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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Chapter 4 Part 2

Chapter 4 Part 2

With fenders spread like wings we scattered light through half Astoria—only half, for as we twisted among the pillars of the elevated I heard the familiar “jug-jug-spat!” of a motorcycle, and a frantic policeman rode alongside.

“All right, old sport,” called Gatsby. We slowed down. Taking a white card from his wallet, he waved it before the man's eyes.

“Right you are,” agreed the policeman, tipping his cap. “Know you next time, Mr. Gatsby. Excuse me!”

“What was that?” I inquired. “The picture of Oxford?”

“I was able to do the commissioner a favour once, and he sends me a Christmas card every year.”

Over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of nonolfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.

A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms, followed by two carriages with drawn blinds, and by more cheerful carriages for friends. The friends looked out at us with the tragic eyes and short upper lips of southeastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby's splendid car was included in their sombre holiday. As we crossed Blackwell's Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry.

“Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge,” I thought; “anything at all…”

Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder.

Roaring noon. In a well-fanned Forty-second Street cellar I met Gatsby for lunch. Blinking away the brightness of the street outside, my eyes picked him out obscurely in the anteroom, talking to another man.

“Mr. Carraway, this is my friend Mr. Wolfshiem.”

A small, flat-nosed Jew raised his large head and regarded me with two fine growths of hair which luxuriated in either nostril. After a moment I discovered his tiny eyes in the half-darkness.

“—So I took one look at him,” said Mr. Wolfshiem, shaking my hand earnestly, “and what do you think I did?”

“What?” I inquired politely.

But evidently he was not addressing me, for he dropped my hand and covered Gatsby with his expressive nose.

“I handed the money to Katspaugh and I said: ‘All right, Katspaugh, don't pay him a penny till he shuts his mouth.' He shut it then and there.”

Gatsby took an arm of each of us and moved forward into the restaurant, whereupon Mr. Wolfshiem swallowed a new sentence he was starting and lapsed into a somnambulatory abstraction.

“Highballs?” asked the head waiter.

“This is a nice restaurant here,” said Mr. Wolfshiem, looking at the presbyterian nymphs on the ceiling. “But I like across the street better!”

“Yes, highballs,” agreed Gatsby, and then to Mr. Wolfshiem: “It's too hot over there.”

“Hot and small—yes,” said Mr. Wolfshiem, “but full of memories.”

“What place is that?” I asked.

“The old Metropole.”

“The old Metropole,” brooded Mr. Wolfshiem gloomily. “Filled with faces dead and gone. Filled with friends gone now forever. I can't forget so long as I live the night they shot Rosy Rosenthal there. It was six of us at the table, and Rosy had eat and drunk a lot all evening. When it was almost morning the waiter came up to him with a funny look and says somebody wants to speak to him outside. ‘All right,' says Rosy, and begins to get up, and I pulled him down in his chair.

“ ‘Let the bastards come in here if they want you, Rosy, but don't you, so help me, move outside this room.'

“It was four o'clock in the morning then, and if we'd of raised the blinds we'd of seen daylight.”

“Did he go?” I asked innocently.

“Sure he went.” Mr. Wolfshiem's nose flashed at me indignantly. “He turned around in the door and says: ‘Don't let that waiter take away my coffee!' Then he went out on the sidewalk, and they shot him three times in his full belly and drove away.”

“Four of them were electrocuted,” I said, remembering.

“Five, with Becker.” His nostrils turned to me in an interested way. “I understand you're looking for a business gonnegtion.”

The juxtaposition of these two remarks was startling. Gatsby answered for me:

“Oh, no,” he exclaimed, “this isn't the man.”

“No?” Mr. Wolfshiem seemed disappointed.

“This is just a friend. I told you we'd talk about that some other time.”

“I beg your pardon,” said Mr. Wolfshiem, “I had a wrong man.”

A succulent hash arrived, and Mr. Wolfshiem, forgetting the more sentimental atmosphere of the old Metropole, began to eat with ferocious delicacy. His eyes, meanwhile, roved very slowly all around the room—he completed the arc by turning to inspect the people directly behind. I think that, except for my presence, he would have taken one short glance beneath our own table.

“Look here, old sport,” said Gatsby, leaning toward me, “I'm afraid I made you a little angry this morning in the car.”

There was the smile again, but this time I held out against it.

“I don't like mysteries,” I answered, “and I don't understand why you won't come out frankly and tell me what you want. Why has it all got to come through Miss Baker?”

“Oh, it's nothing underhand,” he assured me. “Miss Baker's a great sportswoman, you know, and she'd never do anything that wasn't all right.”

Suddenly he looked at his watch, jumped up, and hurried from the room, leaving me with Mr. Wolfshiem at the table.

“He has to telephone,” said Mr. Wolfshiem, following him with his eyes. “Fine fellow, isn't he? Handsome to look at and a perfect gentleman.”

“Yes.”

“He's an Oggsford man.”

“Oh!”

“He went to Oggsford College in England. You know Oggsford College?”

“I've heard of it.”

“It's one of the most famous colleges in the world.”

