"Hello!" I roared, advancing toward her. My voice seemed unnaturally loud across the garden.

“哈罗！”我大喊一声，朝她走去。我的声音在花园里听上去似乎响得很不自然。

"I thought you might be here," she responded absently as I came up. "I remembered you lived next door to----" 

“我猜你也许会来的，”等我走到跟前，她心不在焉地答道，“我记得你住在隔壁……”

She held my hand impersonally, as a promise that she'd take care of me in a minute, and gave ear to two girls in twin yellow dresses who stopped at the foot of the steps.

她不带感情地拉拉我的手，作为她答应马上再来理会我的表示，同时去听在台阶下面站住的两个穿着一样的黄色连衣裙的姑娘讲话。

"Hello!" they cried together. "Sorry you didn't win."

“哈罗！”她们同声喊道，“可惜你没赢。”

That was for the golf tournament. She had lost in the finals the week before.

这说的是高尔夫球比赛。她在上星期的决赛中输掉了。

tournament  n.比赛, 锦标赛

"You don't know who we are," said one of the girls in yellow, "but we met you here about a month ago."

“你不知道我们是谁，”两个穿黄衣的姑娘中的一个说，“可是大约一个月以前我们在这儿见过面。”

"You've dyed your hair since then," remarked Jordan, and I started but the girls had moved casually on and her remark was addressed to the premature moon, produced like the supper, no doubt, out of a caterer's basket. With Jordan's slender golden arm resting in mine we descended the steps and sauntered about the garden. A tray of cocktails floated at us through the twilight and we sat down at a table with the two girls in yellow and three men, each one introduced to us as Mr. Mumble.

“你们后来染过头发了。”乔丹说，我听了一惊，但两个姑娘却已经漫不经心地走开了，因此她这句话说给早升的月亮听了，月亮和晚餐的酒菜一样，无疑也是从包办酒席的人的篮子里拿出来的。乔丹用她那纤细的、金黄色的手臂挽着我的手臂，我们走下了台阶，在花园里闲逛。一盘鸡尾酒在暮色苍茫中飘到我们面前，我们就在一张桌子旁坐下，同座的还有那两个穿黄衣的姑娘和三个男的，介绍给我们的时候名字全含含糊糊一带而过。

caterer  [ˈkeɪtərə(r)]  n.  酒宴承办人 

saunter  [ˈsɔːntə(r)]  v.  闲逛，漫步

"Do you come to these parties often?" inquired Jordan of the girl beside her.

“你常来参加这些晚会吗？”乔丹问她旁边的那个姑娘。

"The last one was the one I met you at," answered the girl, in an alert, confident voice. She turned to her companion: "Wasn't it for you, Lucille?"

“我上次来就是见到你的那一次，”姑娘回答，声音是机灵而自信的。她又转身问她的朋友，“你是不是也一样，露西尔？”

It was for Lucille, too.

露西尔也是一样。

"I like to come," Lucille said. "I never care what I do, so I always have a good time. When I was here last I tore my gown on a chair, and he asked me my name and address--inside of a week I got a package from Croirier's with a new evening gown in it."

“我喜欢来，”露西尔说，“我从来不在乎干什么，只要我玩得痛快就行。上次我来这里，我把衣服在椅子上撕破了，他就问了我的姓名住址——不出一个星期我收到克罗里公司送来一个包裹，里面是一件新的晚礼服”

tore  v.  tear 的过去式 (to pull or be pulled apart, or to pull pieces off)

"Did you keep it?" asked Jordan.

“你收下了吗？”乔丹问。

"Sure I did. I was going to wear it tonight, but it was too big in the bust and had to be altered. It was gas blue with lavender beads. Two hundred and sixty-five dollars."

“我当然收下了。我本来今晚准备穿的，可是它胸口太大，非改不可。衣服是淡蓝色的，镶着淡紫色的珠子。二百六十五美元。”

bust  [bʌst]  n.半身(雕)像；妇女的胸部

lavender  [ˈlævɪndə(r)]  n. 薰衣草；薰衣草的花；淡紫色

"There's something funny about a fellow that'll do a thing like that," said the other girl eagerly. "He doesn't want any trouble with ANYbody."

