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Chapter 1
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Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;

If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,

Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,

I must have you!"

--THOMAS PARKE D'INVILLIERS

Chapter 1

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven1't had the advantages that you've had."

He didn't say any more but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence I'm inclined to reserve all judgments2, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person, and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy3 to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men. Most of the confidences were unsought--frequently I have feigned5 sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity6 when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon--for the intimate revelations of young men or at least the terms in which they express them are usually plagiaristic7 and marred8 by obvious suppressions. Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly9 suggested, and I snobbishly repeat a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.

And, after boasting this way of my tolerance10, I come to the admission that it has a limit. Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or the wet marshes11 but after a certain point I don't care what it's founded on.

When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous13 excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt14 from my reaction--Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified15 under the name of the "creative temperament16"--it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. No--Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed17 on Gatsby, what foul18 dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive19 sorrows and short-winded elations of men.

My family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this middle-western city for three generations. The Carraways are something of a clan20 and we have a tradition that we're descended21 from the Dukes of Buccleuch, but the actual founder22 of my line was my grandfather's brother who came here in fifty-one, sent a substitute to the Civil War and started the wholesale23 hardware business that my father carries on today.

I never saw this great-uncle but I'm supposed to look like him--with special reference to the rather hard-boiled painting that hangs in Father's office. I graduated from New Haven in 1915, just a quarter of a century after my father, and a little later I participated in that delayed Teutonic migration24 known as the Great War. I enjoyed the counter-raid so thoroughly25 that I came back restless. Instead of being the warm center of the world the middle-west now seemed like the ragged26 edge of the universe--so I decided27 to go east and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business so I supposed it could support one more single man. All my aunts and uncles talked it over as if they were choosing a prep-school for me and finally said, "Why--yees" with very grave, hesitant faces. Father agreed to finance me for a year and after various delays I came east, permanently28, I thought, in the spring of twenty-two.

The practical thing was to find rooms in the city but it was a warm season and I had just left a country of wide lawns and friendly trees, so when a young man at the office suggested that we take a house together in a commuting29 town it sounded like a great idea. He found the house, a weather beaten cardboard bungalow30 at eighty a month, but at the last minute the firm ordered him to Washington and I went out to the country alone. I had a dog, at least I had him for a few days until he ran away, and an old Dodge31 and a Finnish woman who made my bed and cooked breakfast and muttered Finnish wisdom to herself over the electric stove.

It was lonely for a day or so until one morning some man, more recently arrived than I, stopped me on the road.

"How do you get to West Egg village?" he asked helplessly.

I told him. And as I walked on I was lonely no longer. I was a guide, a pathfinder, an original settler. He had casually32 conferred on me the freedom of the neighborhood.

And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees--just as things grow in fast movies--I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.

There was so much to read for one thing and so much fine health to be pulled down out of the young breath-giving air. I bought a dozen volumes on banking33 and credit and investment securities and they stood on my shelf in red and gold like new money from the mint, promising34 to unfold the shining secrets that only Midas and Morgan and Maecenas knew. And I had the high intention of reading many other books besides.

I was rather literary in college--one year I wrote a series of very solemn and obvious editorials for the "Yale News"--and now I was going to bring back all such things into my life and become again that most limited of all specialists, the "well-rounded man." This isn't just an epigram--life is much more successfully looked at from a single window, after all.

It was a matter of chance that I should have rented a house in one of the strangest communities in North America. It was on that slender riotous island which extends itself due east of New York and where there are, among other natural curiosities, two unusual formations of land. Twenty miles from the city a pair of enormous eggs, identical in contour and separated only by a courtesy bay, jut35 out into the most domesticated36 body of salt water in the Western Hemisphere, the great wet barnyard of Long Island Sound. They are not perfect ovals--like the egg in the Columbus story they are both crushed flat at the contact end--but their physical resemblance must be a source of perpetual confusion to the gulls37 that fly overhead. To the wingless a more arresting phenomenon is their dissimilarity in every particular except shape and size.

I lived at West Egg, the--well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister38 contrast between them. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal39 affair by any standard--it was a factual imitation of some H?tel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking40 new under a thin beard of raw ivy4, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby's mansion41.

Or rather, as I didn't know Mr. Gatsby it was a mansion inhabited by a gentleman of that name. My own house was an eye-sore, but it was a small eye-sore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor's lawn, and the consoling proximity42 of millionaires--all for eighty dollars a month.

Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water, and the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom Buchanans. Daisy was my second cousin once removed and I'd known Tom in college. And just after the war I spent two days with them in Chicago.

Her husband, among various physical accomplishments43, had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven--a national figure in a way, one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence44 at twenty-one that everything afterward45 savors46 of anti-climax. His family were enormously wealthy--even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach--but now he'd left Chicago and come east in a fashion that rather took your breath away: for instance he'd brought down a string of polo ponies47 from Lake Forest.

It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that.

Why they came east I don't know. They had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together. This was a permanent move, said Daisy over the telephone, but I didn't believe it--I had no sight into Daisy's heart but I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence48 of some irrecoverable football game.

And so it happened that on a warm windy evening I drove over to East Egg to see two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all. Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens--finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum49 of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold, and wide open to the warm windy afternoon, and Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing50 with his legs apart on the front porch.

He had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious51 manner.

Two shining, arrogant52 eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body--he seemed to fill those glistening53 boots until he strained the top lacing and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage--a cruel body.

His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor54, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. There was a touch of paternal55 contempt in it, even toward people he liked--and there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts56.

"Now, don't think my opinion on these matters is final," he seemed to say, "just because I'm stronger and more of a man than you are." We were in the same Senior Society, and while we were never intimate I always had the impression that he approved of me and wanted me to like him with some harsh, defiant57 wistfulness of his own.

We talked for a few minutes on the sunny porch.

"I've got a nice place here," he said, his eyes flashing about restlessly.

Turning me around by one arm he moved a broad flat hand along the front vista58, including in its sweep a sunken Italian garden, a half acre of deep pungent59 roses and a snub-nosed motor boat that bumped the tide off shore.

"It belonged to Demaine the oil man." He turned me around again, politely and abruptly60. "We'll go inside."

We walked through a high hallway into a bright rosy-colored space, fragilely bound into the house by French windows at either end.

The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house. A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding cake of the ceiling--and then rippled61 over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea.

The only completely stationary62 object in the room was an enormous couch on which two young women were buoyed63 up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in white and their dresses were rippling64 and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house. I must have stood for a few moments listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the groan65 of a picture on the wall.

Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room and the curtains and the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor.

The younger of the two was a stranger to me. She was extended full length at her end of the divan66, completely motionless and with her chin raised a little as if she were balancing something on it which was quite likely to fall. If she saw me out of the corner of her eyes she gave no hint of it--indeed, I was almost surprised into murmuring an apology for having disturbed her by coming in.

The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise--she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious68 expression--then she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh, and I laughed too and came forward into the room.

"I'm p-paralyzed with happiness."

She laughed again, as if she said something very witty69, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had.

She hinted in a murmur67 that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker70.

(I've heard it said that Daisy's murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant71 criticism that made it no less charming.)

At any rate Miss Baker's lips fluttered, she nodded at me almost imperceptibly and then quickly tipped her head back again--the object she was balancing had obviously tottered72 a little and given her something of a fright. Again a sort of apology arose to my lips. Almost any exhibition of complete self sufficiency draws a stunned73 tribute from me.

I looked back at my cousin who began to ask me questions in her low, thrilling voice. It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again. Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate74 mouth--but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered "Listen," a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering75 in the next hour.

I told her how I had stopped off in Chicago for a day on my way east and how a dozen people had sent their love through me.

"Do they miss me?" she cried ecstatically.

"The whole town is desolate76. All the cars have the left rear wheel painted black as a mourning wreath and there's a persistent77 wail78 all night along the North Shore."

"How gorgeous! Let's go back, Tom. Tomorrow!" Then she added irrelevantly79, "You ought to see the baby."

"I'd like to."

"She's asleep. She's two years old. Haven't you ever seen her?"

"Never."

"Well, you ought to see her. She's----"

Tom Buchanan who had been hovering restlessly about the room stopped and rested his hand on my shoulder.

"What you doing, Nick?"

"I'm a bond man."

"Who with?"

I told him.

"Never heard of them," he remarked decisively.

This annoyed me.

"You will," I answered shortly. "You will if you stay in the East."

"Oh, I'll stay in the East, don't you worry," he said, glancing at Daisy and then back at me, as if he were alert for something more.

"I'd be a God Damned fool to live anywhere else."

At this point Miss Baker said "Absolutely!" with such suddenness that I started--it was the first word she uttered since I came into the room.

Evidently it surprised her as much as it did me, for she yawned and with a series of rapid, deft80 movements stood up into the room.

"I'm stiff," she complained, "I've been lying on that sofa for as long as I can remember."

"Don't look at me," Daisy retorted. "I've been trying to get you to New York all afternoon."

"No, thanks," said Miss Baker to the four cocktails81 just in from the pantry, "I'm absolutely in training."

Her host looked at her incredulously.

"You are!" He took down his drink as if it were a drop in the bottom of a glass. "How you ever get anything done is beyond me."

