《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter II》第11节
“My dear,” she told her sister in a high, mincing shout, “most of these fellas will cheat you every time. All they think of is money. I had a woman up here last week to look at my feet, and when she gave me the bill you’d of thought she had my appendicitis out.” “What was the name of the woman?” asked Mrs. McKee. “Mrs. Eberhardt. She goes around looking at people’s feet in their own homes.” “I like your dress,” remarked Mrs. McKee, “I think it’s adorable.” Mrs. Wilson rejected the compliment by raising her eyebrow in disdain. “It’s just a crazy old thing,” she said. “I just slip it on sometimes when I don’t care what I look like.” “But it looks wonderful on you, if you know what I mean,” pursued Mrs. McKee. “If Chester could only get you in that pose I think he could make something of it.” We all looked in silence at Mrs. Wilson, who removed a strand of hair from over her eyes and looked back at us with a brilliant smile. Mr. McKee regarded her intently with his head on one side, and then moved his hand back and forth slowly in front of his face.
注释摘要
在这一小段里，默特尔·威尔逊正努力表演她想象中的“上流社会贵妇”角色，但每一句话都在出卖她。尼克用“a high, mincing shout”来形容她的嗓音——明明是喊叫，偏要装出娇滴滴的讲究，这种矛盾的姿态本身就是一出微型喜剧。她对妹妹诉苦说“这些家伙每次都骗你，他们只想着钱”，接着举的例子却极其滑稽：她请了个人上门看脚，结果账单贵得“你准以为她给我做…