The Great Gatsby — Page 189

我想大概是第三天，一封由亨利·C·盖茨签名的电报从明尼苏达州的某个小镇发来。电报只说发报人即刻动身，请推迟葬礼等他到来。

I think it was on the third day that a telegram signed Henry C. Gatz arrived from a town in Minnesota. It said only that the sender was leaving immediately and to postpone the funeral until he came.

来的是盖茨比的父亲，一个神情肃穆的老人，十分无助，惊慌失措，在温暖的九月天里裹着一件廉价的长外套。

It was Gatsby's father, a solemn old man, very helpless and dismayed, bundled up in a long cheap ulster against the warm September day.

他的眼睛因激动而不停地流泪，当我从他手中接过提包和雨伞时，他开始不停地扯着他那稀疏的灰胡子，害得我好不容易才帮他脱下外套。

His eyes leaked continuously with excitement, and when I took the bag and umbrella from his hands he began to pull so incessantly at his sparse grey beard that I had difficulty in getting off his coat.

他已经濒临崩溃，于是我把他带进音乐室，让他坐下，同时吩咐人给他弄些吃的。但他什么都不肯吃，一杯牛奶从他颤抖的手中洒了出来。

He was on the point of collapse, so I took him into the music-room and made him sit down while I sent for something to eat. But he wouldn't eat, and the glass of milk spilled from his trembling hand.

「我是在芝加哥的报纸上看到的，」他说，「全都登在芝加哥的报纸上。我马上就出发了。」

"I saw it in the Chicago newspaper," he said. "It was all in the Chicago newspaper. I started right away."

「我不知道怎么联系您。」

"I didn't know how to reach you."

他的眼睛什么都没看见，却在屋里不停地游移。

His eyes, seeing nothing, moved ceaselessly about the room.

「是个疯子干的，」他说，「他一定是疯了。」

"It was a madman," he said. "He must have been mad."

「您要不要喝点咖啡？」我劝他道。

"Wouldn't you like some coffee?" I urged him.

「我什么都不要。我现在好多了，卡——先生。」

"I don't want anything. I'm all right now, Mr.—"

「卡罗威。」

"Carraway."

「好，我现在好多了。吉米在哪里？」

"Well, I'm all right now. Where have they got Jimmy?"

我把他带进客厅，他儿子就躺在那里，然后我便离开了。

I took him into the drawing-room, where his son lay, and left him there.