I looked at Miss Baker wondering what it was she "got done." I enjoyed looking at her. She was a slender, small-breasted girl, with an erect82 carriage which she accentuated83 by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet. Her grey sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite reciprocal curiosity out of a wan12, charming discontented face. It occurred to me now that I had seen her, or a picture of her, somewhere before.

"You live in West Egg," she remarked contemptuously. "I know somebody there."

"I don't know a single----"

"You must know Gatsby."

"Gatsby?" demanded Daisy. "What Gatsby?"

Before I could reply that he was my neighbor dinner was announced; wedging his tense arm imperatively84 under mine Tom Buchanan compelled me from the room as though he were moving a checker to another square.

Slenderly, languidly, their hands set lightly on their hips85 the two young women preceded us out onto a rosy-colored porch open toward the sunset where four candles flickered86 on the table in the diminished wind.

"Why CANDLES?" objected Daisy, frowning. She snapped them out with her fingers. "In two weeks it'll be the longest day in the year."

She looked at us all radiantly. "Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it."

"We ought to plan something," yawned Miss Baker, sitting down at the table as if she were getting into bed.

"All right," said Daisy. "What'll we plan?" She turned to me helplessly.

"What do people plan?"

Before I could answer her eyes fastened with an awed87 expression on her little finger.

"Look!" she complained. "I hurt it."

We all looked--the knuckle88 was black and blue.

"You did it, Tom," she said accusingly. "I know you didn't mean to but you DID do it. That's what I get for marrying a brute89 of a man, a great big hulking physical specimen90 of a----"

"I hate that word hulking," objected Tom crossly, "even in kidding."

"Hulking," insisted Daisy.

Sometimes she and Miss Baker talked at once, unobtrusively and with a bantering91 inconsequence that was never quite chatter92, that was as cool as their white dresses and their impersonal93 eyes in the absence of all desire. They were here--and they accepted Tom and me, making only a polite pleasant effort to entertain or to be entertained. They knew that presently dinner would be over and a little later the evening too would be over and casually put away. It was sharply different from the West where an evening was hurried from phase to phase toward its close in a continually disappointed anticipation94 or else in sheer nervous dread95 of the moment itself.

"You make me feel uncivilized, Daisy," I confessed on my second glass of corky but rather impressive claret. "Can't you talk about crops or something?"

I meant nothing in particular by this remark but it was taken up in an unexpected way.

"Civilization's going to pieces," broke out Tom violently.

"I've gotten to be a terrible pessimist96 about things. Have you read 'The Rise of the Coloured Empires' by this man Goddard?"

"Why, no," I answered, rather surprised by his tone.

"Well, it's a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be--will be utterly97 submerged.

It's all scientific stuff; it's been proved."

"Tom's getting very profound," said Daisy with an expression of unthoughtful sadness. "He reads deep books with long words in them.

What was that word we----"

"Well, these books are all scientific," insisted Tom, glancing at her impatiently. "This fellow has worked out the whole thing. It's up to us who are the dominant98 race to watch out or these other races will have control of things."

"We've got to beat them down," whispered Daisy, winking99 ferociously100 toward the fervent101 sun.

"You ought to live in California--" began Miss Baker but Tom interrupted her by shifting heavily in his chair.

"This idea is that we're Nordics. I am, and you are and you are and----" After an infinitesimal hesitation102 he included Daisy with a slight nod and she winked103 at me again. "--and we've produced all the things that go to make civilization--oh, science and art and all that.

Do you see?"

There was something pathetic in his concentration as if his complacency, more acute than of old, was not enough to him any more. When, almost immediately, the telephone rang inside and the butler left the porch Daisy seized upon the momentary104 interruption and leaned toward me.

"I'll tell you a family secret," she whispered enthusiastically. "It's about the butler's nose. Do you want to hear about the butler's nose?"

"That's why I came over tonight."

"Well, he wasn't always a butler; he used to be the silver polisher for some people in New York that had a silver service for two hundred people.

He had to polish it from morning till night until finally it began to affect his nose----"

"Things went from bad to worse," suggested Miss Baker.

"Yes. Things went from bad to worse until finally he had to give up his position."

For a moment the last sunshine fell with romantic affection upon her glowing face; her voice compelled me forward breathlessly as I listened--then the glow faded, each light deserting her with lingering regret like children leaving a pleasant street at dusk.

The butler came back and murmured something close to Tom's ear whereupon Tom frowned, pushed back his chair and without a word went inside. As if his absence quickened something within her Daisy leaned forward again, her voice glowing and singing.

"I love to see you at my table, Nick. You remind me of a--of a rose, an absolute rose. Doesn't he?" She turned to Miss Baker for confirmation105.

"An absolute rose?"

This was untrue. I am not even faintly like a rose. She was only extemporizing106 but a stirring warmth flowed from her as if her heart was trying to come out to you concealed107 in one of those breathless, thrilling words. Then suddenly she threw her napkin on the table and excused herself and went into the house.

Miss Baker and I exchanged a short glance consciously devoid108 of meaning. I was about to speak when she sat up alertly and said "Sh!" in a warning voice. A subdued109 impassioned murmur was audible in the room beyond and Miss Baker leaned forward, unashamed, trying to hear. The murmur trembled on the verge110 of coherence111, sank down, mounted excitedly, and then ceased altogether.

"This Mr. Gatsby you spoke112 of is my neighbor----" I said.

"Don't talk. I want to hear what happens."

"Is something happening?" I inquired innocently.

"You mean to say you don't know?" said Miss Baker, honestly surprised.

"I thought everybody knew."

"I don't."

"Why----" she said hesitantly, "Tom's got some woman in New York."

"Got some woman?" I repeated blankly.

Miss Baker nodded.

"She might have the decency113 not to telephone him at dinner-time. Don't you think?"

Almost before I had grasped her meaning there was the flutter of a dress and the crunch114 of leather boots and Tom and Daisy were back at the table.

"It couldn't be helped!" cried Daisy with tense gayety.

She sat down, glanced searchingly at Miss Baker and then at me and continued: "I looked outdoors for a minute and it's very romantic outdoors. There's a bird on the lawn that I think must be a nightingale come over on the Cunard or White Star Line. He's singing away----" her voice sang "----It's romantic, isn't it, Tom?"

"Very romantic," he said, and then miserably115 to me: "If it's light enough after dinner I want to take you down to the stables."

The telephone rang inside, startlingly, and as Daisy shook her head decisively at Tom the subject of the stables, in fact all subjects, vanished into air. Among the broken fragments of the last five minutes at table I remember the candles being lit again, pointlessly, and I was conscious of wanting to look squarely at every one and yet to avoid all eyes. I couldn't guess what Daisy and Tom were thinking but I doubt if even Miss Baker who seemed to have mastered a certain hardy116 skepticism was able utterly to put this fifth guest's shrill117 metallic118 urgency out of mind. To a certain temperament the situation might have seemed intriguing--my own instinct was to telephone immediately for the police.

The horses, needless to say, were not mentioned again. Tom and Miss Baker, with several feet of twilight119 between them strolled back into the library, as if to a vigil beside a perfectly120 tangible121 body, while trying to look pleasantly interested and a little deaf I followed Daisy around a chain of connecting verandas123 to the porch in front. In its deep gloom we sat down side by side on a wicker settee.

Daisy took her face in her hands, as if feeling its lovely shape, and her eyes moved gradually out into the velvet124 dusk. I saw that turbulent emotions possessed125 her, so I asked what I thought would be some sedative126 questions about her little girl.

"We don't know each other very well, Nick," she said suddenly.

"Even if we are cousins. You didn't come to my wedding."

"I wasn't back from the war."

"That's true." She hesitated. "Well, I've had a very bad time, Nick, and I'm pretty cynical127 about everything."

Evidently she had reason to be. I waited but she didn't say any more, and after a moment I returned rather feebly to the subject of her daughter.

"I suppose she talks, and--eats, and everything."

"Oh, yes." She looked at me absently. "Listen, Nick; let me tell you what I said when she was born. Would you like to hear?"

"Very much."

"It'll show you how I've gotten to feel about--things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool--that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."

"You see I think everything's terrible anyhow," she went on in a convinced way. "Everybody thinks so--the most advanced people. And I KNOW.

I've been everywhere and seen everything and done everything."

Her eyes flashed around her in a defiant way, rather like Tom's, and she laughed with thrilling scorn. "Sophisticated--God, I'm sophisticated!"

The instant her voice broke off, ceasing to compel my attention, my belief, I felt the basic insincerity of what she had said.

It made me uneasy, as though the whole evening had been a trick of some sort to exact a contributory emotion from me. I waited, and sure enough, in a moment she looked at me with an absolute smirk128 on her lovely face as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished129 secret society to which she and Tom belonged.

Inside, the crimson130 room bloomed with light. Tom and Miss Baker sat at either end of the long couch and she read aloud to him from the "Saturday Evening Post"--the words, murmurous131 and uninflected, running together in a soothing132 tune133. The lamp-light, bright on his boots and dull on the autumn-leaf yellow of her hair, glinted along the paper as she turned a page with a flutter of slender muscles in her arms.

When we came in she held us silent for a moment with a lifted hand.

"To be continued," she said, tossing the magazine on the table, "in our very next issue."

Her body asserted itself with a restless movement of her knee, and she stood up.