“Have you known Gatsby for a long time?” I inquired.

“Several years,” he answered in a gratified way. “I made the pleasure of his acquaintance just after the war. But I knew I had discovered a man of fine breeding after I talked with him an hour. I said to myself: ‘There's the kind of man you'd like to take home and introduce to your mother and sister.' ” He paused. “I see you're looking at my cuff buttons.”

I hadn't been looking at them, but I did now. They were composed of oddly familiar pieces of ivory.

“Finest specimens of human molars,” he informed me.

“Well!” I inspected them. “That's a very interesting idea.”

“Yeah.” He flipped his sleeves up under his coat. “Yeah, Gatsby's very careful about women. He would never so much as look at a friend's wife.”

When the subject of this instinctive trust returned to the table and sat down Mr. Wolfshiem drank his coffee with a jerk and got to his feet.

“I have enjoyed my lunch,” he said, “and I'm going to run off from you two young men before I outstay my welcome.”

“Don't hurry Meyer,” said Gatsby, without enthusiasm. Mr. Wolfshiem raised his hand in a sort of benediction.

“You're very polite, but I belong to another generation,” he announced solemnly. “You sit here and discuss your sports and your young ladies and your—” He supplied an imaginary noun with another wave of his hand. “As for me, I am fifty years old, and I won't impose myself on you any longer.”

As he shook hands and turned away his tragic nose was trembling. I wondered if I had said anything to offend him.

“He becomes very sentimental sometimes,” explained Gatsby. “This is one of his sentimental days. He's quite a character around New York—a denizen of Broadway.”

“Who is he, anyhow, an actor?”

“No.”

“A dentist?”

“Meyer Wolfshiem? No, he's a gambler.” Gatsby hesitated, then added, coolly: “He's the man who fixed the World's Series back in 1919.”

“Fixed the World's Series?” I repeated.

The idea staggered me. I remembered, of course, that the World's Series had been fixed in 1919, but if I had thought of it at all I would have thought of it as a thing that merely happened, the end of some inevitable chain. It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people—with the single-mindedness of a burglar blowing a safe.

“How did he happen to do that?” I asked after a minute.

“He just saw the opportunity.”

“Why isn't he in jail?”

“They can't get him, old sport. He's a smart man.”

I insisted on paying the check. As the waiter brought my change I caught sight of Tom Buchanan across the crowded room.

“Come along with me for a minute,” I said; “I've got to say hello to someone.”

When he saw us Tom jumped up and took half a dozen steps in our direction.

“Where've you been?” he demanded eagerly. “Daisy's furious because you haven't called up.”

“This is Mr. Gatsby, Mr. Buchanan.”

They shook hands briefly, and a strained, unfamiliar look of embarrassment came over Gatsby's face.

“How've you been, anyhow?” demanded Tom of me. “How'd you happen to come up this far to eat?”

“I've been having lunch with Mr. Gatsby.”

I turned toward Mr. Gatsby, but he was no longer there.

One October day in nineteen-seventeen—

(said Jordan Baker that afternoon, sitting up very straight on a straight chair in the tea-garden at the Plaza Hotel)

—I was walking along from one place to another, half on the sidewalks and half on the lawns. I was happier on the lawns because I had on shoes from England with rubber knobs on the soles that bit into the soft ground. I had on a new plaid skirt also that blew a little in the wind, and whenever this happened the red, white, and blue banners in front of all the houses stretched out stiff and said tut-tut-tut-tut, in a disapproving way.

The largest of the banners and the largest of the lawns belonged to Daisy Fay's house. She was just eighteen, two years older than me, and by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville. She dressed in white, and had a little white roadster, and all day long the telephone rang in her house and excited young officers from Camp Taylor demanded the privilege of monopolizing her that night. “Anyways, for an hour!”

When I came opposite her house that morning her white roadster was beside the kerb, and she was sitting in it with a lieutenant I had never seen before. They were so engrossed in each other that she didn't see me until I was five feet away.

“Hello, Jordan,” she called unexpectedly. “Please come here.”

I was flattered that she wanted to speak to me, because of all the older girls I admired her most. She asked me if I was going to the Red Cross to make bandages. I was. Well, then, would I tell them that she couldn't come that day? The officer looked at Daisy while she was speaking, in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at sometime, and because it seemed romantic to me I have remembered the incident ever since. His name was Jay Gatsby, and I didn't lay eyes on him again for over four years—even after I'd met him on Long Island I didn't realize it was the same man.

That was nineteen-seventeen. By the next year I had a few beaux myself, and I began to play in tournaments, so I didn't see Daisy very often. She went with a slightly older crowd—when she went with anyone at all. Wild rumours were circulating about her—how her mother had found her packing her bag one winter night to go to New York and say goodbye to a soldier who was going overseas. She was effectually prevented, but she wasn't on speaking terms with her family for several weeks. After that she didn't play around with the soldiers any more, but only with a few flat-footed, shortsighted young men in town, who couldn't get into the army at all.

