About half way between West Egg and New York the motor-road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land.
在西蛋和纽约之间，公路匆忙地与铁路相连，沿着铁路跑了四分之一英里，以便避开一片荒凉的土地。这是一个烟灰谷-一个奇幻的农场， —

This is a valley of ashes–a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.
烟灰像麦子一样长成山脊和丘陵，并形成了怪异的花园，烟灰变成了房屋、烟囱和升起的烟雾，最后，用超凡的努力，烟灰形成了模糊地移动、已经摇摇欲坠的人在粉尘飘扬的空气中。

Occasionally a line of grey cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-grey men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud which screens their obscure operations from your sight.
偶尔一串灰色的小车沿着看不见的轨道爬行，发出可怕的吱嘎声停下来，立刻灰色的人们把铅铲都升了起来，搅起一片无法穿透的云层，把他们神秘的工作遮掩在你视线之外。

But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T.
但在灰色土地和无尽飘荡的惨白尘埃之上，经过片刻，你会看到 T. J. 艾克勒伯格博士的眼睛。

J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic–their retinas are one yard high.
T. J. 艾克勒伯格博士的眼睛是蓝色的，巨大的，视网膜高达一码。 —

They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose.
它们并不从一个脸上看出来，而是从一副巨大的黄色眼镜中看出来，眼镜遮住了一个并不存在的鼻子。 —

Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal blindness or forgot them and moved away.
显然，某个疯狂的眼科医生把它们放在那里，以便在皇后区拓展他的业务，然后沉沦在永恒的失明之中，或者把它们忘记了然后搬走了。 —

But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground.
但他的眼睛，在太阳和雨水下多日洗刷之下略微暗淡了一些，凝视着这个庄严的垃圾场。

The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by a small foul river, and when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour.
烟灰谷一边是一条又小又臭的河，当吊桥升起来，放行驳船时，候车的乘客可以凝视这悲惨的景象，至少有半个小时。总会有一个至少一分钟的停顿， —

There is always a halt there of at least a minute and it was because of this that I first met Tom Buchanan’s mistress.
正是因为这个，我第一次遇见了汤姆 • 布坎南的情妇。

The fact that he had one was insisted upon wherever he was known.
不论他在哪里，他都坚持说自己有一个情妇。 —

His acquaintances resented the fact that he turned up in popular restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomsoever he knew.
他的熟人们对他出现在受欢迎的餐厅里时带着她，然后把她放在一张桌子前然后到处闲逛，与他认识的人聊天，都感到不满。 —

Though I was curious to see her I had no desire to meet her–but I did.
虽然我很好奇地想见见她，但我并不想见她-但我还是见了她。 —

I went up to New York with Tom on the train one afternoon and when we stopped by the ashheaps he jumped to his feet and taking hold of my elbow literally forced me from the car.
一个下午，我和汤姆一起乘火车去纽约，当我们停在烟灰堆旁时，他跳起来，抓住我的胳膊，从车上把我往外拉。

“We’re getting off!” he insisted.
“我们下车！”他坚称。 —

“I want you to meet my girl.”
“我想让你见见我的女孩。”

I think he’d tanked up a good deal at luncheon and his determination to have my company bordered on violence.
我想他在午餐时喝了不少酒，他非要我陪伴他，几乎有点暴力。 —

The supercilious assumption was that on Sunday afternoon I had nothing better to do.
他傲慢地认为，星期天下午我没更好的事可做。

I followed him over a low white-washed railroad fence and we walked back a hundred yards along the road under Doctor Eckleburg’s persistent stare.
我越过一个低矮的粉刷的铁路围栏，我们沿着路往后走了一百码，身后是艾克勒伯格博士持续的凝视。 —

The only building in sight was a small block of yellow brick sitting on the edge of the waste land, a sort of compact Main Street ministering to it and contiguous to absolutely nothing.
眼前唯一可见的建筑是一栋坐落在荒地边缘的小黄砖块，一种紧凑的主街，却与任何东西毗邻。它里面的三家店中有一家待租， —

One of the three shops it contained was for rent and another was an all-night restaurant approached by a trail of ashes;
另一家是一家全天候的餐厅，前面有一条烟灰的小路，第三家是一家修车行-修车处， —

the third was a garage–Repairs.
乔治 B. 威尔逊。 —

GEORGE B. WILSON. Cars Bought and Sold–and I followed Tom inside.
买车和卖车-我跟着汤姆走进去。

The interior was unprosperous and bare;
内部笨拙而空旷； —

the only car visible was the dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner.
唯一可见的汽车是一辆被尘土覆盖的破旧福特，它蜷缩在一个昏暗的角落里。 —

It had occurred to me that this shadow of a garage must be a blind and that sumptuous and romantic apartments were concealed overhead when the proprietor himself appeared in the door of an office, wiping his hands on a piece of waste. He was a blonde, spiritless man, anaemic, and faintly handsome.
我想到这座影子般的修车行一定是个幌子，华丽而浪漫的公寓藏在楼上，当店主亲自出现在办公室的门口时，他的手上擦着一块废弃物。他是个金发、无精打采、稍微英俊的男人。当他看见我们时， —

