住侧耳跟着那起伏的音调听了好一会儿，才把话给听进去。一缕潮湿的头发贴在她面颊上，像抹了一笔蓝色的颜料一样。我扶她下车的时候，发现她的手也被晶莹的水珠打湿了。

　　“Are you in love with me,” she said low in my ear, “or why did I have to come alone?”

     "你是爱上我了吗，"她在我耳朵边悄声说，"要不然为什么非要我一个人来呢？”

　　“That’s the secret of Castle Rackrent. Tell your chauffeur to go far away and spend an hour.”

     "那是拉克伦特堡①的秘密。叫你的司机走得远远的，过一个钟头再来。"

　　 ①这是玛丽亚·埃奇沃思1800年的小说《拉克伦特城堡》的一个典故，小说的结局对读者来说是个谜。在小说的结尾，读者会对拉克伦特城堡的所有权产生疑问。　

    “Come back in an hour, Ferdie.” Then in a grave murmur: “His name is Ferdie.”

    “过一个小时你再回来，费尔迪。”然后她煞有介事地低声道，“他的名字叫费尔迪。”

　　“Does the gasoline affect his nose?”

     "汽油味道影响他的鼻子吗？"

　　“I don’t think so,” she said innocently. “Why?”

     "我想并不影响，"她天真地说，"怎么了？" 

　　We went in. To my overwhelming surprise the living-room was deserted.

    我们进了屋。没想到客厅里空无一人，使我大吃一惊。

　　“Well, that’s funny,” I exclaimed.

   “行吧，这可太逗了！”我叫道。

　　“What’s funny?”

     "什么太逗了？"

　　She turned her head as there was a light dignified knocking at the front door. I went out and opened it. Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes.

   正在此刻大门上有人斯文地轻轻敲了一下，她转过头去看。我走出去打开门，只见盖茨比面如死灰，双手像哑铃一样在外衣口袋里沉甸甸地坠着，两只脚站在一片水坑里，神色凄惨地瞪着我的眼睛。