《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter III》第4节
I had been actually invited. A chauffeur in a uniform of robin’s-egg blue crossed my lawn early that Saturday morning with a surprisingly formal note from his employer: the honour would be entirely Gatsby’s, it said, if I would attend his “little party” that night. He had seen me several times, and had intended to call on me long before, but a peculiar combination of circumstances had prevented it—signed Jay Gatsby, in a majestic hand. Dressed up in white flannels I went over to his lawn a little after seven, and wandered around rather ill at ease among swirls and eddies of people I didn’t know—though here and there was a face I had noticed on the commuting train. I was immediately struck by the number of young Englishmen dotted about; all well dressed, all looking a little hungry, and all talking in low, earnest voices to solid and prosperous Americans. I was sure that they were selling something: bonds or insurance or automobiles. They were at least agonizingly aware of the easy money in the vicinity and convinced that it was theirs for a few words in the right key. As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host, but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way, and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movements, that I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table—the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone.
注释摘要
这一段的核心动作其实很简单：尼克收到了正式请柬，他换上白法兰绒长裤走了过去，但不自在。字面上看，这是主客之间的一次体面社交，但菲茨杰拉德在这短短几行里塞进了一整套关于阶层、身份和那个时代的密码。 先说那个“知更鸟蛋蓝制服的司机”。robin’s-egg blue，这个颜色选得太准了，它是一种娇嫩的、有童话感的淡蓝，带着一种非工业化的、定制的美，跟普通黑色或…