When he saw us a damp gleam of hope sprang into his light blue eyes.
他那浅蓝色的眼睛中闪烁出一丝希望的光芒。

“Hello, Wilson, old man,” said Tom, slapping him jovially on the shoulder.
“嗨，威尔逊老兄，”汤姆开心地拍着他的肩膀说。 —

“How’s business?”
“生意怎么样？”

“I can’t complain,” answered Wilson unconvincingly.
“我没有怨言。”威尔逊无法说服人。 —

“When are you going to sell me that car?”
“你什么时候卖给我那辆车？”

“Next week; I’ve got my man working on it now.”
“下周；我现在让我的人在修理。”

“Works pretty slow, don’t he?”
“他的速度很慢，是吧？”

“No, he doesn’t,” said Tom coldly.
“不，他的速度很快，”汤姆冷冷地说。 —

“And if you feel that way about it, maybe I’d better sell it somewhere else after all.”
“如果你觉得那样的话，也许我还是应该去别的地方卖车。”

“I don’t mean that,” explained Wilson quickly.
“我不是那个意思，”威尔逊急忙解释道。 —

“I just meant—-”
“我只是想说—-”

His voice faded off and Tom glanced impatiently around the garage.
他的声音渐渐消失了，汤姆不耐烦地环顾四周的车库。 —

Then I heard footsteps on a stairs and in a moment the thickish figure of a woman blocked out the light from the office door.
然后我听到楼梯上传来了脚步声，不一会儿，一个肥胖的女人的臃肿身影挡住了办公室门口的光线。 —

She was in the middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can.
她大约三十多岁，微微发福，但身上多余的肉感却有一种某些女人特有的性感。 —

Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smouldering.
她的脸上，一件暗蓝色纯纱斑点连衣裙之上，没有任何美的因素或闪光，但她身上有种立即可感到的生机，仿佛她身体的神经一直在悄然燃烧。 —

She smiled slowly and walking through her husband as if he were a ghost shook hands with Tom, looking him flush in the eye.
她慢慢地微笑着，径直穿过她的丈夫，仿佛他是个鬼魂一样，与汤姆握手，直视他的眼睛。 —

Then she wet her lips and without turning around spoke to her husband in a soft, coarse voice:
然后她舔了舔嘴唇，不转身对她的丈夫用一种轻柔而粗俗的声音说道：

“Get some chairs, why don’t you, so somebody can sit down.”
“拿些椅子，你怎么不拿，这样就有人能坐下了。”

“Oh, sure,” agreed Wilson hurriedly and went toward the little office, mingling immediately with the cement color of the walls.
“哦，当然，”威尔逊急忙同意，然后走向小办公室，立刻融入了混凝土色的墙壁中。 —

A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity–except his wife, who moved close to Tom.
一层白灰微微掩盖住他深色的西装和苍白的头发，就像掩盖了周围的一切——除了他的妻子，她走近汤姆。

“I want to see you,” said Tom intently.
汤姆专注地说：“我想见你， —

“Get on the next train.”
赶下一趟火车。”

“All right.”
“好。”

“I’ll meet you by the news-stand on the lower level.”
“我会在下层的报摊见你。”

She nodded and moved away from him just as George Wilson emerged with two chairs from his office door.
她点了点头，离开他，就在这时，乔治·威尔逊从办公室门口走出来，手里拿着两把椅子。

We waited for her down the road and out of sight.
我们在路边等她，直到她消失在视线之外。 —

It was a few days before the Fourth of July, and a grey, scrawny Italian child was setting torpedoes in a row along the railroad track.
离七月四日还有几天，一个灰色而瘦弱的意大利小孩正在铁路轨道上排列着鞭炮。

“Terrible place, isn’t it,” said Tom, exchanging a frown with Doctor Eckleburg.
“这地方真是糟糕透了，”汤姆说道，与爱克勒伯格博士面面相觑。

“Awful.”
“太可怕了。”

“It does her good to get away.”
“她离开是为了好好休息。”

“Doesn’t her husband object?”
“她丈夫不反对吗？”

“Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive.”
“威尔逊？他以为她去纽约看望她妹妹。他太笨了，连自己还活着都不知道。”

So Tom Buchanan and his girl and I went up together to New York–or not quite together, for Mrs. Wilson sat discreetly in another car.
就这样，汤姆·布坎南和他的女人以及我一起去了纽约——或者说差不多一起去，因为威尔逊太太在另一辆车中保持着礼貌的距离。 —

Tom deferred that much to the sensibilities of those East Eggers who might be on the train.
汤姆考虑到了那些可能会在火车上的东蛋子们的敏感，所以这样安排。

She had changed her dress to a brown figured muslin which stretched tight over her rather wide hips as Tom helped her to the platform in New York. At the news-stand she bought a copy of “Town Tattle” and a moving-picture magazine and, in the station drug store, some cold cream and a small flask of perfume. Upstairs, in the solemn echoing drive she let four taxi cabs drive away before she selected a new one, lavender-colored with grey upholstery, and in this we slid out from the mass of the station into the glowing sunshine.
她把衣服换成了一件紧贴她相对宽大臀部的花呢连衣裙，在纽约车站，当汤姆帮她走上月台时。在报刊亭里，她买了一份《城市八卦》和一本电影杂志，然后在车站药店买了些冷霜和一个小瓶香水。在庄严而回响的驱车声中，她让四辆出租车先开走，然后选择了一辆新的，紫色的，带有灰色内饰的出租车，我们从人群中滑出， —

