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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.
到了城里，我试着抄了一长串股票的行情，然后我在转椅上睡着了。
Just before noon the phone woke me and I started up with housebreaking out on my forehead.
快到中午的时候，电话把我吵醒了，我吃了一惊，脑门上汗直冒。
It was Jordan Baker;
是乔丹·贝克；
she often called me up at this hour because the uncertainty of her own movements
她经常在这个时候给我打电话，因为她自己行踪不稳定
between hotels and clubs and private houses made her hard to find in any other way.
酒店、俱乐部和私人住宅让我很难用其他办法找到她。
Usually her voice came over the wire as something fresh and cool
通常她的声音在电话里听来是新鲜悦耳的
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.
就好像绿色高尔夫球场上的一块草皮从办公室的窗户飘了进来，但今天早上，它似乎又粗糙又干燥。
"I've left Daisy's house," she said.
“我离开了黛西的家，”她说。
"I'm at Hempstead and I'm going down to Southampton this afternoon."
“我在海普斯特德，今天下午我要去索斯安普顿。”
Probably it had been tactful to leave Daisy's house, but the act annoyed me and her next remark made me rigid.
也许离开黛西家是一种得体的做法，但这种行为惹恼了我，她的下一句话使我生气了。
"You weren't so nice to me last night."
“你昨晚对我不太好。”
"How could it have mattered then?"
“那又有什么关系呢?”
Silence for a moment. Then--
沉默了一会儿。然后——
"However--I want to see you."
“不过——我想见你。”
"I want to see you too."
“我也想见你。”
"Suppose I don't go to Southampton, and come into town this afternoon?"
“假如我不去索斯安普敦，下午进城来，好不好？”
"No--I don't think this afternoon."
“不——我想今天下午不行。”
"Very well."
“随你的便。”
"It's impossible this afternoon. Various----"
“今天下午不可能。各种各样的——”
We talked like that for a while and then abruptly we weren't talking any longer.
我们这样谈了一会儿，然后突然就不再谈了。
I don't know which of us hung up with a sharp click but I know I didn't care.
我不知道我们谁挂了，但我知道我不在乎。
I couldn't have talked to her across a tea-table that day if I never talked to her again in this world.
我那天不可能跟她在茶桌上面对面聊天，即使她从此永远不跟我讲话也不行。
I called Gatsby's house a few minutes later, but the line was busy.
几分钟后，我给盖茨比家打了电话，但占线。
I tried four times; finally an exasperated central told me the wire was being kept open for long distance from Detroit.
我试了四次；一个恼怒的接线员告诉我这条线路在专等底特律的长途电话。
Taking out my time-table I drew a small circle around the three-fifty train.
我拿出时刻表，在3点50分的火车周围画了一个小圆圈。
Then I leaned back in my chair and tried to think. It was just noon.
然后我向后靠在椅子上，试图思考。当时正是中午。
When I passed the ashheaps on the train that morning I had crossed deliberately to the other side of the car.
那天早上，当我在火车上经过那堆烟灰时，我故意走到车厢的另一边。
I suppose there'd be a curious crowd around there all day with little boys searching for dark spots in the dust
我想那里整天都会有一群好奇的人，小孩子们会在尘土中寻找黑点
and some garrulous man telling over and over what had happened
一个喋喋不休的人一遍又一遍地讲述所发生的事情
