了不起的盖茨比 第七章 第五节 - 理论深渊

‘Come on, Daisy,’ said Tom, pressing her with his hand toward Gatsby’s car. ‘I’ll take you in this circus wagon.’

He opened the door but she moved out from the circle of his arm.

‘You take Nick and Jordan. We’ll follow you in the coupé.’

“走吧，黛西，”汤姆说，一面用手把她朝盖茨比的车子推过去，“我带你坐这辆马戏团的花车。”

他打开车门，但她从他臂弯里走了出去。 “你带尼克和乔丹去。我们开小轿车跟在你后面。”

She walked close to Gatsby, touching his coat with her hand. Jordan and Tom and I got into the front seat of Gatsby’s car, Tom pushed the unfamiliar gears tentatively and we shot off into the oppressive heat leaving them out of sight behind.

她紧挨着盖茨比走，用手摸着他的上衣。乔丹、汤姆和我坐进盖茨比车子的前座，汤姆试着扳动不熟悉的排档，接着我们就冲进了闷热，把他们甩在后面看不见的地方。

‘Did you see that?’ demanded Tom.
‘See what?’
He looked at me keenly, realizing that Jordan and I must have known all along.
‘You think I’m pretty dumb, don’t you?’ he suggested.

‘Perhaps I am, but I have a—almost a second sight, sometimes, that tells me what to do. Maybe you don’t believe that, but science——‘

He paused. The immediate contingency overtook him, pulled him back from the edge of the theoretical abyss.

 “你们看到那个没有?”汤姆问。

“看到什么?”
他敏锐地看着我，明白了我和乔丹一定一直就知道。

“你们以为我很傻，是不是?”他说，“也许我是傻，但是有时候我有一种——几乎是一种第二视觉，它告诉我该怎么办。也许你们不相信这个，但是科学⋯⋯”

他停了一下。当务之急追上了他，把他从理论深渊的边缘拉了回来。

‘I’ve made a small investigation of this fellow,’ he continued. ‘I could have gone deeper if I’d known——‘

‘Do you mean you’ve been to a medium?’ inquired Jordan humorously.

‘What?’ Confused, he stared at us as we laughed. ‘A medium?’

‘About Gatsby.’

‘About Gatsby! No, I haven’t. I said I’d been making a small investigation of his past.’

“我已经对这个家伙做了一番小小的调查，”他继续说，“我大可以调查得更深入一些，要是我知道⋯⋯”

“你是说你找过一个灵媒吗?”乔丹幽默地问。

“什么?”他摸不着头脑，瞪眼看着我们哈哈笑，“灵媒?”

“去问盖茨比的事。”

“问盖茨比的事!不，我没有。我刚才说我已经对他的来历做过一番小小的调查。”

‘And you found he was an Oxford man,’ said Jordan helpfully.

‘An Oxford man!’ He was incredulous. ‘Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit.’

‘Nevertheless he’s an Oxford man.’

‘Oxford, New Mexico,’ snorted Tom contemptuously, ‘or something like that.’

‘Listen, Tom. If you’re such a snob, why did you invite him to lunch?’ demanded Jordan crossly.

‘Daisy invited him; she knew him before we were married—God knows where!’

“结果你发现他是牛津大学毕业生。”乔丹帮忙地说。

“牛津大学毕业生!”他完全不相信，“他要是才他妈的怪哩!他穿一套粉红色衣服。”
“不过他还是牛津毕业生。”

“新墨西哥州的牛津镇，”汤姆嗤之以鼻地说，“或者类似的地方。”

“我说，汤姆，你既然这样瞧不起人，那么为什么请他吃午饭呢?”乔丹气恼地质问道。

“黛西请他的。她是在我们结婚以前认识他的——天晓得在什么地方!”

We were all irritable now with the fading ale and, aware of it, we drove for a while in silence. Then as Doctor T. J. Eckleburg’s faded eyes came into sight down the road, I remembered Gatsby’s caution about gasoline.

‘We’ve got enough to get us to town,’ said Tom.

‘But there’s a garage right here,’ objected Jordan. ‘I don’t want to get stalled in this baking heat.’

啤酒的酒性已过，我们现在都感到烦躁，又因为意识到这一点，我们就一声不响地开了一会车子。然后当 T·J·埃克尔堡大夫暗淡的眼睛在大路的前方出现时，我想起了盖茨比提出的关于汽油不够的警告。

“我们有足够的汽油开到城里。”汤姆说。

“可是这里就有一家车行，”乔丹提出了反对，“我可不要在这种大热天抛锚。”

Tom threw on both brakes impatiently and we slid to an abrupt dusty stop under Wilson’s sign. After a moment the proprietor emerged from the interior of his establishment and gazed hollow-eyed at the car.

‘Let’s have some gas!’ cried Tom roughly. ‘What do you think we stopped for—to admire the view?’

汤姆不耐烦地把两个刹车都踩了，车子扬起一阵尘土突然在威尔逊的招牌下面停了下来。过了一会老板从车行的里面走了出来，两眼呆呆地盯着看我们的车子。

“给我们加点汽油!”汤姆粗声大气地叫道，“你以为我们停下来干什么——欣赏风景吗?”

‘I’m sick,’ said Wilson without moving. ‘I been sick all day.’

‘What’s the matter?’
‘I’m all run down.’
‘Well, shall I help myself?’ Tom demanded. ‘You sounded well enough on the phone.’

“我病了，”威尔逊站着不动说道，“病了一整天啦。”
“怎么啦?”
“我身体都垮了。”“那么我要自己动手吗?”汤姆问，“你刚才在电话里听上去还挺好的嘛。”