Chapter 4 Part 2 Kapitel 4 Teil 2 Capítulo 4 Parte 2 第4章パート2 Rozdział 4 Część 2 Capítulo 4 Parte 2 Глава 4 Часть 2 Bölüm 4 Kısım 2 Розділ 4, частина 2 第 4 章第 2 部分

With fenders spread like wings we scattered light through half Astoria—only half, for as we twisted among the pillars of the elevated I heard the familiar “jug-jug-__spat__!” of a motorcycle, and a frantic policeman rode alongside. Mit ausgebreiteten Kotflügeln streuten wir Licht durch halb Astoria - nur halb, denn als wir uns zwischen den Säulen der Hochbahn hindurchschlängelten, hörte ich das vertraute "jug-jug-spat!" eines Motorrads, und ein hektischer Polizist fuhr neben uns her. Con i parafanghi spiegati come ali spargemmo luce per mezza Astoria, ma solo per metà, perché mentre ci attorcigliavamo tra i pilastri della sopraelevata sentii il familiare "jug-jug-spat!" di una motocicletta, e un poliziotto frenetico ci affiancò. 挡泥板像翅膀一样展开,我们将光线散射到阿斯托里亚的一半——只有一半,因为当我们在高架的柱子之间扭动时,我听到了熟悉的“jug-jug-spat!”一辆摩托车,一个疯狂的警察骑在旁边。

“All right, old sport,” called Gatsby. We slowed down. Taking a white card from his wallet, he waved it before the man's eyes. 他从钱包里取出一张白色卡片,在男人眼前晃了晃。

“Right you are,” agreed the policeman, tipping his cap. "Hai ragione", convenne il poliziotto, rovesciandosi il cappello. “你是对的,”警察同意道,并脱帽致意。 “Know you next time, Mr. Gatsby. "Bis zum nächsten Mal, Mr. Gatsby. "Ci conosciamo la prossima volta, signor Gatsby. Excuse __me__!”

“What was that?” I inquired. "Che cos'è stato?" Mi sono informato. “The picture of Oxford?”

“I was able to do the commissioner a favour once, and he sends me a Christmas card every year.” "Una volta sono riuscito a fare un favore al commissario, che ogni anno mi manda una cartolina di Natale". “我曾经帮过专员一个忙,他每年都会给我寄一张圣诞卡。”

Over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of nonolfactory money. Über die große Brücke, mit dem Sonnenlicht, das durch die Träger ein ständiges Flimmern auf die fahrenden Autos warf, mit der Stadt, die sich auf der anderen Seite des Flusses in weißen Haufen und Zuckerwürfeln erhob, die alle mit einem Wunsch aus nicht-olfaktorischem Geld gebaut wurden. Sul grande ponte, con la luce del sole che attraverso le travi faceva un continuo sfarfallio sui vagoni in movimento, con la città che si ergeva al di là del fiume in cumuli bianchi e zollette di zucchero, tutti costruiti con un desiderio di denaro nonolfattivo. 在大桥上,阳光透过大梁,在行驶的汽车上不断闪烁,城市在河对岸拔地而起,白堆和糖块都是用没有嗅觉的钱建造的。 The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world. La città vista dal Queensboro Bridge è sempre la città vista per la prima volta, nella sua prima promessa selvaggia di tutto il mistero e la bellezza del mondo. 从昆斯伯勒桥上看到的城市总是第一次看到的城市,第一次看到世界上所有的神秘和美丽。

A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms, followed by two carriages with drawn blinds, and by more cheerful carriages for friends. Un morto ci è passato davanti in un carro funebre carico di fiori, seguito da due carrozze con le tende tirate e da carrozze più allegre per gli amici. 一个死者乘坐一辆堆满鲜花的灵车从我们身边经过,后面跟着两辆拉着百叶窗的马车,还有一辆为朋友准备的更欢快的马车。 The friends looked out at us with the tragic eyes and short upper lips of southeastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby's splendid car was included in their sombre holiday. Gli amici ci guardavano con gli occhi tragici e le labbra corte dell'Europa sudorientale, e fui felice che la vista della splendida auto di Gatsby fosse inclusa nella loro cupa vacanza. 朋友们用东南欧人悲惨的眼神和短小的上嘴唇望着我们,我很高兴看到盖茨比的豪车也包含在他们阴郁的假期中。 As we crossed Blackwell's Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl. Mentre attraversavamo Blackwell's Island ci passò davanti una limousine, guidata da un autista bianco, in cui sedevano tre negri modaioli, due neri e una ragazza. 当我们穿过布莱克威尔岛时,一辆豪华轿车从我们身边驶过,由一名白人司机驾驶,车上坐着三个时髦的黑人、两块钱和一个女孩。 I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry. Ho riso ad alta voce mentre i tuorli dei loro occhi rotolavano verso di noi in un'altezzosa rivalità. 当他们的眼球蛋黄傲慢地向我们滚动时,我放声大笑。

“Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge,” I thought; “anything at all…” "Jetzt, wo wir über diese Brücke gerutscht sind, kann alles Mögliche passieren", dachte ich, "alles Mögliche..." "Ora che siamo scivolati su questo ponte può succedere di tutto", pensai; "di tutto...". “既然我们已经滑过这座桥,任何事情都有可能发生,”我想; “什么都……”

Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder. Anche Gatsby potrebbe accadere, senza particolare meraviglia. 甚至盖茨比也有可能发生,没有任何特别的奇迹。

Roaring noon. 闹腾的中午。 In a well-fanned Forty-second Street cellar I met Gatsby for lunch. In einem gut gefüllten Keller in der Forty-second Street traf ich Gatsby zum Mittagessen. In una cantina della Quarantaduesima Strada, ben frequentata, incontrai Gatsby a pranzo. 在 42 街一个通风良好的地窖里,我与盖茨比共进午餐。 Blinking away the brightness of the street outside, my eyes picked him out obscurely in the anteroom, talking to another man. Sbarrando le palpebre alla luce della strada esterna, i miei occhi lo scorsero oscuramente nell'anticamera, mentre parlava con un altro uomo. 我眨了眨眼,避开了外面街道的明亮,我的眼睛在前厅里模模糊糊地认出了他,他正在和另一个男人说话。

“Mr. “先生。 Carraway, this is my friend Mr. Wolfshiem.”

A small, flat-nosed Jew raised his large head and regarded me with two fine growths of hair which luxuriated in either nostril. Ein kleiner, flachnasiger Jude hob seinen großen Kopf und betrachtete mich mit zwei feinen Haarsträhnen, die sich in beiden Nasenlöchern tummelten. Un piccolo ebreo dal naso piatto sollevò la sua grande testa e mi guardò con due sottili escrescenze di peli che si affacciavano su entrambe le narici. 一个矮小的、塌鼻子的犹太人抬起他的大脑袋,看着我,两个鼻孔里长着两根浓密的头发。 After a moment I discovered his tiny eyes in the half-darkness. Dopo un attimo scoprii i suoi occhietti nella semioscurità.

“—So I took one look at him,” said Mr. Wolfshiem, shaking my hand earnestly, “and what do you think I did?” "Also habe ich ihn mir einmal angesehen", sagte Mr. Wolfshiem und schüttelte mir ernsthaft die Hand, "und was glauben Sie, was ich getan habe?" "Così gli ho dato un'occhiata", disse il signor Wolfshiem, stringendomi la mano con serietà, "e cosa pensa che abbia fatto?". “——所以我看了他一眼,”沃尔夫山姆先生认真地握着我的手说,“你认为我做了什么?”

“What?” I inquired politely.

But evidently he was not addressing me, for he dropped my hand and covered Gatsby with his expressive nose. Ma evidentemente non si rivolgeva a me, perché lasciò cadere la mia mano e coprì Gatsby con il suo naso espressivo. 但显然他不是在对我说话,因为他放开我的手,用他富有表情的鼻子捂住盖茨比。

“I handed the money to Katspaugh and I said: ‘All right, Katspaugh, don't pay him a penny till he shuts his mouth.' He shut it then and there.” "Ho dato i soldi a Katspaugh e ho detto: 'Va bene, Katspaugh, non pagarlo un centesimo finché non chiude la bocca'. Lui la chiuse subito". “我把钱递给了 Katspaugh,我说:‘好吧,Katspaugh,在他闭上嘴之前不要给他一分钱。’他当时就把它关上了。”

Gatsby took an arm of each of us and moved forward into the restaurant, whereupon Mr. Wolfshiem swallowed a new sentence he was starting and lapsed into a somnambulatory abstraction. Gatsby nahm einen Arm von jedem von uns und bewegte sich vorwärts in das Restaurant, woraufhin Mr. Wolfshiem einen neuen Satz, den er begann, verschluckte und in eine schlafwandlerische Abstraktion verfiel. Gatsby prese un braccio di ciascuno di noi e avanzò nel ristorante, mentre il signor Wolfshiem inghiottiva una nuova frase che stava iniziando e cadeva in un'astrazione sonnambolica. 盖茨比挽着我们每个人的手臂,向前走进餐厅,沃尔夫山姆先生于是吞下了他刚开始说的新句子,陷入了梦游般的抽象状态。

“Highballs?” asked the head waiter. "Highballs?" chiese il capo cameriere. “高球?”领班问道。

“This is a nice restaurant here,” said Mr. Wolfshiem, looking at the presbyterian nymphs on the ceiling. "Das ist ein schönes Restaurant hier", sagte Herr Wolfshiem und betrachtete die presbyterianischen Nymphen an der Decke. "È un bel ristorante", disse il signor Wolfshiem, guardando le ninfe presbiteriane sul soffitto. “这是一家不错的餐厅,”沃尔夫山姆先生说,看着天花板上的长老会若虫。 “But I like across the street better!” "Ma a me piace di più l'altro lato della strada!".

“Yes, highballs,” agreed Gatsby, and then to Mr. Wolfshiem: “It's too hot over there.” “是的,高球,”盖茨比同意,然后对沃尔夫山姆先生说:“那边太热了。”

“Hot and small—yes,” said Mr. Wolfshiem, “but full of memories.” “又热又小——是的,”沃尔夫山姆先生说,“但充满了回忆。”

“What place is that?” I asked.