But immediately she turned sharply from the window and leaning forward tapped on the front glass.
进入炽热的阳光中。但她立刻从车窗里向前驶来，敲打前挡风玻璃。

“I want to get one of those dogs,” she said earnestly.
“我想买一只那些狗，”她认真地说。 —

“I want to get one for the apartment.
“我想给公寓买一只。 —

They’re nice to have–a dog.”
养狗很好——一只狗。”

We backed up to a grey old man who bore an absurd resemblance to John D. Rockefeller.
我们靠近一个看起来很像约翰·D·洛克菲勒的老人， —

In a basket, swung from his neck, cowered a dozen very recent puppies of an indeterminate breed.
他背上挎了一个篮子，里面蜷缩着十几只不确定品种的幼犬。

“What kind are they?” asked Mrs. Wilson eagerly as he came to the taxi-window.
“是什么品种？”威尔逊太太迫不及待地问道，当他来到出租车窗前时。

“All kinds. What kind do you want, lady?”
“各种各样。你想要什么品种，夫人？”

“I’d like to get one of those police dogs;
“我想养一只那种警犬， —

I don’t suppose you got that kind?”
你们这里有吗？”

The man peered doubtfully into the basket, plunged in his hand and drew one up, wriggling, by the back of the neck.
那人犹豫地看着篮子，伸手进去，抓住一只颤动的小狗的脖子。

“That’s no police dog,” said Tom.
“这不是一只警犬，”汤姆说。

“No, it’s not exactly a polICE dog,” said the man with disappointment in his voice.
“是的，它不完全是一只警犬，”那人失望地说道。 —

“It’s more of an airedale.” He passed his hand over the brown wash-rag of a back.
“更像是一只艾尔谷犬。”他用手抚摸着褐色的毛。“看看这身皮毛， —

“Look at that coat. Some coat.
真是太好了。 —

That’s a dog that’ll never bother you with catching cold.”
这是一只不会让你为了它患感冒的狗。”

“I think it’s cute,” said Mrs. Wilson enthusiastically.
“我觉得它很可爱。”威尔逊太太兴奋地说道。 —

“How much is it?”
“要多少钱？”

“That dog?” He looked at it admiringly.
“这只狗？”他欣赏地看着它。 —

“That dog will cost you ten dollars.”
“这只狗要十美元。”

The airedale–undoubtedly there was an airedale concerned in it somewhere though its feet were startlingly white–changed hands and settled down into Mrs. Wilson’s lap, where she fondled the weather-proof coat with rapture.
这只不可否认——其中肯定有一部分是艾尔谷犬，虽然它的爪子非常白——腾空而起，落在威尔逊太太的膝盖上，她怀着狂喜抚摸着这件防风防寒的外套。

“Is it a boy or a girl?” she asked delicately.
“是公的还是母的？”她委婉地问道。

“That dog? That dog’s a boy.”
“这只狗？这只狗是公的。”

“It’s a bitch,” said Tom decisively.
“是母狗，”汤姆断然说道。 —

“Here’s your money. Go and buy ten more dogs with it.”
“给你的钱，去买十只一模一样的狗吧。”

We drove over to Fifth Avenue, so warm and soft, almost pastoral, on the summer Sunday afternoon that I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a great flock of white sheep turn the corner.
我们驱车经过第五大道，在那个夏日的周日下午，天气如此温暖和漫长，我不会惊讶地看到一大群白色的羊拐过街角。

“Hold on,” I said, “I have to leave you here.”
“等一下，”我说，“我得在这里下车。”

“No, you don’t,” interposed Tom quickly.
“不，你不用下车，”汤姆立即插话道。 —

“Myrtle’ll be hurt if you don’t come up to the apartment.
“如果你不上公寓，默特尔会感到受伤的。对吧， —

Won’t you, Myrtle?”
默特尔？”

“Come on,” she urged. “I’ll telephone my sister Catherine.
“快点吧，”她催促道。“我会给我姐姐凯瑟琳打电话的。 —

She’s said to be very beautiful by people who ought to know.”
那些应该真正了解的人都说她很漂亮。”

“Well, I’d like to, but—-”
“好吧，我很想去，但是——”

We went on, cutting back again over the Park toward the West Hundreds.
我们继续行驶，穿过公园返回西哈林顿街。

At 158th Street the cab stopped at one slice in a long white cake of apartment houses.
在158街，出租车停在长长的白色公寓楼中的一个门口。 —

Throwing a regal homecoming glance around the neighborhood, Mrs. Wilson gathered up her dog and her other purchases and went haughtily in.
威尔逊太太神气地环视着这个社区，收拾好她的狗和其他购物，傲然地走进去。

“I’m going to have the McKees come up,” she announced as we rose in the elevator.
“我打算请麦基夫妇过来，”她在电梯里宣布道。“当然， —

“And of course I got to call up my sister, too.”
我还得给我姐姐打个电话。”

