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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Chapter 4 Part 1

Chapter 4 Part 1

On Sunday morning while church bells rang in the villages alongshore, the world and its mistress returned to Gatsby's house and twinkled hilariously on his lawn.

“He's a bootlegger,” said the young ladies, moving somewhere between his cocktails and his flowers. “One time he killed a man who had found out that he was nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil. Reach me a rose, honey, and pour me a last drop into that there crystal glass.”

Once I wrote down on the empty spaces of a timetable the names of those who came to Gatsby's house that summer. It is an old timetable now, disintegrating at its folds, and headed “This schedule in effect July 5th, 1922.” But I can still read the grey names, and they will give you a better impression than my generalities of those who accepted Gatsby's hospitality and paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever about him.

From East Egg, then, came the Chester Beckers and the Leeches, and a man named Bunsen, whom I knew at Yale, and Doctor Webster Civet, who was drowned last summer up in Maine. And the Hornbeams and the Willie Voltaires, and a whole clan named Blackbuck, who always gathered in a corner and flipped up their noses like goats at whosoever came near. And the Ismays and the Chrysties (or rather Hubert Auerbach and Mr. Chrystie's wife), and Edgar Beaver, whose hair, they say, turned cotton-white one winter afternoon for no good reason at all.

Clarence Endive was from East Egg, as I remember. He came only once, in white knickerbockers, and had a fight with a bum named Etty in the garden. From farther out on the Island came the Cheadles and the O. R. P. Schraeders, and the Stonewall Jackson Abrams of Georgia, and the Fishguards and the Ripley Snells. Snell was there three days before he went to the penitentiary, so drunk out on the gravel drive that Mrs. Ulysses Swett's automobile ran over his right hand. The Dancies came, too, and S. B. Whitebait, who was well over sixty, and Maurice A. Flink, and the Hammerheads, and Beluga the tobacco importer, and Beluga's girls.

From West Egg came the Poles and the Mulreadys and Cecil Roebuck and Cecil Schoen and Gulick the State senator and Newton Orchid, who controlled Films Par Excellence, and Eckhaust and Clyde Cohen and Don S. Schwartz (the son) and Arthur McCarty, all connected with the movies in one way or another. And the Catlips and the Bembergs and G. Earl Muldoon, brother to that Muldoon who afterward strangled his wife. Da Fontano the promoter came there, and Ed Legros and James B. (“Rot-Gut”) Ferret and the De Jongs and Ernest Lilly—they came to gamble, and when Ferret wandered into the garden it meant he was cleaned out and Associated Traction would have to fluctuate profitably next day.

A man named Klipspringer was there so often that he became known as “the boarder”—I doubt if he had any other home. Of theatrical people there were Gus Waize and Horace O'Donavan and Lester Myer and George Duckweed and Francis Bull. Also from New York were the Chromes and the Backhyssons and the Dennickers and Russel Betty and the Corrigans and the Kellehers and the Dewars and the Scullys and S. W. Belcher and the Smirkes and the young Quinns, divorced now, and Henry L. Palmetto, who killed himself by jumping in front of a subway train in Times Square.

Benny McClenahan arrived always with four girls. They were never quite the same ones in physical person, but they were so identical one with another that it inevitably seemed they had been there before. I have forgotten their names—Jaqueline, I think, or else Consuela, or Gloria or Judy or June, and their last names were either the melodious names of flowers and months or the sterner ones of the great American capitalists whose cousins, if pressed, they would confess themselves to be.

In addition to all these I can remember that Faustina O'Brien came there at least once and the Baedeker girls and young Brewer, who had his nose shot off in the war, and Mr. Albrucksburger and Miss Haag, his fiancée, and Ardita Fitz-Peters and Mr. P. Jewett, once head of the American Legion, and Miss Claudia Hip, with a man reputed to be her chauffeur, and a prince of something, whom we called Duke, and whose name, if I ever knew it, I have forgotten.

All these people came to Gatsby's house in the summer.

At nine o'clock, one morning late in July, Gatsby's gorgeous car lurched up the rocky drive to my door and gave out a burst of melody from its three-noted horn.

It was the first time he had called on me, though I had gone to two of his parties, mounted in his hydroplane, and, at his urgent invitation, made frequent use of his beach.

“Good morning, old sport. You're having lunch with me today and I thought we'd ride up together.”

He was balancing himself on the dashboard of his car with that resourcefulness of movement that is so peculiarly American—that comes, I suppose, with the absence of lifting work in youth and, even more, with the formless grace of our nervous, sporadic games. This quality was continually breaking through his punctilious manner in the shape of restlessness. He was never quite still; there was always a tapping foot somewhere or the impatient opening and closing of a hand.

He saw me looking with admiration at his car.

“It's pretty, isn't it, old sport?” He jumped off to give me a better view. “Haven't you ever seen it before?”

