听英文名着可以耳朵怀孕 | 里昂读《了不起的盖茨比》-059

听英文名著可以耳朵怀孕

里昂读《了不起的盖茨比》

温馨提示

如遇到微信BUG不能完整播放

There was a long silence on the other end of the wire, followed by an exclamation . . . then a quick squawk as the connection was broken.

电话线那头沉默了好久，接着是一声惊叫……然后卡嗒一声电话就挂断了。

I think it was on the third day that a telegram signed Henry C. Gatz arrived from a town in Minnesota. It said only that the sender was leaving immediately and to postpone the funeral until he came.

我想大概是第三天，从明尼苏达州的一个小城镇来了一封署名亨利?C?盖兹的电报。上面只说发电人马上动身，要求等他到达后再举行葬礼。

It was Gatsby’s father, a solemn old man, very helpless and dismayed, bundled up in a long cheap ulster against the warm September day. His eyes leaked continuously with excitement, and when I took the bag and umbrella from his hands he began to pull so incessantly at his sparse gray beard that I had difficulty in getting off his coat. He was on the point of collapse, so I took him into the music room and made him sit down while I sent for something to eat. But he wouldn’t eat, and the glass of milk spilled from his trembling hand.

来的是盖茨比的父亲，一个很庄重的老头子，非常可怜，非常沮丧，这样暖和的九月天就裹上了一件蹩脚的长外套。他激动得眼泪不住地往下流，我从他手里把旅行包和雨伞接过来时，他不停地伸手去拉他那摄稀稀的花白胡须。我好不容易才帮他脱下了大衣。他人快要垮了，不是我一而把他领到音乐厅里去，让他坐下，一面打发人去搞一点吃的来，但是他不肯吃东西，那杯牛奶也从他哆哆嗦嗦的手里泼了出来。

“I saw it in the Chicago newspaper,” he said. “It was all in the Chicago newspaper. I started right away.”

"我从芝加哥报纸上看到的，"他说，"芝加哥报纸上全都登了出来，我马上就动身了。"

“I didn’t know how to reach you.” His eyes, seeing nothing, moved ceaselessly about the room.

"我没法子通知您。"他的眼睛现而不见，可是不停地向屋子里四面看。

“It was a madman,” he said. “He must have been mad.”

"是一个疯子干的，"他说，"他一定是疯了。"

“Wouldn’t you like some coffee?” I urged him.

"您喝杯咖啡不好吗？"我劝他。

“I don’t want anything. I’m all right now, Mr.——”

"我什么都不要。我现在好了，您是……"

“Carraway.”

"卡罗威。"

“Well, I’m all right now. Where have they got Jimmy?” I took him into the drawing-room, where his son lay, and left him there. Some little boys had come up on the steps and were looking into the hall; when I told them who had arrived, they went reluctantly away.

"呃，我现在好了。他们把杰米放在哪儿？"

After a little while Mr. Gatz opened the door and came out, his mouth ajar, his face flushed slightly, his eyes leaking isolated and unpunctual tears. He had reached an age where death no longer has the quality of ghastly surprise, and when he looked around him now for the first time and saw the height and splendor of the hall and the great rooms opening out from it into other rooms, his grief began to be mixed with an awed pride. I helped him to a bedroom up-stairs; while he took off his coat and vest I told him that all arrangements had been deferred until he came.

我把他领进客厅里他儿子停放的地方，把他留在那甲。有几个小男孩爬上了台阶，正在往门厅里张望。等到我告诉他们是谁来了，他们才勉勉强强地走开了。过了一会儿盖兹先生打开门走了出来，他嘴巴张着，脸微微有点红，眼睛"断断续续洒下地滴泪水。他已经到了并不把死亡看作一件骇人听闻的事情的年纪，于是此刻地第一次向四周一望，看见门厅如此富丽堂皇，一间间大屋子从这中又通向别的屋子，他的悲伤就开始和一股又惊讶又骄傲的感情交织在一起了。我把他搀到楼上的一间卧室里。他一面脱上衣和背心，我一面告诉他一切安排都推迟了，等他来决定。

“I didn’t know what you’d want, Mr. Gatsby——”

"我当时不知道您要怎么办，盖茨比先生……"

“Gatz is my name.”

"我姓盖兹。"

“—Mr. Gatz. I thought you might want to take the body West.”

"盖兹先生，我以为您也许要把遗体运到西部去。"

He shook his head.