The apartment was on the top floor–a small living room, a small dining room, a small bedroom and a bath.
公寓在顶层——一个小小的起居室，一个小小的餐厅，一个小小的卧室和一个浴室。 —

The living room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles.
起居室被一套太大的挂毯家具塞得满满的，以至于要走动就不得不不断地绊倒在凡尔赛花园里的女士们的场景上。 —

The only picture was an over-enlarged photograph, apparently a hen sitting on a blurred rock.
唯一的画作是一张放大的照片，似乎是一只母鸡坐在模糊的岩石上。然而， —

Looked at from a distance however the hen resolved itself into a bonnet and the countenance of a stout old lady beamed down into the room.
从远处看，这只母鸡变成了一个帽子，一个肥胖老太太的面庞笑容满面地映入室内。 —

Several old copies of “Town Tattle “lay on the table together with a copy of “Simon Called Peter” and some of the small scandal magazines of Broadway.
桌子上摆放了几本旧《城市聚焦》，还有一本《西蒙叫彼得》，以及一些百老汇的小八卦杂志。 —

Mrs. Wilson was first concerned with the dog.
威尔逊太太最关心的是那只狗。 —

A reluctant elevator boy went for a box full of straw and some milk to which he added on his own initiative a tin of large hard dog biscuits–one of which decomposed apathetically in the saucer of milk all afternoon.
一个不情愿的电梯男孩去拿了一盒稻草和一些牛奶，自作主张地加上了一罐大块的硬狗饼干——其中一块无动于衷地在牛奶碟中腐烂了整个下午。与此同时， —

Meanwhile Tom brought out a bottle of whiskey from a locked bureau door.
汤姆从一扇锁着的橱柜门里拿出了一瓶威士忌。

I have been drunk just twice in my life and the second time was that afternoon so everything that happened has a dim hazy cast over it although until after eight o’clock the apartment was full of cheerful sun.
我一生中只喝醉过两次，第二次就是那个下午，所以发生的一切都带着朦胧模糊的色彩，尽管直到八点以后，阳光仍然洒满公寓。 —

Sitting on Tom’s lap Mrs. Wilson called up several people on the telephone;
坐在汤姆的大腿上，威尔逊太太打电话联系了几个人； —

then there were no cigarettes and I went out to buy some at the drug store on the corner.
然后没有香烟了，我跑出去在拐角处的药店买了一些。 —

When I came back they had disappeared so I sat down discreetly in the living room and read a chapter of “Simon Called Peter”–either it was terrible stuff or the whiskey distorted things because it didn’t make any sense to me.
我回来时他们已经不见了，所以我谨慎地坐在客厅里读起了《西蒙叫彼得》的一章——可能是酒精起了作用，因为我觉得这东西一点意义都没有。

Just as Tom and Myrtle–after the first drink Mrs. Wilson and I called each other by our first names–reappeared, company commenced to arrive at the apartment door.
就在汤姆和默特尔喝过第一杯酒后，我们开始互相称呼名字。当他们重新出现的时候，有人开始来到公寓门口。

The sister, Catherine, was a slender, worldly girl of about thirty with a solid sticky bob of red hair and a complexion powdered milky white.
姐姐凯瑟琳是个修长的世故女子，大约三十岁，饰着那浓稠的红发，宛如固定的粉白肤色。 —

Her eyebrows had been plucked and then drawn on again at a more rakish angle but the efforts of nature toward the restoration of the old alignment gave a blurred air to her face.
她的眉毛被拔掉了，又画了上去，呈现出更狡猾的角度，但大自然重新调整的努力给她的脸上带来了模糊的气息。 —

When she moved about there was an incessant clicking as innumerable pottery bracelets jingled up and down upon her arms.
当她走动时，众多瓷制手镯不停地发出当当作响的声音。 —

She came in with such a proprietary haste and looked around so possessively at the furniture that I wondered if she lived here.
她带着一种自有的急忙，自私地环视着家具，让我疑惑她是否住在这里。但当我问她时， —

But when I asked her she laughed immoderately, repeated my question aloud and told me she lived with a girl friend at a hotel.
她放声大笑，重复了我的问题，并告诉我她和一个女朋友住在一家旅馆里。

Mr. McKee was a pale feminine man from the flat below.
麦基先生是楼下的一个苍白而女性化的男人。他刚刮过胡子， —

He had just shaved for there was a white spot of lather on his cheekbone and he was most respectful in his greeting to everyone in the room.
因为他的面颊骨上有一小块白色的肥皂沫，而且他对房间里的每个人都非常尊敬。他告诉我他在“艺术游戏”中，并且我之后得知他是一名摄影师， —

He informed me that he was in the “artistic game” and I gathered later that he was a photographer and had made the dim enlargement of Mrs.
曾经制作出了威尔逊太太墙上悬浮的如同灵体一般朦胧的放大照片。他的妻子尖声、倦怠、漂亮而恐怖。她骄傲地告诉我，自从他们结婚以来，她丈夫已经给她拍了一百二十七次照片。

Wilson’s mother which hovered like an ectoplasm on the wall.
威尔逊太太在之前已经换过装， —

His wife was shrill, languid, handsome and horrible.
现在穿着一件精致的奶油色雪纺长裙， —

She told me with pride that her husband had photographed her a hundred and twenty-seven times since they had been married.
每当她在房间里掠过的时候，连续不断的沙沙声不断响起。

