《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter IV》第16节
“He becomes very sentimental sometimes,” explained Gatsby. “This is one of his sentimental days. He’s quite a character around New York—a denizen of Broadway.” “Who is he, anyhow, an actor?” “No.” “A dentist?” “Meyer Wolfshiem? No, he’s a gambler.” Gatsby hesitated, then added, coolly: “He’s the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919.” “Fixed the World’s Series?” I repeated. The idea staggered me. I remembered, of course, that the World’s Series had been fixed in 1919, but if I had thought of it at all I would have thought of it as a thing that merely happened, the end of some inevitable chain. It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people—with the single-mindedness of a burglar blowing a safe. “How did he happen to do that?” I asked after a minute. “He just saw the opportunity.” “Why isn’t he in jail?” “They can’t get him, old sport. He’s a smart man.” I insisted on paying the check. As the waiter brought my change I caught sight of Tom Buchanan across the crowded room. “Come along with me for a minute,” I said; “I’ve got to say hello to someone.”
注释摘要
盖茨比这句“他有时候会变得很感伤”，是在替沃尔夫山姆刚才那一番戏剧化的告辞打圆场。他说“这是他的感伤日之一”，语气近乎纵容，像是在谈论一个古怪朋友惯常的情绪周期。接着他抛出一个概括：“他在纽约算个人物——百老汇的常客。”这里的“a denizen of Broadway”，直译就是“百老汇的一个居民/常客”，带有一种黑夜世界居民的意味，暗示此人的领地是娱乐…