"Ten o'clock," she remarked, apparently134 finding the time on the ceiling. "Time for this good girl to go to bed."

"Jordan's going to play in the tournament tomorrow," explained Daisy, "over at Westchester."

"Oh,--you're JORdan Baker."

I knew now why her face was familiar--its pleasing contemptuous expression had looked out at me from many rotogravure pictures of the sporting life at Asheville and Hot Springs and Palm Beach. I had heard some story of her too, a critical, unpleasant story, but what it was I had forgotten long ago.

"Good night," she said softly. "Wake me at eight, won't you."

"If you'll get up."

"I will. Good night, Mr. Carraway. See you anon."

"Of course you will," confirmed Daisy. "In fact I think I'll arrange a marriage. Come over often, Nick, and I'll sort of--oh--fling you together. You know--lock you up accidentally in linen135 closets and push you out to sea in a boat, and all that sort of thing----"

"Good night," called Miss Baker from the stairs. "I haven't heard a word."

"She's a nice girl," said Tom after a moment. "They oughtn't to let her run around the country this way."

"Who oughtn't to?" inquired Daisy coldly.

"Her family."

"Her family is one aunt about a thousand years old. Besides, Nick's going to look after her, aren't you, Nick? She's going to spend lots of week-ends out here this summer. I think the home influence will be very good for her."

Daisy and Tom looked at each other for a moment in silence.

"Is she from New York?" I asked quickly.

"From Louisville. Our white girlhood was passed together there. Our beautiful white----"

"Did you give Nick a little heart to heart talk on the veranda122?" demanded Tom suddenly.

"Did I?" She looked at me. "I can't seem to remember, but I think we talked about the Nordic race. Yes, I'm sure we did. It sort of crept up on us and first thing you know----"

"Don't believe everything you hear, Nick," he advised me.

I said lightly that I had heard nothing at all, and a few minutes later I got up to go home. They came to the door with me and stood side by side in a cheerful square of light. As I started my motor Daisy peremptorily136 called "Wait!

"I forgot to ask you something, and it's important. We heard you were engaged to a girl out West."

"That's right," corroborated137 Tom kindly138. "We heard that you were engaged."

"It's libel. I'm too poor."

"But we heard it," insisted Daisy, surprising me by opening up again in a flower-like way. "We heard it from three people so it must be true."

Of course I knew what they were referring to, but I wasn't even vaguely139 engaged. The fact that gossip had published the banns was one of the reasons I had come east. You can't stop going with an old friend on account of rumors140 and on the other hand I had no intention of being rumored141 into marriage.

Their interest rather touched me and made them less remotely rich--nevertheless, I was confused and a little disgusted as I drove away. It seemed to me that the thing for Daisy to do was to rush out of the house, child in arms--but apparently there were no such intentions in her head. As for Tom, the fact that he "had some woman in New York" was really less surprising than that he had been depressed142 by a book.

Something was making him nibble143 at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory144 heart.

Already it was deep summer on roadhouse roofs and in front of wayside garages, where new red gas-pumps sat out in pools of light, and when I reached my estate at West Egg I ran the car under its shed and sat for a while on an abandoned grass roller in the yard. The wind had blown off, leaving a loud bright night with wings beating in the trees and a persistent organ sound as the full bellows145 of the earth blew the frogs full of life. The silhouette146 of a moving cat wavered across the moonlight and turning my head to watch it I saw that I was not alone--fifty feet away a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbor's mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars. Something in his leisurely147 movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself, come out to determine what share was his of our local heavens.

I decided to call to him. Miss Baker had mentioned him at dinner, and that would do for an introduction. But I didn't call to him for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone--he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.

那就戴顶金帽子,如果能打动她的心肠;

如果你能跳得高,就为她也跳一跳,

跳到她高呼:“情郎,戴金帽、跳得高的情郎,

我一定得把你要!”

托马斯·帕克·丹维里埃

我年纪还轻,阅历不深的时候,我父亲教导过我一句话,我至今还念念不忘。

“每逢你想要批评任何人的时候,”他对我说,“你就记住,这个世界上所有的人,井不是个个都有过你拥有的那些优越条件。”

他没再说别的。但是,我们父子之间话虽不多,却一向是非常通气的,因此我明白他的话大有弦外之音。久而久之,我就惯于对所有的人都保留判断,这个习惯既使得许多有怪僻的人肯跟我讲心里话,也使我成为不少爱唠叨的惹人厌烦的人的受害者。这个特点在正常的人身上出现的时候,心理不正常的人很快就会察觉并区抓住不放。由于这个缘故,我上大学的时候就被不公正地指责为小政客,因为我与闻一些放荡的、不知名的人的秘密的伤心事。绝大多数的隐私都不是我打听来的— —每逢我根据某种明白无误的迹象看出又有一次倾诉衷情在地平线上喷薄欲出的时候,我往往假装睡觉,假装心不在焉,或者装出不怀好意的轻挑态度。因为青年人倾诉的衷情,或者至少他们表达这些衷情所用的语言,往往是剽窃性的,而且多有明显的隐瞒。保留判断是表示怀有无限的希望。我现在仍然唯恐错过什么东西,如果我忘记(如同我父亲带着优越感所暗示过的,我现在又带着优越感重复的)基本的道德观念是在人出世的时候就分配不均的。

在这样夸耀我的宽容之后,我得承认宽容也有个限度。人的行为可能建立在坚固的岩石上面,也可能建立在潮湿的沼泽之中,但是一过某种程度,我就不管它是建立在什么上面的了。去年秋天我从东部回来的时候,我觉得我希望全世界的人都穿上军装,并且永远在道德上保持一种立正姿势。我不再要参与放浪形骸的游乐,也不再要偶尔窥见人内心深处的荣幸了。唯有盖茨比——就是把名字赋予本书的那个人——除外,不属于我这种反应的范围——盖茨比,他代表我所真心鄙夷的一切。假如人的品格是一系列连续不断的成功的姿态,那么这个人身上就有一种瑰丽的异彩,他对于人生的希望具有一种高度的敏感,类似一台能够记录万里以外的地震的错综复杂的仪器。这种敏感和通常美其名曰“创造性气质”的那种软绵绵的感受性毫不相干——它是一种异乎寻常的水葆希望的天赋,一种富于浪漫色彩的敏捷,这是我在别人身上从来发现过的,也是我今后不大可能会再发现的。不——盖茨比本人到头来倒是无可厚非的、使我对人们短暂的悲哀和片刻的欢欣暂时丧失兴趣的,却是那些吞噬盖茨比心灵的东西,是在他的幻梦消逝后跟踪而来的恶浊的灰尘。

我家三代以来都是这个中西部城市家道殷实的头面人物。姓卡罗威的也可算是个世家,据家平传说我们是布克娄奇公爵的后裔,但是我们家系的实际创始人却是我祖父的哥哥。他在一八五一年来到这里,买了个替身去参加南北战争,开始做起五金批发生意,也就是我父东今天还在经营的买卖。

我从未见过这位伯祖父,但是据说我长得像他,特别有挂在父亲办公室里的那幅铁板面孔的画像为证。我在一九一五年从纽黑文毕业,刚好比我父亲晚四分之一个世纪,不久以后我就参加了那个称之为世界大战的延迟的条顿民族大迁徙、我在反攻中感到其乐无穷,回来以后就觉得百无聊赖了。中西部不再是世界温暖的中心,而倒像是宇宙的荒凉的边缘——于是我决定到东部去学债券生意。我所认识的人个个都是做债券生意的,因此我认为它多养活一个单身汉总不成问题。我的叔伯姑姨们商量了一番,他们怦然是在为我挑选一家预备学校,最后才说:“呃…… 那就……这样吧。”面容都很严肃而犹疑。父亲答应为我提供一年的费用,然后又几经耽搁我才在一九二二年春天到东部去,自以为是一去不返的了。

切合实际的办法是在城里找一套房寄宿,但那时已是温暖的季节,而我又是刚刚离开了一个有宽阔的草坪和宜人的树木的地方,因此办公室里一个年轻人提议我们俩到近郊合租一所房子的时候,我觉得那是个很妙的主意。他找到了房子,那是一座风雨剥蚀的木板平房,月租八十美元,可是在最后一分钟公司把他调到华盛顿去了,我也就只好一个人搬到郊外去住。我有一条狗——至少在它跑掉以前我养了它几天——一辆旧道吉汽车和一个芬兰女佣人,她替我收拾床铺,烧早饭,在电炉上一面做饭,一面嘴里咕哝着芬兰的格言。

头几天我感到孤单,直到一天早上有个人,比我更是新来乍到的,在路上拦住了我。

“到西卵村去怎么走啊?”他无可奈何地问我。

我告诉了他。我再继续往前走的时候,我不再感到孤单了。我成了领路人、开拓者、一个原始的移民。他无意之中授予了我这一带地方的荣誉市民权。

眼看阳光明媚,树木忽然间长满了叶子,就像电影里的东西长得那么快,我就又产生了那个熟悉的信念,觉得生命随着夏天的来临又重新开始了。

有那么多书要读,这是一点,同时从清新宜人的空气中也有那么多营养要汲取。我买了十来本有关银行业、信贷和投资证券的书籍,一本本红色烫金封皮的书立在书架上,好像造币厂新铸的钱币一样,准备揭示迈达斯、摩根和米赛纳斯的秘诀。除此之外,我还有雄心要读许多别的书。我在大学的时候是喜欢舞文弄墨的——有一年我给《耶鲁新闻》写过一连串一本正经而又平淡无奇的社论—— 现在我准备把诸如此类的东西重新纳入我的生活,重新成为“通才”,也就是那种最浅薄的专家。这并不只是一个俏皮的警句——光从一个窗口去观察人生究竟要成功得多。

