《了不起的盖茨比·Chapter IX》第11节
I wondered if this partnership had included the World’s Series transaction in 1919. “Now he’s dead,” I said after a moment. “You were his closest friend, so I know you’ll want to come to his funeral this afternoon.” “I’d like to come.” “Well, come then.” The hair in his nostrils quivered slightly, and as he shook his head his eyes filled with tears. “I can’t do it—I can’t get mixed up in it,” he said. “There’s nothing to get mixed up in. It’s all over now.” “When a man gets killed I never like to get mixed up in it in any way. I keep out. When I was a young man it was different—if a friend of mine died, no matter how, I stuck with them to the end. You may think that’s sentimental, but I mean it—to the bitter end.” I saw that for some reason of his own he was determined not to come, so I stood up. “Are you a college man?” he inquired suddenly. For a moment I thought he was going to suggest a “gonnegtion,” but he only nodded and shook my hand. “Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead,” he suggested. “After that my own rule is to let everything alone.”
注释摘要
尼克在这一节的内心活动是从一个令人不安的猜测开始的。他听到沃尔夫山姆回忆如何把盖茨比“从阴沟里拉上来”、两人如何形影不离，立刻就联想到了一桩臭名昭著的丑闻——1919年的世界大赛黑袜事件。那年芝加哥白袜队的八名球员被指控故意输球，而背后的操盘手正是纽约地下赌球集团。尼克那个问句——我心想，这场合作该不会把1919年世界大赛那笔交易也包进去了吧——他没有问出…