11

Chapter 2

The interior was unprosperous and bare; the only car visible was the dust-covered wreck(破坏) of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner. 车行里毫无兴旺的气象，空空如也。只看见一辆汽车，一部盖满灰尘、 破旧不堪的福特车，蹲在阴暗的角落里。It had occurred to me that this shadow of a garage must be a blind and that sumptuous(华贵的) and romantic apartments were concealed overhead when the proprietor himself appeared in the door of an office, wiping his hands on a piece of waste. 我忽然想到，这间有名无实的车行莫不是个幌子，而楼上却掩藏着豪华温馨的房间，这时老板出现在一间办公室的门口，不停地在一块抹布上擦着手。

He was a blonde, spiritless man, anaemic, and faintly handsome.When he saw us a damp gleam of hope sprang into his light blue eyes. 他是个头发金黄、没精打采的人，脸上没有血色，样子还不难看。他一看见我们，那对浅蓝的眼睛就流露出一 线暗淡的希望。

‘Hello, Wilson, old man,’said Tom, slapping him jovially on the shoulder. ‘How’s business?’ “ 哈罗，威尔逊，你这家伙，”汤姆说，一面嘻嘻哈哈地拍拍他的肩膀， “生意怎么样？”

‘I can’t complain,’ answered Wilson unconvincingly. ‘When are you going to sell me that car?’ “ 还可以，”威尔逊缺乏说服力地回答，“你什么时候才把那部车子卖给我？”

‘Next week; I’ve got my man working on it now.’ “下星期。我现在已经让我的司机在整修它了。”

‘Works pretty slow, don’t he?’ “ 他干得很慢，是不是？”

‘No, he doesn’t,’ said Tom coldly. ‘And if you feel that way about it, maybe I’d better sell it somewhere else after all.’ “ 不，他干得不慢，”汤姆冷冷地说，“如果你有这样的看法，也许我还 是把它拿到别处去卖为好。”

‘I don’t mean that,’ explained Wilson quickly. ‘I just meant——‘“ 我不是这个意思，”威尔逊连忙解释，“我只是说……”

His voice faded off and Tom glanced impatiently around the garage. 他的声音逐渐消失，同时汤姆不耐烦地向车行四面张望。Then I heard footsteps on a stairs and in a moment the thickish figure of a woman blocked out the light from the office door. 接着我听到楼梯上有脚步的声音，过了一会儿一个女人粗粗的身材挡住了办公室门口的光线。

She was in the middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh(肉体) sensuously(感觉上) as some women can. 她年纪三十五六，身子胖胖的，可是如同有些女人一样，胖得很美。

Her face, above a spotted(有点花的)dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet(方面) or gleam(闪烁) of beauty but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smouldering. 她穿了一件有油渍的深蓝双绉连衣裙，她的脸庞没有一丝一毫的美，但是她有一种显而易见的活力，仿佛她浑身的神经都在不停地燃烧。

She smiled slowly and walking through her husband as if he were a ghost shook hands with Tom, looking him flush in the eye. 她慢慢地一笑，然后大摇大摆地从她丈夫身边穿过，仿佛他只是个幽灵，走过来跟汤姆握手，两眼直盯着他。Then she wet her lips and without turning around spoke to her husband in a soft, coarse voice: 接着她用舌头润了润嘴唇，头也不回就低低地、粗声粗气地对她丈夫说：

‘Get some chairs, why don’t you, so somebody can sit down.’“ 你怎么不拿两张椅子来，让人家坐下。”

‘Oh, sure,’ agreed Wilson hurriedly and went toward the little office, mingling immediately with the cement color of the walls. “ 对，对。”威尔逊连忙答应，随即向小办公室走去，他的身影马上就跟 墙壁的水泥色打成一片了。A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity—except his wife, who moved close to Tom. 一层灰白色的尘土笼罩着他深色的衣服和浅色的头发，笼罩着前后左右的一切——除了她的妻子之外。她走到了汤姆身边。

‘I want to see you,’ said Tom intently. ‘Get on the next train.’ “ 我要见你，”汤姆热切地说道，“搭下一班火车。”
‘All right.’

‘I’ll meet you by the news-stand on the lower level.’ “ 我在车站下层的报摊旁边等你。”

She nodded and moved away from him just as George Wilson emerged with two chairs from his office door. 她点点头就从他身边走开，正赶上威尔逊从办公室里搬了两张椅子出 来。

We waited for her down the road and out of sight. It was a few days before the Fourth of July, and a grey,scrawny Italian child was setting torpedoes in a row along the railroad track. 我们在公路上没人看见的地方等她。再过几天就是七月四号(独立日)了，因此有一个灰蒙蒙的、骨瘦如柴的意大利小孩沿着铁轨在点放一排“鱼雷炮”。

‘Terrible place, isn’t it,’said Tom, exchanging a frown with Doctor Eckleburg.’ “ 多可怕的地方，是不是！”汤姆说，同时皱起眉头看着埃克尔堡大夫。

‘Awful.’ “ 糟透了。”

‘It does her good to get away.’ “ 换换环境对她有好处。”

 ‘Doesn’t her husband object?’ “ 她丈夫没意见吗？”

‘Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive.’ “ 威尔逊？他以为她是到纽约去看她妹妹。他蠢得要命，连自己活着都不知道。”

So Tom Buchanan and his girl and I went up together to New York—or not quite together, for Mrs. Wilson sat discreetly(谨慎) in another car. Tom deferred(迁延，服从) that much to the sensibilities of those East Eggers who might be on the train. 就这样，汤姆·布坎农和他的情人还有我，三人一同上纽约去——或许不能说一同去，因为威尔逊太太很识相，她坐在另一节车厢里。汤姆做了这一点让步，以免引起可能在这趟车上的那些东卵人的反感。

She had changed her dress to a brown figured muslin which stretched tight over her rather wide hips as Tom helped her to the platform in New York. 她已经换上了一件棕色花布连衣裙，到了纽约汤姆扶她下车时那裙子紧紧地绷在她那肥阔的臀部上。At the news-stand she bought a copy of ‘Town Tattle’ and a moving-picture magazine and, in the station drug store, some cold cream and a small flask of perfume(香水). 她在报摊上买了一份《纽约闲话》和一本电影杂志，又在车站药店里买了一瓶冷霜和一小瓶香水。

Upstairs, in the solemn echoing drive she let four taxi cabs drive away before she selected a new one, lavender-colored with grey upholstery, and in this we slid out from the mass of the station into the glowing sunshine. 在楼上，在那阴沉沉的、有回音的车道里，她放过了四辆出租汽车，然后才选中了一辆新车，车身是淡紫色的，里面坐垫是灰色的。我们坐着这辆车子驶出庞大的车站， 开进灿烂的阳光里。