The reluctance to go home was not confined to wayward men. The hall was at present occupied by two deplorably sober men and their highly indignant wives. The wives were sympathizing with each other in slightly raised voices.
舍不得回家的并不限于任性的男客和媳。穿堂里此刻有兩個毫無醉意的男客和他們怒氣沖天的太太。兩位太太略微提高了嗓子在互相表示同情。
wayward??[?we?w?d] ?adj.??捉摸不定的；難以駕馭的
deplorably [-r?blI] 可嘆地,可悲地; 不幸地
sober[?s?ub?]adj.冷靜的v.鎮(zhèn)定
indignant [in?diɡn?nt]adj.憤怒的,憤慨的
"Whenever he sees I'm having a good time he wants to go home."
“每次他一看見我玩得開心他就要回家√蓿”
"Never heard anything so selfish in my life."
“我這輩子從來沒見過有誰像他這么自私。”
"We're always the first ones to leave."
“我們總是第一個走屹电。”
"So are we."
“我們也是一樣跃巡∥：牛”
"Well, we're almost the last tonight," said one of the men sheepishly.?"The orchestra left half an hour ago."
“不過，今晚我們幾乎是最后的了素邪，”兩個男的中的一個怯生生地說外莲，“樂隊半個鐘頭以前就走了。”
sheepishly ?adv. 羞怯地偷线；愚蠢地
In spite of the wives' agreement that such malevolence was beyond credibility, the dispute ended in a short struggle, and both wives were lifted kicking into the night.
盡管兩位太太一致認為這種惡毒心腸簡直叫人難以置信磨确，這場糾紛終于在一陣短短的揪斗中結(jié)束，兩位太太都被抱了起來声邦，兩腿亂踢乏奥，消失在黑夜里。
malevolence ?[m?`lZv?l?ns] 惡意,敵意,怨恨,惡毒,狠毒,壞心腸
As I waited for my hat in the hall the door of the library opened and Jordan Baker and Gatsby came out together. He was saying some last word to her but the eagerness in his manner tightened abruptly into formality as several people approached him to say goodbye.
我在穿堂里等我帽子的時候亥曹，圖書室的門開了邓了，喬丹·貝克和蓋茨比一同走了出來。他還在跟她說最后一句話媳瞪，可是這時有幾個人走過來和他告別骗炉，他原先熱切的態(tài)度陡然收斂，變成了拘謹蛇受。
Jordan's party were calling impatiently to her from the porch but she lingered for a moment to shake hands.
喬丹那一伙人從陽臺上不耐煩地喊她痕鳍，可是她還逗留了片刻和我握手。
"I've just heard the most amazing thing," she whispered. "How long were we in there?"
“我剛才聽到一件最驚人的事情龙巨，”她出神地小聲說笼呆，“我們在那里邊待了多久？”
"Why,--about an hour."
“哦旨别，個把鐘頭诗赌。”
"It was--simply amazing," she repeated abstractedly. "But I swore I wouldn't tell it and here I am tantalizing you." She yawned gracefully in my face. "Please come and see me.... Phone book...Under the name of Mrs. Sigourney Howard.... My aunt...." She was hurrying off as she talked--her brown hand waved a jaunty salute as she melted into her party at the door.
“這事……太驚人了秸弛，”她出神地重復說铭若，“可是我發(fā)過誓不告訴別人，而我現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)在逗你了递览〉鹜溃”她對著我的臉輕輕打了個阿欠，“有空請過來看我……電話簿……西古奈·霍華德太太名下……我的姑媽……”她一邊說一邊匆匆離去——她活潑地揮了一下那只曬得黑黑的手表示告別绞铃，然后就消失在門口她的那一伙人當中了镜雨。
Rather ashamed that on my first appearance I had stayed so late, I joined the last of Gatsby's guests who were clustered around him. I wanted to explain that I'd hunted for him early in the evening and to apologize for not having known him in the garden.
我覺得怪難為情的，第一次來就待得這么晚儿捧，于是走到包圍著蓋茨比的最后幾位客人那邊去荚坞。我想要解釋一下我一來就到處找過他，同時為剛才在花園里與他面對面卻不知道他是何許人向他道歉菲盾。
cluster ?[?kl?st?] ?n. 串,叢 v. 叢生,成群
"Don't mention it," he enjoined me eagerly. "Don't give it another thought, old sport." The familiar expression held no more familiarity than the hand which reassuringly brushed my shoulder. "And don't forget we're going up in the hydroplane tomorrow morning at nine o'clock."