“The old Metropole.” “老大都会。”

“The old Metropole,” brooded Mr. Wolfshiem gloomily. "Il vecchio Metropole", rimuginava cupo il signor Wolfshiem. “老大都会,”沃尔夫山姆先生忧郁地沉思着。 “Filled with faces dead and gone. "Pieno di volti morti e scomparsi. Filled with friends gone now forever. Gefüllt mit Freunden, die nun für immer gegangen sind. Pieno di amici che se ne sono andati per sempre. 充满了现在永远消失的朋友。 I can't forget so long as I live the night they shot Rosy Rosenthal there. Non potrò dimenticare finché vivrò la notte in cui spararono a Rosy Rosenthal. 只要我还活着,我就不会忘记他们在那里射杀 Rosy Rosenthal 的那个晚上。 It was six of us at the table, and Rosy had eat and drunk a lot all evening. Eravamo in sei a tavola e Rosy aveva mangiato e bevuto molto per tutta la sera. 餐桌上有我们六个人,罗西整个晚上都吃喝了很多。 When it was almost morning the waiter came up to him with a funny look and says somebody wants to speak to him outside. Als es schon fast Morgen war, kam der Kellner mit einem komischen Blick auf ihn zu und sagte, jemand wolle ihn draußen sprechen. Quando era quasi mattina, il cameriere si avvicinò con uno sguardo strano e disse che qualcuno voleva parlargli fuori. 快到早上的时候,服务员用一种滑稽的表情走到他面前,说有人想在外面和他说话。 ‘All right,' says Rosy, and begins to get up, and I pulled him down in his chair. Va bene", dice Rosy, e comincia ad alzarsi, mentre io lo tiro giù sulla sedia. “好吧,”Rosy 说着站起来,我把他拉到椅子上。

“ ‘Let the bastards come in here if they want you, Rosy, but don't you, so help me, move outside this room.' "Sollen die Mistkerle doch reinkommen, wenn sie dich wollen, Rosy, aber wehe, du verlässt diesen Raum. "Lascia che i bastardi entrino qui se ti vogliono, Rosy, ma tu non devi, per favore, uscire da questa stanza". “‘如果那些混蛋想要你,就让他们进来吧,Rosy,但你不要,所以帮我,离开这个房间。’

“It was four o'clock in the morning then, and if we'd of raised the blinds we'd of seen daylight.” "Erano le quattro del mattino e se avessimo alzato le tende avremmo visto la luce del giorno". “那时是凌晨四点,如果我们拉起百叶窗,我们就会看到日光。”

“Did he go?” I asked innocently. “他去了吗?”我天真地问。

“Sure he went.” Mr. Wolfshiem's nose flashed at me indignantly. "Certo che è andato". Il naso del signor Wolfshiem lampeggiò verso di me indignato. “He turned around in the door and says: ‘Don't let that waiter take away my coffee!' Then he went out on the sidewalk, and they shot him three times in his full belly and drove away.” "Si è girato sulla porta e ha detto: "Non lasciate che quel cameriere mi porti via il caffè!". Poi è uscito sul marciapiede e gli hanno sparato tre volte in piena pancia e sono andati via". “他在门口转身说:'别让那个服务员拿走我的咖啡!'然后他走到人行道上,他们朝他的肚子开了三枪,然后开车走了。”

“Four of them were electrocuted,” I said, remembering. "Vier von ihnen wurden durch einen Stromschlag getötet", sagte ich und erinnerte mich. "Quattro di loro sono stati fulminati", dissi, ricordando. “其中四个触电身亡,”我回忆道。

“Five, with Becker.” His nostrils turned to me in an interested way. "Fünf, mit Becker." Seine Nasenlöcher drehten sich interessiert zu mir. "Cinque, con Becker". Le sue narici si rivolsero a me in modo interessato. “I understand you're looking for a business gonnegtion.” "Ho saputo che sta cercando un'opportunità di lavoro". “我知道你正在寻找商业机会。”

The juxtaposition of these two remarks was startling. L'accostamento di queste due osservazioni è stato sorprendente. 这两句话的并置令人吃惊。 Gatsby answered for me:

“Oh, no,” he exclaimed, “this isn't the man.”

“No?” Mr. Wolfshiem seemed disappointed.

“This is just a friend. I told you we'd talk about that some other time.” 我告诉过你我们改天再谈这个。”

“I beg your pardon,” said Mr. Wolfshiem, “I had a wrong man.” "Vi chiedo scusa", disse il signor Wolfshiem, "ho sbagliato persona".