I'd seen it. Everybody had seen it. It was a rich cream colour, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hatboxes and supper-boxes and toolboxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns. Sitting down behind many layers of glass in a sort of green leather conservatory, we started to town.

I had talked with him perhaps half a dozen times in the past month and found, to my disappointment, that he had little to say. So my first impression, that he was a person of some undefined consequence, had gradually faded and he had become simply the proprietor of an elaborate roadhouse next door.

And then came that disconcerting ride. We hadn't reached West Egg village before Gatsby began leaving his elegant sentences unfinished and slapping himself indecisively on the knee of his caramel-coloured suit.

“Look here, old sport,” he broke out surprisingly, “what's your opinion of me, anyhow?”

A little overwhelmed, I began the generalized evasions which that question deserves.

“Well, I'm going to tell you something about my life,” he interrupted. “I don't want you to get a wrong idea of me from all these stories you hear.”

So he was aware of the bizarre accusations that flavoured conversation in his halls.

“I'll tell you God's truth.” His right hand suddenly ordered divine retribution to stand by. “I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West—all dead now. I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition.”

He looked at me sideways—and I knew why Jordan Baker had believed he was lying. He hurried the phrase “educated at Oxford,” or swallowed it, or choked on it, as though it had bothered him before. And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered if there wasn't something a little sinister about him, after all.

“What part of the Middle West?” I inquired casually.

“San Francisco.”

“I see.”

“My family all died and I came into a good deal of money.”

His voice was solemn, as if the memory of that sudden extinction of a clan still haunted him. For a moment I suspected that he was pulling my leg, but a glance at him convinced me otherwise.

“After that I lived like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe—Paris, Venice, Rome—collecting jewels, chiefly rubies, hunting big game, painting a little, things for myself only, and trying to forget something very sad that had happened to me long ago.”

With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter. The very phrases were worn so threadbare that they evoked no image except that of a turbaned “character” leaking sawdust at every pore as he pursued a tiger through the Bois de Boulogne.

“Then came the war, old sport. It was a great relief, and I tried very hard to die, but I seemed to bear an enchanted life. I accepted a commission as first lieutenant when it began. In the Argonne Forest I took the remains of my machine-gun battalion so far forward that there was a half mile gap on either side of us where the infantry couldn't advance. We stayed there two days and two nights, a hundred and thirty men with sixteen Lewis guns, and when the infantry came up at last they found the insignia of three German divisions among the piles of dead. I was promoted to be a major, and every Allied government gave me a decoration—even Montenegro, little Montenegro down on the Adriatic Sea!”

Little Montenegro! He lifted up the words and nodded at them—with his smile. The smile comprehended Montenegro's troubled history and sympathized with the brave struggles of the Montenegrin people. It appreciated fully the chain of national circumstances which had elicited this tribute from Montenegro's warm little heart. My incredulity was submerged in fascination now; it was like skimming hastily through a dozen magazines.

He reached in his pocket, and a piece of metal, slung on a ribbon, fell into my palm.

“That's the one from Montenegro.”

To my astonishment, the thing had an authentic look. “Orderi di Danilo,” ran the circular legend, “Montenegro, Nicolas Rex.”

“Turn it.”

“Major Jay Gatsby,” I read, “For Valour Extraordinary.”

“Here's another thing I always carry. A souvenir of Oxford days. It was taken in Trinity Quad—the man on my left is now the Earl of Doncaster.”

It was a photograph of half a dozen young men in blazers loafing in an archway through which were visible a host of spires. There was Gatsby, looking a little, not much, younger—with a cricket bat in his hand.

Then it was all true. I saw the skins of tigers flaming in his palace on the Grand Canal; I saw him opening a chest of rubies to ease, with their crimson-lighted depths, the gnawings of his broken heart.

“I'm going to make a big request of you today,” he said, pocketing his souvenirs with satisfaction, “so I thought you ought to know something about me. I didn't want you to think I was just some nobody. You see, I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me.” He hesitated. “You'll hear about it this afternoon.”

“At lunch?”

“No, this afternoon. I happened to find out that you're taking Miss Baker to tea.”

“Do you mean you're in love with Miss Baker?”

“No, old sport, I'm not. But Miss Baker has kindly consented to speak to you about this matter.”

I hadn't the faintest idea what “this matter” was, but I was more annoyed than interested. I hadn't asked Jordan to tea in order to discuss Mr. Jay Gatsby. I was sure the request would be something utterly fantastic, and for a moment I was sorry I'd ever set foot upon his overpopulated lawn.

He wouldn't say another word. His correctness grew on him as we neared the city. We passed Port Roosevelt, where there was a glimpse of red-belted oceangoing ships, and sped along a cobbled slum lined with the dark, undeserted saloons of the faded-gilt nineteen-hundreds. Then the valley of ashes opened out on both sides of us, and I had a glimpse of Mrs. Wilson straining at the garage pump with panting vitality as we went by.