“沒有關(guān)系颓影，”他懇切地囑咐我±良“別放在心上诡挂，老兄。”這個親熱的稱呼還比不上非常友好地拍拍我肩膀的那只手所表示的親熱璃俗∨В“別忘了明天早上九點我們要乘水上飛機上人哩【烧遥”
Then the butler, behind his shoulder:
接著男管家來了溺健，站在他背后。
"Philadelphia wants you on the phone, sir."
“先生钮蛛，有一個找您的來自費城的長途電話鞭缭。”
"All right, in a minute. Tell them I'll be right there.... good night."
“好魏颓，就來岭辣。告訴他們我就來。晚安甸饱÷偻”
"Good night."
“晚安√净埃”
"Good night." He smiled--and suddenly there seemed to be a pleasant significance in having been among the last to go, as if he had desired it all the time. "Good night, old sport.... Good night."
“晚安偷遗。”他微微一笑驼壶。突然之間氏豌，我待到最后才走，這其中好像含有愉快的深意热凹，仿佛他是一直希望如此的泵喘。“晚安般妙，老兄……晚安纪铺。”
But as I walked down the steps I saw that the evening was not quite over.
可是碟渺，當我走下臺階時鲜锚，我看到晚會還沒有完全結(jié)束。
Fifty feet from the door a dozen headlights illuminated a bizarre and tumultuous scene. In the ditch beside the road, right side up but violently shorn of one wheel, rested a new coupé which had left Gatsby's drive not two minutes before. The sharp jut of a wall accounted for the detachment of the wheel which was now getting considerable attention from half a dozen curious chauffeurs. However, as they had left their cars blocking the road a harsh discordant din from those in the rear had been audible for some time and added to the already violent confusion of the scene.
離大門五十英尺止状，十幾輛汽車的前燈照亮了一個不尋常的烹棉、鬧哄哄的場面。在路旁的小溝里怯疤，右邊向上，躺著一輛新的小轎車催束，可是一只輪子撞掉了集峦。這輛車離開蓋茨比的車道還不到兩分鐘，一堵墻的突出部分是造成車輪脫落的原因。現(xiàn)在有五六個好奇的司機在圍觀塔淤，可是摘昌，由于他們讓自己的車于擋住了路，后面車子上的司機已經(jīng)按了好久喇叭高蜂，一片刺耳的噪音更增添了整個場面本來就很嚴重的混亂聪黎。
A man in a long duster had dismounted from the wreck and now stood in the middle of the road, looking from the car to the tire and from the tire to the observers in a pleasant, puzzled way.
一個穿著長風衣的男人已經(jīng)從撞壞的車子里出來，此刻站在大路中間备恤，從車子看到輪胎稿饰，又從輪胎看到旁觀的人，臉上帶著愉快而迷惑不解的表情露泊。
"See!" he explained. "It went in the ditch."
“請看喉镰！”他解釋道，“車子開到溝里去了惭笑÷履罚”
The fact was infinitely astonishing to him--and I recognized first the unusual quality of wonder and then the man--it was the late patron of Gatsby's library.
這個事實使他感到不勝驚奇。我先聽出了那不平常的驚奇的口吻沉噩，然后認出了這個人——就是早先光顧蓋茨比圖書室的那一位捺宗。
"How'd it happen?"
“怎么搞的？”
He shrugged his shoulders.
他聳了聳肩膀川蒙。
"I know nothing whatever about mechanics," he said decisively.
“我對機械一竅不通蚜厉。”他肯定地說派歌。
"But how did it happen? Did you run into the wall?"
“到底怎么搞的弯囊？你撞到墻上去了嗎？”
"Don't ask me," said Owl Eyes, washing his hands of the whole matter.
"I know very little about driving--next to nothing. It happened, and that's all I know."
“別問我胶果，”“貓頭鷹眼”說匾嘱，把事情推脫得一干二凈，“我不大懂開車—— 幾乎一無所知早抠。事情發(fā)生了霎烙，我就知道這一點∪锪”
"Well, if you're a poor driver you oughtn't to try driving at night."
“既然你車子開得不好悬垃，那么你晚上就不應當試著開車嘛「什裕”
"But I wasn't even trying," he explained indignantly, "I wasn't even trying."
“可是我連試也沒試尝蠕，”他氣憤憤地解釋，“我連試也沒試啊载庭】幢耍”
An awed hush fell upon the bystanders.
