At a lull in the entertainment the man looked at me and smiled.
在文娱节目中间休息的时候，那个男的看着我微笑。
lull [lʌl] n. 中场休息 a short period of calm in which little happens
"Your face is familiar," he said, politely. "Weren't you in the Third Division during the war?"
“您很面熟，”他很客气地说，“战争期间您不是在第一师吗？”
division [dɪˈvɪʒ(ə)n] n.〈军〉师
"Why, yes. I was in the Ninth Machine-Gun Battalion."
“正是啊。我在步兵二十八连。”
machine-gun [məˈʃiːnɡʌn] n. 机枪, 机关枪 vt. 用机枪扫射
battalion [bəˈtælɪən] n. 营；大队
"I was in the Seventh Infantry until June nineteen-eighteen. I knew I'd seen you somewhere before."
“我在十六连，直到一九八年六月，我刚才就知道我以前在哪儿见过您的。”
infantry [ˈɪnfəntrɪ] n. 步兵，步兵部队（集合名称）
We talked for a moment about some wet, grey little villages in France. Evidently he lived in this vicinity for he told me that he had just bought a hydroplane and was going to try it out in the morning.
我们谈了一会儿法国的一处阴雨、灰暗的小村庄，显而易见他就住在附近，因为他告诉我他刚买了一架水上飞机，并且准备明天早晨去试飞一下。
hydroplane [ˈhaɪdrəpleɪn] n. 水上飞机
"Want to go with me, old sport? Just near the shore along the Sound."
“愿意跟我一块去吗，老兄？就在海湾沿着岸边转转。”
old sport 老伙计
"What time?"
“什么时候？”
"Any time that suits you best."
“随便什么时候，对你合适就行。”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask his name when Jordan looked around and smiled.
我已经话到了嘴边想问他的名字，这时乔丹掉转头水朝我一笑。
"Having a gay time now?" she inquired.
“现在玩得快话吧？”她问。
gay [ɡeɪ] adj. 愉快的；快乐的
"Much better." I turned again to my new acquaintance. "This is an unusual party for me. I haven't even seen the host. I live over there----" I waved my hand at the invisible hedge in the distance, "and this man Gatsby sent over his chauffeur with an invitation."
“好多了。”我又掉转脸对着我的新交，“这对我来说是个奇特的晚会。我连主人都还没见到哩。我就住在那边……”我朝着远处看不见的的篱笆把一挥。“这位姓盖茨比的派他的他司机过来送了一份请帖。”
For a moment he looked at me as if he failed to understand.
他朝我望了一会儿，似乎没听懂我的话。
"I'm Gatsby," he said suddenly.
“我就是盖茨比”他突然说。
"What!" I exclaimed. "Oh, I beg your pardon."
“什么！”我叫了一声，“噢，真对不起。”
"I thought you knew, old sport. I'm afraid I'm not a very good host."
“我还以为你知道哩，老兄。我恐怕不是个很好的主人。”
He smiled understandingly--much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. Precisely at that point it vanished--and I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. Some time before he introduced himself I'd got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care.
他心领神会地一笑——还不止心领神会。这足极为罕见的笑容，其中含有永久的善意的表情，这你一辈子也不过能遇见四二次。它面对——或者似乎面对——整个永恒的世界一刹那，然后就凝注在你身上，对你表现出不可抗拒的偏爱。他了解你恰恰到你本人希望被了解的程度，相信你如同你乐于相信你自己那样，并且教你放心他对你的印象正是你最得意时希望给予别人的印象。恰好在这一刻他的笑容消失了——于是我看着的不过是一个风度翩翩的年轻汉子，三十一二岁年纪，说起话来文质彬彬，几乎有点可笑。在他作自我介绍之前不久，我有一个强烈的印象，觉得他说话字斟句酌。
reassurance [ˌriːəˈʃuərəns] n. something that is said or done which makes someone feel calmer and less worried or frightened about a problem
roughneck [ˈrʌf.nek] n. a worker on an oilrig (= a large piece of equipment for getting oil from underground) ; MAINLY US AND AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH INFORMAL a person who is rough and rude, usually a man
Almost at the moment when Mr. Gatsby identified himself a butler hurried toward him with the information that Chicago was calling him on the wire. He excused himself with a small bow that included each of us in turn.
差不多在盖茨比先生说明自己身份的那一刻，一个男管家急急忙忙跑到他跟前报告他芝加哥有长途电话找他。他微微欠身道歉，把我们大家——包括在内。
"If you want anything just ask for it, old sport," he urged me.
