Chapter 8 Part 2 Kapitel 8 Teil 2 Capítulo 8 Parte 2 Capitolo 8 Parte 2 第8章 その2 Rozdział 8 Część 2 Capítulo 8 Parte 2 Глава 8 Часть 2 Bölüm 8 Kısım 2 第 8 章 第 2 部分

“I'm going to drain the pool today, Mr. Gatsby. "Oggi svuoterò la piscina, signor Gatsby. Leaves'll start falling pretty soon, and then there's always trouble with the pipes.” Leaves'll start falling pretty soon, and then there's always trouble with the pipes.”

“Don't do it today,” Gatsby answered. He turned to me apologetically. Si rivolse a me con aria di scusa. “You know, old sport, I've never used that pool all summer?”

I looked at my watch and stood up.

“Twelve minutes to my train.”

I didn't want to go to the city. I wasn't worth a decent stroke of work, but it was more than that—I didn't want to leave Gatsby. Non valevo un lavoro decente, ma c'era di più: non volevo lasciare Gatsby. I missed that train, and then another, before I could get myself away.

“I'll call you up,” I said finally.

“Do, old sport.”

“I'll call you about noon.” "Ti chiamo verso mezzogiorno".

We walked slowly down the steps.

“I suppose Daisy'll call too.” He looked at me anxiously, as if he hoped I'd corroborate this. "Suppongo che chiamerà anche Daisy". Mi guardò con ansia, come se sperasse che io confermassi questa affermazione.

“I suppose so.”

“Well, goodbye.”

We shook hands and I started away. Just before I reached the hedge I remembered something and turned around. Poco prima di raggiungere la siepe mi ricordai di una cosa e mi voltai.

“They're a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. "Sono una folla di marci", gridai attraverso il prato. “他们是一群烂人，”我隔着草坪大喊。 “You're worth the whole damn bunch put together.” "Tu vali tutto il dannato gruppo messo insieme". “你配得上所有该死的人。”

I've always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end. First he nodded politely, and then his face broke into that radiant and understanding smile, as if we'd been in ecstatic cahoots on that fact all the time. Prima annuì educatamente, poi il suo volto si trasformò in quel sorriso radioso e comprensivo, come se fossimo stati sempre in estasi per quel fatto. His gorgeous pink rag of a suit made a bright spot of colour against the white steps, and I thought of the night when I first came to his ancestral home, three months before. Il suo splendido abito rosa faceva una macchia di colore contro i gradini bianchi, e pensai alla notte in cui ero venuta per la prima volta nella sua casa ancestrale, tre mesi prima. The lawn and drive had been crowded with the faces of those who guessed at his corruption—and he had stood on those steps, concealing his incorruptible dream, as he waved them goodbye. Il prato e il viale erano stati affollati dai volti di coloro che avevano intuito la sua corruzione - e lui era rimasto in piedi su quei gradini, nascondendo il suo sogno incorruttibile, mentre li salutava.

I thanked him for his hospitality. We were always thanking him for that—I and the others.

“Goodbye,” I called. “I enjoyed breakfast, Gatsby.” "Mi è piaciuta la colazione, Gatsby".

Up in the city, I tried for a while to list the quotations on an interminable amount of stock, then I fell asleep in my swivel-chair. In città ho cercato per un po' di elencare le quotazioni di una quantità interminabile di titoli, poi mi sono addormentato sulla mia poltrona girevole. Just before noon the phone woke me, and I started up with sweat breaking out on my forehead. Poco prima di mezzogiorno il telefono mi svegliò e mi alzai con il sudore che mi imperlava la fronte. It was Jordan Baker; she often called me up at this hour because the uncertainty of her own movements between hotels and clubs and private houses made her hard to find in any other way. Era Jordan Baker; mi chiamava spesso a quest'ora perché l'incertezza dei suoi spostamenti tra alberghi, club e case private la rendeva difficile da trovare in qualsiasi altro modo. Usually her voice came over the wire as something fresh and cool, as if a divot from a green golf-links had come sailing in at the office window, but this morning it seemed harsh and dry. Di solito la sua voce giungeva attraverso il filo come qualcosa di fresco, come se un solco di una verde pista da golf fosse entrato dalla finestra dell'ufficio, ma questa mattina sembrava aspra e secca.

“I've left Daisy's house,” she said. “I'm at Hempstead, and I'm going down to Southampton this afternoon.”

Probably it had been tactful to leave Daisy's house, but the act annoyed me, and her next remark made me rigid. Probabilmente era stato un gesto di tatto lasciare la casa di Daisy, ma l'atto mi infastidiva e la sua osservazione successiva mi fece irrigidire.

“You weren't so nice to me last night.” "Non sei stato molto gentile con me ieri sera".

