《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter VIII》第10节
I thanked him for his hospitality. We were always thanking him for that—I and the others. “Goodbye,” I called. “I enjoyed breakfast, Gatsby.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Up in the city, I tried for a while to list the quotations on an interminable amount of stock, then I fell asleep in my swivel-chair. Just before noon the phone woke me, and I started up with sweat breaking out on my forehead. It was Jordan Baker; she often called me up at this hour because the uncertainty of her own movements between hotels and clubs and private houses made her hard to find in any other way. Usually her voice came over the wire as something fresh and cool, as if a divot from a green golf-links had come sailing in at the office window, but this morning it seemed harsh and dry. “I’ve left Daisy’s house,” she said. “I’m at Hempstead, and I’m going down to Southampton this afternoon.” Probably it had been tactful to leave Daisy’s house, but the act annoyed me, and her next remark made me rigid. “You weren’t so nice to me last night.” “How could it have mattered then?” Silence for a moment. Then: “However—I want to see you.”
注释摘要
尼克在这里说“我感谢他的款待”，这看起来是一句极其普通的社交辞令，但叙述者在下一句立即补充道“我们总是为这个感谢他——我，还有其他人。”括号里这句补充透露了太多东西。盖茨比一整个夏天招待了成百上千的客人，那些人不请自来，吃他的食物、喝他的酒，却很少有人真正认识他。他们唯一互动的方式就是这些空洞的“感谢你的款待”，一个为了维持这个梦幻场景而被反复使用的客套话…