纯粹出于偶然,我租的这所房子在北美最离奇的一个村镇。这个村镇位于纽约市正东那个细长的奇形怪状的小岛上——那里除了其他大然奇观以外,还有两个地方形状异乎寻常。离城二十英里路,有一对其大无比的鸡蛋般的半岛,外形一模一样,中间隔着一条小湾,一直伸进西半球那片最恬静的咸水,长岛海峡那个巨大的潮湿的场院。它们并不是正椭圆形——而是像哥伦布故事里的鸡蛋一样,在碰过的那头都是压碎了的——但是它们外貌的相似一定是使从头上飞过的海鸥惊异不已的源泉。对于没有翅膀的人类来说,一个更加饶有趣味的现象,却是这两个地方除了形状大小之外,在每一个方面都截然不同。

我住在西卵,这是两个地方中比较不那么时髦的一个,不过这是一个非常肤浅的标签,不足以表示二者之间那种离奇古怪而又很不吉祥的对比。我的房子紧靠在鸡蛋的顶端,离海湾只有五十码,挤在两座每季租金要一万二到一万五的大别墅中间。我右边的那一幢,不管按什么标准来说,都是一个庞然大物——它是诺曼底某市政厅的翻版,一边有一座簇新的塔楼,上面疏疏落落地覆盖着一层常春藤,还有一座大理石游泳池,以及四十多英亩的草坪和花园。这是盖茨比的公馆。或者更确切地说这是一位姓盖茨比的阔人所住的公馆,因为我还不认识盖茨比光生。我自己的房子实在难看,幸而很小,没有被人注意,因此我才有缘欣赏一片海景,欣赏我邻居草坪的一部分,并且能以与百万富翁为邻而引以自慰——所有这一切每月只需出八十美元。

小湾对岸,东卵豪华住宅区的洁白的宫殿式的大厦沿着水边光彩夺目,那个夏天的故事是从我开车去那边到汤姆·布坎农夫妇家吃饭的那个晚上才真正开始的。黛西是我远房表妹,汤姆是我在大学里就认识的。大战刚结束之后,我在芝加哥还在他们家住过两天。

她的丈夫,除了擅长其他各种运动之外,曾经是纽黑文有史以来最伟大的橄榄球运动员之———也可说是个全国闻名的人物,这种人二十一岁就在有限范围内取得登峰造极的成就,从此以后一切都不免有走下坡路的味道了。他家里非常有钱— —还在大学时他那样任意花钱已经遭人非议,但现在他离开了芝加哥搬到东部来,搬家的那个排场可真要使人惊讶不已。比方说,他从森林湖运来整整一群打马球用的马匹。在我这一辈人中竞然还有人阔到能够干这种事,实在令人难以置信。

他们为什么到东部来,我并不知道。他们并没有什么特殊的理由,在法国待了一年,后来又不安定地东飘西荡,所去的地方都有人打马球,而且大家都有钱。这次是定居了,黛西在电话里说。可是我并不相信——我看不透黛西的心思,不过我觉得汤姆会为追寻某场无法重演的球赛的戏剧性的激奋,就这样略有点怅惘地永远飘荡下去。

于是,在一个温暖有风的晚上,我开车到东卵去看望两个我几乎完全不了解的老朋友。他们的房子比我料想的还要豪华,一座鲜明悦目,红白二色的乔治王殖民时代式的大厦,面临着海湾。草坪从海滩起步,直奔大门,足足有四分之一英甲,一路跨过日文、砖径和火红的花园——最后跑到房子跟前,仿佛借助于奔跑的势头,爽性变成绿油油的常春藤,沿着墙往上爬。房子正面有一溜法国式的落地长窗,此刻在夕照中金光闪闪,迎着午后的暖风敞开着。汤姆·布坎农身穿骑装,两腿叉开,站在前门阳台上。

从纽黑文时代以来,他样子已经变了。现在他是三十多岁的人了,时体健壮,头发稻草色,嘴边略带狠相,举止高傲。两只炯炯有神的傲慢的眼睛已经在他脸上占了支配地位,给人一种永远盛气凌人的印象。即使他那会像女人穿的优雅的骑装也掩藏不住那个身躯的巨大的体力——他仿佛填满了那双雪亮的皮靴,把上面的带子绷得紧紧的。他的肩膀转动时,你可以看到一大块肌肉在他薄薄的上衣下面移动。这是一个力大无比的身躯,一个残忍的身躯。

他说话的声音,又粗又大的男高音,增添了他给人的性情暴戾的印象。他说起话来还带着一种长辈教训人的口吻,即使对他喜欢的人也样、因此在纽黑文的时候时他恨之入骨的大有人在。

“我说,你可别认为我在这些问题上的意见是说了算的,”他仿佛在说,“仅仅因为我力气比你大,比你更有男子汉气概。”我们俩属于同一个高年级学生联谊会,然而我们的关系并不密切,我总觉得他很看重我,而且带着他那特有的粗野、蛮横的怅惘神气,希望我也喜欢他。

我们在阳光和煦的阳台上谈了几分钟。

“我这地方很不错。”他说,他的眼睛不停地转来转去。

他抓住我的一只胳臂把我转过身来,伸出一只巨大的手掌指点眼前的景色,在一挥手之中包括了一座意大利式的凹型花园,半英亩地深色的、浓郁的玫瑰花,以及一艘在岸边随着浪潮起伏的狮子鼻的汽艇

“这地方原来属于石油大王德梅因。”他又把我推转过身来,客客气气但是不容分说,“我们到里面去吧。”

我们穿过一条高高的走廊,走进一间宽敞明亮的玫瑰色的屋子。两头都是落地长窗,把这间屋子轻巧地嵌在这座房子当中。这些长窗都半开着。在外面嫩绿的草地的映衬下,显得晶莹耀眼,那片草仿佛要长到室内来似的。一阵轻风吹过屋里,把窗帘从一头吹进来,又从另一头吹出去,好像一面面白旗,吹向天花板上糖花结婚蛋糕似的装饰;然后轻轻拂过绛色地毯,留下一阵阴影有如风吹海面。

屋子里唯一完全静止的东西是一张庞大的长沙发椅,上面有两个年轻的女人,活像浮在一个停泊在地面的大气球上。她们俩都身穿白衣,衣裙在风中飘荡,好像她们乘气球绕着房子飞了一圈刚被风吹回来似的。我准是站了好一会,倾听窗帘刮动的劈啪声和墙上一幅挂像嘎吱嘎吱的响声。忽然砰然一声,汤姆·布坎农关上了后面的落地窗,室内的余风才渐渐平息,窗帘、地毯和两位少妇也都慢慢地降落地面。

两个之中比较年轻的那个,我不认识。她平躺在长沙发的一头,身子一动也不动,下巴稍微向上仰起,仿佛她在上面平衡着一件什么东西,生怕它掉下来似的。如果她从眼角中看到了我,她可毫无表示——其实我倒吃了一惊,差一点要张口向她道歉,因为我的进来惊动1她。

另外那个少妇,黛西,想要站起身来——她身子微微向前倾,一脸诚心诚意的表情——接着她噗嗤一笑,又滑稽又可爱地轻轻一笑,我也跟着笑了,接着就走上前去进了屋子。

“我高兴得瘫……瘫掉了。”

她又笑了一次,好像她说了一句非常俏皮的话,接着就拉住我的手,仰起脸看着我,表示世界上没有第二个人是她更高兴见到的了。那是她特有的一种表情。她低声告诉我那个在搞平衡动作的姑娘姓贝克(我听人说过,黛西的喃喃低语只是为了让人家把身子向她靠近,这是不相干的闲话,丝毫无损于这种表情的魅力)。

不管怎样,贝克小姐的嘴唇微微一动,她几乎看不出来地向我点了点头,接着赶忙把头又仰回去——她在保持平衡的那件东西显然歪了一下,让她吃了一惊。道歉的话又一次冒到了我的嘴边。这种几乎是完全我行我素的神情总是使我感到目瞪口呆,满心赞佩。

我掉过头去看我的表妹,她开始用她那低低的、令人激动的声音向我提问题。这是那种叫人侧耳倾听的声音,仿佛每句话都是永远不会重新演奏的一组音符。她的脸庞忧郁而美丽,脸上有明媚的神采,有两只明媚的眼睛,有一张明媚而热情的嘴,但是她声音甲有一种激动人心的特质,那是为她倾倒过的男人都觉得难以忘怀的:一种抑扬动听的魅力,一声喃喃的“听着”,一种暗示,说她片刻以前刚刚干完一些赏心乐事,而且下一个小时里还有赏心乐事。

我告诉了她我到东部来的途中曾在芝加哥停留一天,有十来个朋友都托我向她问好。

“他们想念我吗?”她欣喜若狂地喊道。

“全城都凄凄惨惨。所有的汽车都把左后轮漆上了黑漆当花圈,进入城北的湖边整夜哀声不绝于耳。”

“太美了!汤姆,咱们回去吧。明天,”随即她又毫不相干地说:“你应当看看宝宝。”

“我很想看。”

“她睡着了。她三岁。你从没见过她吗?”