A succulent hash arrived, and Mr. Wolfshiem, forgetting the more sentimental atmosphere of the old Metropole, began to eat with ferocious delicacy. Arrivò un succulento hashish e il signor Wolfshiem, dimenticando l'atmosfera più sentimentale del vecchio Metropole, iniziò a mangiare con feroce delicatezza. 多汁的土豆泥端上来,沃尔夫山姆先生忘记了老大都会更感伤的气氛,开始大口大口地吃起来。 His eyes, meanwhile, roved very slowly all around the room—he completed the arc by turning to inspect the people directly behind. Sein Blick schweifte unterdessen ganz langsam durch den Raum - er schloss den Bogen, indem er sich umdrehte, um die Personen direkt hinter sich zu inspizieren. I suoi occhi, nel frattempo, vagavano molto lentamente per tutta la stanza; completò l'arco girandosi per ispezionare le persone direttamente alle spalle. I think that, except for my presence, he would have taken one short glance beneath our own table. Ich glaube, ohne meine Anwesenheit hätte er einen kurzen Blick unter unseren eigenen Tisch geworfen. Credo che, se non ci fosse stata la mia presenza, avrebbe dato una breve occhiata sotto il nostro tavolo.

“Look here, old sport,” said Gatsby, leaning toward me, “I'm afraid I made you a little angry this morning in the car.” "Senti, vecchio mio", disse Gatsby, sporgendosi verso di me, "temo di averti fatto arrabbiare un po' stamattina in macchina".

There was the smile again, but this time I held out against it. Il sorriso c'è stato di nuovo, ma questa volta ho resistito.

“I don't like mysteries,” I answered, “and I don't understand why you won't come out frankly and tell me what you want. "Non mi piacciono i misteri", risposi, "e non capisco perché non vuoi uscire allo scoperto e dirmi cosa vuoi. Why has it all got to come through Miss Baker?”

“Oh, it's nothing underhand,” he assured me. "Oh, non è nulla di subdolo", mi ha assicurato. “Miss Baker's a great sportswoman, you know, and she'd never do anything that wasn't all right.” "Miss Baker ist eine großartige Sportlerin, wissen Sie, und sie würde nie etwas tun, was nicht in Ordnung ist.

Suddenly he looked at his watch, jumped up, and hurried from the room, leaving me with Mr. Wolfshiem at the table.

“He has to telephone,” said Mr. Wolfshiem, following him with his eyes. “Fine fellow, isn't he? Handsome to look at and a perfect gentleman.” Hübsch anzusehen und ein perfekter Gentleman." Bello da vedere e un perfetto gentiluomo".

“Yes.”

“He's an Oggsford man.” "È un uomo di Oggsford".

“Oh!”

“He went to Oggsford College in England. You know Oggsford College?”

“I've heard of it.”

“It's one of the most famous colleges in the world.”

“Have you known Gatsby for a long time?” I inquired.

“Several years,” he answered in a gratified way. "Mehrere Jahre", antwortete er zufrieden. “I made the pleasure of his acquaintance just after the war. "Ho avuto il piacere di conoscerlo subito dopo la guerra. But I knew I had discovered a man of fine breeding after I talked with him an hour. Aber nachdem ich eine Stunde mit ihm gesprochen hatte, wusste ich, dass ich einen Mann mit einer guten Erziehung entdeckt hatte. Ma sapevo di aver scoperto un uomo di razza dopo aver parlato con lui per un'ora. I said to myself: ‘There's the kind of man you'd like to take home and introduce to your mother and sister.' ” He paused. Mi sono detta: 'Ecco il tipo di uomo che vorresti portare a casa e presentare a tua madre e a tua sorella'". "Ha fatto una pausa. “I see you're looking at my cuff buttons.” "Vedo che stai guardando i bottoni dei miei polsini".

I hadn't been looking at them, but I did now. Non li avevo guardati, ma ora li ho guardati. They were composed of oddly familiar pieces of ivory. Erano composti da pezzi d'avorio stranamente familiari.

“Finest specimens of human molars,” he informed me. "Feinste Exemplare menschlicher Backenzähne", informierte er mich. "I migliori esemplari di molari umani", mi informò.

“Well!” I inspected them. "Bene!" Li ho ispezionati. “That's a very interesting idea.”

“Yeah.” He flipped his sleeves up under his coat. "Sì." Si rimboccò le maniche sotto il cappotto. “Yeah, Gatsby's very careful about women. "Sì, Gatsby è molto attento alle donne. He would never so much as look at a friend's wife.” Er würde nie die Frau eines Freundes auch nur ansehen." Non avrebbe mai guardato la moglie di un amico".

When the subject of this instinctive trust returned to the table and sat down Mr. Wolfshiem drank his coffee with a jerk and got to his feet. Als das Subjekt dieses instinktiven Vertrauens an den Tisch zurückkehrte und sich setzte, trank Herr Wolfshiem seinen Kaffee mit einem Ruck aus und stand auf. Quando il soggetto di questa fiducia istintiva tornò al tavolo e si sedette, il signor Wolfshiem bevve il suo caffè con uno scatto e si alzò in piedi.

“I have enjoyed my lunch,” he said, “and I'm going to run off from you two young men before I outstay my welcome.” "Mi sono goduto il mio pranzo", disse, "e ho intenzione di scappare da voi due giovanotti prima di rimanere fuori dalla mia portata".

“Don't hurry Meyer,” said Gatsby, without enthusiasm. Mr. Wolfshiem raised his hand in a sort of benediction.

