《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter II》第15节
The late afternoon sky bloomed in the window for a moment like the blue honey of the Mediterranean—then the shrill voice of Mrs. McKee called me back into the room. “I almost made a mistake, too,” she declared vigorously. “I almost married a little kike who’d been after me for years. I knew he was below me. Everybody kept saying to me: ‘Lucille, that man’s way below you!’ But if I hadn’t met Chester, he’d of got me sure.” “Yes, but listen,” said Myrtle Wilson, nodding her head up and down, “at least you didn’t marry him.” “I know I didn’t.” “Well, I married him,” said Myrtle, ambiguously. “And that’s the difference between your case and mine.” “Why did you, Myrtle?” demanded Catherine. “Nobody forced you to.” Myrtle considered. “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,” she said finally. “I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.” “You were crazy about him for a while,” said Catherine. “Crazy about him!” cried Myrtle incredulously. “Who said I was crazy about him? I never was any more crazy about him than I was about that man there.” She pointed suddenly at me, and everyone looked at me accusingly. I tried to show by my expression that I expected no affection.
注释摘要
这一段的开头是个极精妙的时空切换。尼克被麦基太太的声音“拉回房间”，那个动词是 called me back。但在此之前，他刚刚经历了一次走神——窗外黄昏的天空在他眼里瞬间绽放，像地中海的蓝色蜂蜜。这个比喻干净、凝滞，几乎带着甜腻的黏稠感，和公寓里烟熏火燎、人声嘈杂的混乱场面构成了剧烈的反差。尼克是整间屋子里唯一会这样看天空的人。他受过文学教育，有东部的教…