“从来没有。”

“那么你应当看看她。她是……”

汤姆·布坎农本来坐立不安地在屋子平来回走动,现在停了下来把一只手放在我肩上。

“你在干什么买卖,尼克?”

“我在做债券生意。”

“在哪家公司?”

我告诉了他。

“从来没听说过。”他断然地说。

这使我感到不痛快。

“你会听到的,”我简慢地答道,“你在东部待久了就会听到的。”

“噢,我一定会在东部待下来的,你放心吧。”他先望望黛西又望望我,仿佛他在提防还有别的什么名堂。“我要是个天大的傻瓜才会到任何别的地方去住。”

这时贝克小姐说:“绝对如此!”来得那么突然,使我吃了一惊——这是我进了屋子之后她说的第一句话。显然她的话也使她自己同样吃惊、因为她打了个呵欠,随即做了一连串迅速而灵巧的动作就站了起来。

“我都木了,”她抱怨道,“我在那张沙发上躺了不知多久了。”

“别盯着我看,”黛西回嘴说,“我整个下午都在动员你上纽约去。”

“不要,谢谢,”贝克小姐对着刚从食品间端来的四杯鸡尾酒说,“我正一板一眼地在进行锻炼哩。”

她的男主人难以置信地看着她。

“是嘛!”他把自己的酒喝了下去,仿佛那是杯底的一滴。“我真不明白你怎么可能做得成什么事情。”

我看看贝克小姐,感到纳闷,她“做得成”的是什么事。我喜欢看她。她是个身材苗条、乳房小小的姑娘,由于她像个年轻的军校学员那样挺起胸膛更显得英俊挺拔。她那双被太阳照得眯缝着的灰眼睛也看着我,一张苍白、可爱、不满的脸上流露出有礼貌的、回敬的好奇心。我这才想起我以前在什么地方见过她,或者她的照片。

“你住在西卵吧!”她用鄙夷的口气说,“我认识那边的一个人。”

“我一个人也不认……”

“你总该认识盖茨比吧。”

“盖茨比?”黛西追问道,“哪个盖茨比?”

我还没来得及回答说他是我的邻居,佣人就宣布开饭了。汤姆·布坎农不由分说就把一只紧张的胳臂插在我的胳臂下面,把我从屋子里推出去,仿佛他是在把一个棋子推到棋盘上另一格去似的。

两位女郎袅袅婷婷地、懒洋洋地,手轻轻搭在腰上,在我们前面往外走上玫瑰色的阳台。阳台迎着落日,餐桌上有四支蜡烛在减弱了的风中闪烁不定。

“点蜡烛干什么?”黛西皱着眉头表示不悦。她用手指把它们掐灭了。“再过两个星期就是一年中最长的一天了。”她满面春风地看着我们大家。“你们是否老在等一年中最长的一天,到头来偏偏还是会错过?我老在等一年中最长的一天,到头来偏偏还是错过了。”

“我们应当计划干点什么。”贝克小姐打着阿欠说道,仿佛上床睡觉似的在桌子旁边坐了下来。

“好吧,”黛西说,“咱们计划什么呢?”她把脸转向我,无可奈何地问道, “人们究竟计划些什么?”

我还没来得及回答,她便两眼带着畏惧的表情盯着她的小手指。

“瞧!”她抱怨道,“我把它碰伤了。”

我们大家都瞧了——指关节有点青紫。

“是你搞的,汤姆,”她责怪他说,“我知道你不是故意的,但确实是你搞的。这是我的报应,嫁给这么个粗野的男人,一个又粗又大又笨拙的汉子……”

“我恨笨拙这个词,”汤姆气呼呼地抗议道,“即使开玩笑也不行。”

“笨拙。”黛西强嘴说。

有时她和贝克小姐同时讲话,可是并不惹人注意,不过开点无关紧要的玩笑,也算不上唠叨,跟她们的白色衣裙以及没有任何欲念的超然的眼睛一样冷漠。她们坐在这里,应酬汤姆和我,只不过是客客气气地尽力款待客人或者接受款待。她们知道一会儿晚饭就吃完了,再过一会儿这一晚也就过去,随随便便就打发掉了。这和西部截然不同,在那里每逢晚上二待客总是迫不及待地从一个阶段到另一个阶段推向结尾,总是有所期待而又不断地感到失望,要不然就对结尾时刻的到来感到十分紧张和恐惧。

“你让我觉得自己不文明,黛西,”我喝第二杯虽然有点软木塞气味却相当精彩的红葡萄酒时坦白地说,“你不能谈谈庄稼或者谈点儿别的什么吗?”

我说这句话并没有什么特殊的用意,但它却出乎意外地被人接过去了。

“文明正在崩溃,”汤姆气势汹汹地大声说,“我近来成了个对世界非常悲观的人。你看过戈达德这个人写的《有色帝国的兴起》吗?”

“呃,没有。”我答道,对他的语气感到很吃惊。

“我说,这是一本很好的书,人人都应当读一读。书的大意是说,如果我们不当心,白色人种就会……就会完全被淹没了。讲的全是科学道理,已经证明了的。”

“汤姆变得很渊博了。”黛西说,脸上露出一种并不深切的忧伤的表情。“他看一些深奥的书,书里有许多深奥的字眼。那是个什么字来着,我们……”

“我说,这些书都是有科学根据的,”汤姆一个劲地说下去,对她不耐烦地瞅了一眼,“这家伙把整个道理讲得一清二楚。我们是占统治地位的人种,我们有责任提高警惕,不然的话,其他人种就会掌握一切且

“我们非打倒他们不可。”黛西低声地讲,一面拼命地对炽热的太阳眨眼。

“你们应当到加利福尼亚安家……”贝克小姐开口说,可是汤姆在椅子沉重地挪动了一下身子,打断了她的话。

“主要的论点是说我们是北欧日耳曼民族。我是,你是,你也是,还有………” 稍稍犹疑了一下之后,他点了点头把黛西也包括了进去,这时她又冲我睡了眨眼。 “而我们创造了所有那些加在一起构成文明的东西——科学艺术啦,以及其他等等。你们明白吗?”

他那副专心致志的劲头看上去有点可怜,似乎他那种自负的态度,虽然比往日还突出,但对他来说已经很不够了。这时屋子里电话铃响了。男管家离开阳台去接,黛西几乎立刻就抓住这个打岔的机会把脸凑到我面前来。

“我要告诉你一桩家庭秘密,”她兴奋地咬耳朵说,“是关于男管家的鼻子的。你想听听男管家鼻子的故事吗?”

“这正是我今晚来拜访的目的嘛。”

“你要知道,他并不是一向当男管家的。他从前专门替纽约一个人家擦银器,那家有一套供二百人用的银餐具。他从早擦到晚,后来他的鼻子就受不了啦……”

“后来情况越来越坏。”贝克小姐提了一句。

“是的。情况越来越坏,最后他只得辞掉不干。”

有一会儿工夫夕阳的余辉温情脉脉地照在她那红艳发光的脸上她的声音使我身不由主地凑上前去屏息倾听——然后光彩逐渐消逝,每一道光都依依不舍地离开了她,就像孩子们在黄昏时刻离汗一条愉快的街道那样。

男管家回来凑着汤姆的耳朵咕哝了点什么,汤姆听了眉头一皱,把他的椅子朝后一推,一言不发就走进室内去。仿佛他的离去使她活跃了起来,黛西又探身向前,她的声音像唱歌似的抑扬动听。

“我真高兴在我的餐桌上见到你,尼克。你使我想到一朵——一朵玫瑰花,一朵地地道道的玫瑰花。是不是?”她把脸转向贝克小姐,要求她附和这句话,“一朵地地道道的玫瑰花?”

这是瞎说。我跟玫瑰花毫无相似之处。她不过是随嘴乱说一气,但是却洋溢着一种动人的激情,仿佛她的心就藏在那些气喘吁吁的、激动人心的话语里,想向你倾诉一番。然后她突然把餐巾往桌上一扔,说了声“对不起”就走进房子里面去了。

贝克小姐和我互相使了一下眼色,故意表示没有任何意思。我刚想开口的时候,她警觉地坐直起来,用警告的声音说了一声“嘘”。可以听得见那边屋子里有一阵低低的、激动的交谈声,贝克小姐就毫无顾忌地探身竖起耳朵去听。喃喃的话语声几次接近听得真的程度,降低卜去,又激动地高上去,然后完全终止。

“你刚才提到的那位盖茨比先生是我的邻居……”我开始说。

“别说话,我要听听出了什么事。”

“是出了事吗?”我天真地问。

“难道说你不知道吗?”贝克小姐说,她真的感到奇怪,“我以为人人都知道了。”

“我可不知道。”

“哎呀……”她犹疑了一下说,“汤姆在纽约有个女人。”

“有个女人人?”我茫然地跟着说。

贝克小姐点点头。

“她起码该顾点大体,不在吃饭的时候给他打电话嘛。你说呢?”

