《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter VII》第2节
Next day Gatsby called me on the phone. “Going away?” I inquired. “No, old sport.” “I hear you fired all your servants.” “I wanted somebody who wouldn’t gossip. Daisy comes over quite often—in the afternoons.” So the whole caravansary had fallen in like a card house at the disapproval in her eyes. “They’re some people Wolfshiem wanted to do something for. They’re all brothers and sisters. They used to run a small hotel.” “I see.” He was calling up at Daisy’s request—would I come to lunch at her house tomorrow? Miss Baker would be there. Half an hour later Daisy herself telephoned and seemed relieved to find that I was coming. Something was up. And yet I couldn’t believe that they would choose this occasion for a scene—especially for the rather harrowing scene that Gatsby had outlined in the garden. The next day was broiling, almost the last, certainly the warmest, of the summer. As my train emerged from the tunnel into sunlight, only the hot whistles of the National Biscuit Company broke the simmering hush at noon. The straw seats of the car hovered on the edge of combustion; the woman next to me perspired delicately for a while into her white shirtwaist, and then, as her newspaper dampened under her fingers, lapsed despairingly into deep heat with a desolate cry. Her pocketbook slapped to the floor.
注释摘要
尼克在电话里问盖茨比的第一句话，不是你近期可好，而是“你要走了吗”。这说明尼克立即把灯火熄灭、门庭冷落解读为一场撤退的信号。而盖茨比的回答很轻巧——“不，老兄”——紧接着就坦白了他换掉所有仆人的真实理由：他需要一群不会嚼舌根的人，因为黛西下午常来。这句交代的信息量很大。下午来，意味着汤姆不在家；常来，说明这段婚外情已经形成了一种秘密的日常节奏，绝非一时冲动…