“一个人肯干这样的事真有点古怪，”另外那个姑娘热切地说，“他不愿意得罪任何人。”

"Who doesn't?" I inquired.

“谁不愿意？”我问。

"Gatsby. Somebody told me----"

“盖茨比。有人告诉我……”

The two girls and Jordan leaned together confidentially.

两个姑娘和乔丹诡秘地把头靠到一起。

confidentially  [,kɔnfi'denʃəli] adv. 秘密地；作为心腹话地

"Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once."

“有人告诉我，人家认为他杀过一个人。”

A thrill passed over all of us. The three Mr. Mumbles bent forward and listened eagerly.

我们大家都感到十分惊异，位先生也把头伸到前而，竖起耳朵来听。

thrill  [θrɪl]  n.  兴奋；激动；胆战心惊；欢乐

"I don't think it's so much THAT," argued Lucille skeptically; "it's more that he was a German spy during the war."

“我想并不是那回事，”露西尔不以为然地分辩道，“多半是因为在人战时他当过德国间谍。”

skeptically  ['skeptikəli]  adv. 怀疑地

One of the men nodded in confirmation.

三个男的当中有一个点头表示赞同。

"I heard that from a man who knew all about him, grew up with him in Germany," he assured us positively.

“我也听过一个人这样说，这人对他一清二楚，是从小和他一起在德国长大的。” 他肯定无疑地告诉我们。

"Oh, no," said the first girl, "it couldn't be that, because he was in the American army during the war." As our credulity switched back to her she leaned forward with enthusiasm. "You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody's looking at him. I'll bet he killed a man."

“噢，不对，”第一个姑娘又说，“不可能是那样，因为大战期间他是在美国军队里。”由于我们又倾向于听信她的话，她又兴致勃勃地把头伸到侧面。“你只要趁他以为没有人看他的时候看他一眼。我敢打赌他杀过一个人。”

credulity  [krɪˈdjuːlɪtɪ]  n.  轻信；易信

She narrowed her eyes and shivered. Lucille shivered. We all turned and looked around for Gatsby. It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world.

她眯起眼睛，哆嗦了起来。露西尔也在哆嗦。我们大家掉转身来，四面张望去找盖茨比。有些人早就认为这个世界上没有什么需要避讳的事情，现在谈起他来却这样窃窃私语，这一点也足以证明他引起了人们何等浪漫的遐想了。

shiver  [ˈʃɪvə(r)]  v. (由于冷或恐惧)打冷战，发抖，颤抖  n. 战栗，颤抖

The first supper--there would be another one after midnight--was now being served, and Jordan invited me to join her own party who were spread around a table on the other side of the garden. There were three married couples and Jordan's escort, a persistent undergraduate given to violent innuendo and obviously under the impression that sooner or later Jordan was going to yield him up her person to a greater or lesser degree. Instead of rambling this party had preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to itself the function of representing the staid nobility of the countryside--East Egg condescending to West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety.

第一顿晚饭——午夜后还有一顿——此刻开出来了，乔丹邀我去和花园那边围着一张桌子坐的她的一伙朋友坐在一起。一共有三对夫妇，外加一个陪同乔丹来的男大学生，此人死了白赖，说起话来老是旁敲侧击，并且显然认为乔丹早晚会或多或少委身于他的。这伙人不到处转悠，而是正襟危坐，自成一体，并且俨然自封为庄重的农村贵族的代表——东卵屈尊光临西卵，而又小心翼翼提防它那灯红酒绿的欢乐。

escort  [ˈeskɔːt]  n.伴随者；护送者；晚上陪女友外出的男人

innuendo  n. 影射的话,讽刺的话

homogeneity   n. 同种,同质,同次性

condescend  [kɔndɪˈsend]  v. 俯就；屈尊；降格相从

spectroscopic   adj. 分光镜的,借助分光镜的

gayety   ['ɡeiəti]  n. 愉快；轻快

"Let's get out," whispered Jordan, after a somehow wasteful and inappropriate half hour. "This is much too polite for me."