Chapter 4 Part 1 Kapitel 4 Teil 1 Capítulo 4 Parte 1 Capitolo 4 Parte 1 第4章 前編 Rozdział 4 Część 1 Capítulo 4 Parte 1 Глава 4 Часть 1 Bölüm 4 Kısım 1 Розділ 4, частина 1 第 4 章第 1 部分 第 4 章 第 1 部分

On Sunday morning while church bells rang in the villages alongshore, the world and its mistress returned to Gatsby's house and twinkled hilariously on his lawn. La domenica mattina, mentre le campane delle chiese suonavano nei villaggi lungo la costa, il mondo e la sua amante tornarono a casa di Gatsby e scintillarono esilaranti sul suo prato.

“He's a bootlegger,” said the young ladies, moving somewhere between his cocktails and his flowers. "Er ist ein Schmuggler", sagten die jungen Damen, die sich zwischen seinen Cocktails und seinen Blumen bewegten. "È un contrabbandiere", dissero le signorine, muovendosi tra i suoi cocktail e i suoi fiori. “他是个私酒贩子,”年轻女士们说,在他的鸡尾酒和鲜花之间移动。 “One time he killed a man who had found out that he was nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil. Reach me a rose, honey, and pour me a last drop into that there crystal glass.” Raggiungimi una rosa, tesoro, e versami un'ultima goccia in quel bicchiere di cristallo".

Once I wrote down on the empty spaces of a timetable the names of those who came to Gatsby's house that summer. Una volta scrissi sugli spazi vuoti di un orario i nomi di coloro che erano venuti a casa di Gatsby quell'estate. It is an old timetable now, disintegrating at its folds, and headed “This schedule in effect July 5th, 1922.” But I can still read the grey names, and they will give you a better impression than my generalities of those who accepted Gatsby's hospitality and paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever about him. Es ist ein alter Fahrplan, der an seinen Falten zerbröckelt und mit "Dieser Fahrplan gilt ab 5. Juli 1922" überschrieben ist. Aber ich kann die grauen Namen noch lesen, und sie werden Ihnen einen besseren Eindruck vermitteln als meine Allgemeinplätze über diejenigen, die Gatsbys Gastfreundschaft annahmen und ihm den subtilen Tribut zollten, nichts über ihn zu wissen. È un vecchio orario ormai, che si sta disintegrando nelle sue pieghe, con la dicitura "Questo orario in vigore il 5 luglio 1922". Ma posso ancora leggere i nomi grigi, che vi daranno un'impressione migliore delle mie generalità di coloro che hanno accettato l'ospitalità di Gatsby e gli hanno pagato il sottile tributo di non sapere nulla di lui.

From East Egg, then, came the Chester Beckers and the Leeches, and a man named Bunsen, whom I knew at Yale, and Doctor Webster Civet, who was drowned last summer up in Maine. Da East Egg, poi, arrivarono i Chester Becker e i Leeches, e un uomo di nome Bunsen, che conobbi a Yale, e il dottor Webster Civet, annegato l'estate scorsa nel Maine. And the Hornbeams and the Willie Voltaires, and a whole clan named Blackbuck, who always gathered in a corner and flipped up their noses like goats at whosoever came near. E gli Hornbeam e i Willie Voltaire, e un intero clan chiamato Blackbuck, che si riuniva sempre in un angolo e storceva il naso come una capra a chiunque si avvicinasse. And the Ismays and the Chrysties (or rather Hubert Auerbach and Mr. Chrystie's wife), and Edgar Beaver, whose hair, they say, turned cotton-white one winter afternoon for no good reason at all. Und die Ismays und die Chrysties (oder besser gesagt Hubert Auerbach und Mr. Chrysties Frau), und Edgar Beaver, dessen Haar, so heißt es, an einem Winternachmittag ohne jeden Grund watteweiß wurde. E gli Ismay e i Chrysties (o meglio Hubert Auerbach e la moglie del signor Chrystie), e Edgar Beaver, i cui capelli, si dice, un pomeriggio d'inverno sono diventati bianchi come il cotone senza alcuna ragione.

Clarence Endive was from East Egg, as I remember. He came only once, in white knickerbockers, and had a fight with a bum named Etty in the garden. È venuto solo una volta, in calzettoni bianchi, e ha litigato con un barbone di nome Etty in giardino. From farther out on the Island came the Cheadles and the O. R. P. Schraeders, and the Stonewall Jackson Abrams of Georgia, and the Fishguards and the Ripley Snells. Von weiter draußen auf der Insel kamen die Cheadles und die O. R. P. Schraeders, und die Stonewall Jackson Abrams aus Georgia, und die Fishguards und die Ripley Snells. Da altre parti dell'isola arrivarono i Cheadles e gli O. R. P. Schraeders, e gli Abrams Stonewall Jackson della Georgia, e i Fishguard e i Ripley Snells. Snell was there three days before he went to the penitentiary, so drunk out on the gravel drive that Mrs. Ulysses Swett's automobile ran over his right hand. Snell era lì tre giorni prima di finire in penitenziario, talmente ubriaco sul vialetto di ghiaia che l'automobile della signora Ulysses Swett lo investì alla mano destra. The Dancies came, too, and S. B. Whitebait, who was well over sixty, and Maurice A. Flink, and the Hammerheads, and Beluga the tobacco importer, and Beluga's girls.