“How could it have mattered then?” "Come poteva essere importante allora?".

Silence for a moment. Then:

“However—I want to see you.”

“I want to see you, too.”

“Suppose I don't go to Southampton, and come into town this afternoon?” "E se non andassi a Southampton e venissi in città nel pomeriggio?".

“No—I don't think this afternoon.”

“Very well.”

“It's impossible this afternoon. Various—”

We talked like that for a while, and then abruptly we weren't talking any longer. Abbiamo parlato così per un po', poi all'improvviso non abbiamo più parlato. I don't know which of us hung up with a sharp click, but I know I didn't care. Non so chi dei due abbia riattaccato con un clic secco, ma so che non mi importava. I couldn't have talked to her across a tea-table that day if I never talked to her again in this world. Quel giorno non avrei potuto parlarle davanti a un tavolo da tè se non avessi mai più parlato con lei in questo mondo. 如果我在这个世界上再也没有和她说话，那一天我不可能隔着茶几和她说话。

I called Gatsby's house a few minutes later, but the line was busy. I tried four times; finally an exasperated central told me the wire was being kept open for long distance from Detroit. Ho provato quattro volte; alla fine un centrale esasperato mi ha detto che il filo era tenuto aperto per le lunghe distanze da Detroit. Taking out my timetable, I drew a small circle around the three-fifty train. Prendendo la mia tabella di marcia, ho tracciato un piccolo cerchio intorno al treno delle tre e cinquanta. Then I leaned back in my chair and tried to think. It was just noon.

When I passed the ash-heaps on the train that morning I had crossed deliberately to the other side of the car. Quella mattina, quando passai davanti ai cumuli di cenere sul treno, avevo attraversato deliberatamente l'altro lato del vagone. I supposed there'd be a curious crowd around there all day with little boys searching for dark spots in the dust, and some garrulous man telling over and over what had happened, until it became less and less real even to him and he could tell it no longer, and Myrtle Wilson's tragic achievement was forgotten. Immagino che ci sarebbe stata una folla curiosa tutto il giorno, con ragazzini che cercavano le macchie scure nella polvere, e qualche uomo chiacchierone che raccontava in continuazione quello che era successo, finché non divenne sempre meno reale anche per lui e non poté più raccontarlo, e la tragica impresa di Myrtle Wilson fu dimenticata. Now I want to go back a little and tell what happened at the garage after we left there the night before.

They had difficulty in locating the sister, Catherine. She must have broken her rule against drinking that night, for when she arrived she was stupid with liquor and unable to understand that the ambulance had already gone to Flushing. Quella sera doveva aver infranto la sua regola di non bere, perché quando arrivò era stupida di alcol e non riuscì a capire che l'ambulanza era già andata a Flushing. When they convinced her of this, she immediately fainted, as if that was the intolerable part of the affair. Quando l'hanno convinta di questo, è subito svenuta, come se quella fosse la parte intollerabile della faccenda. Someone, kind or curious, took her in his car and drove her in the wake of her sister's body. Qualcuno, gentile o curioso, l'ha presa in macchina e l'ha portata sulla scia del corpo della sorella.

Until long after midnight a changing crowd lapped up against the front of the garage, while George Wilson rocked himself back and forth on the couch inside. Fino a molto tempo dopo la mezzanotte una folla mutevole lambisce la facciata del garage, mentre George Wilson si dondola avanti e indietro sul divano all'interno. For a while the door of the office was open, and everyone who came into the garage glanced irresistibly through it. Finally someone said it was a shame, and closed the door. Alla fine qualcuno disse che era un peccato e chiuse la porta. Michaelis and several other men were with him; first, four or five men, later two or three men. Still later Michaelis had to ask the last stranger to wait there fifteen minutes longer, while he went back to his own place and made a pot of coffee. Ancora più tardi Michaelis dovette chiedere all'ultimo sconosciuto di aspettare lì ancora un quarto d'ora, mentre lui tornava a casa sua e preparava un caffè. After that, he stayed there alone with Wilson until dawn. Poi rimase lì da solo con Wilson fino all'alba.

About three o'clock the quality of Wilson's incoherent muttering changed—he grew quieter and began to talk about the yellow car. Verso le tre la qualità dei borbottii incoerenti di Wilson cambiò: divenne più silenzioso e cominciò a parlare dell'auto gialla. He announced that he had a way of finding out whom the yellow car belonged to, and then he blurted out that a couple of months ago his wife had come from the city with her face bruised and her nose swollen. Annunciò di avere un modo per scoprire a chi apparteneva l'auto gialla, e poi sbottò che un paio di mesi fa sua moglie era arrivata dalla città con il volto livido e il naso gonfio.

