了不起的盖茨比 第七章 第九节 - 水火不容（一）

‘By the way, Mr. Gatsby, I understand you’re an Oxford man.’
‘Not exactly.’
‘Oh, yes, I understand you went to Oxford.’
‘Yes—I went there.’

“说起来，盖茨比先生，我听说你是牛津校友。”

“不完全是那样。”

“哦，是的，我听说你上过牛津。”
“是的，我上过那儿。”

A pause. Then Tom’s voice, incredulous and insulting: ‘You must have gone there about the time Biloxi went to New Haven.’
Another pause. A waiter knocked and came in with crushed mint and ice but the silence was unbroken by his ‘Thank you’ and the soft closing of the door. This tremendous detail was to be cleared up at last.

停顿了一会。然后是汤姆的声音，带有怀疑和侮辱的口吻: “你一定是在毕洛克西上纽黑文的时候去牛津的吧。”

又停顿了一会。一个茶房敲门，端着敲碎了的薄荷叶和冰走进来，但是他的一声“谢谢您”和轻轻的关门声也没打破沉默。这个关系重大的细节终于要澄清了。

‘I told you I went there,’ said Gatsby.
‘I heard you, but I’d like to know when.’
‘It was in nineteen-nineteen, I only stayed five months.

That’s why I can’t really call myself an Oxford man.’
Tom glanced around to see if we mirrored his unbelief.

“我跟你说过了我上过那儿。”盖茨比说。

“我听见了，可是我想知道在什么时候。”

“是一九一九年，我只待了五个月。这就是为什么我不能自称是牛津校友的原因。” 汤姆瞥了大家一眼，看看我们脸上是否也反映出他的怀疑。

But we were all looking at Gatsby.
‘It was an opportunity they gave to some of the officers after the Armistice,’ he continued. ‘We could go to any of the universities in England or France.’

I wanted to get up and slap him on the back. I had one of those renewals of complete faith in him that I’d experienced before.

Daisy rose, smiling faintly, and went to the table.

但是我们都在看着盖茨比。

“那是停战以后他们为一些军官提供的机会，”他继续说下去，“我们可以上任何英国或者法国的大学。”

我真想站起来拍拍他的肩膀。我又一次感到对他完全信任，这是我以前体验过的。
黛西站了起来，微微一笑，走到桌子前面。

‘Open the whiskey, Tom,’ she ordered. ‘And I’ll make you a mint julep. Then you won’t seem so stupid to yourself.... Look at the mint!’

‘Wait a minute,’ snapped Tom, ‘I want to ask Mr. Gatsby one more question.’

‘Go on,’ Gatsby said politely.

‘What kind of a row are you trying to cause in my house anyhow?’

They were out in the open at last and Gatsby was content.

‘He isn’t causing a row.’ Daisy looked desperately from one to the other. ‘You’re causing a row. Please have a little self control.’

“打开威士忌，汤姆，”她命令道，“我给你做一杯薄荷酒。然后你就个会觉得自己那么蠢了⋯⋯你看这些薄荷叶子!”

“等一会，”汤姆厉声道，“我还要问盖茨比先生一个问题。”

“请问吧。”盖茨比很有礼貌地说。

“你到底想在我家里制造什么样的纠纷?”

他们终于把话挑明了，盖茨比倒也满意。

“他没制造纠纷，”黛西惊惶地看看这一个又看看那一个，“你在制造纠纷。请你自制一点儿。”

‘Self control!’ repeated Tom incredulously. ‘I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well, if that’s the idea you can count me out.... Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions and next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white.’
Flushed with his impassioned gibberish he saw himself standing alone on the last barrier of civilization.

“自制!”汤姆不能置信地重复道，“我猜想最时髦的事情大概是装聋作哑，让不知从哪儿冒出来的阿猫阿狗跟你老婆凋情。哼，如果那样才算时髦，你可以把我除外⋯⋯这年头人们开始对家庭生活和家庭制度嗤之以鼻，再下一步他们就该抛弃一切，搞黑人和白人通婚了。”

他满口胡言乱语，脸涨得通红，俨然自以为单独一个人站在文明最后的壁垒上。

‘We’re all white here,’ murmured Jordan.
‘I know I’m not very popular. I don’t give big parties. I suppose you’ve got to make your house into a pigsty in order to have any friends—in the modern world.’

Angry as I was, as we all were, I was tempted to laugh whenever he opened his mouth. The transition from libertine to prig was so complete.

“我们这里大家都是白人嘛。”乔丹咕哝着说。

“我知道我不得人心。我不举行大型宴会。大概你非得把自己的家搞成猪圈才能交朋友——在这个现代世界上。”

尽管我和大家一样感到很气愤，每次他一张口我就忍不住想笑。一个酒徒色鬼竟然摇身一变就成了道学先生。

‘I’ve got something to tell YOU, old sport,——’ began Gatsby. But Daisy guessed at his intention.

‘Please don’t!’ she interrupted helplessly. ‘Please let’s all go home. Why don’t we all go home?’

‘That’s a good idea.’ I got up. ‘Come on, Tom. Nobody wants a drink.’

‘I want to know what Mr. Gatsby has to tell me.’

‘Your wife doesn’t love you,’ said Gatsby. ‘She’s never loved you. She loves me.’

‘You must be crazy!’ exclaimed Tom automatically. Gatsby sprang to his feet, vivid with excitement.

“我也有话要对你说，老兄⋯⋯”盖茨比开始说。但是黛西猜到了他的意图。

“请你不要说!”她无可奈何地打断了他的话，“咱们都回家吧。咱们都回家不好吗?”

“这是个好主意。”我站了起来，“走吧，汤姆。没有人要喝酒。”

“我想知道盖茨比光生有什么话要告诉我。”

“你妻子不爱你，”盖茨比说，“她从来没有爱过你。她爱我。”

“你一定是疯了!”汤姆脱口而出道。盖茨比猛地跳了起来，激动异常。