“咱们走开吧，”乔丹低声地讲，这时已经莫名其妙地浪费了半个钟头，“这里对我来说是太斯文了。”

We got up, and she explained that we were going to find the host--I had never met him, she said, and it was making me uneasy. The undergraduate nodded in a cynical, melancholy way.

我们站了起来，她解释说我们要去找主人。她说她还从来没见过他，这使她颇感局促不安。那位大学生点点头，神情既玩世不恭，又闷闷不乐。

The bar, where we glanced first, was crowded but Gatsby was not there.

我们先到酒吧间去张望了一下，那儿挤满了人，可盖茨比并不在那里。

She couldn't find him from the top of the steps, and he wasn't on the veranda. On a chance we tried an important-looking door, and walked into a high Gothic library, paneled with carved English oak, and probably transported complete from some ruin overseas.

她从台阶上头向下看，找不到他，他也不在阳台上。我们怀着希望推开一扇很神气的门，走进了一间高高的哥特式图书室，四壁镶的是英国雕花橡木，大有可能是从海外某处古迹原封不动地拆过来的。

panel  n.镶板 v.镶嵌(板)

A stout, middle-aged man with enormous owl-eyed spectacles was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, staring with unsteady concentration at the shelves of books. As we entered he wheeled excitedly around and examined Jordan from head to foot.

一个矮矮胖胖的中年男人，戴着老大的一副猫头鹰式眼镜，正醉醺醺地坐在一张大桌子的边上，迷迷糊糊目不转睛地看着书架上一排排的书。我们一走进去他就兴奋地转过身来，把乔丹从头到脚打量了一番。

"What do you think?" he demanded impetuously.

“你觉得怎么样？”他冒冒失失地问道。

impetuous   [ɪmˈpetjʊəs]  adj.冲动的, 鲁莽的

"About what?"

“关于什么？”

He waved his hand toward the book-shelves.

他把手向书架一扬。

"About that. As a matter of fact you needn't bother to ascertain. I ascertained. They're real."

“关于那个。其实你也不必仔细看了，我已经仔细看过。它们都是真的。”

"The books?"

“这些书吗？”

He nodded.

他点点头。

"Absolutely real--have pages and everything. I thought they'd be a nice durable cardboard. Matter of fact, they're absolutely real. Pages and--Here! Let' me show you."

“绝对是真的——一页一页的，什么都有。我起先还以为大概是好看的空书壳子。事实上，它们绝对是真的。一页一页的什么——等等！我拿给你们瞧。”

Taking our skepticism for granted, he rushed to the bookcases and returned with Volume One of the "Stoddard Lectures."

他想当然地认为我们不相信，急忙跑到书橱前面，拿回来一本《斯托达德演说集》卷一。

skepticism  [ˈskeptɪsɪz(ə)m]  n.  怀疑主义；怀疑态度

"See!" he cried triumphantly. "It's a bona fide piece of printed matter.

“瞧！”他得意洋洋地嚷道，“这是一本地地道道的印刷品。

bona fide  [bəʊnə ˈfaɪdɪ]  adj.& adv.  真正的（地）；真诚的（地）

It fooled me. This fella's a regular Belasco. It's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop too--didn't cut the pages.

它真把我蒙住了。这家伙简直是个贝拉斯科。真是巧夺天工。多么一丝不苟！多么逼真！而且知道见好就收——并没裁开纸页。

"But what do you want? What do you expect?"

“你还要怎样？你还指望什么？”

He snatched the book from me and replaced it hastily on its shelf muttering that if one brick was removed the whole library was liable to collapse.

他从我手里把那本书一把夺走，急急忙忙把它放回书架的原处，一面叽咕着说什么假使一块砖头被挪开，整个图书室就有可能塌掉。

"Who brought you?" he demanded. "Or did you just come? I was brought. Most people were brought."

“谁带你们来的？”他问道，“还是不请自到的？我是有人带我来的。人多数客人都是别人带来的。”

Jordan looked at him alertly, cheerfully without answering.

乔丹很机灵，很高兴地看着他，但并没有答话。

"I was brought by a woman named Roosevelt," he continued. "Mrs. Claud Roosevelt. Do you know her? I met her somewhere last night. I've been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library."

