I lived at West Egg, the -- well, the less fashionable of the two,
我住在西卵,这是两个地方中比较不那么时髦的一个,
though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them.
不过这是一个非常肤浅的标签,不足以表示二者之间那种离奇古怪而十分晦气的对比。
My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound,
我的房子紧靠在鸡蛋的顶端,离海湾只有五十码,
and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season.
挤在两座每季租金要一万二到一万五的大别墅中间。
The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard --
我右边的那一幢,不管按什么标准来说,都是一个庞然大物——
it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side,
它是诺曼底某市政厅的翻版,一边有一座簇新的塔楼,
spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden.
上面疏疏落落地覆盖着一层常春藤,还有一座大理石游泳池,以及四十多英亩的草坪和花园。
It was Gatsby's mansion.
这是盖茨比的公馆。
Or, rather, as I didn't know Mr. Gatsby, it was a mansion inhabited by a gentleman of that name.
或者更确切地说这是一位姓盖茨比的阔人所住的公馆,因为我还不认识盖茨比先生。
My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked,
我自己的房子实在难看,幸而很小,没有被人注意,
so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor's lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires --
因此我才有缘欣赏一片海景,欣赏我邻居草坪的一部分,并且能以与百万富翁为邻而引以自慰——
all for eighty dollars a month.
所有这一切每月只需出八十美元。
Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water,
小湾对岸,东卵豪华住宅区内临水的洁白宫殿光彩夺目,
and the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom Buchanan's.
那个夏天的故事是从我开车去那边到汤姆·布坎南夫妇家吃饭的那个晚上才真正开始的。
Daisy was my second cousin once removed, and I'd known Tom in college.
黛西是我远房表妹,汤姆是我在大学里就认识的。
And just after the war I spent two days with them in Chicago.
大战刚结束之后,我在芝加哥还在他们家住过两天。
Her husband, among various physical accomplishments,
她的丈夫,除了擅长其他各种运动之外,
had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven -- a national figure in a way,
曾经是纽黑文大学有史以来最伟大的橄榄球运动员之一———也可说是个全国闻名的人物,
one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one
这种人二十一岁就在有限范围内取得登峰造极的成就,
that everything afterward savors of anti-climax.
从此以后一切都不免有走下坡路的味道了。
His family were enormously wealthy -- even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach --
他家里非常有钱——还在大学时他那样任意花钱已经遭人非议,
but now he'd left Chicago and come East in a fashion that rather took your breath away:
但现在他离开了芝加哥搬到东部来,搬家的那个排场可真要让人惊掉下巴。
for instance, he'd brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest.
比方说,他从森林湖运来整整一群打马球用的马驹。