《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter VI》第14节
“Who is this Gatsby anyhow?” demanded Tom suddenly. “Some big bootlegger?” “Where’d you hear that?” I inquired. “I didn’t hear it. I imagined it. A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers, you know.” “Not Gatsby,” I said shortly. He was silent for a moment. The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. “Well, he certainly must have strained himself to get this menagerie together.” A breeze stirred the grey haze of Daisy’s fur collar. “At least they are more interesting than the people we know,” she said with an effort. “You didn’t look so interested.” “Well, I was.” Tom laughed and turned to me. “Did you notice Daisy’s face when that girl asked her to put her under a cold shower?” Daisy began to sing with the music in a husky, rhythmic whisper, bringing out a meaning in each word that it had never had before and would never have again. When the melody rose her voice broke up sweetly, following it, in a way contralto voices have, and each change tipped out a little of her warm human magic upon the air. “Lots of people come who haven’t been invited,” she said suddenly. “That girl hadn’t been invited. They simply force their way in and he’s too polite to object.”
注释摘要
汤姆的问话是突然砸过来的，没有任何铺垫。他刚刚从派对里出来，站在夜色里，石子路在脚下发出嘎吱声。他用的那个词是“bootlegger”——私酒贩子。在中国读者看来，这需要一点背景交代：美国在1920到1933年实行禁酒令，法律禁止制造、运输和销售任何含酒精饮料。于是非法的私酒生意成了暴利行业，催生了大量地下富豪。汤姆不是靠证据在推测，他说的“我没听到，我是…