他摇了摇头。

“Jimmy always liked it better down East. He rose up to his position in the East. Were you a friend of my boy’s, Mr.—?”

"杰米一向喜欢待在东部。他是在东部上升到他这个地位的。你是我孩子的朋友吗，先生？"

“We were close friends.”

"我们是很知己的朋友。"

“He had a big future before him, you know. He was only a young man, but he had a lot of brain power here.”

"他是大有前程的，你知道。他只是个年轻人，但是他在这个地方很有能耐。"

He touched his head impressively, and I nodded.

他郑重其事地用手碰碰脑袋，我也点了点头。

“If he’d of lived, he’d of been a great man. A man like James J. Hill. He’d of helped build up the country.”

"假使他活下去的话，他会成为一个大人物的，像詹姆斯?J?希尔①那样的人，他会帮助建设国家的。"

①詹姆斯?J?希尔（james.J.Hill，1838－l916），美国铁路大王。

“That’s true,” I said, uncomfortably.

"确实是那样，"我局促不安地说。

He fumbled at the embroidered coverlet, trying to take it from the bed, and lay down stiffly—was instantly asleep.

他笨手笨脚地把绣花被单扯来扯去，想把它从床上拉下来，接着就硬邦邦地躺下去--立刻就睡着了。

That night an obviously frightened person called up, and demanded to know who I was before he would give his name.

那天晚上一个显然害怕的人打电话来，一定要先知道我是谁才肯报他自己的姓名。

“This is Mr. Carraway,” I said.

"我是卡罗威一"我说。

“Oh!” He sounded relieved. “This is Klipspringer.”

"哦！"他似乎感到宽慰，"我是克利普斯普林格。"

I was relieved too, for that seemed to promise another friend at Gatsby’s grave. I didn’t want it to be in the papers and draw a sightseeing crowd, so I’d been calling up a few people myself. They were hard to find.

我也感到宽慰，因为这一来盖茨比的墓前可能会多一个朋友了。我不愿意登报，引来一大堆看热闹的人，所以我就自己打电话通知了几个人。他们可真难找到。

“Oh, I will,” he broke out hastily. “Of course I’m not likely to see anybody, but if I do.”

"明天出殡，"我说，"下午三点，就在此地家里。我希望你转告凡是有意参加的人。""哦，一定，"他忙说，"当然啦，我不大可能见到什么人，但是如果我碰到的活。"

His tone made me suspicious.

他的语气使我起了疑心。

“Of course you’ll be there yourself.”

"你自己当然是要来的。"

“Well, I’ll certainly try. What I called up about is——”

"呃，找一定想法子来。我打电话来是要问……"

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted. “How about saying you’ll come?”

"等等，"我打断了他的活，"先说你一定来怎么样？"

“Well, the fact is—the truth of the matter is that I’m staying with some people up here in Greenwich, and they rather expect me to be with them to-morrow. In fact, there’s a sort of picnic or something. Of course I’ll do my very best to get away.”

"呃，事实是……实际情况是这样的，我目前待在格林威治这里朋友家里，人家指望我明大和他们一起玩。事实上，明天要去野餐什么的。当然我走得开一定来。"

I ejaculated an unrestrained “Huh!” and he must have heard me, for he went on nervously:

我忍不住叫了一声"嘿"，他也一定听到了，因为他很紧张地往下说：

“What I called up about was a pair of shoes I left there. Iwonder if it’d be too much trouble to have the butler send them on. You see, they’re tennis shoes, and I’m sort of helpless without them. My address is care of B. F.——”

"我打电话来是为了我留在那里的一双鞋。不知道能不能麻烦你让男管家给我寄来，你知道，那是双网球鞋，我离了它简直没办法。我的地址是B?F……"

I didn’t hear the rest of the name, because I hung up the receiver.

我没听他说完那个名字就把话筒挂上了。

After that I felt a certain shame for Gatsby—one gentleman to whom I telephoned implied that he had got what he deserved. However, that was my fault, for he was one of those who used to sneer most bitterly at Gatsby on the courage of Gatsby’s liquor, and I should have known better than to call him.

在那以后我为盖茨比感到羞愧--还有一个我打电话去找的人竟然表示他是死有应得的。不过，这是我的过错，因为他是那些当初喝足了盖茨比的酒就大骂盖茨比的客人中的一个，我本来就不应该打电话给他的。