旁觀的人聽了都驚愕得說不出話來廊佩。
"Do you want to commit suicide?"
“你想自殺嗎？”
"You're lucky it was just a wheel! A bad driver and not even trying!"
“幸虧只是一只輪子靖榕！開車開得不好标锄，還連試都不試！”
"You don't understand," explained the criminal. "I wasn't driving. There's another man in the car."
“你們不明白茁计，”罪人解釋說料皇，“我沒有開車。車子里還有一個人星压〖粒”
The shock that followed this declaration found voice in a sustained "Ah-h-h!" as the door of the coupé swung slowly open. The crowd--it was now a crowd--stepped back involuntarily and when the door had opened wide there was a ghostly pause. Then, very gradually, part by part, a pale dangling individual stepped out of the wreck, pawing tentatively at the ground with a large uncertain dancing shoe.
這句聲明所引起的震驚表現(xiàn)為一連聲的“噢……啊……啊租幕！”同時那輛小轎車的門也慢慢開了舷手。人群——此刻已經(jīng)是一大群了——不由得向后一退，等到車門敞開以后劲绪，又有片刻陰森可怕的停頓男窟。然后，逐漸逐漸地贾富，一部分一部分地歉眷，一個臉色煞白、搖來晃去的人從搞壞了的汽車里跨了出來颤枪，光伸出一只大舞鞋在地面上試探了幾下汗捡。
Blinded by the glare of the headlights and confused by the incessant groaning of the horns the apparition stood swaying for a moment before he perceived the man in the duster.
這位幽靈被汽車前燈的亮光照得睜不開眼，又被一片汽車喇叭聲吵得糊里糊涂畏纲，站在那里搖晃了一會兒才認出那個穿風衣的人扇住。
"Wha's matter?" he inquired calmly. "Did we run outa gas?"
“怎么啦？”他鎮(zhèn)靜地問道盗胀，“咱們沒汽油了嗎艘蹋？”
"Look!"
“你瞧！”
Half a dozen fingers pointed at the amputated wheel--he stared at it for a moment and then looked upward as though he suspected that it had dropped from the sky.
五六個人用手指指向那脫落下來的車輪——他朝它瞪了一眼票灰，然后抬頭向上看女阀，仿佛他懷疑輪子是從天上掉下來的。
"It came off," some one explained.
“輪子掉下來了屑迂〗撸”有一個人解釋說。
He nodded.
他點點頭惹盼。
"At first I din' notice we'd stopped."
“起先我還沒發(fā)現(xiàn)咱們停下來了庸汗。”
A pause. Then, taking a long breath and straightening his shoulders he remarked in a determined voice:
過了一會兒手报，他深深吸了一口氣夫晌，又挺起胸膛雕薪，用堅決的聲音說：
"Wonder'ff tell me where there's a gas'line station?"
“不知可不可以告訴我哪兒有加油站昧诱？”
At least a dozen men, some of them little better off than he was, explained to him that wheel and car were no longer joined by any physical bond.
至少有五六個人晓淀，其中有的比他稍微清醒一點，解釋給他聽盏档，輪子和車子之間已經(jīng)沒有任何實質(zhì)性的聯(lián)系了凶掰。
"Back out," he suggested after a moment. "Put her in reverse."
“倒車，”過了一會兒他又出點子蜈亩，“用倒車檔懦窘。”
"But the WHEEL'S off!"
“叮是輪子掉啦稚配！”
He hesitated.
他遲疑了一會兒畅涂。
"No harm in trying," he said.
“試試也無妨嘛〉来ǎ”他說午衰。
The caterwauling horns had reached a crescendo and I turned away and cut across the lawn toward home. I glanced back once. A wafer of a moon was shining over Gatsby's house, making the night fine as before and surviving the laughter and the sound of his still glowing garden. A sudden emptiness seemed to flow now from the windows and the great doors, endowing with complete isolation the figure of the host who stood on the porch, his hand up in a formal gesture of farewell.