我几乎还没明白她的意思,就听见一阵裙衣悉碎和皮靴格格的声响,汤姆和黛西回到餐桌上来了。

“真没办法!”黛西强作欢愉地大声说。

她坐了下来,先朝贝克小姐然后朝我察看了一眼,又接着说:“我到外面看一下,看到外面浪漫极了。草坪上有一只鸟,我想一定是搭康拉德或者白星轮船公司的船过来的一只夜莺。它在不停地歌唱……”她的声音也像唱歌一般,“很浪漫,是不是,汤姆?”

“非常浪漫。”他说,然后哭丧着脸对我说,“吃过饭要是天还够亮的话,我要领你到马房去看看。”

里面电话又响了,大家都吃了一惊。黛西断然地对汤姆摇摇头,于是马房的话题,事实上所有的话题,都化为乌有了。在餐桌上最后五分钟残存的印象中,我记得蜡烛又无缘无故地点着了,同时我意识到自己很想正眼看看大家,然而却又想避开大家的目光。我猜不出黛西和汤姆想什么,但是我也怀疑,就连贝克小姐那样似乎玩世不恭的人,是否能把这第五位客人尖锐刺耳的迫切呼声完全置之度外。对某种性情的人来说,这个局面可能倒怪有意思的——我自己本能的反应是立刻去打电话叫警察。

马,不用说,就没有再提了。汤姆和贝克小姐,两人中间隔着几英尺的暮色,慢慢溜达着回书房去,仿佛走到一个确实存在的尸体旁边去守夜。同时,我一面装出感兴趣的样子,一面装出有点聋,跟着黛西穿过一连串的走廊,走到前面的阳台上去。在苍茫的暮色中我们并排在一张柳条的长靠椅上坐下。

黛西把脸捧在手里,好像在抚摩她那可爱的面庞,同时她渐渐放眼人看那人鹅绒般的暮色。我看出她心潮澎湃,于是我问了几个我认为有镇静作用的关于她小女儿的问题。

“我们彼此并不熟识,尼克,”她忽然说,“尽管我们是表亲。你没参加我的婚礼。”

“我打仗还没回来。”

“确实。”她犹疑了一下,“哎,我可真够受的,尼克,所以我把一切都差不多看透了。”

显然她抱这种看法是有缘故的。我等着听,可是她没再往下说,过了一会儿我又吞吞吐吐地回到了她女儿这个话题。

“我想她一定会说,又……会吃,什么都会吧。”

“呃,是啊。”她心不在焉地看着我,“听我说,尼克,让我告诉你她出世的时候我说了什么话。你想听吗?”

