听英文名着可以耳朵怀孕 | 里昂读《了不起的盖茨比》- 009

听英文名著可以耳朵怀孕

里昂读《了不起的盖茨比》

试听部分

第二章

About half way between West Egg and New York the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land.

西卵和纽约之间大约一半路程的地方，汽车路匆匆忙忙跟铁路会合，它在铁路旁边跑上四分之一英里，为的是要躲开一片荒凉的地方。

This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens;

这是一个灰烬的山谷--一个离奇古怪的农场，在这里灰烬像麦子一样生长，长成小山小丘和奇形怪状的园子。

where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.

在这里灰烬堆成房屋、烟囱和炊烟的形式，最后，经过超绝的努力，堆成一个个灰蒙蒙的人，隐隐约约地在走动，而且已经在尘土飞扬的空气中化为灰烬了。

Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight.

有时一列灰色的货车慢慢沿着一条看不见的轨道爬行，叽嘎一声鬼叫，停了下来，马上那些灰蒙蒙的人就拖着铁铲一窝蜂拥上来，扬起一片尘土，让你看不到他们隐秘的活动。

　　But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg.

但是，在这片灰蒙蒙的土地以及永远宠罩在它上空的一阵阵暗淡的尘上的上面，你过一会儿就看到T·J·埃克尔堡大夫的眼睛。

The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic—their irises are one yard high.

埃克尔堡大夫的眼睛是蓝色的，庞大无比--瞳仁就有一码高。

They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose.

这双眼睛不是从一张脸上向外看，而是从架在一个不存在的鼻子上的一副硕大无朋的黄色眼镜向外看。

Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal blindness, or forgot them and moved away.

显然是一个异想天开的眼科医生把它们坚在那儿的，为了招徐生意，扩大他在皇后区的业务，到后来大概他自己也永远闭上了眼睛，再不然就是撇下它们搬走了。

But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground.

但是，他留下的那两只眼睛，由于年深月久，日晒雨淋，油漆剥落，光彩虽不如前，却依然若有所思，阴郁地俯视着这片阴沉沉的灰堆。

The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by a small foul river, and, when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour.

灰烬谷一边有条肮脏的小河流过，每逢河上吊桥拉起让驳船通过，等候过桥的火车上的乘客就得盯着这片凄凉景色，时间长达半小时之久。

There is always a halt there of at least a minute, and it was because of this that I first met Tom Buchanan’s mistress.

平时火车在这里至少也要停一分钟，也正由于这个缘故，我才初次见到汤姆·布坎农的情妇。

　　The fact that he had one was insisted upon wherever he was known.

他有个情妇，这是所有知道他的人都认定的事实。

His acquaintances resented the fact that he turned up in popular restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomsoever he knew.

他的熟人都很气愤，因为他常常带着她上时髦的馆子，并且，让她在一张桌子旁坐下后，自己就走来走去，跟他认识的人拉呱。

Though I was curious to see her, I had no desire to meet her—but I did. I went up to New York with Tom on the train one afternoon, and when we stopped by the ashheaps he jumped to his feet and, taking hold of my elbow, literally forced me from the car.

我虽然好奇，想看看她，可井不想和她见面--但是我会到她了，一天下午，我跟汤姆同行搭火车上纽约去。等我们在灰堆停下来的时候，他一骨碌跳了起来，抓住我的胳膊肘，简直是强迫我下了车。

　　“We’re getting off,” he insisted. “I want you to meet my girl.”

"我们在这儿下车，"他断然地说，"我要你见见我的女朋友。"

　　I think he’d tanked up a good deal at luncheon, and his determination to have my company bordered on violence. The supercilious assumption was that on Sunday afternoon I had nothing better to do.

大概他那天午饭时喝得够多的，因此他硬要我陪他的做法近乎暴力行为。他狂妄自大地认为，我在星期天下午似乎没有什么更有意思的事情可做。

　　I followed him over a low whitewashed railroad fence, and we walked back a hundred yards along the road under Doctor Eckleburg’s persistent stare. The only building in sight was a small block of yellow brick sitting on the edge of the waste land, a sort of compact Main Street ministering to it, and contiguous to absolutely nothing. One of the three shops it contained was for rent and another was an all-night restaurant, approached by a trail of ashes; the third was a garage—Repairs. GEORGE B. WILSON. Cars bought and sold.—and I followed Tom inside.