“我是一位姓罗斯福的太太带来的，”他接着说，“克劳德·罗斯福太太。你们认识她吗？我昨天晚上不知在什么地方碰上她的。我已经醉了个把星期了，我以为在图书室里坐一会儿可以醒醒酒的。”

"Has it?"

“有没有醒？”

"A little bit, I think. I can't tell yet. I've only been here an hour. Did I tell you about the books? They're real. They're----"

“醒了一点，我想。我还不敢说。我在这儿刚待了一个钟头。我跟你们讲过这些书吗？它们都是真的。它们是……”

"You told us."

“你告诉过我们了。”

We shook hands with him gravely and went back outdoors.

我们庄重地和他握握手，随即回到外边去。

There was dancing now on the canvas in the garden, old men pushing young girls backward in eternal graceless circles, superior couples holding each other tortuously, fashionably and keeping in the corners--and a great number of single girls dancing individualistically or relieving the orchestra for a moment of the burden of the banjo or the traps. By midnight the hilarity had increased. A celebrated tenor had sung in Italian and a notorious contralto had sung in jazz and between the numbers people were doing "stunts" all over the garden, while happy vacuous bursts of laughter rose toward the summer sky. A pair of stage "twins"--who turned out to be the girls in yellow--did a baby act in costume and champagne was served in glasses bigger than finger bowls.

此刻花园里篷布上有人在跳舞。有老头子推着年轻姑娘向后倒退，无止无休地绕着难看的圈子；有高傲的男女抱在一起按时髦的舞步扭来扭去，守在一个角落里跳——还有许许多多单身姑娘在跳单人舞，或者帮乐队弹一会儿班卓琴或者敲一会儿打击乐器。到了午夜欢闹更甚。一位有名的男高音唱了意大利文歌曲，还有一位声名狼藉的女低音唱了爵士乐曲，还有人在两个节目之间在花园里到处表演“绝技”，同时一阵阵欢乐而空洞的笑声响彻夏夜的天空。一对双胞胎——原来就是那两个黄衣姑娘——演了一出化装的娃娃戏，同时香摈一杯杯地端出来，杯子比洗手指用的小碗还要大。

tortuously   ['tɔ:tjuəsli]  adv. 弯曲地；欺骗地；居心叵测地；转弯抹角地

hilarity   [hɪˈlærɪtɪ]  n. 欢乐, 热闹

tenor  [ˈtenə(r)]  n. 男高音

notorious  [nəʊˈtɔːrɪəs]  adj.  臭名远扬的, 臭名昭彰的

contralto  [kənˈtræltəʊ]  n.  女低音；女低音歌手

The moon had risen higher, and floating in the Sound was a triangle of silver scales, trembling a little to the stiff, tinny drip of the banjoes on the lawn.

月亮升得更高了，海湾里飘着一副三角形的银色天秤，随着草坪上班卓琴铿锵的琴声微微颤动。

sound  [saʊnd]  n. 海湾

tinny  [ˈtɪnɪ]  adj. 锡的,含锡的,产锡的; 微弱的(金属声),似锡的(声音); 无价值的,差劲的

banjo  [ˈbændʒəʊ]  n. 班卓琴

I was still with Jordan Baker. We were sitting at a table with a man of about my age and a rowdy little girl who gave way upon the slightest provocation to uncontrollable laughter. I was enjoying myself now. I had taken two finger bowls of champagne and the scene had changed before my eyes into something significant, elemental and profound.

我仍然和乔丹·贝克在一起。我们坐的一张桌上还有一位跟我年纪差不多的男子和一个吵吵闹闹的小姑娘，她动不动就忍不住要放声大笑。我现在玩得也挺开心了。我已经喝了两大碗香棋，因此这片景色在我眼前变成了一种意味深长的、根本性的、奥妙的东西。

rowdy [ˈraʊ.di]  adj. DISAPPROVINGnoisy and possibly violent

provocation  [prɔvəˈkeɪʃ(ə)n]  n. 激怒；被激怒

finger bowl  n. (餐桌上盛水供餐后洗指头用的)洗指碗