The Great Gatsby — Page 2
Most of the confidences were unsought—frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon; for the intimate revelations of young men, or at least the terms in which they express them, are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions.
La mayoría de las confidencias no fueron buscadas—con frecuencia he fingido sueño, preocupación, o una levedad hostil cuando me di cuenta por alguna señal inconfundible de que una revelación íntima estaba temblando en el horizonte; pues las revelaciones íntimas de los jóvenes, o al menos los términos en que las expresan, suelen ser plagios y están estropeadas por supresiones evidentes.
Reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope.
Reservar los juicios es una cuestión de esperanza infinita.
I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.
Todavía tengo un poco de miedo de perderme algo si olvido que, como mi padre sugirió con esnobismo, y yo repito con esnobismo, el sentido de las decencias fundamentales se reparte de manera desigual al nacer.
And, after boasting this way of my tolerance, I come to the admission that it has a limit.
Y, después de jactarme así de mi tolerancia, llego a la admisión de que tiene un límite.
Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or the wet marshes, but after a certain point I don't care what it's founded on.
La conducta puede estar fundada en la roca dura o en los pantanos húmedos, pero después de cierto punto no me importa en qué esté fundada.
When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart.
Cuando regresé del Este el otoño pasado sentí que quería que el mundo estuviera en uniforme y en una especie de atención moral para siempre; no quería más excursiones bulliciosas con vistazos privilegiados al corazón humano.
Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.
Solo Gatsby, el hombre que da su nombre a este libro, estaba exento de mi reacción—Gatsby, que representaba todo aquello por lo que siento un desprecio genuino.
If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.
Si la personalidad es una serie ininterrumpida de gestos exitosos, entonces había algo magnífico en él, una sensibilidad exaltada ante las promesas de la vida, como si estuviera emparentado con una de esas intrincadas máquinas que registran terremotos a diez mil millas de distancia.
Vocabulary
- mayoría
- The majority or greater part of something
- confidencias
- Private secrets or confidences shared between people
- buscadas
- Sought out or looked for intentionally
- frecuencia
- How often something occurs; frequency
- fingido
- Pretended or feigned something falsely
- sueño
- Sleep or a dream experienced while sleeping
- preocupación
- Worry or concern about something troubling
- levedad
- Lightness or frivolity in manner or attitude
- hostil
- Hostile or unfriendly in attitude toward others
- cuenta
- Account or realization; used in 'darse cuenta' meaning realize
- señal
- A sign or signal indicating something important
- inconfundible
- Unmistakable, impossible to confuse with something else
- revelación
- A revelation or surprising disclosure of information
- íntima
- Intimate or deeply personal in nature
- temblando
- Trembling or shaking with emotion or fear
- horizonte
- The horizon or line where earth meets sky
- pues
- Conjunction meaning 'well', 'then', or 'since'
- revelaciones
- Revelations or surprising disclosures of personal information
- íntimas
- Intimate or deeply personal plural feminine adjective
- jóvenes
- Young people or youth in general
- términos
- Terms or words used to express something
- expresan
- They express or convey ideas in words
- suelen
- They usually or tend to do something regularly
- plagios
- Acts of plagiarism; copied work passed as original
- estropeadas
- Spoiled, ruined, or damaged in some way
- supresiones
- Suppressions or deliberate omissions of information
- evidentes
- Evident or obvious, easily seen or understood
- Reservar
- To reserve or hold back judgments or opinions
- juicios
- Judgments or opinions formed about people or situations
- cuestión
- A matter, question, or issue under consideration
- esperanza
- Hope or expectation for something desired
- infinita
- Infinite or limitless, without end or boundary
- Todavía
- Still or yet, indicating continuation of a state
- miedo
- Fear or fright felt about something threatening
- perderme
- To miss out on or lose something important
- olvido
- Forgetfulness or the act of forgetting something
- padre
- Father or male parent
- sugirió
- Suggested or recommended something to someone else
- esnobismo
- Snobbery or attitude of social superiority over others
- repito
- I repeat or say something again
- sentido
- Sense or meaning attributed to something
- decencias
- Decencies or standards of proper moral behavior
- fundamentales
- Fundamental or basic, essential to something important
- reparte
- Distributes or is shared among people unevenly
- manera
- Way or manner in which something is done
- desigual
- Unequal or uneven in distribution or quality
- nacer
- To be born; the beginning of life
- después
- Afterward or later in time
- jactarme
- To boast or brag about oneself
- así
- Like this, in this way, or thus
- tolerancia
- Tolerance or acceptance of different people and views
- admisión
- Admission or acknowledgment of a fact or limit
- límite
- A limit or boundary that cannot be exceeded
- conducta
- Conduct or behavior displayed by a person
- fundada
- Founded or based upon something solid or firm
- roca
- Rock or stone, a hard solid natural material
- dura
- Hard or tough in texture or character
- pantanos
- Swamps or marshes, wet boggy areas of land
- húmedos
- Humid or damp, containing a lot of moisture
- cierto
- Certain or sure; a specific thing or point
- punto
- Point or specific moment in time or argument
- importa
- Matters or is important in a given situation
- regresé
- I returned or came back from somewhere
- Este
- East or eastern direction; also 'this' masculine
- otoño
- Autumn or fall season of the year
- pasado
- Past; last or previous in time
- sentí
- I felt or sensed something emotionally
- mundo
- The world or all people and places
- uniforme
- Uniform or consistent, without variation or difference
- especie
- A kind, sort, or species of something
- atención
- Attention or care given to something or someone
- moral
- Moral or ethical relating to right and wrong
- siempre
- Always or forever, at all times
- excursiones
- Excursions or trips taken for pleasure or exploration
- bulliciosas
- Noisy, lively, or bustling with activity
- vistazos
- Quick glances or brief looks at something
- privilegiados
- Privileged or having special advantages over others
- corazón
- Heart, either physical organ or emotional center
- humano
- Human or relating to people and humanity
- Solo
- Only or alone; just one particular thing
- hombre
- Man or adult male person
- nombre
- Name given to a person or thing
- libro
- Book, a written or printed literary work
- exento
- Exempt or free from something, excluded
- reacción
- Reaction or response to an event or stimulus
- representaba
- Represented or stood for something symbolically
- aquello
- That thing over there; distant demonstrative pronoun
- siento
- I feel or sense emotionally; I am sorry
- desprecio
- Contempt or scorn for someone or something
- genuino
- Genuine or authentic, not fake or pretended
- personalidad
- Personality or the set of traits defining someone
- serie
- A series or sequence of related things
- ininterrumpida
- Uninterrupted or continuous without any breaks
- gestos
- Gestures or movements expressing feelings or intentions
- exitosos
- Successful or achieving desired results
- entonces
- Then or at that time; therefore
- magnífico
- Magnificent or wonderful, impressive in quality
- sensibilidad
- Sensitivity or heightened capacity to feel things
- exaltada
- Exalted or heightened, intensely elevated in feeling
- ante
- Preposition meaning 'before' or 'in the face of'
- promesas
- Promises or indications of future potential
- vida
- Life or the state of being alive
- emparentado
- Related to or connected with something similar
- intrincadas
- Intricate or complex, having many detailed parts
- máquinas
- Machines or mechanical devices that perform tasks
- registran
- Record or register data from distant events
- terremotos
- Earthquakes, violent shakings of the earth's surface
- millas
- Miles, units of distance measurement
- distancia
- Distance or space between two points or places
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