汽車喇叭的尖聲怪叫達到了高潮，于是我掉轉(zhuǎn)身冒萄，穿過草地回家臊岸。我回頭望了一眼。一輪明月正照在蓋茨比別墅的上面尊流，使夜色跟光前一樣美好帅戒。明月依舊，而歡聲笑語已經(jīng)從仍然光輝燦爛的花園里消失了崖技。一股突然的空虛此刻好像從那些窗戶和巨大的門里流出來逻住，使主人的形象處于完全的孤立之中，他這時站在陽臺上迎献，舉起一只手做出正式的告別姿勢瞎访。
Reading over what I have written so far, I see I have given the impression that the events of three nights several weeks apart were all that absorbed me. On the contrary, they were merely casual events in a crowded summer, and, until much later, they absorbed me infinitely less than my personal affairs.
重讀一遍以上所寫的，我覺得我已經(jīng)給人一種印象忿晕，好像相隔好幾個星期的三個晚上所發(fā)生的事情就是我所關(guān)注的一切装诡。恰恰相反，它們只不過是一個繁忙的夏天當中的一些小事践盼，而且直到很久以后鸦采，我對它們還遠遠不如對待我自己的私事那樣關(guān)心。
Most of the time I worked. In the early morning the sun threw my shadow westward as I hurried down the white chasms of lower New York to the Probity Trust. I knew the other clerks and young bond-salesmen by their first names, and lunched with them in dark, crowded restaurants on little pig sausages and mashed potatoes and coffee. I even had a short affair with a girl who lived in Jersey City and worked in the accounting department, but her brother began throwing mean looks in my direction, so when she went on her vacation in July I let it blow quietly away.
大部分時間我都在工作咕幻。每天清早太陽把我的影子投向西邊時渔伯，我沿著紐約南部摩天大樓之間的白色裂口匆匆走向正誠信托公司。我跟其他的辦事員和年輕的債券推銷員混得很熟肄程，和他們一起在陰暗擁擠的飯館里吃午飯锣吼，吃點小豬肉香腸加土豆泥选浑，喝杯咖啡。我甚至和一個姑娘發(fā)生過短期的關(guān)系玄叠，她住在澤西城①古徒，在會計處工作《潦眩可是她哥哥開始給我眼色看隧膘，因此她七月里出去度假的時候，我就讓這事悄悄地吹了寺惫。
I took dinner usually at the Yale Club—for some reason it was the gloomiest event of my day—and then I went up-stairs to the library and studied investments and securities for a conscientious hour. There were generally a few rioters around, but they never came into the library, so it was a good place to work. After that, if the night was mellow, I strolled down Madison Avenue past the old Murray Hill Hotel, and over 33rd Street to the Pennsylvania Station.
我一般在耶魯俱樂部吃晚飯--不知為了什么緣故這是我一天中最凄涼的事情--飯后我上樓到圖書室去花一個鐘頭認真學習各種投資和證券的知識疹吃。同學會里往往有幾個愛玩愛鬧的人光臨，但他們從來不進圖書室西雀，所以那里倒是個做工作的好地方萨驶。在那以后，如果天氣宜人艇肴，我就沿著麥迪遜路溜達腔呜，經(jīng)過那座古老的默里山飯店，再穿過三十三號街走到賓夕法尼亞車站豆挽。
I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night, and the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye. I liked to walk up Fifth Avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd and imagine that in a few minutes I was going to enter into their lives, and no one would ever know or disapprove. Sometimes, in my mind, I followed them to their apartments on the corners of hidden streets, and they turned and smiled back at me before they faded through a door into warm darkness. At the enchanted metropolitan twilight I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others—poor young clerks who loitered in front of windows waiting until it was time for a solitary restaurant dinner—young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life.
我開始喜歡紐約了育谬，喜歡夜晚那種奔放冒險的情凋，喜歡那川流不息的男男女女和往來車輛給應接不暇的眼睛帶來的滿足帮哈。我喜歡在五號路上溜達膛檀，從人群中挑出風流的女人，幻想幾分鐘之內(nèi)我就要進入她們的生活娘侍，而永遠也不會有人知道或者非難這件事咖刃。有時，在我腦海里憾筏，我跟著她們走到神秘的街道拐角上她們所住的公寓嚎杨，到了門口她們回眸一笑，然后走進一扇門消失在溫暖的黑暗之中氧腰。在大都市迷人的黃昏時刻枫浙，我有時感到一種難以排遣的寂寞，同時也覺得別人有同感--那些在櫥窗面前躑躅的窮困的青年小職員古拴，等到了時候獨個兒上小飯館去吃一頓晚飯--黃昏中的青年小職員箩帚，虛度著夜晚和生活中最令人陶醉的時光。
racy??[?re?s?] ?adj. 活潑的, 有趣的; 略帶淫穢的