我跟着他跨过一排刷得雪白的低低的铁路栅栏，然后沿着公路，在埃克尔堡大夫目不转睛的注视之下，往回走了一百码。眼前唯一的建筑物是一小排黄砖房子，坐落在这片荒原的边缘，大概是供应本地居民生活必需品的一条小型"主街"①，左右隔壁一无所有。这排房子里有三家店铺，一家正在招租，另一家是通宵营业的饭馆，门前有一条炉渣小道；第三家是个汽车修理行--"乔治·B·威尔逊。修理汽车。买卖汽车。"我跟着汤姆走了进去。①美国小城镇往往只有一条大街，商店集中在这条街上，通称"主街"。

　　The interior was unprosperous and bare; the only car visible was the dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner. It had occurred to me that this shadow of a garage must be a blind, and that sumptuous and romantic apartments were concealed overhead, when the proprietor himself appeared in the door of an office, wiping his hands on a piece of waste. He was a blond, spiritless man, anaemic, and faintly handsome. When he saw us a damp gleam of hope sprang into his light blue eyes.

车行里毫无兴旺的气象，空空如也。只看见一辆汽车，一部盖满灰尘、破旧不堪的福特车，蹲在阴暗的角落里。我忽然想到，这间有名无实的车行莫不是个幌子，而楼上却掩藏着豪华温馨的房间，这时老板出现在一间办公室的门口，不停地在一块抹布上擦着手。他是个头发金黄、没精打采的人，脸上没有血色，样子还不难看。他一看见我们，那对浅蓝的眼睛就流露出一线暗淡的希望。

　　“Hello, Wilson, old man,” said Tom, slapping him jovially on the shoulder. “How’s business?”

"哈罗，威尔逊，你这家伙，"汤姆说，一面嘻嘻哈哈地拍拍他的肩膀，"生意怎么样？"

　　“I can’t complain,” answered Wilson unconvincingly. “When are you going to sell me that car?”

"还可以，"威尔逊缺乏说服力地回答，"你什么时候才把那部车子卖给我？"

　　“Next week; I’ve got my man working on it now.”

"下星期。我现在已经让我的司机在整修它了。"

　　“Works pretty slow, don’t he?”

"他干得很慢，是不是？"

　　“No, he doesn’t,” said Tom coldly. “And if you feel that way about it, maybe I’d better sell it somewhere else after all.”

"不，他干得不慢，"汤姆冷冷地说，"如果你有这样的看法，也许我还是把它拿到别处去卖为好。"

　　“I don’t mean that,” explained Wilson quickly. “I just meant——”

"我不是这个意思，"威尔逊连忙解释，"我只是说……"

　　His voice faded off and Tom glanced impatiently around the garage. Then I heard footsteps on a stairs, and in a moment the thickish figure of a woman blocked out the light from the office door. She was in the middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can. Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty, but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smouldering. She smiled slowly and, walking through her husband as if he were a ghost, shook hands with Tom, looking him flush in the eye. Then she wet her lips, and without turning around spoke to her husband in a soft, coarse voice:

他的声音逐渐消失，同时汤姆不耐烦地向车行四面张望。接着我听到楼梯上有脚步的声音，过了一会儿一个女人粗粗的身材挡住了办公室门口的光线。她年纪三十五六，身子胖胖的，可是如同有些女人一样，胖得很美。她穿了一件有油渍的深蓝双绉连衣裙，她的脸庞没有一丝一毫的美，但是她有一种显而易见的活力，仿佛她浑身的神经都在不停地燃烧。她慢慢地一笑，然后大摇大摆地从她丈夫身边穿过，仿佛他只是个幽灵，走过来跟汤姆握手，两眼直盯着他。接着她用舌头润了润嘴唇，头也不回就低低地、粗声粗气地对她丈夫说：

　　“Get some chairs, why don’t you, so somebody can sit down.”

"你怎么不拿两张椅子来，让人家坐下。"