“You're very polite, but I belong to another generation,” he announced solemnly. “You sit here and discuss your sports and your young ladies and your—” He supplied an imaginary noun with another wave of his hand. "Ihr sitzt hier und redet über euren Sport und eure jungen Damen und eure..." Er fügte mit einer weiteren Handbewegung ein imaginäres Substantiv hinzu. "Voi ve ne state seduti qui a discutere dei vostri sport, delle vostre signorine e delle vostre...", e con un altro gesto della mano fornì un sostantivo immaginario. “As for me, I am fifty years old, and I won't impose myself on you any longer.” "Was mich betrifft, so bin ich fünfzig Jahre alt und werde mich Ihnen nicht länger aufdrängen.

As he shook hands and turned away his tragic nose was trembling. Mentre stringeva la mano e si allontanava, il suo tragico naso tremava. I wondered if I had said anything to offend him. Ich fragte mich, ob ich etwas gesagt hatte, was ihn beleidigte. Mi chiesi se avessi detto qualcosa che lo avesse offeso.

“He becomes very sentimental sometimes,” explained Gatsby. “This is one of his sentimental days. He's quite a character around New York—a denizen of Broadway.” Er ist eine bekannte Persönlichkeit in New York - ein Bewohner des Broadways." È un personaggio piuttosto noto a New York, un abitante di Broadway".

“Who is he, anyhow, an actor?” "Chi è, comunque, un attore?".

“No.”

“A dentist?”

“Meyer Wolfshiem? No, he's a gambler.” Gatsby hesitated, then added, coolly: “He's the man who fixed the World's Series back in 1919.” Nein, er ist ein Glücksspieler." Gatsby zögerte und fügte dann kühl hinzu: "Er ist der Mann, der 1919 die Weltmeisterschaft manipuliert hat." No, è un giocatore d'azzardo". Gatsby esitò, poi aggiunse, freddamente: "È l'uomo che ha truccato le World Series nel 1919".

“Fixed the World's Series?” I repeated. "Ha aggiustato le World's Series?" Ripetei.

The idea staggered me. L'idea mi ha sconcertato. I remembered, of course, that the World's Series had been fixed in 1919, but if I had thought of it at all I would have thought of it as a thing that merely __happened__, the end of some inevitable chain. Ricordavo, ovviamente, che le World's Series erano state fissate nel 1919, ma se ci avessi pensato avrei pensato come a una cosa semplicemente accaduta, la fine di una catena inevitabile. It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people—with the single-mindedness of a burglar blowing a safe. Ich wäre nie auf die Idee gekommen, dass ein einziger Mann anfangen könnte, mit dem Glauben von fünfzig Millionen Menschen zu spielen - mit der Zielstrebigkeit eines Einbrechers, der einen Safe sprengt. Non mi è mai venuto in mente che un solo uomo potesse iniziare a giocare con la fede di cinquanta milioni di persone, con la stessa determinazione di un ladro che fa saltare una cassaforte.

“How did he happen to do that?” I asked after a minute.

“He just saw the opportunity.”

“Why isn't he in jail?”

“They can't get him, old sport. "Non possono prenderlo, vecchio mio. He's a smart man.” È un uomo intelligente".

I insisted on paying the check. Ho insistito per pagare l'assegno. As the waiter brought my change I caught sight of Tom Buchanan across the crowded room. Mentre il cameriere mi portava il resto, vidi Tom Buchanan dall'altra parte della sala affollata.

“Come along with me for a minute,” I said; “I've got to say hello to someone.” "Kommen Sie einen Moment mit", sagte ich, "ich muss jemanden begrüßen." "Vieni un attimo con me", dissi, "devo salutare una persona".

When he saw us Tom jumped up and took half a dozen steps in our direction. Quando ci vide, Tom saltò in piedi e fece una mezza dozzina di passi nella nostra direzione.

“Where've you been?” he demanded eagerly. "Dove sei stato?", chiese con impazienza. “Daisy's furious because you haven't called up.” "Daisy ist wütend, weil du dich nicht gemeldet hast."

“This is Mr. Gatsby, Mr. Buchanan.”

They shook hands briefly, and a strained, unfamiliar look of embarrassment came over Gatsby's face. Sie schüttelten sich kurz die Hände, und ein angestrengter, ungewohnter Ausdruck von Verlegenheit legte sich auf Gatsbys Gesicht. Si strinsero brevemente la mano e sul volto di Gatsby comparve un'espressione di imbarazzo, tesa e sconosciuta.

“How've you been, anyhow?” demanded Tom of me. “How'd you happen to come up this far to eat?” "Come hai fatto a venire fin qui per mangiare?".

“I've been having lunch with Mr. Gatsby.” "Ho pranzato con il signor Gatsby".

I turned toward Mr. Gatsby, but he was no longer there.