"Excuse me. I will rejoin you later."
“你想要什么尽管开口，老兄，”他恳切地对我说，“对不起，过会儿再来奉陪。”
When he was gone I turned immediately to Jordan--constrained to assure her of my surprise. I had expected that Mr. Gatsby would be a florid and corpulent person in his middle years.
他走开之后，我马上转向乔丹——迫不及待地要告诉她我感到的惊异。我本来以为盖茨比先生是个红光满面、肥头大耳的中年人。
constrain [kənˈstreɪn] v. 强使；强逼
florid [ˈflɔrɪd] adj. 过分花哨的; 红的（脸）
corpulent [ˈkɔːpjʊlənt] adj. 肥胖的；肥大的
"Who is he?" I demanded. "Do you know?"
“他是谁？”我急切地问，“你可知道？”
"He's just a man named Gatsby."
“他就是一个姓盖茨比的人呗。”
"Where is he from, I mean? And what does he do?"
“我是问他是哪儿来的？他又是干什么的？”
"Now YOU're started on the subject," she answered with a wan smile.
"Well,--he told me once he was an Oxford man."
“现在你也琢磨起这个题目来了，”她厌倦地笑道，“唔，他告诉过我他上过牛津大学。”
wan [wɔn] adj. 面带病容的；面带倦容的；憔悴的
A dim background started to take shape behind him but at her next remark it faded away.
关于他的模糊的背景开始显现出来，但是随着她的下一句话又立即消大了。
"However, I don't believe it."
“可是，我并不相信。”
"Why not?"
“为什么不信？”
"I don't know," she insisted, "I just don't think he went there."
“我不知道，”她固执地说，“我就是不相信他上过牛津。”
Something in her tone reminded me of the other girl's "I think he killed a man," and had the effect of stimulating my curiosity. I would have accepted without question the information that Gatsby sprang from the swamps of Louisiana or from the lower East Side of New York. That was comprehensible.
她的语气之中有点什么使我想起另外那个姑娘说的“我想他杀过一个人”，其结果是打动了我的好奇心。随便说盖茨比出身于路易斯安那州的沼泽地区也好，出身于纽约东城南区也好，我都可以毫无疑问地接受。那是可以理解的。
spring from: appear suddenly from（somewhere）突然从（某处）出现
But young men didn't--at least in my provincial inexperience I believed they didn't--drift coolly out of nowhere and buy a palace on Long Island Sound.
但是年纪轻的人不可能——至少我这个孤陋寡闻的多余人认为他们不可能——不知从什么地方悄悄地出现，在长岛海湾买下一座宫殿式的别墅。
provincial [prəˈvɪnʃ(ə)l] adj. 粗俗的，偏狭的，一省居民所特有的（语言、衣着等）
"Anyhow he gives large parties," said Jordan, changing the subject with an urbane distaste for the concrete. "And I like large parties. "They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy."
“不管怎样，他举行大型宴会，”乔丹像一般城里人一样不屑于谈具体细节，所以改换了话题，“而我也喜欢大型宴会。这样亲热得很。在小的聚会上，三三两两谈心倒不可能。”
intimate [ˈɪntɪmət] adj. 亲近的；亲密的；熟悉的
There was the boom of a bass drum, and the voice of the orchestra leader rang out suddenly above the echolalia of the garden.
大鼓轰隆隆一阵响，接着突然传来乐队指挥的声音，盖过了花园里嘈杂的人声。
boom [buːm] n. 隆隆响
Echolalia 模仿言语 (also known as echologia or echophrasia) is defined as the unsolicited repetition of vocalizations made by another person (by the same person is called palilalia).
"Ladies and gentlemen," he cried. "At the request of Mr. Gatsby we are going to play for you Mr. Vladimir Tostoff's latest work which attracted so much attention at Carnegie Hall last May. If you read the papers you know there was a big sensation." He smiled with jovial condescension and added "Some sensation!" whereupon everybody laughed.
