《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter III》第10节
There was dancing now on the canvas in the garden; old men pushing young girls backward in eternal graceless circles, superior couples holding each other tortuously, fashionably, and keeping in the corners—and a great number of single girls dancing individually or relieving the orchestra for a moment of the burden of the banjo or the traps. By midnight the hilarity had increased. A celebrated tenor had sung in Italian, and a notorious contralto had sung in jazz, and between the numbers people were doing “stunts” all over the garden, while happy, vacuous bursts of laughter rose toward the summer sky. A pair of stage twins, who turned out to be the girls in yellow, did a baby act in costume, and champagne was served in glasses bigger than finger-bowls. The moon had risen higher, and floating in the Sound was a triangle of silver scales, trembling a little to the stiff, tinny drip of the banjoes on the lawn. I was still with Jordan Baker. We were sitting at a table with a man of about my age and a rowdy little girl, who gave way upon the slightest provocation to uncontrollable laughter. I was enjoying myself now. I had taken two finger-bowls of champagne, and the scene had changed before my eyes into something significant, elemental, and profound.
注释摘要
这一段写的是舞会进入酣醉高潮的景象，但尼克的笔调里始终藏着一根冷静的刺。 字面上，他在描绘盖茨比花园里帆布舞池上的场面。老人推着年轻女孩不断后退，跳着永恒的、毫无优雅可言的圆圈舞——“eternal graceless circles”这个短语很刻薄，eternal 把一瞬间的动作拉长成无休止的仪式，graceless 则点明这些上了年纪的男人以舞为名、行…