继续第一章。

Before I could reply that he was my neighbor dinner was announced(ready); wedging his tense arm imperatively under mine, Tom Buchanan compelled me from the room as though he were moving a checker to another square.

这一段话之前做解析摘取过，印象很深。也可以看出菲茨杰拉德词汇的运用。尤其是Tom Buchanan的几个动作。

wedge:to force sth. firmly into a narrow space.

imperatively:专横地

compell:force

如同将一枚棋子从一方格推到了另一格子。

For a moment the last sunshine (夕阳余晖) fell with romantic affection upon her glowing face; her voice compelled(forced) me forward breathlessly as I listened — then the glow faded, each light deserting her with lingering regret, like children leaving a pleasant street at dusk.

晚饭期间关于Tom“读书”和“管家鼻子”的谈论后的情景。这里用孩子似的感觉形容Daisy，书中多方面讨论其可爱，俏皮以及Tom对其不管不问(孩子出生时父亲不知在哪里鬼混)。突然想到第五章Daisy去Nick的小屋是司机开送而不是曾经自己开着超跑。包括犹豫不定的选择，最后肇事后依旧选择Tom，这是一个痛苦的却知道自己要什么的菟丝花一样的女人。但多少也带有时代的痕迹，恨不起来也喜爱不起来。

“I love to see you at my table, Nick. You remind me of a — of a rose, an absolute rose. Doesn’t he?” She turned to Miss Baker for confirmation: “An absolute rose?”

This was untrue. I am not even faintly like a rose. She was only extemporizing, (performing without preparation) but a stirring warmth flowed from her, as if her heart was trying to come out to you concealed(s为her heart) in one of those breathless, thrilling words. Then suddenly she threw(画面感) her napkin on the table and excused herself and went into the house.

此处Daisy将Nick说成玫瑰，实在让讲述者受到了轻微的冒犯，但也有些说法--本书从这里开始用了很多红或粉的词汇，不过还真没在意过。

“我跟玫瑰花毫无相似之处。她不过是随嘴乱说一气，但是却洋溢着一种动人的激情，仿佛她的心就藏在那些气喘吁吁的、激动人的话语里，想向你倾诉一番。”(选自巫宁坤版本，侵删)

Among the broken fragments(残余的记忆) of the last five minutes at table I remember the candles being lit again, pointlessly, and I was conscious of wanting to look squarely(directly) at every one, and yet to avoid all eyes. I couldn’t guess what Daisy and Tom were thinking, but I doubt if even Miss Baker, who seemed to have mastered a certain hardy scepticism, was able utterly to put this fifth guest’s shrill metallic urgency out of mind. (是否能把这第五位客人尖锐刺耳的迫切呼声完全置之度外)

Tom的mistress也是书中重要人物之一。最终阴差阳错死于Daisy驾驶的车下(车属于盖茨比)。所以后文才有戏剧性的冲突，Tom was feeling the hot whips of panic. His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control. 而这两位女人在本书中的初次接触便是晚餐不应该打来的持续不断的电话---这是最起码的体面。整个场景在电影中还是很有张力，有种舞台剧的感受。

“Oh — you’re Jordan BAKER.”

I knew now why her face was familiar — its pleasing contemptuous expression had looked out at me from many rotogravure pictures of the sporting life at Asheville and Hot Springs and Palm Beach.

Nick终于知道Daisy的闺蜜的全名了。这个人物形象也挺饱满，不管是外形还是性格特征。但个人感触: 这一群old money讲究礼仪，贵气，却实打实虚伪冷漠的精致利己主义。而new money不过是表现得更挥霍、更花哨夹杂一些时代洪流带来的迷茫罢了。

这一段描写想起了下午初次见到时Nick的描写:

It occurred to me now that I had seen her, or a picture of her, somewhere before.(It occurred to me...在小说中实在是太常见了，“使我想到，意识到...”)

The wind had blown off,(风停了) leaving a loud, bright night, with wings beating in the trees and a persistent organ sound as the full bellows(loud noises) of the earth blew the frogs full of life. The silhouette (轮廓)of a moving cat wavered across the moonlight, and turning my head to watch it,Isaw that I was not alone — fifty feet away a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbor’s mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets regarding (…方式注视)the silver pepper of the stars. Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself, come out to determine what share was his of our local heavens.

这一本书中如果要选出最喜欢的部分，无疑是景色描写。每一次读心里会溢出一种平静。不管是孤独的，悲凉的，亦或热闹的，烟火气的。由于时间太久，文已经略有模糊，原来主人公在第一章中就已经以一种剪影出场了。盛夏的时期又与熟悉的章节不期而遇，很奇妙的重逢。

关于夜空的星星，读了一些英文小说发现很多说法蛮通用的。目前为止有的用撒满了糖霜，有的用黑漆漆的桌子上散满盐粒，所以这里撒胡椒粉也就不稀奇了。只是莫名就从忧郁的读书状态中变成了喜剧的肚子饿了的生活状态。

第一章就这样结束，有些细节比如Daisy对于孩子出生的话语(更多是说的自己)，Nick对谈话中觉得Daisy的略带真实却言不由衷的模糊以及对其夫妇两人的状态不解都未提到，因为纸质笔记做过就不再重复。

有声书最近翻出了抖森的007-八爪女，有空了听听。

《魔法师的外甥》已读完(均是速读)，有声书蛮好听，最近入了纳尼亚的坑，准备尽量趁着情绪将这一套过完。

天热，蝉鸣了一天。