“女士们，先生们，”他大声说，“应盖茨比先生的要求，我们现在为各位演奏弗拉迪米尔·托斯托夫先生的最新作品，这部作品五月里在卡内基音乐厅曾经引起许多人的注意。各位看报就知道那是轰动一时的事件。”他带着轻松而居高临下的神气微微一笑，又说：“可真叫轰动！”这句话引得大家都放声大笑。
jovial [ˈdʒəʊvɪəl] adj. 友好的；天性快活的；愉快的
condescension [kɔndɪˈsenʃ(ə)n] n. 屈尊，俯就
whereupon [weərəˈpɔn] conj. 于是
"The piece is known," he concluded lustily, "as 'Vladimir Tostoff's Jazz History of the World.' "
“这支乐曲，”他最后用洪亮的声音说，“叫做《弗拉迪米尔·托斯托夫的爵土音乐世界史》。”
lustily [`lʌstIlI] 精力充沛地; 起劲地; 健壮地
The nature of Mr. Tostoff's composition eluded me, because just as it began my eyes fell on Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another with approving eyes.
托斯托夫先生这个乐曲是怎么回事，我没有注意到，因为演奏一开始，我就一眼看到了盖茨比单独一个人站在大理石台阶上面，用满意的目光从这一群人看到那一群人。
elude [ɪˈluːd] v. If something that you want eludes you, you do not succeed in achieving it; If a piece of information eludes you, you cannot remember it; to not be caught by someone
His tanned skin was drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked as though it were trimmed every day. I could see nothing sinister about him. I wondered if the fact that he was not drinking helped to set him off from his guests, for it seemed to me that he grew more correct as the fraternal hilarity increased.
他那晒得黑黑的皮肤很漂亮地紧绷在脸上，他那短短的头发看上去好像是每天都修剪似的。我看不出他身上有什么诡秘的迹象。我纳闷是否他不喝酒这个事实有助于把他跟他的客人们截然分开，因为我觉得随着沆瀣一气的欢闹的高涨，他却变得越发端庄了。
trimmed [trɪmd] adj. 切边；平衡的；纵倾的；修整过的 If clothes and other cloth items are trimmed, they are decorated, especially around the edges
sinister [ˈsɪnɪstə(r)] adj. 不吉的；不祥的；凶恶的
fraternal [frəˈtɜːn(ə)l] adj. 兄弟的，兄弟般的
hilarity [hɪˈlærɪtɪ] n. 欢乐；热闹
When the "Jazz History of the World" was over girls were putting their heads on men's shoulders in a puppyish, convivial way, girls were swooning backward playfully into men's arms, even into groups knowing that some one would arrest their falls--but no one swooned backward on Gatsby and no French bob touched Gatsby's shoulder and no singing quartets were formed with Gatsby's head for one link.
等到《爵士音乐世界史》演奏完毕，有的姑娘像小哈巴狗一样乐滋滋地靠在男人肩膀上，有的姑娘开玩笑地向后晕倒在男人怀抱里，甚至倒进人群里，明知反正有人会把她们托住——可是没有人晕倒在盖茨比身上，也没有法国式的短发碰到盖茨比的肩头，也没有人组织四人合唱团来拉盖茨比加入。
puppyish [`pʌpIIʃ] adj. 小狗的；小狗天性的
convivial [kənˈvɪvɪəl] adj. 欢宴的, 爱吃喝交际的；欢乐的, 乐天的
swoon [swuːn] v. 着迷, 神魂颠倒 to feel a lot of pleasure, love, etc. because of something or someone
"I beg your pardon."
“对不起。”
Gatsby's butler was suddenly standing beside us.
盖茨比的男管家忽然站在我们身旁。
"Miss Baker?" he inquired. "I beg your pardon but Mr. Gatsby would like to speak to you alone."
“贝克小姐？”他问道，“对不起，盖茨比先生想单独跟您谈谈。”
"With me?" she exclaimed in surprise.
“跟我谈？”她惊奇地大声说。
"Yes, madame."
“是的，小姐。”
She got up slowly, raising her eyebrows at me in astonishment, and followed the butler toward the house. I noticed that she wore her evening dress, all her dresses, like sports clothes--there was a jauntiness about her movements as if she had first learned to walk upon golf courses on clean, crisp mornings.
她慢慢地站了起来，惊愕地对我扬了扬眉毛，然后跟着男管家向房子走去。我注意到她穿晚礼服，穿所有的衣服，都像穿运动服一样——她的动作有一种矫健的姿势，仿佛她当初就是在空气清新的早晨在高尔夫球场上学走路的。
jauntiness ['dʒɔ:ntinis] n. 活泼；高兴；洋洋得意
I was alone and it was almost two. For some time confused and intriguing sounds had issued from a long many-windowed room which overhung the terrace. Eluding Jordan's undergraduate who was now engaged in an obstetrical conversation with two chorus girls, and who implored me to join him, I went inside.