But when he heard himself say this, he flinched and began to cry “Oh, my God!” again in his groaning voice. Ma quando si sentì dire questo, trasalì e cominciò a gridare di nuovo "Oh, mio Dio!" con la sua voce lamentosa. Michaelis made a clumsy attempt to distract him. Michaelis fece un goffo tentativo di distrarlo.

“How long have you been married, George? Come on there, try and sit still a minute, and answer my question. How long have you been married?”

“Twelve years.”

“Ever had any children? Come on, George, sit still—I asked you a question. Dai, George, stai fermo. Ti ho fatto una domanda. Did you ever have any children?”

The hard brown beetles kept thudding against the dull light, and whenever Michaelis heard a car go tearing along the road outside it sounded to him like the car that hadn't stopped a few hours before. Gli scarafaggi marroni e duri continuavano a battere contro la luce opaca, e ogni volta che Michaelis sentiva un'auto sfrecciare sulla strada esterna gli sembrava l'auto che non si era fermata qualche ora prima. He didn't like to go into the garage, because the work bench was stained where the body had been lying, so he moved uncomfortably around the office—he knew every object in it before morning—and from time to time sat down beside Wilson trying to keep him more quiet.

“Have you got a church you go to sometimes, George? Maybe even if you haven't been there for a long time? Forse anche se non ci andate da molto tempo? Maybe I could call up the church and get a priest to come over and he could talk to you, see?” Forse potrei chiamare la chiesa e far venire un prete che possa parlare con te, vedi?".

“Don't belong to any.” "Non appartengono a nessuno".

“You ought to have a church, George, for times like this. You must have gone to church once. Didn't you get married in a church? Listen, George, listen to me. Didn't you get married in a church?”

“That was a long time ago.”

The effort of answering broke the rhythm of his rocking—for a moment he was silent. Then the same half-knowing, half-bewildered look came back into his faded eyes. Poi lo stesso sguardo mezzo consapevole e mezzo sconcertato tornò nei suoi occhi sbiaditi.

“Look in the drawer there,” he said, pointing at the desk. "Guarda nel cassetto lì", disse indicando la scrivania.

“Which drawer?”

“That drawer—that one.” "Quel cassetto, quel cassetto".

Michaelis opened the drawer nearest his hand. Michaelis aprì il cassetto più vicino alla sua mano. There was nothing in it but a small, expensive dog-leash, made of leather and braided silver. Non c'era altro che un piccolo e costoso guinzaglio per cani, fatto di cuoio e argento intrecciato. It was apparently new.

“This?” he inquired, holding it up.

Wilson stared and nodded.

“I found it yesterday afternoon. She tried to tell me about it, but I knew it was something funny.” Ha cercato di parlarmene, ma io sapevo che era qualcosa di divertente".

“You mean your wife bought it?” "Vuoi dire che l'ha comprato tua moglie?".

“She had it wrapped in tissue paper on her bureau.” "Lo teneva avvolto nella carta velina sulla scrivania".

Michaelis didn't see anything odd in that, and he gave Wilson a dozen reasons why his wife might have bought the dog-leash. Michaelis non ci vide nulla di strano e fornì a Wilson una dozzina di ragioni per cui sua moglie avrebbe potuto comprare il guinzaglio per cani. But conceivably Wilson had heard some of these same explanations before, from Myrtle, because he began saying “Oh, my God!” again in a whisper—his comforter left several explanations in the air. Ma probabilmente Wilson aveva già sentito alcune di queste spiegazioni da Myrtle, perché cominciò a dire di nuovo "Oh, mio Dio!" in un sussurro - il suo consolatore lasciò diverse spiegazioni nell'aria.

“Then he killed her,” said Wilson. "Poi l'ha uccisa", ha detto Wilson. His mouth dropped open suddenly. La sua bocca si spalancò all'improvviso.

“Who did?”

“I have a way of finding out.”

“You're morbid, George,” said his friend. "Sei morboso, George", disse l'amico. “This has been a strain to you and you don't know what you're saying. "Questo ti ha messo a dura prova e non sai cosa stai dicendo. You'd better try and sit quiet till morning.” È meglio che cerchi di stare tranquillo fino a domattina".

“He murdered her.”

“It was an accident, George.”

Wilson shook his head. His eyes narrowed and his mouth widened slightly with the ghost of a superior “Hm!” I suoi occhi si restrinsero e la sua bocca si allargò leggermente con lo spettro di un "Hm!" superiore.

“I know,” he said definitely. “I'm one of these trusting fellas and I don't think any harm to __no__body, but when I get to know a thing I know it. "Sono uno di quei tipi fiduciosi e non penso di fare del male a nessuno, ma quando conosco una cosa la conosco. It was the man in that car. She ran out to speak to him and he wouldn't stop.”