Mrs. Wilson had changed her costume some time before and was now attired in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream colored chiffon, which gave out a continual rustle as she swept about the room.
她的装束的影响使她的个性也发生了变化。在修车厂里令人瞩目的旺盛活力转变成了令人印象深刻的高傲。她的笑声、姿势和断言都变得越来越夸张，随着她的扩张，房间在她周围变得越发狭小，仿佛她在烟雾弥漫的空气中以嘈杂而吱吱作响的枢轴上旋转。

With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change.
“亲爱的”，她用高声浅薄的叫声对她的妹妹说， —

The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur.
“这些家伙大多数时候都会骗你。 —

Her laughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected moment by moment and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot through the smoky air.
他们所想的只有钱。上周我请了一个女人来看我的脚，当她给我账单的时候，你会以为她给我做了阑尾切除术。”

“My dear,” she told her sister in a high mincing shout, “most of these fellas will cheat you every time.
麦基夫人问道， —

All they think of is money.
“那个女人叫什么名字？ —

I had a woman up here last week to look at my feet and when she gave me the bill you’d of thought she had my appendicitus out.”
”

“What was the name of the woman?” asked Mrs. McKee.
威尔逊太太回答：“埃伯哈特太太。她在客人家里四处看看人们的脚。”

“Mrs. Eberhardt. She goes around looking at people’s feet in their own homes.”
麦基夫人说：“我喜欢你的裙子，简直太可爱了。”

“I like your dress,” remarked Mrs. McKee, “I think it’s adorable.”
威尔逊太太以提起的眉毛不屑地拒绝了这个赞美。

Mrs. Wilson rejected the compliment by raising her eyebrow in disdain.
她说：“这只是一个疯狂的旧东西。有时候我随便穿穿，不在乎自己看起来怎么样。”

“It’s just a crazy old thing,” she said.
麦基夫人继续说：“但是你穿上它看起来棒极了， —

“I just slip it on sometimes when I don’t care what I look like.”
如果你明白我的意思的话。如果切斯特能让你摆出那个姿势，我觉得他可以有所作为。”

“But it looks wonderful on you, if you know what I mean,” pursued Mrs. McKee. “If Chester could only get you in that pose I think he could make something of it.”
我们都静静地看着威尔逊太太，她从眼眉上移走一缕头发，用灿烂的微笑看着我们。麦基先生用头歪向一边专注地看着她，然后缓慢地在自己面前来回晃动手。

We all looked in silence at Mrs. Wilson who removed a strand of hair from over her eyes and looked back at us with a brilliant smile.
片刻之后，他说：“我应该调整一下灯光，突出面部的轮廓， —

Mr. McKee regarded her intently with his head on one side and then moved his hand back and forth slowly in front of his face.
还要努力捕捉到所有后面的头发。”

“I should change the light,” he said after a moment.
麦基夫人说： —

“I’d like to bring out the modelling of the features.
“我可不会考虑更换灯光。 —

And I’d try to get hold of all the back hair.”
我觉得它很……”

“I wouldn’t think of changing the light,” cried Mrs. McKee. “I think it’s—-”
她的丈夫说：“嘘！”，我们又一次都看向了威尔逊太太。于是，汤姆•布坎南大声打了个哈欠，站了起来。

Her husband said “SH!” and we all looked at the subject again whereupon Tom Buchanan yawned audibly and got to his feet.
他说：“麦基夫妇，你们端点酒来。默特尔，赶紧拿点冰和矿泉水，不然大家都要睡觉了。”

“You McKees have something to drink,” he said.
默特尔失望地扬起眉毛， —

“Get some more ice and mineral water, Myrtle, before everybody goes to sleep.”
对劣等阶层的懒散混乱感到沮丧。“这些人！你得一直盯着他们。”

“I told that boy about the ice.” Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders.
“4warn, 5ly, —

“These people! You have to keep after them all the time.”
8rzh”。

She looked at me and laughed pointlessly.
她看着我笑了笑毫无意义。 —

Then she flounced over to the dog, kissed it with ecstasy and swept into the kitchen, implying that a dozen chefs awaited her orders there.
然后她摇头晃脑地走到狗旁，极尽欢爱地亲吻着它，然后突然冲进厨房，似乎暗示那里等着她的是十几个厨师。

“I’ve done some nice things out on Long Island,” asserted Mr. McKee.
“我在长岛做过一些很不错的事情，”麦基先生断言道。

Tom looked at him blankly.
汤姆茫然地看着他。

“Two of them we have framed downstairs.”
“其中两个我们在楼下挂着。”

“Two what?” demanded Tom.
“两个什么？”汤姆问道。

“Two studies. One of them I call ‘Montauk Point–the Gulls,’ and the other I call ‘Montauk Point–the Sea.’ “
“两个研究。其中一个我称之为‘蒙托克点—海鸥’，另一个我称之为‘蒙托克点—大海’。”

The sister Catherine sat down beside me on the couch.
姐妹卡瑟琳坐到我身边的沙发上。

“Do you live down on Long Island, too?” she inquired.
“你也住在长岛吗？”她问道。

“I live at West Egg.”
“我住在西蛋。”