我独自一人，时间已快两点了。有好一会儿，从阳台上面一间长长的、有许多窗户的房间里传来了一阵阵杂乱而引人人胜的声音。乔丹的那位大学生此刻正在和两个歌舞团的舞女大谈助产术，央求我去加人，可是我溜掉了，走到室内去。
overhang [əʊvəˈhæŋ] v. 倒悬, 悬垂; 吊在…上; 向…伸出; 威胁, 逼近
terrace [ˈterəs] n. 倾斜的平地, 台地, 梯田；阳台, 平台, 平屋顶
obstetrical [-trIkl] adj. 产科(学)的;分娩的
The large room was full of people. One of the girls in yellow was playing the piano and beside her stood a tall, red haired young lady from a famous chorus, engaged in song. She had drunk a quantity of champagne and during the course of her song she had decided ineptly that everything was very very sad--she was not only singing, she was weeping too. Whenever there was a pause in the song she filled it with gasping broken sobs and then took up the lyric again in a quavering soprano. The tears coursed down her cheeks--not freely, however, for when they came into contact with her heavily beaded eyelashes they assumed an inky color, and pursued the rest of their way in slow black rivulets. A humorous suggestion was made that she sing the notes on her face whereupon she threw up her hands, sank into a chair and went off into a deep vinous sleep.
大房间里挤满了人。穿黄衣的姑娘有一个在弹钢琴，她身旁站着一个高高的红发少妇，是从一个有名的歌舞团来的，正在那里唱歌。她已经喝了大量的香摈，在她唱歌的过程中她又不合时宜地认定一切都非常非常悲惨——她不仅在唱，而且还在哭。每逢曲中有停顿的地方，她就用抽抽噎噎的哭声来填补，然后又用震颤的女高音继续去唱歌词。眼泪沿着她的面颊往下流——可不是畅通无阻地流，因为眼泪一碰到画得浓浓的睫毛之后就变成了黑墨水，像两条黑色的小河似的慢慢地继续往下流。有人开玩笑，建议她唱脸上的那些音符，她听了这话把两手向上一甩，倒在一张椅子上，醉醺醺地呼呼大睡起来。
ineptly [i'neptli] adv. 不适当地；无能地
gasping ['ɡɑ:spiŋ] adj. 喘气的；痉挛的
quavering adj. 颤抖的；震动的
soprano [səˈprɑːnəʊ] n.女高音; 最高音
rivulet [ˈrɪvjʊlɪt] n. 小河, 小溪
vinous [ˈvaɪnəs] adj. 葡萄酒的；像葡萄酒的
"She had a fight with a man who says he's her husband," explained a girl at my elbow.
“她刚才跟一个自称是她丈夫的人打过一架。”我身旁一个姑娘解释说。
at your elbow: 在手旁, 伸手可及, 在近旁 (keeps book at his elbow 手不释卷)
I looked around. Most of the remaining women were now having fights with men said to be their husbands. Even Jordan's party, the quartet from East Egg, were rent asunder by dissension. One of the men was talking with curious intensity to a young actress, and his wife after attempting to laugh at the situation in a dignified and indifferent way broke down entirely and resorted to flank attacks--at intervals she appeared suddenly at his side like an angry diamond, and hissed "You promised!" into his ear.
我向四周看看，剩下的女客现在多半都在跟她们所谓的丈夫吵架。连乔丹的那一伙，从东卵来的那四位，也由于意见不和而四分五裂了。男的当中有一个正在劲头十足地跟一个年轻的女演员交谈，他的妻子起先还保持尊严，装得满不在乎，想一笑置之，到后来完全垮了，就采取侧面攻击——不时突然出现在他身边，像一条袖脊蛇愤怒时口腔里发出嘶嘶声一般，对着他的耳朵从牙缝里挤出一句话：“你答应过的！”
quartet [kwɔːˈtet] n. 四重奏, 四重唱, 四重奏乐团 （亦作：quartette）
rend [rend] v. rent, rending 割裂, 劈开；扯破, 撕碎
asunder [əˈsʌndə(r)] adv. 分开；离散
dissension [dɪˈsenʃ(ə)n] n. 分歧；不同
flank [flæŋk] n. 胁腹, 肋骨与臂部之间的部位；侧面
hiss [hɪs] v. 发出嘶嘶声