From West Egg came the Poles and the Mulreadys and Cecil Roebuck and Cecil Schoen and Gulick the State senator and Newton Orchid, who controlled Films Par Excellence, and Eckhaust and Clyde Cohen and Don S. Schwartz (the son) and Arthur McCarty, all connected with the movies in one way or another. And the Catlips and the Bembergs and G. Earl Muldoon, brother to that Muldoon who afterward strangled his wife. E i Catlip e i Bemberg e G. Earl Muldoon, fratello di quel Muldoon che in seguito strangolò la moglie. Da Fontano the promoter came there, and Ed Legros and James B. Da Fontano, der Promoter, kam dorthin, und Ed Legros und James B. Sono venuti Da Fontano, il promotore, Ed Legros e James B. 发起人 Da Fontano 来了,Ed Legros 和 James B. (“Rot-Gut”) Ferret and the De Jongs and Ernest Lilly—they came to gamble, and when Ferret wandered into the garden it meant he was cleaned out and Associated Traction would have to fluctuate profitably next day. ("Rot-Gut") Ferret und die De Jongs und Ernest Lilly - sie kamen, um zu spielen, und wenn Ferret in den Garten ging, bedeutete das, dass er ausgenommen war und Associated Traction am nächsten Tag gewinnbringend schwanken musste. ("Rot-Gut") Ferret, i De Jong ed Ernest Lilly: erano venuti per giocare d'azzardo, e quando Ferret si aggirava nel giardino significava che era stato ripulito e che l'Associated Traction avrebbe dovuto fluttuare con profitto il giorno successivo.

A man named Klipspringer was there so often that he became known as “the boarder”—I doubt if he had any other home. Un uomo di nome Klipspringer era lì così spesso che divenne noto come "il pensionante" - dubito che avesse un'altra casa. Of theatrical people there were Gus Waize and Horace O'Donavan and Lester Myer and George Duckweed and Francis Bull. Unter den Theatermachern waren Gus Waize und Horace O'Donavan, Lester Myer, George Duckweed und Francis Bull. Tra i teatranti c'erano Gus Waize e Horace O'Donavan e Lester Myer e George Duckweed e Francis Bull. Also from New York were the Chromes and the Backhyssons and the Dennickers and Russel Betty and the Corrigans and the Kellehers and the Dewars and the Scullys and S. W. Belcher and the Smirkes and the young Quinns, divorced now, and Henry L. Palmetto, who killed himself by jumping in front of a subway train in Times Square. Aus New York kamen auch die Chromes und die Backhyssons und die Dennickers und Russel Betty und die Corrigans und die Kellehers und die Dewars und die Scullys und S. W. Belcher und die Smirkes und die jungen Quinns, die jetzt geschieden sind, und Henry L. Palmetto, der sich durch einen Sprung vor eine U-Bahn am Times Square umbrachte.

Benny McClenahan arrived always with four girls. They were never quite the same ones in physical person, but they were so identical one with another that it inevitably seemed they had been there before. Non erano mai del tutto uguali di persona, ma erano così identici l'uno all'altro che sembrava inevitabilmente che fossero già stati lì. I have forgotten their names—Jaqueline, I think, or else Consuela, or Gloria or Judy or June, and their last names were either the melodious names of flowers and months or the sterner ones of the great American capitalists whose cousins, if pressed, they would confess themselves to be. Ho dimenticato i loro nomi: Jaqueline, credo, o Consuela, o Gloria, o Judy, o June, e i loro cognomi erano o i nomi melodiosi dei fiori e dei mesi o quelli più severi dei grandi capitalisti americani, di cui si sarebbero confessati cugini, se fossero stati sollecitati.

In addition to all these I can remember that Faustina O'Brien came there at least once and the Baedeker girls and young Brewer, who had his nose shot off in the war, and Mr. Albrucksburger and Miss Haag, his fiancée, and Ardita Fitz-Peters and Mr. P. Jewett, once head of the American Legion, and Miss Claudia Hip, with a man reputed to be her chauffeur, and a prince of something, whom we called Duke, and whose name, if I ever knew it, I have forgotten. 除了所有这些,我还记得 Faustina O'Brien 至少来过一次,还有 Baedeker 的女孩们和年轻的 Brewer,他的鼻子在战争中被打掉了,还有 Albrucksburger 先生和 Haag 小姐,他的未婚妻,还有 Ardita Fitz - Peters 和 P. Jewett 先生,曾经是美国军团的负责人,还有 Claudia Hip 小姐,还有一个被认为是她的司机的男人,还有一个王子,我们称之为公爵,如果我知道他的名字的话, 我已经忘了。

All these people came to Gatsby's house in the summer. All diese Leute kamen im Sommer in Gatsbys Haus.