“Really? I was down there at a party about a month ago.
“真的吗？大约一个月前我去过那里的一个派对。 —

At a man named Gatsby’s.
在一个叫盖茨比的人家。 —

Do you know him?”
你认识他吗？”

“I live next door to him.”
“我住在他旁边。”

“Well, they say he’s a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’s.
“他是威廉皇帝的侄子或堂兄。 —

That’s where all his money comes from.”
那就是他所有的钱来自的地方。”

“Really?”
“真的吗？”

She nodded.
她点了点头。

“I’m scared of him. I’d hate to have him get anything on me.”
“我害怕他。我会讨厌让他有什么抓到我的把柄。”

This absorbing information about my neighbor was interrupted by Mrs. McKee’s pointing suddenly at Catherine:
刚才关于邻居的这些吸引人的信息被麦基女士突然指着卡瑟琳打断了：

“Chester, I think you could do something with HER,” she broke out, but Mr. McKee only nodded in a bored way and turned his attention to Tom.
“切斯特，我觉得你可以对付她，”她突然爆发出来，但麦基先生只是无聊地点了点头，把注意力转向了汤姆。

“I’d like to do more work on Long Island if I could get the entry.
“如果我能得到机会，我愿意在长岛做更多的工作。 —

All I ask is that they should give me a start.”
我只要求他们给我一个机会。”

“Ask Myrtle,” said Tom, breaking into a short shout of laughter as Mrs. Wilson entered with a tray.
“去问米尔特尔，”汤姆说着，突然笑出声来，此时威尔逊夫人提着一盘子进来了。 —

“She’ll give you a letter of introduction, won’t you, Myrtle?”
“她会给你一封推荐信，对吧，米尔特尔？”

“Do what?” she asked, startled.
“做什么？”她吃惊地问道。

“You’ll give McKee a letter of introduction to your husband, so he can do some studies of him.” His lips moved silently for a moment as he invented.
“你会给麦基一封介绍信给你丈夫，这样他就可以对他进行一些研究了。” 他的嘴唇默默地动了一下，他编了一个故事。” —

” ‘George B. Wilson at the Gasoline Pump,’ or something like that.”
‘乔治·B·威尔逊在汽油泵旁边，或者类似的东西。”

Catherine leaned close to me and whispered in my ear:
凯瑟琳靠近我，低声对我说：” —

“Neither of them can stand the person they’re married to.”
他们俩都受不了自己的配偶。”

“Can’t they?”
“真的吗？”

“Can’t STAND them.” She looked at Myrtle and then at Tom. “What I say is, why go on living with them if they can’t stand them?
“受不了他们。”她看着默特尔，然后看着汤姆。”我觉得，如果他们受不了对方，就为什么要继续和他们生活在一起呢？ —

If I was them I’d get a divorce and get married to each other right away.”
如果是我，我会马上离婚，然后和对方结婚。”

“Doesn’t she like Wilson either?”
“她也不喜欢威尔逊吗？”

The answer to this was unexpected.
对这个问题的回答出人意料。 —

It came from Myrtle who had overheard the question and it was violent and obscene.
默特尔听到了这个问题，她张口就骂，言辞激烈、猥亵。

“You see?” cried Catherine triumphantly.
“你看到了吧？”凯瑟琳得意地喊道。 —

She lowered her voice again.
她又压低了声音。

“It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart.
“真正分开他们的是他的妻子。 —

She’s a Catholic and they don’t believe in divorce.”
她是个天主教徒，他们不相信离婚。”

Daisy was not a Catholic and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of the lie.
黛西不是天主教徒，我对这个谎言的煞费苦心有点震惊。

“When they do get married,” continued Catherine, “they’re going west to live for a while until it blows over.”
“当他们结婚时，”凯瑟琳继续说道，” 他们要去西部住一段时间，等风闻过去了再回来。”

“It’d be more discreet to go to Europe.”
“去欧洲更不容易引人注目。”

“Oh, do you like Europe?” she exclaimed surprisingly.
“哦，你喜欢欧洲吗？” 她惊讶地喊道。” —

“I just got back from Monte Carlo.”
我刚从蒙特·卡洛回来。”

“Really.”
“真的吗？”

“Just last year. I went over there with another girl.”
“就在去年。我和一个女孩一起去的。”

“Stay long?”
“待了很久吗？”

“No, we just went to Monte Carlo and back.
“没有，我们只是去了蒙特·卡洛，然后回来。 —

We went by way of Marseilles.
我们经过马赛去的。

We had over twelve hundred dollars when we started but we got gypped out of it all in two days in the private rooms.
我们出发时手里有一千两百块钱，但我们在私人房间里被骗光了，只用了两天时间。我可以告诉你， —

We had an awful time getting back, I can tell you. God, how I hated that town!”
我们回来的时候过得很糟糕。天哪，我多么讨厌那个小镇！”

The late afternoon sky bloomed in the window for a moment like the blue honey of the Mediterranean–then the shrill voice of Mrs. McKee called me back into the room.
傍晚的天空在窗户里绽放了一会儿，像地中海的蓝色蜂蜜一样——然后麦基夫人尖声喊道，把我叫回房间。