Michaelis had seen this too, but it hadn't occurred to him that there was any special significance in it. He believed that Mrs. Wilson had been running away from her husband, rather than trying to stop any particular car.

“How could she of been like that?” "Come ha potuto comportarsi così?".

“She's a deep one,” said Wilson, as if that answered the question. "È una persona profonda", disse Wilson, come se questo rispondesse alla domanda. “Ah-h-h—”

He began to rock again, and Michaelis stood twisting the leash in his hand. Cominciò a dondolare di nuovo, e Michaelis si alzò in piedi torcendo il guinzaglio nella sua mano.

“Maybe you got some friend that I could telephone for, George?” "Forse hai qualche amico per cui potrei telefonare, George?".

This was a forlorn hope—he was almost sure that Wilson had no friend: there was not enough of him for his wife. Si trattava di una speranza vana: era quasi certo che Wilson non avesse amici: non ce n'era abbastanza per sua moglie. He was glad a little later when he noticed a change in the room, a blue quickening by the window, and realized that dawn wasn't far off. Si rallegrò un po' più tardi quando notò un cambiamento nella stanza, un'accelerazione azzurra alla finestra, e capì che l'alba non era lontana. About five o'clock it was blue enough outside to snap off the light.

Wilson's glazed eyes turned out to the ash-heaps, where small grey clouds took on fantastic shapes and scurried here and there in the faint dawn wind. Gli occhi vitrei di Wilson si volsero verso i cumuli di cenere, dove piccole nuvole grigie assumevano forme fantastiche e si muovevano qua e là nel debole vento dell'alba.

“I spoke to her,” he muttered, after a long silence. “I told her she might fool me but she couldn't fool God. "Le ho detto che poteva ingannare me, ma non poteva ingannare Dio. I took her to the window”—with an effort he got up and walked to the rear window and leaned with his face pressed against it—“and I said ‘God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. L'ho portata al finestrino" - con uno sforzo si è alzato e si è avvicinato al finestrino posteriore, appoggiandovi il viso - "e le ho detto: "Dio sa cosa hai fatto, tutto quello che hai fatto". You may fool me, but you can't fool God!' ”

Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night.

“God sees everything,” repeated Wilson.

“That's an advertisement,” Michaelis assured him. Something made him turn away from the window and look back into the room. But Wilson stood there a long time, his face close to the window pane, nodding into the twilight. Ma Wilson rimase a lungo lì, con il viso vicino al vetro della finestra, annuendo nella penombra.

By six o'clock Michaelis was worn out, and grateful for the sound of a car stopping outside. Alle sei Michaelis era ormai sfinito e fu felice di sentire il rumore di un'auto che si fermava fuori. It was one of the watchers of the night before who had promised to come back, so he cooked breakfast for three, which he and the other man ate together. Wilson was quieter now, and Michaelis went home to sleep; when he awoke four hours later and hurried back to the garage, Wilson was gone.

His movements—he was on foot all the time—were afterward traced to Port Roosevelt and then to Gad's Hill, where he bought a sandwich that he didn't eat, and a cup of coffee. I suoi spostamenti - era sempre a piedi - furono poi tracciati fino a Port Roosevelt e poi a Gad's Hill, dove comprò un panino che non mangiò e una tazza di caffè. He must have been tired and walking slowly, for he didn't reach Gad's Hill until noon. Thus far there was no difficulty in accounting for his time—there were boys who had seen a man “acting sort of crazy,” and motorists at whom he stared oddly from the side of the road. Finora non c'erano state difficoltà a spiegare il suo tempo: c'erano stati ragazzi che avevano visto un uomo "comportarsi come un pazzo" e automobilisti che lo avevano fissato in modo strano dal ciglio della strada. Then for three hours he disappeared from view. The police, on the strength of what he said to Michaelis, that he “had a way of finding out,” supposed that he spent that time going from garage to garage thereabout, inquiring for a yellow car. La polizia, sulla base di ciò che disse a Michaelis, ovvero che "aveva un modo per scoprirlo", suppose che avesse trascorso quel periodo andando di garage in garage da quelle parti, alla ricerca di un'auto gialla. On the other hand, no garage man who had seen him ever came forward, and perhaps he had an easier, surer way of finding out what he wanted to know. D'altra parte, nessun garagista che lo avesse visto si era mai fatto avanti, e forse aveva un modo più semplice e sicuro per scoprire ciò che voleva sapere. By half-past two he was in West Egg, where he asked someone the way to Gatsby's house. Alle due e mezza era a West Egg, dove chiese a qualcuno la strada per la casa di Gatsby. So by that time he knew Gatsby's name.