At nine o'clock, one morning late in July, Gatsby's gorgeous car lurched up the rocky drive to my door and gave out a burst of melody from its three-noted horn. Alle nove, in una mattina di fine luglio, la splendida auto di Gatsby si avvicinò al viale roccioso che portava alla mia porta ed emise un'esplosione di melodia dal suo clacson a tre note. 七月晚些时候的一个早晨,九点钟,盖茨比那辆华丽的汽车在崎岖的车道上摇摇晃晃地开到我家门口,三音喇叭发出一阵悦耳的旋律。

It was the first time he had called on me, though I had gone to two of his parties, mounted in his hydroplane, and, at his urgent invitation, made frequent use of his beach. Era la prima volta che mi chiamava, anche se ero andato a due delle sue feste, ero salito sul suo idrovolante e, su suo pressante invito, avevo usato spesso la sua spiaggia.

“Good morning, old sport. You're having lunch with me today and I thought we'd ride up together.” Du isst heute mit mir zu Mittag und ich dachte, wir fahren zusammen hinauf." Oggi pranzi con me e ho pensato di salire insieme".

He was balancing himself on the dashboard of his car with that resourcefulness of movement that is so peculiarly American—that comes, I suppose, with the absence of lifting work in youth and, even more, with the formless grace of our nervous, sporadic games. Er balancierte auf dem Armaturenbrett seines Wagens mit jenem Einfallsreichtum der Bewegung, der so typisch amerikanisch ist und der wohl daher rührt, dass es in der Jugend keine Hebearbeiten gibt, und noch mehr von der formlosen Anmut unserer nervösen, sporadischen Spiele. Si teneva in equilibrio sul cruscotto della sua auto con quell'intraprendenza di movimento che è così peculiarmente americana - che deriva, suppongo, dall'assenza di lavori di sollevamento in gioventù e, ancor più, dalla grazia informe dei nostri giochi nervosi e sporadici. 他在汽车的仪表盘上保持平衡,动作灵活自如,这是美国人特有的动作——我想,这是由于他年轻时没有举重工作,更重要的是,我们紧张、零星的游戏带来的无形优雅. This quality was continually breaking through his punctilious manner in the shape of restlessness. Questa qualità irrompeva continuamente nei suoi modi puntigliosi sotto forma di inquietudine. 这种品质不断地以不安的形式突破着他一丝不苟的举止。 He was never quite still; there was always a tapping foot somewhere or the impatient opening and closing of a hand. Non era mai del tutto immobile; c'era sempre un piede che batteva da qualche parte o l'impaziente aprirsi e chiudersi di una mano.

He saw me looking with admiration at his car.

“It's pretty, isn't it, old sport?” He jumped off to give me a better view. “Haven't you ever seen it before?”

I'd seen it. L'avevo visto. Everybody had seen it. It was a rich cream colour, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hatboxes and supper-boxes and toolboxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns. Sie war cremefarben, nickelglänzend, hier und da in ihrer monströsen Länge mit triumphalen Hutschachteln, Essens- und Werkzeugkisten überladen und mit einem Labyrinth von Windschutzscheiben versehen, in denen sich ein Dutzend Sonnen spiegelten. Era di un ricco color crema, brillante di nichel, gonfiata qua e là nella sua mostruosa lunghezza da trionfali cappelliere, cassette per la cena e cassette per gli attrezzi, e terrazzata da un labirinto di parabrezza che riflettevano una dozzina di soli. Sitting down behind many layers of glass in a sort of green leather conservatory, we started to town. Seduti dietro molti strati di vetro in una sorta di serra in pelle verde, abbiamo iniziato a parlare della città. 我们坐在类似绿色皮革温室的多层玻璃后面,开始进城。

I had talked with him perhaps half a dozen times in the past month and found, to my disappointment, that he had little to say. So my first impression, that he was a person of some undefined consequence, had gradually faded and he had become simply the proprietor of an elaborate roadhouse next door. Mein erster Eindruck, dass es sich bei ihm um eine Person von unbestimmter Bedeutung handelte, war also allmählich verblasst, und er war einfach nur der Besitzer einer aufwendigen Raststätte nebenan geworden. Così la mia prima impressione, che fosse una persona di qualche importanza indefinita, era gradualmente svanita e lui era diventato semplicemente il proprietario di un'elaborata roadhouse della porta accanto. 所以我的第一印象,即他是一个无足轻重的人,逐渐消失了,他只是隔壁一家精致的路边旅馆的老板。

