了不起的盖茨比（开车进城）

metallic cloth：[məˈtælɪk klɒθ] 金属线织物。

    汤姆走出了屋子，一面把一瓶一夸脱酒用毛巾包起来，后面跟着黛西和乔丹，两人都戴着又小又紧的金属线帽子，手臂上搭着薄纱披肩。

　 “Shall we all go in my car?” suggested Gatsby. He felt the hot, green leather of the seat. “I ought to have left it in the shade.”

    "大家都坐我的车去吧？"盖茨比提议道。他摸了摸炙热的绿皮坐垫。"我应当把它停在阴凉处。"

　  “Is it standard shift?” demanded Tom.

     "这车是标准变速档吗？"汤姆问。

　　“Yes.”

     "是的。"

　　“Well, you take my coupe and let me drive your car to town.”

     "好吧，你开我的车，让我开你的车进城。"

    The suggestion was distasteful to Gatsby.

Distasteful：使人不愉快的;令人反感的;讨厌的。

    盖茨比很反感这个建议。

　 “I don’t think there’s much gas,” he objected.

    "恐怕汽油不多了。"他反对道。

   “Plenty of gas,” said Tom boisterously. He looked at the gauge. “And if it runs out I can stop at a drug-store. You can buy anything at a drug-store nowadays.”

Boisterous：[ˈbɔɪstərəs]喧闹的；活泼的；精力充沛的

    "汽油多得很。"汤姆暴躁地说。他看了看油表。"如果用光了，我可以找一家药店停下来。这年头药房里什么都能买到。"

　　A pause followed this apparently pointless remark. Daisy looked at Tom frowning, and an indefinable expression, at once definitely unfamiliar and vaguely recognizable, as if I had only heard it described in words, passed over Gatsby’s face.

    在说完这明显毫无意义的话之后，招来了一阵沉默。黛西皱着眉头看着汤姆，同时盖茨比脸上掠过一种难以形容的表情，既十分陌生又似曾相识，仿佛我只曾听人用语言描述过。

   “Come on, Daisy,” said Tom, pressing her with his hand toward Gatsby’s car. “I’ll take you in this circus wagon.”

Wagon：[ˈwæɡən]  四轮运货马车。    

"走吧，黛西，"汤姆说，一面推着她走向盖茨比的车，"我带你坐这辆马戏团的大篷车。"

　　He opened the door, but she moved out from the circle of his arm.

    他打开车门，但她从他的怀抱里挣脱出去。

　　“You take Nick and Jordan. We’ll follow you in the coupe.”

     "你带尼克和乔丹吧。我们开小轿车跟着你们。"

　　She walked close to Gatsby, touching his coat with her hand. Jordan and Tom and I got into the front seat of Gatsby’s car, Tom pushed the unfamiliar gears tentatively, and we shot off into the oppressive heat, leaving them out of sight behind.

    她走近盖茨比，用手摸着他的外套。乔丹、汤姆和我坐进盖茨比车子的前座，汤姆试着扳动不熟悉的排档杆，接着我们就冲进了令人压抑的闷热中，将他们俩甩在身后。

　　“Did you see that?” demanded Tom.

     "你们看到那个没有？"汤姆问。

　　“See what?”

     "看到什么？"

　　He looked at me keenly, realizing that Jordan and I must have known all along.

    他敏锐地看着我，明白了我和乔丹早就对一切都知情。

　　“You think I’m pretty dumb, don’t you?” he suggested. “Perhaps I am, but I have a—almost a second sight, sometimes, that tells me what to do. Maybe you don’t believe that, but science——”

     "你们以为我很傻，是不是？"他说，"也许我是傻，但我有一种--几乎是一种第二感，有时候，它会告诉我该做什么。也许你们不相信，但是科学……"

    He paused. The immediate contingency overtook him, pulled him back from the edge of the theoretical abyss.

Contingency：[kənˈtɪndʒənsi] 可能发生的事;偶发(或不测、意外)事件。abyss：[əˈbɪs] 深渊。

    他停了一下，想着眼下的棘手之事，这把他从理论深渊的边缘拉了回来。

　　“I’ve made a small investigation of this fellow,” he continued. “I could have gone deeper if I’d known——”

     "我已简单地调查了那家伙，"他继续说，"我本可以调查得更深人一些，要是我知道……"

    “Do you mean you’ve been to a medium?” inquired Jordan humorously.

Medium：[ˈmiːdiəm] 通灵的人；灵媒；巫师。

     "你是说你找过灵媒吗？"乔丹幽默地问。

　　“What?” Confused, he stared at us as we laughed. “A medium?”

     "什么？"他疑惑地瞪着我们，笑得合不拢嘴的我们，"灵媒？"

　　“About Gatsby.”

     "问盖茨比的事。"

　　“About Gatsby! No, I haven’t. I said I’d been making a small investigation of his past.”

     "问盖茨比的事！不，我没有。我刚才说我对他的过去做过一番小小的调查。"

　　“And you found he was an Oxford man,” said Jordan helpfully.

     "结果你发现他是牛津大学毕业的。"乔丹顺势道。

　　“An Oxford man!” He was incredulous. “Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit.”

     "牛津大学毕业的！"他不以为然地说，"见鬼了他！他竟然穿一套粉红色西装。"

注释：粉红色的西装被认为是庸俗轻浮的标志，显然不符合牛津人的品味。汤姆布坎南，一个势利小人，自然会看不起那些没有资格成为他精英世界一部分的人。如果你说话不得体，穿不合适的衣服，或者你没有上过最好的学校，纵使拥有再多的财富，也永远都是个局外人。

　　“Nevertheless he’s an Oxford man.”

     "反正他就是牛津人。"

　　“Oxford, New Mexico,” snorted Tom contemptuously, “or something like that.”

     "是新墨西哥州的牛津吧，"汤姆嗤之以鼻地说，"或者类似的地方。"

    “Listen, Tom. If you’re such a snob, why did you invite him to lunch?” demanded Jordan crossly.

Snob：势利小人;谄上欺下的人。自以为优越的人;自命高雅的人。Crossly：含愤地，生气地。

     "我说，汤姆，你既然这样瞧不起人，那么为什么请他吃午餐呢？"乔丹气恼地质问道。

　　“Daisy invited him; she knew him before we were married—God knows where!”

     "是黛西要请他的。她在我们结婚之前就认识他了--天晓得在什么地方！"

     We were all irritable now with the fading ale, and aware of it we drove for a while in silence. Then as Doctor T. J. Eckleburg’s faded eyes came into sight down the road, I remembered Gatsby’s caution about gasoline.

Caution：[ˈkɔːʃn] 警告;告诫;提醒。

    酒气渐渐消散，我们现在都感到烦躁，意识到这一点后，我们一声不响地开了一段路。然后，当T·J·埃克尔堡大夫那双褪了色的眼睛出现在大路的前方时，我想起了盖茨比关于汽油不够的提醒。