The Great Gatsby — Page 68
就是在那次聚会上，我们进行了一次关于开车的奇特对话。
It was on that same house-party that we had a curious conversation about driving a car.
起因是她开车时离几个工人太近，我们的挡泥板擦到了其中一个人外套上的纽扣。
It started because she passed so close to some workmen that our fender flicked a button on one man's coat.
「你开车真是糟透了，」我抗议道。「你要么开得更小心一点，要么就根本别开车。」
"You're a rotten driver," I protested. "Either you ought to be more careful, or you oughtn't to drive at all."
「我开车很小心的。」
"I am careful."
「不，你根本不小心。」
"No, you're not."
「唔，别人会小心的，」她轻描淡写地说。
"Well, other people are," she said lightly.
「那跟这件事有什么关系？」
"What's that got to do with it?"
「他们会躲开我的，」她坚持说。「一个巴掌拍不响，出事故得两个人才行。」
"They'll keep out of my way," she insisted. "It takes two to make an accident."
「要是你遇到一个和你一样粗心的人呢？」
"Suppose you met somebody just as careless as yourself."
「但愿我永远不会，」她回答道。「我讨厌粗心大意的人。这也是我喜欢你的原因。」
"I hope I never will," she answered. "I hate careless people. That's why I like you."
她那双因长期在阳光下眯眼而显得疲倦的灰色眼睛直视着前方，但她已经刻意改变了我们之间的关系，我有那么一瞬间以为自己爱上了她。
Her grey, sun-strained eyes stared straight ahead, but she had deliberately shifted our relations, and for a moment I thought I loved her.
但我思维迟钝，内心有许多规条像刹车一样约束着我的欲望，我知道自己必须先从家乡那段纠葛中彻底脱身。
But I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires, and I knew that first I had to get myself definitely out of that tangle back home.
我一直每周写一封信，署名「爱你的，尼克」，而我脑海中浮现的只是那个女孩打网球时，上唇渗出的那一抹淡淡的汗珠。
I'd been writing letters once a week and signing them: "Love, Nick," and all I could think of was how, when that certain girl played tennis, a faint moustache of perspiration appeared on her upper lip.
尽管如此，我们之间还存在着一种模糊的默契，必须妥善地了结，我才能真正自由。
Nevertheless there was a vague understanding that had to be tactfully broken off before I was free.
Vocabulary
- same
- 形容词，表示相同的、同一的
- party
- 名词，聚会，派对
- curious
- 形容词，奇特的；也指好奇的
- conversation
- 名词，对话，交谈
- driving
- 名词/动词，驾驶（车辆）
- passed
- 动词过去式，经过，通过
- close
- 形容词/副词，近的，靠近地
- workmen
- 名词复数，工人，施工人员
- fender
- 名词，汽车挡泥板，保险杠
- flicked
- 动词过去式，轻弹，轻触
- button
- 名词，纽扣，按钮
- coat
- 名词，外套，大衣
- rotten
- 形容词，糟糕的，腐烂的；口语指很差劲
- driver
- 名词，司机，驾驶员
- protested
- 动词过去式，抗议，提出异议
- Either
- 连词，要么…要么…，用于两者选一
- ought
- 情态动词，应该，ought to表示义务或建议
- careful
- 形容词，小心的，谨慎的
- drive
- 动词，驾驶（汽车等）
- lightly
- 副词，轻描淡写地，轻松地
- keep
- 动词，保持，保留；keep out意为挡在外面
- insisted
- 动词过去式，坚持，坚决主张
- accident
- 名词，事故，意外
- Suppose
- 动词/连词，假设，如果，假若
- careless
- 形容词，粗心的，不小心的
- hope
- 动词/名词，希望，期望
- hate
- 动词/名词，憎恨，讨厌
- grey
- 形容词，灰色的
- strained
- 形容词，疲惫紧张的；动词，用力看
- stared
- 动词过去式，凝视，盯着看
- straight
- 副词/形容词，笔直地，直接地
- ahead
- 副词，向前，在前方
- deliberately
- 副词，故意地，蓄意地
- shifted
- 动词过去式，转移，改变，移动
- relations
- 名词复数，关系，交往；亲属
- moment
- 名词，片刻，瞬间
- interior
- 形容词/名词，内部的，内心的
- rules
- 名词复数，规则；动词，统治
- act
- 名词/动词，行为，行动，表演
- brakes
- 名词复数，刹车，制动器
- desires
- 名词复数，欲望，渴望
- definitely
- 副词，肯定地，明确地
- tangle
- 名词/动词，纠缠，混乱，卷入麻烦
- letters
- 名词复数，信件；字母
- once
- 副词，一次，曾经
- signing
- 动词现在分词，签名，署名
- Love
- 名词，爱，爱意；信件结尾常用语
- certain
- 形容词，某个；确定的，肯定的
- tennis
- 名词，网球（运动）
- faint
- 形容词，微弱的，隐约的；动词，昏倒
- moustache
- 名词，小胡子，上唇胡须
- perspiration
- 名词，汗水，出汗
- appeared
- 动词过去式，出现，显现
- upper
- 形容词，上面的，上方的
- lip
- 名词，嘴唇
- Nevertheless
- 副词，尽管如此，然而，仍然
- vague
- 形容词，模糊的，不明确的
- understanding
- 名词，理解，默契，协议
- tactfully
- 副词，圆滑地，机智地，不失分寸地
- broken
- 动词过去分词，打破，中断；break的过去分词
- free
- 形容词，自由的，空闲的；免费的
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