And then came that disconcerting ride. E poi arrivò quella sconcertante corsa. 然后是令人不安的旅程。 We hadn't reached West Egg village before Gatsby began leaving his elegant sentences unfinished and slapping himself indecisively on the knee of his caramel-coloured suit. Wir hatten das Dorf West Egg noch nicht erreicht, als Gatsby begann, seine eleganten Sätze unvollendet zu lassen und sich unentschlossen auf das Knie seines karamellfarbenen Anzugs zu klopfen. Non avevamo ancora raggiunto il villaggio di West Egg prima che Gatsby cominciasse a lasciare incompiute le sue eleganti frasi e a schiaffeggiarsi indeciso sul ginocchio del suo abito color caramello. 我们还没到西蛋村,盖茨比就开始把优雅的句子说完,优柔寡断地拍打他焦糖色西装的膝盖。

“Look here, old sport,” he broke out surprisingly, “what's your opinion of me, anyhow?” "Senti un po', vecchio mio", proruppe sorprendentemente, "qual è l'opinione che hai di me, in ogni caso?".

A little overwhelmed, I began the generalized evasions which that question deserves. Un po' sopraffatto, ho iniziato le evasioni generalizzate che questa domanda merita. 有点不知所措,我开始笼统地回避这个问题。

“Well, I'm going to tell you something about my life,” he interrupted. "Beh, ti racconterò qualcosa della mia vita", interruppe. “I don't want you to get a wrong idea of me from all these stories you hear.”

So he was aware of the bizarre accusations that flavoured conversation in his halls. Era quindi a conoscenza delle bizzarre accuse che infarcivano le conversazioni nei suoi saloni.

“I'll tell you God's truth.” His right hand suddenly ordered divine retribution to stand by. "Ti dirò la verità di Dio". La sua mano destra ordinò improvvisamente al castigo divino di restare in attesa. “我会告诉你上帝的真相。”他的右手忽然吩咐神罚待命。 “I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West—all dead now. "Ich bin der Sohn einiger wohlhabender Leute aus dem Mittleren Westen, die jetzt alle tot sind. I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition.”

He looked at me sideways—and I knew why Jordan Baker had believed he was lying. Mi guardò di traverso e capii perché Jordan Baker aveva creduto che stesse mentendo. He hurried the phrase “educated at Oxford,” or swallowed it, or choked on it, as though it had bothered him before. Affrettò la frase "educato a Oxford", o la ingoiò, o la soffocò, come se l'avesse già infastidito in precedenza. 他匆忙说出“在牛津受过教育”这句话,或者吞下它,或者被它噎住,好像它以前困扰过他一样。 And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered if there wasn't something a little sinister about him, after all. Und mit diesem Zweifel fiel seine ganze Aussage in sich zusammen, und ich fragte mich, ob nicht doch etwas Unheimliches an ihm war. Con questo dubbio, tutta la sua dichiarazione è andata in frantumi e mi sono chiesta se non ci fosse qualcosa di un po' sinistro in lui, dopo tutto. 带着这种怀疑,他的整个陈述都支离破碎了,我怀疑他到底是不是有点阴险。

“What part of the Middle West?” I inquired casually.

“San Francisco.” "San Francisco".

“I see.”

“My family all died and I came into a good deal of money.” "I miei familiari sono tutti morti e io ho guadagnato un bel po' di soldi".

His voice was solemn, as if the memory of that sudden extinction of a clan still haunted him. La sua voce era solenne, come se il ricordo di quell'improvvisa estinzione di un clan lo perseguitasse ancora. 他的声音很凝重,仿佛还记得那场突然灭族的事情。 For a moment I suspected that he was pulling my leg, but a glance at him convinced me otherwise. Per un attimo sospettai che mi stesse prendendo in giro, ma un'occhiata mi convinse del contrario. 有那么一刻,我怀疑他是在耍我,但看了他一眼,我就相信了。

“After that I lived like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe—Paris, Venice, Rome—collecting jewels, chiefly rubies, hunting big game, painting a little, things for myself only, and trying to forget something very sad that had happened to me long ago.” "Danach lebte ich wie ein junger Rajah in allen Hauptstädten Europas - Paris, Venedig, Rom -, sammelte Juwelen, vor allem Rubine, jagte Großwild, malte ein wenig, nur für mich selbst, und versuchte, etwas sehr Trauriges zu vergessen, das mir vor langer Zeit widerfahren war." "Da allora ho vissuto come un giovane rajah in tutte le capitali d'Europa - Parigi, Venezia, Roma - collezionando gioielli, soprattutto rubini, cacciando grossa selvaggina, dipingendo un po', cose solo per me stesso, e cercando di dimenticare qualcosa di molto triste che mi era accaduto molto tempo prima".

