The Great Gatsby — Page 74

「我不希望你从这些传言里对我产生错误的印象。」

"I don't want you to get a wrong idea of me from all these stories you hear."

原来他知道那些在他府中流传的荒诞指控。

So he was aware of the bizarre accusations that flavoured conversation in his halls.

「我来告诉你真相。」他的右手突然举起，仿佛在召唤神圣的惩罚作为见证。

"I'll tell you God's truth." His right hand suddenly ordered divine retribution to stand by.

「我是中西部一个富裕家庭的儿子——他们现在都去世了。我在美国长大，但在牛津受教育，因为我的祖先们多年来都在那里求学，这是家族传统。」

"I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West—all dead now. I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition."

他斜眼看了我一下——我立刻明白了为什么乔丹·贝克认为他在撒谎。

He looked at me sideways—and I knew why Jordan Baker had believed he was lying.

他说到「在牛津受教育」这几个字时，急急带过，像是含糊吞吐，或是哽在喉头，好像这几个字以前就曾让他难以启齿。

He hurried the phrase "educated at Oxford," or swallowed it, or choked on it, as though it had bothered him before.

有了这份疑惑，他整段话便开始土崩瓦解，我不禁想，这个人终究是不是有几分阴险。

And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered if there wasn't something a little sinister about him, after all.

「中西部的哪个地方？」我漫不经心地问道。

"What part of the Middle West?" I inquired casually.

「旧金山。」

"San Francisco."

「我明白了。」

"I see."

「我的家人都去世了，我继承了一大笔钱。」

"My family all died and I came into a good deal of money."

他的声音庄严肃穆，仿佛那个家族骤然覆灭的记忆至今仍萦绕着他。

His voice was solemn, as if the memory of that sudden extinction of a clan still haunted him.

有那么一刻，我怀疑他是在捉弄我，但瞥了他一眼之后，我打消了这个念头。

For a moment I suspected that he was pulling my leg, but a glance at him convinced me otherwise.