“I almost made a mistake, too,” she declared vigorously.
“我差点犯了一个错误，”她有力地宣布。” —

“I almost married a little kyke who’d been after me for years.
我差点嫁给一个追求我多年的小犹太人。我知道他配不上我。 —

I knew he was below me. Everybody kept saying to me:
每个人都对我说：’露西尔， —

‘Lucille, that man’s way below you!’ But if I hadn’t met Chester, he’d of got me sure.”
那个人远远比不上你！’ 但如果我没遇到切斯特的话，他肯定能娶到我。”

“Yes, but listen,” said Myrtle Wilson, nodding her head up and down, “at least you didn’t marry him.”
“是的，但是听着，” 默特尔·威尔逊点点头，” 至少你没和他结婚。”

“I know I didn’t.”
“我知道我没有。”

“Well, I married him,” said Myrtle, ambiguously.
“嗯，我嫁给了他。”黛比拉含糊地说， —

“And that’s the difference between your case and mine.”
“这就是你的案例和我的不同之处。”

“Why did you, Myrtle?” demanded Catherine.
“为什么，黛比拉？” 凯瑟琳要求道， —

“Nobody forced you to.”
“没有人逼你。”

Myrtle considered.
黛比拉考虑了一下。

“I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,” she said finally.
“我嫁给他是因为我以为他是个绅士，”她最后说道。

“I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.”
“我以为他懂得一些细节，但他不值得给我鞋子舔一下。”

“You were crazy about him for a while,” said Catherine.
“你有一段时间疯狂地爱他，”凯瑟琳说。

“Crazy about him!” cried Myrtle incredulously.
“疯狂地爱他！”黛比拉不可置信地喊道， —

“Who said I was crazy about him?
“谁说我疯狂地爱他了？ —

I never was any more crazy about him than I was about that man there.”
我对他一点也不疯狂，就像对那个男人一样。”

She pointed suddenly at me, and every one looked at me accusingly.
她突然指着我，每个人都指责地看着我。

I tried to show by my expression that I had played no part in her past.
我试图通过表情表明我并没有在她的过去中扮演任何角色。

“The only CRAZY I was was when I married him.
“我唯一疯狂的时候是我嫁给了他。 —

I knew right away I made a mistake.
一开始我就知道我犯了个错误。 —

He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in and never even told me about it, and the man came after it one day when he was out.
他借了别人的一套最好的西装结婚，甚至都没告诉我，有一天，那个人来要回西装，那时他不在家。

She looked around to see who was listening:
她四处看看，看看有没有人在听：“‘哦， —

” ‘Oh, is that your suit?’ I said.
这是你的西装？’我说。

‘This is the first I ever heard about it.’ But I gave it to him and then I lay down and cried to beat the band all afternoon.”
‘这是我第一次听说这个。’但是我还是给了他，然后我躺下来哭了一下午。”

“She really ought to get away from him,” resumed Catherine to me.
凯瑟琳对我说：“她真的应该离开他。”

“They’ve been living over that garage for eleven years.
“他们在那个车库住了11年了。 —

And Tom’s the first sweetie she ever had.”
汤姆是她第一个甜心。”

The bottle of whiskey–a second one–was now in constant demand by all present, excepting Catherine who “felt just as good on nothing at all.”
威士忌瓶——第二瓶——现在是大家都要的，除了凯瑟琳，“什么都不用我也感觉很好。”

Tom rang for the janitor and sent him for some celebrated sandwiches, which were a complete supper in themselves.
汤姆按铃叫来看门人，让他带来一些出名的三明治，那完全可以当晚餐食用。 —

I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair.
我想出去，在柔软的黄昏中向东走去公园，但每次我试图去，都会卷入一些激烈争论中，像被绳子拽回椅子上一样。然而，在城市的上空， —

Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering.
我们一排排的黄色窗户肯定也向在昏暗的街道上漫步的人贡献了他们的人间秘密。而我也是他，抬头仰望，心里想着。 —

I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.
我既身在其中又超然于其中，被生活的无穷多变所吸引又排斥。

Myrtle pulled her chair close to mine, and suddenly her warm breath poured over me the story of her first meeting with Tom.
黛比拉把椅子挪到了我旁边，突然她温暖的呼吸向我讲述了她与汤姆初次见面的故事。

“It was on the two little seats facing each other that are always the last ones left on the train.
“那是在那两个总是最后一排剩下的可以对坐的小座位上。 —

I was going up to New York to see my sister and spend the night.
我当时正要去纽约看我妹妹并过夜。 —

He had on a dress suit and patent leather shoes and I couldn’t keep my eyes off him but every time he looked at me I had to pretend to be looking at the advertisement over his head.
他穿着礼服和漆皮鞋，我不禁盯着他看，但每次他看向我时，我都得假装看着他头上的广告。

When we came into the station he was next to me and his white shirt-front pressed against my arm–and so I told him I’d have to call a policeman, but he knew I lied. I was so excited that when I got into a taxi with him I didn’t hardly know I wasn’t getting into a subway train.
当我们进入车站时，他就站在我旁边，他的白色衬衣前胸紧挨着我的胳膊，所以我告诉他我得叫警察，但他知道我撒谎。我当时如此兴奋，以至于和他一起坐出租车时，几乎没注意到自己没有坐地铁。 —