With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter. Con uno sforzo riuscii a trattenere la mia risata incredula. The very phrases were worn so threadbare that they evoked no image except that of a turbaned “character” leaking sawdust at every pore as he pursued a tiger through the Bois de Boulogne. Le stesse frasi erano talmente logore da non evocare alcuna immagine se non quella di un "personaggio" col turbante che perde segatura da ogni poro mentre insegue una tigre attraverso il Bois de Boulogne. 这些短语已经破烂不堪,除了一个缠着头巾的“角色”在布洛涅森林追逐一只老虎时,每个毛孔都在漏木屑之外,没有任何形象。

“Then came the war, old sport. "Dann kam der Krieg, alter Knabe. It was a great relief, and I tried very hard to die, but I seemed to bear an enchanted life. Fu un grande sollievo e cercai in tutti i modi di morire, ma mi sembrava di sopportare una vita incantata. 这是一种莫大的解脱,我很努力地想死,但我似乎承受了一种着魔的生活。 I accepted a commission as first lieutenant when it began. Ho accettato un incarico come primo tenente quando è iniziato. 当它开始时,我接受了作为中尉的委托。 In the Argonne Forest I took the remains of my machine-gun battalion so far forward that there was a half mile gap on either side of us where the infantry couldn't advance. Nella foresta delle Argonne portai i resti del mio battaglione di mitraglieri così avanti che c'era uno spazio di mezzo miglio su entrambi i lati dove la fanteria non poteva avanzare. 在阿贡森林里,我带着机枪营的残部向前推进到我们两侧各有半英里的缺口,步兵无法前进。 We stayed there two days and two nights, a hundred and thirty men with sixteen Lewis guns, and when the infantry came up at last they found the insignia of three German divisions among the piles of dead. Siamo rimasti lì due giorni e due notti, centotrenta uomini con sedici cannoni Lewis, e quando la fanteria è arrivata alla fine ha trovato le insegne di tre divisioni tedesche tra i mucchi di morti. 我们在那里呆了两天两夜,一百三十个人带着十六门路易斯大炮,当步兵终于赶来时,他们在成堆的死尸中发现了三个德国师的徽章。 I was promoted to be a major, and every Allied government gave me a decoration—even Montenegro, little Montenegro down on the Adriatic Sea!” Ich wurde zum Major befördert, und jede alliierte Regierung verlieh mir einen Orden - sogar Montenegro, das kleine Montenegro unten an der Adria!" Sono stato promosso maggiore e ogni governo alleato mi ha conferito una decorazione, persino il Montenegro, il piccolo Montenegro giù sul mare Adriatico!". 我被提升为少校,每个盟国政府都给我勋章——甚至黑山,亚得里亚海的小黑山!”

Little Montenegro! He lifted up the words and nodded at them—with his smile. Sollevò le parole e annuì con il suo sorriso. The smile comprehended Montenegro's troubled history and sympathized with the brave struggles of the Montenegrin people. Il sorriso comprendeva la storia travagliata del Montenegro e simpatizzava con le coraggiose lotte del popolo montenegrino. It appreciated fully the chain of national circumstances which had elicited this tribute from Montenegro's warm little heart. Sie würdigte die Verkettung nationaler Umstände, die diesen Tribut aus dem warmen Herzen Montenegros hervorgerufen hatten. Ha apprezzato pienamente la catena di circostanze nazionali che hanno suscitato questo tributo dal piccolo e caldo cuore del Montenegro. My incredulity was submerged in fascination now; it was like skimming hastily through a dozen magazines. La mia incredulità era ormai sommersa dal fascino; era come sfogliare frettolosamente una dozzina di riviste. 我的怀疑现在被迷住了。这就像匆匆浏览了十几本杂志。

He reached in his pocket, and a piece of metal, slung on a ribbon, fell into my palm. Si frugò in tasca e un pezzo di metallo, appeso a un nastro, cadde sul mio palmo.

“That's the one from Montenegro.” "Das ist der aus Montenegro." "È quello del Montenegro".

To my astonishment, the thing had an authentic look. 令我惊讶的是,这东西看起来很真实。 “Orderi di Danilo,” ran the circular legend, “Montenegro, Nicolas Rex.” "Orderi di Danilo", recitava la legenda circolare, "Montenegro, Nicolas Rex".

“Turn it.”

“Major Jay Gatsby,” I read, “For Valour Extraordinary.”

“Here's another thing I always carry. "Ecco un'altra cosa che porto sempre con me. A souvenir of Oxford days. It was taken in Trinity Quad—the man on my left is now the Earl of Doncaster.” Es wurde im Trinity Quad aufgenommen - der Mann zu meiner Linken ist jetzt der Earl of Doncaster". È stata scattata nel Trinity Quad: l'uomo alla mia sinistra è ora il conte di Doncaster". 它是在 Trinity Quad 拍摄的——我左边的那个人现在是唐卡斯特伯爵。”

