The Great Gatsby — Page 55
对我来说,这是一场不寻常的派对。我甚至连主人都没见过。我就住在那边——"我朝远处那道看不见的树篱挥了挥手,"这个叫盖茨比的人派他的司机送来了一张请柬。"
"This is an unusual party for me. I haven't even seen the host. I live over there—" I waved my hand at the invisible hedge in the distance, "and this man Gatsby sent over his chauffeur with an invitation."
有那么一瞬间,他望着我,似乎没有听懂我说的话。
For a moment he looked at me as if he failed to understand.
"我就是盖茨比,"他突然说道。
"I'm Gatsby," he said suddenly.
"什么!"我惊呼道。"哦,请您原谅。"
"What!" I exclaimed. "Oh, I beg your pardon."
"我还以为您认识我呢,老兄。恐怕我不是个称职的主人。"
"I thought you knew, old sport. I'm afraid I'm not a very good host."
他微笑着,那笑容充满理解——远不止是理解而已。那是一种罕见的微笑,带着一种永恒的安慰,这样的微笑你一生中也许只能遇见四五次。
He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.
那笑容仿佛面对着——或似乎面对着——整个永恒的世界,只是一瞬间,然后便将全部注意力集中在你身上,带着一种令人无法抗拒的偏爱。
It faced—or seemed to face—the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour.
它恰如其分地理解你,理解到你希望被理解的程度;它相信你,正如你希望相信自己一样;它向你保证,它对你的印象,正是你在最好状态下希望留给别人的那种印象。
It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.
就在那一刻,笑容消失了——我眼前站着的,是一个举止优雅的年轻莽汉,年过三十一两岁,说话方式刻意讲究,但又差一点儿显得荒唐可笑。
Precisely at that point it vanished—and I was looking at an elegant young roughneck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd.
在他自我介绍之前,我已经强烈地感觉到,他说话时是在字斟句酌。
Some time before he introduced himself I'd got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care.
就在这时,先生——
Almost at the moment when Mr.
Vocabulary
- unusual
- 不寻常的,与一般情况不同的
- party
- 聚会,一群人聚在一起的社交活动
- even
- 副词,表示"甚至",加强语气
- host
- 主人,举办聚会或活动的人
- waved
- 挥手,向某人招手示意
- invisible
- 看不见的,无法被肉眼察觉的
- hedge
- 树篱,用灌木或树木围成的围栏
- distance
- 距离,两地之间相隔的空间长度
- chauffeur
- 私人司机,专门为雇主驾车的人
- invitation
- 邀请函,请人参加活动的书面通知
- moment
- 片刻,极短暂的一段时间
- failed
- 未能做到某事,没有成功
- understand
- 理解,明白某事的意思或含义
- suddenly
- 突然地,出乎意料地发生
- exclaimed
- 大声呼喊,因惊讶或激动而叫出声
- beg
- 恳求,请求某人的原谅或帮助
- pardon
- 原谅,请求对方宽恕或重复
- sport
- 英式俚语,用于亲切称呼朋友
- afraid
- 恐怕,表示遗憾或担忧的语气
- understandingly
- 体谅地,表示理解和同情地
- rare
- 罕见的,不常出现的
- quality
- 特质,某种特别的品质或特征
- eternal
- 永恒的,永远存在不会消失的
- reassurance
- 安慰,使人消除疑虑的保证
- across
- 偶然遇见,碰到某人或某物
- faced
- 面对,直接朝向某人或某物
- whole
- 整个,全部,没有遗漏的
- instant
- 瞬间,极短暂的一刹那
- concentrated
- 集中,把注意力专注于某一点
- irresistible
- 不可抗拒的,无法拒绝或抵抗的
- prejudice
- 偏见,对人或事不公正的先入为主印象
- favour
- 好感,对某人或某事的偏爱
- believed
- 被相信,得到别人的信任
- believe
- 相信,认为某事是真实的
- assured
- 确信的,使人感到放心的
- precisely
- 精确地,表示"恰恰如此"
- impression
- 印象,对某人或事物的看法
- convey
- 传达,将信息或感觉传递给他人
- Precisely
- 副词,表示"正是如此",强调准确
- point
- 要点,某段时间或某个关键时刻
- vanished
- 突然消失,不见踪迹
- elegant
- 优雅的,外表或举止高雅得体
- roughneck
- 粗鲁的人,举止不雅的人
- elaborate
- 精心设计的,刻意讲究的
- formality
- 正式性,过于讲究礼节的风格
- speech
- 说话方式,言辞风格
- missed
- 几乎要,差一点达到某种状态
- absurd
- 荒谬的,完全不合理或可笑的
- introduced
- 介绍,向他人说明自己的名字
- picking
- 挑选,仔细选择合适的词语
- Almost
- 几乎,差一点就达到某种程度
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →