《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter VII》第11节
“Come on, Daisy,” said Tom, pressing her with his hand toward Gatsby’s car. “I’ll take you in this circus wagon.” He opened the door, but she moved out from the circle of his arm. “You take Nick and Jordan. We’ll follow you in the coupé.” She walked close to Gatsby, touching his coat with her hand. Jordan and Tom and I got into the front seat of Gatsby’s car, Tom pushed the unfamiliar gears tentatively, and we shot off into the oppressive heat, leaving them out of sight behind. “Did you see that?” demanded Tom. “See what?” He looked at me keenly, realizing that Jordan and I must have known all along. “You think I’m pretty dumb, don’t you?” he suggested. “Perhaps I am, but I have a—almost a second sight, sometimes, that tells me what to do. Maybe you don’t believe that, but science—” He paused. The immediate contingency overtook him, pulled him back from the edge of theoretical abyss. “I’ve made a small investigation of this fellow,” he continued. “I could have gone deeper if I’d known—” “Do you mean you’ve been to a medium?” inquired Jordan humorously. “What?” Confused, he stared at us as we laughed. “A medium?”
注释摘要
这段文字是整场冲突从暗涌转为明火的关键转折点。表面上看，它写的不过是一行人要分乘两辆车进城，但每一个细小的动作、每一句看似随口的台词的底下，都压着即将爆炸的阶级敌意、性别角力和婚姻崩溃。尼克作为叙述者，此刻的笔调冷静而精准，却带着事后回望时才有的那种清晰的痛感。 我们先看发生了什么。汤姆用一种几乎不加掩饰的胁迫方式，用手推着黛西走向盖茨比的车，嘴里说“我带…