It was a photograph of half a dozen young men in blazers loafing in an archway through which were visible a host of spires. Es war ein Foto von einem halben Dutzend junger Männer in Blazern, die in einem Torbogen herumlungerten, durch den man eine Vielzahl von Türmen sehen konnte. Si trattava di una fotografia di una mezza dozzina di giovani in giacca e cravatta che oziavano in un arco attraverso il quale erano visibili una miriade di guglie. 这是一张五六个穿着西装外套的年轻人在拱门里闲逛的照片,透过拱门可以看到许多尖顶。 There was Gatsby, looking a little, not much, younger—with a cricket bat in his hand. 盖茨比在场,他看上去年轻了一点,也没有多少——手里拿着一根板球拍。

Then it was all true. I saw the skins of tigers flaming in his palace on the Grand Canal; I saw him opening a chest of rubies to ease, with their crimson-lighted depths, the gnawings of his broken heart. Ich sah, wie die Felle von Tigern in seinem Palast am Canal Grande in Flammen aufgingen; ich sah, wie er eine Truhe mit Rubinen öffnete, um mit deren karminroten Tiefen die Nöte seines gebrochenen Herzens zu lindern. Ho visto le pelli delle tigri fiammeggiare nel suo palazzo sul Canal Grande; l'ho visto aprire uno scrigno di rubini per alleviare, con le loro profondità illuminate di cremisi, i morsi del suo cuore spezzato. 我在他的大运河宫殿里看到了燃烧的虎皮;我看到他打开一个红宝石箱子,用它们深红色的光芒来缓解他破碎的心的折磨。

“I'm going to make a big request of you today,” he said, pocketing his souvenirs with satisfaction, “so I thought you ought to know something about me. "Oggi le farò una richiesta importante", disse, intascando con soddisfazione i suoi souvenir, "quindi ho pensato che dovesse sapere qualcosa di me. I didn't want you to think I was just some nobody. Non volevo che pensasse che fossi una nullità. You see, I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me.” He hesitated. Wissen Sie, ich befinde mich meistens unter Fremden, weil ich mich hier und da herumtreibe und versuche, die traurigen Dinge zu vergessen, die mir widerfahren sind." Er zögerte. “You'll hear about it this afternoon.” "Ne sentirete parlare oggi pomeriggio".

“At lunch?”

“No, this afternoon. I happened to find out that you're taking Miss Baker to tea.” Ho scoperto per caso che porta la signorina Baker a prendere il tè".

“Do you mean you're in love with Miss Baker?” "Sie meinen, Sie sind in Miss Baker verliebt?"

“No, old sport, I'm not. But Miss Baker has kindly consented to speak to you about this matter.” Ma la signorina Baker ha gentilmente acconsentito a parlarle di questo argomento".

I hadn't the faintest idea what “this matter” was, but I was more annoyed than interested. Ich hatte nicht die geringste Ahnung, was "diese Angelegenheit" war, aber ich war mehr verärgert als interessiert. Non avevo la più pallida idea di cosa fosse "questa faccenda", ma ero più infastidito che interessato. I hadn't asked Jordan to tea in order to discuss Mr. Jay Gatsby. I was sure the request would be something utterly fantastic, and for a moment I was sorry I'd ever set foot upon his overpopulated lawn. Ich war mir sicher, dass die Anfrage etwas ganz und gar Fantastisches sein würde, und einen Moment lang bedauerte ich, jemals einen Fuß auf seinen überbevölkerten Rasen gesetzt zu haben. Ero sicuro che la richiesta sarebbe stata qualcosa di assolutamente fantastico e per un attimo mi sono pentito di aver messo piede nel suo prato sovrappopolato.

He wouldn't say another word. His correctness grew on him as we neared the city. La sua correttezza è cresciuta man mano che ci avvicinavamo alla città. 当我们接近这座城市时,他的正确性越来越强。 We passed Port Roosevelt, where there was a glimpse of red-belted oceangoing ships, and sped along a cobbled slum lined with the dark, undeserted saloons of the faded-gilt nineteen-hundreds. Wir fuhren am Port Roosevelt vorbei, wo wir einen Blick auf die mit roten Gürteln versehenen Hochseeschiffe erhaschen konnten, und fuhren durch ein mit Kopfsteinpflaster ausgelegtes Viertel, das von dunklen, nicht mehr existierenden Salons aus den verblassten, vergoldeten Neunzehnhundertjahren gesäumt war. Superammo Port Roosevelt, dove si intravedevano navi d'alto mare con le cinture rosse, e sfrecciammo lungo una baraccopoli acciottolata, fiancheggiata da oscuri e deserti saloon del diciannovesimo secolo dall'oro sbiadito. Then the valley of ashes opened out on both sides of us, and I had a glimpse of Mrs. Wilson straining at the garage pump with panting vitality as we went by. Poi la valle di cenere si aprì su entrambi i lati e, al nostro passaggio, intravidi la signora Wilson che si sforzava con ansimante vitalità alla pompa del garage. 然后灰烬谷在我们两侧打开,我瞥见威尔逊夫人在我们经过时气喘吁吁地用力拉着车库的水泵。