All I kept thinking about, over and over, was ‘You can’t live forever, you can’t live forever.’ “
我一直不停地想着‘你不能永远活下去，你不能永远活下去。’”

She turned to Mrs. McKee and the room rang full of her artificial laughter.
她转向麦基夫人，房间里响起了她人为的笑声。

“My dear,” she cried, “I’m going to give you this dress as soon as I’m through with it.
“亲爱的，”她大喊道，“我用完就要把这件礼服给你， —

I’ve got to get another one tomorrow.
明天我得买另外一件。我要列一个清单， —

I’m going to make a list of all the things I’ve got to get.
所有我需要买的东西都要写上。 —

A massage and a wave and a collar for the dog and one of those cute little ash-trays where you touch a spring, and a wreath with a black silk bow for mother’s grave that’ll last all summer.
按摩、卷发、狗的项圈，还有那些可爱的可以触摸弹簧的小烟灰缸，还有一个黑丝带的花圈，可以一整个夏天放在我妈妈坟墓上。我得写下一个清单， —

I got to write down a list so I won’t forget all the things I got to do.”
这样我就不会忘记所有我需要做的事情。”

It was nine o’clock–almost immediately afterward I looked at my watch and found it was ten.
那是九点钟——几乎一下子就到了十点。麦基先生坐在椅子上睡着了， —

Mr. McKee was asleep on a chair with his fists clenched in his lap, like a photograph of a man of action.
双拳紧握在大腿上，就像是一张行动中的男人的照片。 —

Taking out my handkerchief I wiped from his cheek the remains of the spot of dried lather that had worried me all the afternoon.
我掏出手帕，从他的脸颊上擦去了下午一直在困扰我的干掉的剩余剃须泡。

The little dog was sitting on the table looking with blind eyes through the smoke and from time to time groaning faintly.
小狗坐在桌子上，瞎眼透过烟雾望着，不时发出微弱的呻吟声。人们消失了， —

People disappeared, reappeared, made plans to go somewhere, and then lost each other, searched for each other, found each other a few feet away.
又出现了，计划去某个地方，然后失散了，彼此寻找，只在几英尺外找到。大约午夜时分， —

Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing in impassioned voices whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy’s name.
汤姆·布坎南和威尔逊夫人面对面，激动地讨论威尔逊夫人是否有权提到黛西的名字。

“Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!” shouted Mrs. Wilson.
“黛丝！黛丝！黛丝！”威尔逊夫人喊道。 —

“I’ll say it whenever I want to!
“我想说什么时候说什么时候说！黛丝！ —

Daisy! Dai—-”
黛丝——”

Making a short deft movement Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.
汤姆·布坎南做了一个短暂巧妙的动作，用手掌打断了她的鼻子。

Then there were bloody towels upon the bathroom floor, and women’s voices scolding, and high over the confusion a long broken wail of pain.
然后，浴室地板上有血迹的毛巾，女人的声音责骂，糊乱中高高的哭破的痛苦呼噜声。 —

Mr. McKee awoke from his doze and started in a daze toward the door.
麦基先生从打盹中醒来，迷迷糊糊地朝门口走去。

When he had gone half way he turned around and stared at the scene–his wife and Catherine scolding and consoling as they stumbled here and there among the crowded furniture with articles of aid, and the despairing figure on the couch bleeding fluently and trying to spread a copy of “Town Tattle” over the tapestry scenes of Versailles.
他走了一半的路，转过身来望着眼前的场景——妻子和凯瑟琳边骂边安慰，在拥挤的家具中东奔西跑拿着帮助物品，而沙发上绝望的身影流血不止，还试图在凡尔赛宫的围场上展开一本《城市流言蜚语》。

Then Mr. McKee turned and continued on out the door.
然后麦基先生转身继续走出门外。 —

Taking my hat from the chandelier I followed.
我从吊灯上拿下帽子跟着他走去。

“Come to lunch some day,” he suggested, as we groaned down in the elevator.
“哪天来吃午饭吧，”他建议道，我们在电梯里抱怨着下降。

“Where?”
“去哪里？”

“Anywhere.”
“无所谓。”

“Keep your hands off the lever,” snapped the elevator boy.
“别摸操纵杆，”电梯小哥厉声说道。

“I beg your pardon,” said Mr. McKee with dignity, “I didn’t know I was touching it.”
“对不起，”麦基先生带着尊严说道，“我不知道我碰到了。”

“All right,” I agreed, “I’ll be glad to.”
“好吧，”我同意道，“我会很高兴的。”

… I was standing beside his bed and he was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear, with a great portfolio in his hands.
……我站在他的床边，他坐在床单之间，穿着内衣，手里拿着一个大文件夹。

“Beauty and the Beast… Loneliness… Old Grocery Horse…
“美女和野兽… 孤独… 陈旧的杂货店马…

Brook’n Bridge….”
布鲁克林桥……”

Then I was lying half asleep in the cold lower level of the Pennsylvania Station, staring at the morning “Tribune” and waiting for the four o’clock train.
然后我半睡半醒地躺在宾夕法尼亚车站的寒冷地下一层，凝视着早晨的《论坛报》，等待四点的火车。