《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter VII》第38节
“Did you see any trouble on the road?” he asked after a minute. “Yes.” He hesitated. “Was she killed?” “Yes.” “I thought so; I told Daisy I thought so. It’s better that the shock should all come at once. She stood it pretty well.” He spoke as if Daisy’s reaction was the only thing that mattered. “I got to West Egg by a side road,” he went on, “and left the car in my garage. I don’t think anybody saw us, but of course I can’t be sure.” I disliked him so much by this time that I didn’t find it necessary to tell him he was wrong. “Who was the woman?” he inquired. “Her name was Wilson. Her husband owns the garage. How the devil did it happen?” “Well, I tried to swing the wheel—” He broke off, and suddenly I guessed at the truth. “Was Daisy driving?” “Yes,” he said after a moment, “but of course I’ll say I was. You see, when we left New York she was very nervous and she thought it would steady her to drive—and this woman rushed out at us just as we were passing a car coming the other way. It all happened in a minute, but it seemed to me that she wanted to speak to us, thought we were somebody she knew. Well, first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back. The second my hand reached the wheel I felt the shock—it must have killed her instantly.”
注释摘要
尼克和盖茨比这段对话，从一开头就弥漫着令人不寒而栗的冷静。尼克已经目睹了车祸现场——他知道那个女人死了。盖茨比从树丛里走出来，第一句话不是“发生了什么”，而是“你在路上看到什么麻烦了吗”，措辞闪烁，像是在试探，又像是在回避那个更沉重的字眼。等到确认“她死了”，盖茨比的回答立刻转向黛西：“我告诉黛西我认为是这样。让震惊一下子来完更好。她承受得挺好。”这短短几…