《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter III》第9节
Taking our scepticism for granted, he rushed to the bookcases and returned with Volume One of the Stoddard Lectures. “See!” he cried triumphantly. “It’s a bona-fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella’s a regular Belasco. It’s a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too—didn’t cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?” He snatched the book from me and replaced it hastily on its shelf, muttering that if one brick was removed the whole library was liable to collapse. “Who brought you?” he demanded. “Or did you just come? I was brought. Most people were brought.” Jordan looked at him alertly, cheerfully, without answering. “I was brought by a woman named Roosevelt,” he continued. “Mrs. Claud Roosevelt. Do you know her? I met her somewhere last night. I’ve been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library.” “Has it?” “A little bit, I think. I can’t tell yet. I’ve only been here an hour. Did I tell you about the books? They’re real. They’re—” “You told us.” We shook hands with him gravely and went back outdoors.
注释摘要
这个醉醺醺的中年人——我们稍后会知道他有个恰如其分的绰号叫“猫头鹰眼睛”——把尼克和乔丹的怀疑视为理所当然的事情。他不需要别人开口质疑，自己先冲向了书架。 他从书架上抽下来的那本书叫《斯托达德演讲录》第一卷。约翰·斯托达德是十九世纪末二十世纪初一位美国文化界名人，以面向中产阶级的旅行演讲闻名，后来结集出版。这套书在当时的美国富裕家庭书房里很常见，恰好是那种…