“非常想听


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 haven 8dhzp     
n.安全的地方,避难所,庇护所
参考例句:
  • It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后,这真是一个安乐窝。
  • The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。
2 judgments 2a483d435ecb48acb69a6f4c4dd1a836     
判断( judgment的名词复数 ); 鉴定; 评价; 审判
参考例句:
  • A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
  • He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。
3 privy C1OzL     
adj.私用的;隐密的
参考例句:
  • Only three people,including a policeman,will be privy to the facts.只会允许3个人,其中包括一名警察,了解这些内情。
  • Very few of them were privy to the details of the conspiracy.他们中很少有人知道这一阴谋的详情。
4 ivy x31ys     
n.常青藤,常春藤
参考例句:
  • Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
  • The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。
5 feigned Kt4zMZ     
a.假装的,不真诚的
参考例句:
  • He feigned indifference to criticism of his work. 他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。
  • He accepted the invitation with feigned enthusiasm. 他假装热情地接受了邀请。
6 levity Q1uxA     
n.轻率,轻浮,不稳定,多变
参考例句:
  • His remarks injected a note of levity into the proceedings.他的话将一丝轻率带入了议事过程中。
  • At the time,Arnold had disapproved of such levity.那时候的阿诺德对这种轻浮行为很看不惯。
7 plagiaristic 8fcc4c5fc3cc0877268761fe0e408fe0     
adj.剽窃的,抄袭的
参考例句:
8 marred 5fc2896f7cb5af68d251672a8d30b5b5     
adj. 被损毁, 污损的
参考例句:
  • The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨,把比赛给搅了。
  • Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。
9 snobbishly 57ec189f9a48153cb326049e0d05245e     
参考例句:
  • They snobbishly excluded their less wealthy friends from the party. 他们很势利地把那些不够富有的朋友排除在晚会之外。
10 tolerance Lnswz     
n.宽容;容忍,忍受;耐药力;公差
参考例句:
  • Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
  • Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。
11 marshes 9fb6b97bc2685c7033fce33dc84acded     
n.沼泽,湿地( marsh的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
  • We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 wan np5yT     
(wide area network)广域网
参考例句:
  • The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。
13 riotous ChGyr     
adj.骚乱的;狂欢的
参考例句:
  • Summer is in riotous profusion.盛夏的大地热闹纷繁。
  • We spent a riotous night at Christmas.我们度过了一个狂欢之夜。
14 exempt wmgxo     
adj.免除的;v.使免除;n.免税者,被免除义务者
参考例句:
  • These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
  • He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。
15 dignified NuZzfb     
a.可敬的,高贵的
参考例句:
  • Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中,他始终沉默以保持尊严。
  • He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。
16 temperament 7INzf     
n.气质,性格,性情
参考例句:
  • The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
  • Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。
17 preyed 30b08738b4df0c75cb8e123ab0b15c0f     
v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 );掠食;折磨;(人)靠欺诈为生
参考例句:
  • Remorse preyed upon his mind. 悔恨使他内心痛苦。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • He had been unwise and it preyed on his conscience. 他做得不太明智,这一直让他良心不安。 来自辞典例句
18 foul Sfnzy     
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规
参考例句:
  • Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
  • What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气!
19 abortive 1IXyE     
adj.不成功的,发育不全的
参考例句:
  • We had to abandon our abortive attempts.我们的尝试没有成功,不得不放弃。
  • Somehow the whole abortive affair got into the FBI files.这件早已夭折的案子不知怎么就进了联邦调查局的档案。
20 clan Dq5zi     
n.氏族,部落,宗族,家族,宗派
参考例句:
  • She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
  • The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以,中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。
21 descended guQzoy     
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
参考例句:
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
22 Founder wigxF     
n.创始者,缔造者
参考例句:
  • He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
  • According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说,罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。
23 wholesale Ig9wL     
n.批发;adv.以批发方式;vt.批发,成批出售
参考例句:
  • The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物,以零售价卖出。
  • Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。
24 migration mDpxj     
n.迁移,移居,(鸟类等的)迁徙
参考例句:
  • Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
  • He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。
25 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
26 ragged KC0y8     
adj.衣衫褴褛的,粗糙的,刺耳的
参考例句:
  • A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
  • Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。
27 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
28 permanently KluzuU     
adv.永恒地,永久地,固定不变地
参考例句:
  • The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
  • The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
29 commuting d2c3874ec246fb1858841223ffe4992e     
交换(的)
参考例句:
  • I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
  • Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说,不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。
30 bungalow ccjys     
n.平房,周围有阳台的木造小平房
参考例句:
  • A bungalow does not have an upstairs.平房没有上层。
  • The old couple sold that large house and moved into a small bungalow.老两口卖掉了那幢大房子,搬进了小平房。
31 dodge q83yo     
v.闪开,躲开,避开;n.妙计,诡计
参考例句:
  • A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪,才没被车从身上辗过。
  • The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。
32 casually UwBzvw     
adv.漠不关心地,无动于衷地,不负责任地
参考例句:
  • She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
  • I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。
33 banking aySz20     
n.银行业,银行学,金融业
参考例句:
  • John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
  • He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。
34 promising BkQzsk     
adj.有希望的,有前途的
参考例句:
  • The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
  • We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。
35 jut ORBzk     
v.突出;n.突出,突出物
参考例句:
  • His mouth started to jut out,and his jaw got longer.他的嘴向前突出,下巴也变长了。
  • His teeth tend to jut out a little.他的牙齿长得有点儿凸出。
36 domesticated Lu2zBm     
adj.喜欢家庭生活的;(指动物)被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He is thoroughly domesticated and cooks a delicious chicken casserole. 他精于家务,烹制的砂锅炖小鸡非常可口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The donkey is a domesticated form of the African wild ass. 驴是非洲野驴的一种已驯化的品种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
37 gulls 6fb3fed3efaafee48092b1fa6f548167     
n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • A flock of sea gulls are hovering over the deck. 一群海鸥在甲板上空飞翔。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The gulls which haunted the outlying rocks in a prodigious number. 数不清的海鸥在遥远的岩石上栖息。 来自辞典例句
38 sinister 6ETz6     
adj.不吉利的,凶恶的,左边的
参考例句:
  • There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
  • Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值,而且包藏祸心。
39 colossal sbwyJ     
adj.异常的,庞大的
参考例句:
  • There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
  • Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。
40 spanking OFizF     
adj.强烈的,疾行的;n.打屁股
参考例句:
  • The boat is spanking along on the river.船在小河疾驶。
  • He heard a horse approaching at a spanking trot.他听到一匹马正在疾步驰近。
41 mansion 8BYxn     
n.大厦,大楼;宅第
参考例句:
  • The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
  • The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。
42 proximity 5RsxM     
n.接近,邻近
参考例句:
  • Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
  • Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。
43 accomplishments 1c15077db46e4d6425b6f78720939d54     
n.造诣;完成( accomplishment的名词复数 );技能;成绩;成就
参考例句:
  • It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
  • Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
44 excellence ZnhxM     
n.优秀,杰出,(pl.)优点,美德
参考例句:
  • His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
  • My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。
45 afterward fK6y3     
adv.后来;以后
参考例句:
  • Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏,然后吃饭。
  • Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来,这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。
46 savors 71597284755882ff6b1b9de94a0b5f69     
v.意味,带有…的性质( savor的第三人称单数 );给…加调味品;使有风味;品尝
参考例句:
  • His talk savors, of self-conceit. 他的谈话给人以自负的感觉。 来自辞典例句
  • This sauce savors, of lemon. 这个调味酱有柠檬味。 来自辞典例句
47 ponies 47346fc7580de7596d7df8d115a3545d     
矮种马,小型马( pony的名词复数 ); £25 25 英镑
参考例句:
  • They drove the ponies into a corral. 他们把矮种马赶进了畜栏。
  • She has a mania for ponies. 她特别喜欢小马。
48 turbulence 8m9wZ     
n.喧嚣,狂暴,骚乱,湍流
参考例句:
  • The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
  • The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。
49 momentum DjZy8     
n.动力,冲力,势头;动量
参考例句:
  • We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
  • The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。
50 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
51 supercilious 6FyyM     
adj.目中无人的,高傲的;adv.高傲地;n.高傲
参考例句:
  • The shop assistant was very supercilious towards me when I asked for some help.我要买东西招呼售货员时,那个售货员对我不屑一顾。
  • His manner is supercilious and arrogant.他非常傲慢自大。
52 arrogant Jvwz5     
adj.傲慢的,自大的
参考例句:
  • You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
  • People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。
53 glistening glistening     
adj.闪耀的,反光的v.湿物闪耀,闪亮( glisten的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。
  • Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼睛中的泪水闪着柔和的光。 来自《用法词典》
54 tenor LIxza     
n.男高音(歌手),次中音(乐器),要旨,大意
参考例句:
  • The tenor of his speech was that war would come.他讲话的大意是战争将要发生。
  • The four parts in singing are soprano,alto,tenor and bass.唱歌的四个声部是女高音、女低音、男高音和男低音。
55 paternal l33zv     
adj.父亲的,像父亲的,父系的,父方的
参考例句:
  • I was brought up by my paternal aunt.我是姑姑扶养大的。
  • My father wrote me a letter full of his paternal love for me.我父亲给我写了一封充满父爱的信。
56 guts Yraziv     
v.狼吞虎咽,贪婪地吃,飞碟游戏(比赛双方每组5人,相距15码,互相掷接飞碟);毁坏(建筑物等)的内部( gut的第三人称单数 );取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 );内脏;消化道的下段;肠
参考例句:
  • I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净,我只需烧一下即可。
  • Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》
57 defiant 6muzw     
adj.无礼的,挑战的
参考例句:
  • With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时,仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
  • He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。
58 vista jLVzN     
n.远景,深景,展望,回想
参考例句:
  • From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去,远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
  • These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路,未来看不到一点儿希望。
59 pungent ot6y7     
adj.(气味、味道)刺激性的,辛辣的;尖锐的
参考例句:
  • The article is written in a pungent style.文章写得泼辣。
  • Its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts.它的刺激性气味会令恐怖分子窒息,迫使他们从藏身地点逃脱出来。
60 abruptly iINyJ     
adv.突然地,出其不意地
参考例句:
  • He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
  • I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。
61 rippled 70d8043cc816594c4563aec11217f70d     
使泛起涟漪(ripple的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • The lake rippled gently. 湖面轻轻地泛起涟漪。
  • The wind rippled the surface of the cornfield. 微风吹过麦田,泛起一片麦浪。
62 stationary CuAwc     
adj.固定的,静止不动的
参考例句:
  • A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
  • Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。
63 buoyed 7da50152a46b3edf3164b6a7f21be885     
v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 );支持;为…设浮标;振奋…的精神
参考例句:
  • Buoyed by their win yesterday the team feel confident of further success. 在昨天胜利的鼓舞下,该队有信心再次获胜。
  • His encouragement buoyed her up during that difficult period. 他的鼓励使她在那段困难时期恢复了乐观的情绪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
64 rippling b84b2d05914b2749622963c1ef058ed5     
起涟漪的,潺潺流水般声音的
参考例句:
  • I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
  • The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。
65 groan LfXxU     
vi./n.呻吟,抱怨;(发出)呻吟般的声音
参考例句:
  • The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
  • The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。
66 divan L8Byv     
n.长沙发;(波斯或其他东方诗人的)诗集
参考例句:
  • Lord Henry stretched himself out on the divan and laughed.亨利勋爵伸手摊脚地躺在沙发椅上,笑着。
  • She noticed that Muffat was sitting resignedly on a narrow divan-bed.她看见莫法正垂头丧气地坐在一张不宽的坐床上。
67 murmur EjtyD     
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言
参考例句:
  • They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
  • There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。
68 conscientious mYmzr     
adj.审慎正直的,认真的,本着良心的
参考例句:
  • He is a conscientious man and knows his job.他很认真负责,也很懂行。
  • He is very conscientious in the performance of his duties.他非常认真地履行职责。
69 witty GMmz0     
adj.机智的,风趣的
参考例句:
  • Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
  • He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。
70 baker wyTz62     
n.面包师
参考例句:
  • The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
  • The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。
71 irrelevant ZkGy6     
adj.不恰当的,无关系的,不相干的
参考例句:
  • That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
  • A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上,一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。
72 tottered 60930887e634cc81d6b03c2dda74833f     
v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 );踉跄;蹒跚;摇摇欲坠
参考例句:
  • The pile of books tottered then fell. 这堆书晃了几下,然后就倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The wounded soldier tottered to his feet. 伤员摇摇晃晃地站了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
73 stunned 735ec6d53723be15b1737edd89183ec2     
adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
  • The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。
74 passionate rLDxd     
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的
参考例句:
  • He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
  • He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。
75 hovering 99fdb695db3c202536060470c79b067f     
鸟( hover的现在分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫
参考例句:
  • The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
  • I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。
76 desolate vmizO     