One October day in nineteen-seventeen—

(said Jordan Baker that afternoon, sitting up very straight on a straight chair in the tea-garden at the Plaza Hotel) (disse Jordan Baker quel pomeriggio, seduto molto dritto su una sedia dritta nel giardino del tè dell'Hotel Plaza)

—I was walking along from one place to another, half on the sidewalks and half on the lawns. -Camminavo da un posto all'altro, metà sui marciapiedi e metà sui prati. I was happier on the lawns because I had on shoes from England with rubber knobs on the soles that bit into the soft ground. Sui prati ero più felice perché indossavo scarpe inglesi con pomelli di gomma sulle suole che si infilavano nel terreno morbido. I had on a new plaid skirt also that blew a little in the wind, and whenever this happened the red, white, and blue banners in front of all the houses stretched out stiff and said __tut-tut-tut-tut__, in a disapproving way. Ich hatte auch einen neuen karierten Rock an, der ein wenig im Wind wehte, und jedes Mal, wenn das passierte, reckten sich die rot-weiß-blauen Fahnen vor allen Häusern steif in die Höhe und sagten missbilligend tut-tut-tut-tut. Avevo anche una nuova gonna a quadri che soffiava un po' al vento, e ogni volta che questo accadeva gli striscioni rossi, bianchi e blu davanti a tutte le case si tendevano rigidi e dicevano tut-tut-tut-tut, in modo disapprovante.

The largest of the banners and the largest of the lawns belonged to Daisy Fay's house. Il più grande degli striscioni e il più grande dei prati apparteneva alla casa di Daisy Fay. She was just eighteen, two years older than me, and by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville. She dressed in white, and had a little white roadster, and all day long the telephone rang in her house and excited young officers from Camp Taylor demanded the privilege of monopolizing her that night. Sie war weiß gekleidet und hatte einen kleinen weißen Roadster, und den ganzen Tag über klingelte das Telefon in ihrem Haus, und aufgeregte junge Offiziere aus Camp Taylor verlangten das Privileg, sie an diesem Abend für sich allein zu haben. “Anyways, for an hour!” "Comunque, per un'ora!"

When I came opposite her house that morning her white roadster was beside the kerb, and she was sitting in it with a lieutenant I had never seen before. Als ich an diesem Morgen gegenüber ihrem Haus ankam, stand ihr weißer Roadster neben dem Bordstein, und sie saß darin mit einem Leutnant, den ich noch nie gesehen hatte. Quando quella mattina arrivai di fronte a casa sua, la sua roadster bianca era accanto al marciapiede, e lei vi era seduta con un tenente che non avevo mai visto prima. They were so engrossed in each other that she didn't see me until I was five feet away. Erano così presi l'uno dall'altra che lei non mi vide finché non fui a un metro e mezzo di distanza.

“Hello, Jordan,” she called unexpectedly. “Please come here.”

I was flattered that she wanted to speak to me, because of all the older girls I admired her most. Ero lusingata che volesse parlare con me, perché tra tutte le ragazze più grandi la ammiravo di più. She asked me if I was going to the Red Cross to make bandages. Sie fragte mich, ob ich zum Roten Kreuz ginge, um Verbände zu machen. Mi ha chiesto se andavo alla Croce Rossa a fare le bende. I was. Well, then, would I tell them that she couldn't come that day? Allora, dovrei dire loro che non può venire quel giorno? The officer looked at Daisy while she was speaking, in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at sometime, and because it seemed romantic to me I have remembered the incident ever since. L'ufficiale guardò Daisy mentre parlava, nel modo in cui ogni ragazza vorrebbe essere guardata qualche volta, e poiché mi sembrò romantico, da allora ricordo l'episodio. His name was Jay Gatsby, and I didn't lay eyes on him again for over four years—even after I'd met him on Long Island I didn't realize it was the same man. Sein Name war Jay Gatsby, und ich habe ihn über vier Jahre lang nicht mehr gesehen - selbst nachdem ich ihn auf Long Island getroffen hatte, wusste ich nicht, dass es derselbe Mann war.

That was nineteen-seventeen. By the next year I had a few beaux myself, and I began to play in tournaments, so I didn't see Daisy very often. L'anno successivo anch'io avevo qualche spasimante e cominciai a giocare nei tornei, per cui non vedevo Daisy molto spesso. She went with a slightly older crowd—when she went with anyone at all. Andava con un pubblico un po' più anziano, quando andava con qualcuno. Wild rumours were circulating about her—how her mother had found her packing her bag one winter night to go to New York and say goodbye to a soldier who was going overseas. Es kursierten wilde Gerüchte über sie, wie ihre Mutter sie eines Winterabends beim Packen ihrer Tasche erwischt hatte, um nach New York zu fahren und sich von einem Soldaten zu verabschieden, der nach Übersee ging. Su di lei circolavano voci feroci: una sera d'inverno sua madre l'aveva trovata a fare le valigie per andare a New York a salutare un soldato che stava per partire per l'estero. She was effectually prevented, but she wasn't on speaking terms with her family for several weeks. Sie konnte zwar verhindert werden, aber mit ihrer Familie war sie mehrere Wochen lang nicht zu sprechen. L'impedimento è stato efficace, ma per diverse settimane non ha potuto parlare con la sua famiglia. After that she didn't play around with the soldiers any more, but only with a few flat-footed, shortsighted young men in town, who couldn't get into the army at all.