The Great Gatsby — Page 90
当乔丹·贝克讲完这一切时，我们已经离开广场饭店半小时了，正坐着一辆维多利亚马车穿越中央公园。
When Jordan Baker had finished telling all this we had left the Plaza for half an hour and were driving in a victoria through Central Park.
太阳已经沉落到西五十几街那些电影明星的高层公寓后面，草地上已经聚集起来的孩子们，像蟋蟀一般，清脆的声音在热烘烘的暮色中飘荡而起：
The sun had gone down behind the tall apartments of the movie stars in the West Fifties, and the clear voices of children, already gathered like crickets on the grass, rose through the hot twilight:
「我是阿拉伯的酋长。你的爱属于我。夜里当你熟睡，我会悄悄爬进你的帐篷——」
"I'm the Sheik of Araby. Your love belongs to me. At night when you're asleep Into your tent I'll creep—"
「真是一个奇怪的巧合，」我说。
"It was a strange coincidence," I said.
「但这根本不是巧合。」
"But it wasn't a coincidence at all."
「为什么这么说？」
"Why not?"
「盖茨比买下那栋房子，就是为了让黛西住在海湾对岸。」
"Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay."
那么，在那个六月的夜晚，他所渴望的并不仅仅是那些星星。他在我眼中活了过来，从他那漫无目的的奢华中骤然降生。
Then it had not been merely the stars to which he had aspired on that June night. He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendour.
「他想知道，」乔丹接着说，「你能不能某天下午邀请黛西到你家，然后让他也过来。」
"He wants to know," continued Jordan, "if you'll invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him come over."
这个要求的谦卑让我深感震动。他等待了五年，买下一座豪宅，在那里向偶然飞来的飞蛾们散播星光——只是为了能在某个下午「过来」一趟，到一个陌生人的花园里。
The modesty of the demand shook me. He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths—so that he could "come over" some afternoon to a stranger's garden.
「他要问这么一件小事，我难道非得事先知道这一切吗？」
"Did I have to know all this before he could ask such a little thing?"
「他很害怕，他等了太久了。他以为你可能会觉得被冒犯。你知道，在这一切背后，他其实是个相当刚硬的人。」
"He's afraid, he's waited so long. He thought you might be offended. You see, he's regular tough underneath it all."
有什么事情让我感到不安。
Something worried me.
「他为什么不请你来安排这次见面？」
"Why didn't he ask you to arrange a meeting?
Vocabulary
- finished
- 完成，结束某件事情
- Plaza
- 广场饭店，纽约著名豪华酒店
- victoria
- 维多利亚马车，一种旧式四轮马车
- through
- 穿过，经过某一空间或区域
- behind
- 在……后面，位于某物背后
- apartments
- 公寓楼，供人居住的套间建筑
- Fifties
- 五十几街，指纽约第五十几条街
- clear
- 清晰的，声音清脆明亮
- voices
- 声音，人们说话或唱歌的声音
- already
- 已经，表示动作提前发生
- gathered
- 聚集，汇聚在一起
- crickets
- 蟋蟀，一种会鸣叫的昆虫
- rose
- 升起，向上飘散（声音等）
- twilight
- 黄昏，日落后天色渐暗的时刻
- Sheik
- 酋长，阿拉伯部落首领称谓
- Araby
- 阿拉比，诗意的阿拉伯旧称
- belongs
- 属于，归属于某人或某处
- asleep
- 睡着的，处于睡眠状态
- tent
- 帐篷，临时搭建的布制住所
- creep
- 悄悄爬行，蹑手蹑脚地移动
- strange
- 奇怪的，不寻常的，令人诧异的
- coincidence
- 巧合，两件事恰好同时发生
- across
- 在对面，横越某空间到另一侧
- bay
- 海湾，陆地向内凹入的水域
- merely
- 仅仅，只不过，表示程度有限
- aspired
- 渴望，立志追求某目标或理想
- alive
- 活着的，充满生机与活力的
- delivered
- 被解救，从某状态中突然获释
- suddenly
- 突然地，出乎意料地发生
- womb
- 子宫，孕育生命的母体器官
- purposeless
- 无目的的，漫无方向的
- splendour
- 辉煌，壮丽，华丽的状态
- continued
- 继续，接着进行某件事
- invite
- 邀请，请某人参加活动或到访
- modesty
- 谦虚，谦逊，不自夸的品质
- demand
- 要求，坚持需要某事物
- mansion
- 豪宅，宽敞豪华的大型住宅
- dispensed
- 分发，提供，给予（光芒等）
- starlight
- 星光，夜晚星星发出的光芒
- casual
- 随意的，不经意间出现的
- moths
- 飞蛾，一种趋光的夜间昆虫
- such
- 如此，这样的，表示程度或种类
- afraid
- 害怕，担心某事会发生
- might
- 情态动词，表示可能性
- offended
- 被冒犯，感到不满或不悦
- regular
- 真正的，十足的，口语强调用法
- tough
- 坚韧的，强硬的，不容易动摇的
- underneath
- 在内心深处，表面之下
- worried
- 担心，焦虑，感到不安
- arrange
- 安排，组织，提前计划某事
- meeting
- 会面，与某人见面的安排
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