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂
参考例句:
  • The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
  • We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后,我们都觉得万分孤寂。
77 persistent BSUzg     
adj.坚持不懈的,执意的;持续的
参考例句:
  • Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
  • She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤,使她很难为情。
78 wail XMhzs     
vt./vi.大声哀号,恸哭;呼啸,尖啸
参考例句:
  • Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里,一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
  • One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。
79 irrelevantly 364499529287275c4068bbe2e17e35de     
adv.不恰当地,不合适地;不相关地
参考例句:
  • To-morrow!\" Then she added irrelevantly: \"You ought to see the baby.\" 明天,”随即她又毫不相干地说:“你应当看看宝宝。” 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比
  • Suddenly and irrelevantly, she asked him for money. 她突然很不得体地向他要钱。 来自互联网
80 deft g98yn     
adj.灵巧的,熟练的(a deft hand 能手)
参考例句:
  • The pianist has deft fingers.钢琴家有灵巧的双手。
  • This bird,sharp of eye and deft of beak,can accurately peck the flying insects in the air.这只鸟眼疾嘴快,能准确地把空中的飞虫啄住。
81 cocktails a8cac8f94e713cc85d516a6e94112418     
n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 );餐前开胃菜;混合物
参考例句:
  • Come about 4 o'clock. We'll have cocktails and grill steaks. 请四点钟左右来,我们喝鸡尾酒,吃烤牛排。 来自辞典例句
  • Cocktails were a nasty American habit. 喝鸡尾酒是讨厌的美国习惯。 来自辞典例句
82 erect 4iLzm     
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的
参考例句:
  • She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头,把背挺得笔直。
  • Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。
83 accentuated 8d9d7b3caa6bc930125ff5f3e132e5fd     
v.重读( accentuate的过去式和过去分词 );使突出;使恶化;加重音符号于
参考例句:
  • The problem is accentuated by a shortage of water and electricity. 缺乏水电使问题愈加严重。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Her black hair accentuated the delicateness of her skin. 她那乌黑的头发更衬托出她洁嫩的皮肤。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
84 imperatively f73b47412da513abe61301e8da222257     
adv.命令式地
参考例句:
  • Drying wet rice rapidly and soaking or rewetting dry rice kernels imperatively results in severe fissuring. 潮湿米粒快速干燥或干燥籽粒浸水、回潮均会产生严重的裂纹。 来自互联网
  • Drying wet rice kernels rapidly, Soaking or Rewetting dry rice Kernels imperatively results in severe fissuring. 潮湿米粒的快速干燥,干燥籽粒的浸水或回潮均会带来严重的裂纹。 来自互联网
85 hips f8c80f9a170ee6ab52ed1e87054f32d4     
abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯,耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 );[建筑学]屋脊;臀围(尺寸);臀部…的
参考例句:
  • She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
  • They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》
86 flickered 93ec527d68268e88777d6ca26683cc82     
(通常指灯光)闪烁,摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The lights flickered and went out. 灯光闪了闪就熄了。
  • These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad. 这些灯象发狂的交通灯一样不停地闪动着。
87 awed a0ab9008d911a954b6ce264ddc63f5c8     
adj.充满敬畏的,表示敬畏的v.使敬畏,使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声,人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
88 knuckle r9Qzw     
n.指节;vi.开始努力工作;屈服,认输
参考例句:
  • They refused to knuckle under to any pressure.他们拒不屈从任何压力。
  • You'll really have to knuckle down if you want to pass the examination.如果想通过考试,你确实应专心学习。
89 brute GSjya     
n.野兽,兽性
参考例句:
  • The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
  • That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲,它咬人。
90 specimen Xvtwm     
n.样本,标本
参考例句:
  • You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
  • This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。
91 bantering Iycz20     
adj.嘲弄的v.开玩笑,说笑,逗乐( banter的现在分词 );(善意地)取笑,逗弄
参考例句:
  • There was a friendly, bantering tone in his voice. 他的声音里流露着友好诙谐的语调。
  • The students enjoyed their teacher's bantering them about their mistakes. 同学们对老师用风趣的方式讲解他们的错误很感兴趣。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
92 chatter BUfyN     
vi./n.喋喋不休;短促尖叫;(牙齿)打战
参考例句:
  • Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
  • I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。
93 impersonal Ck6yp     
adj.无个人感情的,与个人无关的,非人称的
参考例句:
  • Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远,没有人情味。
  • His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。
94 anticipation iMTyh     
n.预期,预料,期望
参考例句:
  • We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着,期待她的到来。
  • The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安,像是感到了地震即将发生。
95 dread Ekpz8     
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧
参考例句:
  • We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
  • Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。
96 pessimist lMtxU     
n.悲观者;悲观主义者;厌世
参考例句:
  • An optimist laughs to forget.A pessimist forgets to laugh.乐观者笑着忘却,悲观者忘记怎样笑。
  • The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.悲观者在每个机会中都看到困难,乐观者在每个困难中都看到机会。
97 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
98 dominant usAxG     
adj.支配的,统治的;占优势的;显性的;n.主因,要素,主要的人(或物);显性基因
参考例句:
  • The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
  • She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。
99 winking b599b2f7a74d5974507152324c7b8979     
n.瞬眼,目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮
参考例句:
  • Anyone can do it; it's as easy as winking. 这谁都办得到,简直易如反掌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The stars were winking in the clear sky. 星星在明亮的天空中闪烁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
100 ferociously e84ae4b9f07eeb9fbd44e3c2c7b272c5     
野蛮地,残忍地
参考例句:
  • The buck shook his antlers ferociously. 那雄鹿猛烈地摇动他的鹿角。
  • At intervals, he gritted his teeth ferociously. 他不时狠狠的轧平。
101 fervent SlByg     
adj.热的,热烈的,热情的
参考例句:
  • It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。
  • Austria was among the most fervent supporters of adolf hitler.奥地利是阿道夫希特勒最狂热的支持者之一。
102 hesitation tdsz5     
n.犹豫,踌躇
参考例句:
  • After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天,他终于直说了。
  • There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。
103 winked af6ada503978fa80fce7e5d109333278     
v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮
参考例句:
  • He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼,她便知道他的想法和她一样。
  • He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
104 momentary hj3ya     
adj.片刻的,瞬息的;短暂的
参考例句:
  • We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
  • I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。
105 confirmation ZYMya     
n.证实,确认,批准
参考例句:
  • We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
  • We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前,我们需要书面确认。
106 extemporizing 9607910712a75e587e6590a0a95e7090     
v.即兴创作,即席演奏( extemporize的现在分词 )
参考例句:
107 concealed 0v3zxG     
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的
参考例句:
  • The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
  • I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。
108 devoid dZzzx     
adj.全无的,缺乏的
参考例句:
  • He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
  • The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。
109 subdued 76419335ce506a486af8913f13b8981d     
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
  • I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候,我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。
110 verge gUtzQ     
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临
参考例句:
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。
111 coherence jWGy3     
n.紧凑;连贯;一致性
参考例句:
  • There was no coherence between the first and the second half of the film.这部电影的前半部和后半部没有连贯性。
  • Environmental education is intended to give these topics more coherence.环境教育的目的是使这些课题更加息息相关。
112 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
113 decency Jxzxs     
n.体面,得体,合宜,正派,庄重
参考例句:
  • His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
  • Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
114 crunch uOgzM     
n.关键时刻;艰难局面;v.发出碎裂声
参考例句:
  • If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
  • People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。
115 miserably zDtxL     
adv.痛苦地;悲惨地;糟糕地;极度地
参考例句:
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
  • It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨,天气又冷又湿,令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
116 hardy EenxM     
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的
参考例句:
  • The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
  • He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。
117 shrill EEize     
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫
参考例句:
  • Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
  • The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。
118 metallic LCuxO     
adj.金属的;金属制的;含金属的;产金属的;像金属的
参考例句:
  • A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
  • He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。
119 twilight gKizf     
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期
参考例句:
  • Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
  • Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。
120 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
121 tangible 4IHzo     
adj.有形的,可触摸的,确凿的,实际的
参考例句:
  • The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
  • There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。
122 veranda XfczWG     
n.走廊;阳台
参考例句:
  • She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
  • They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。
123 verandas 1a565cfad0b95bd949f7ae808a04570a     
阳台,走廊( veranda的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Women in stiff bright-colored silks strolled about long verandas, squired by men in evening clothes. 噼噼啪啪香槟酒的瓶塞的声音此起彼伏。
  • They overflowed on verandas and many were sitting on benches in the dim lantern-hung yard. 他们有的拥到了走郎上,有的坐在挂着灯笼显得有点阴暗的院子里。
124 velvet 5gqyO     
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的
参考例句:
  • This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
  • The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。
125 possessed xuyyQ     
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
参考例句:
  • He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
  • He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
126 sedative 9DgzI     
adj.使安静的,使镇静的;n. 镇静剂,能使安静的东西
参考例句:
  • After taking a sedative she was able to get to sleep.服用了镇静剂后,她能够入睡了。
  • Amber bath oil has a sedative effect.琥珀沐浴油有镇静安神效用。
127 cynical Dnbz9     
adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的,不信世道向善的
参考例句:
  • The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大,他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
  • He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。
128 smirk GE8zY     
n.得意地笑;v.傻笑;假笑着说
参考例句:
  • He made no attempt to conceal his smirk.他毫不掩饰自鸣得意的笑容。
  • She had a selfsatisfied smirk on her face.她脸上带着自鸣得意的微笑。
129 distinguished wu9z3v     
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的
参考例句:
  • Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
  • A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。
130 crimson AYwzH     
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色
参考例句:
  • She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
  • Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。
131 murmurous 67c80e50497f31708c3a6dd868170672     
adj.低声的
参考例句:
132 soothing soothing     
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的
参考例句:
  • Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
  • His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。
133 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
134 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
135 linen W3LyK     
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的
参考例句:
  • The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
  • Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。
136 peremptorily dbf9fb7e6236647e2b3396fe01f8d47a     
adv.紧急地,不容分说地,专横地
参考例句:
  • She peremptorily rejected the request. 她断然拒绝了请求。
  • Their propaganda was peremptorily switched to an anti-Western line. 他们的宣传断然地转而持反对西方的路线。 来自辞典例句
137 corroborated ab27fc1c50e7a59aad0d93cd9f135917     
v.证实,支持(某种说法、信仰、理论等)( corroborate的过去式 )
参考例句:
  • The evidence was corroborated by two independent witnesses. 此证据由两名独立证人提供。
  • Experiments have corroborated her predictions. 实验证实了她的预言。 来自《简明英汉词典》
138 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
139 vaguely BfuzOy     
adv.含糊地,暖昧地
参考例句:
  • He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
  • He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面,对一切都视而不见。
140 rumors 2170bcd55c0e3844ecb4ef13fef29b01     
n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷
参考例句:
  • Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
141 rumored 08cff0ed52506f6d38c3eaeae1b51033     
adj.传说的,谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷
参考例句:
  • It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句
142 depressed xu8zp9     
adj.沮丧的,抑郁的,不景气的,萧条的
参考例句:
  • When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
  • His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。
143 nibble DRZzG     
n.轻咬,啃;v.一点点地咬,慢慢啃,吹毛求疵
参考例句:
  • Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。
  • The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上,啄着砖缝。
144 peremptory k3uz8     
adj.紧急的,专横的,断然的
参考例句:
  • The officer issued peremptory commands.军官发出了不容许辩驳的命令。
  • There was a peremptory note in his voice.他说话的声音里有一种不容置辩的口气。
145 bellows Ly5zLV     
n.风箱;发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的名词复数 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的第三人称单数 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫
参考例句:
  • His job is to blow the bellows for the blacksmith. 他的工作是给铁匠拉风箱。 来自辞典例句
  • You could, I suppose, compare me to a blacksmith's bellows. 我想,你可能把我比作铁匠的风箱。 来自辞典例句
146 silhouette SEvz8     
n.黑色半身侧面影,影子,轮廓;v.描绘成侧面影,照出影子来,仅仅显出轮廓
参考例句:
  • I could see its black silhouette against the evening sky.我能看到夜幕下它黑色的轮廓。
  • I could see the silhouette of the woman in the pickup.我可以见到小卡车的女人黑色半身侧面影。
147 leisurely 51Txb     
adj.悠闲的;从容的,慢慢的
参考例句:
  • We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着,看遍所有的橱窗。
  • He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐,高兴的开车去工作。


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