Day 3: What was the most terrible rumor you have ever met?
Wednesday
各位书友，今天我们一起阅读《The Great Gatsby》19-28页。The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in 1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922.
Question
What was the most terrible rumor you have ever met?
你碰到过让你最可怕的谣言是什么？
欢迎各位书友留言，文字语音都可以，中文英文均不限。
您的每一条留言对于我们都很重要！*3
英语共读编辑团队在后台等您来！在后台等您来！等您来！
The butler came back and murmured something close to Tom's ear, whereupon Tom frowned, pushed back his chair, and without a word went inside.
男管家回来凑着汤姆的耳朵咕哝了点什么，汤姆听了眉头一皱，把他的椅子朝后一推，一言不发就走进室内去。
As if his absence quickened something within her, Daisy leaned forward again, her voice glowing and singing. Then suddenly she threw her napkin on the table and excused herself and went into the house.
仿佛他的离去使她活跃了起来，黛西又探身向前，她的声音像唱歌似的抑扬动听。然后她突然把餐巾往桌上一扔，说了声“对不起”就走进房子里面去了。
Miss Baker and I exchanged a short glance consciously devoid of meaning. I was about to speak when she sat up alertly and said "Sh!" in a warning voice.
贝克小姐和我互相使了一下眼色，故意表示没有任何意思。我刚想开口的时候，她警觉地坐直起来，用警告的声音说了一声“嘘”。
"This Mr. Gatsby you spoke of is my neighbor--" I said.
“你刚才提到的那位盖茨比先生是我的邻居……”我开始说。
"Don't talk. I want to hear what happens."
“别说话，我要听听出了什么事。”
"Is something happening?" I inquired innocently.
“是出了事吗？”我天真地问。
"You mean to say you don't know?" said Miss Baker, honestly surprised. "I thought everybody knew."
“难道说你不知道吗？”贝克小姐说，她真的感到奇怪，“我以为人人都知道了。”
"I don't."
“我可不知道。”
"Why--" she said hesitantly, "Tom's got some woman in New York."
“哎呀……”她犹疑了一下说，“汤姆在纽约有个女人。”
"Got some woman?" I repeated blankly.
“有个女人人？”我茫然地跟着说。
Miss Baker nodded. "She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time. Don't you think?"
贝克小姐点点头。“她起码该顾点大体，不在吃饭的时候给他打电话嘛。你说呢？”
Almost before I had grasped her meaning there was the flutter of a dress and the crunch of leather boots, and Tom and Daisy were back at the table.
我几乎还没明白她的意思，就听见一阵裙衣悉碎和皮靴格格的声响，汤姆和黛西回到餐桌上来了。
"It couldn't be helped!" cried Daisy with tense gayety.
“真没办法！”黛西强作欢愉地大声说。
She sat down, glanced searchingly at Miss Baker and then at me, and continued: "I looked outdoors for a minute, and it's very romantic outdoors, isn't it, Tom?"
她坐了下来，先朝贝克小姐然后朝我察看了一眼，又接着说：“我到外面看一下，看到外面浪漫极了，是不是，汤姆？”——
"Very romantic," he said, and then miserably to me: "If it's light enough after dinner, I want to take you down to the stables."
“非常浪漫。”他说，然后哭丧着脸对我说，“吃过饭要是天还够亮的话，我要领你到马房去看看。”
The telephone rang inside, startlingly, and as Daisy shook her head decisively at Tom the subject of the stables, in fact all subjects, vanished into air. I couldn't guess what Daisy and Tom were thinking, but I doubt if even Miss Baker, who seemed to have mastered a certain hardy skepticism, was able utterly to put this fifth guest's shrill metallic urgency out of mind.
里面电话又响了，大家都吃了一惊。黛西断然地对汤姆摇摇头，于是马房的话题，事实上所有的话题，都化为乌有了。我猜不出黛西和汤姆想什么，但是我也怀疑，就连贝克小姐那样似乎玩世不恭的人，是否能把这第五位客人尖锐刺耳的迫切呼声完全置之度外。
Trying to look pleasantly interested and a little deaf, I followed Daisy around a chain of connecting verandas to the porch in front. I saw that turbulent emotions possessed her, so I asked what I thought would be some sedative questions about her little girl.
我一面装出感兴趣的样子，一面装出有点聋，跟着黛西穿过一连串的走廊，走到前面的阳台上去。我看出她心潮澎湃，于是我问了几个我认为有镇静作用的关于她小女儿的问题。
"I suppose she talks, and--eats, and everything."
“我想她一定会说，又……会吃，什么都会吧。”
"Oh, yes." She looked at me absently. "Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool--that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.' "
“呃，是啊。”她心不在焉地看着我，她出世还不到一个钟头，汤姆就天晓得跑到哪里去了。我从乙醚麻醉中醒过来，有一种孤苦伶仃的感觉，马上问护士是男孩还是女孩。她告诉我是个女孩，我就转过脸哭了起来。‘好吧，’我说，‘我很高兴是个女孩。而且我希望她将来是个傻瓜——这就是女孩子在这种世界上最好的出路，当一个美丽的小傻瓜。”
A few minutes later I got up to go home. And when I reached my estate at West Egg I ran the car under its shed and sat for a while on an abandoned grass roller in the yard. The silhouette of a moving cat wavered across the moonlight, and turning my head to watch it, I saw that I was not alone--fifty feet away a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbor's mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars. Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself, come out to determine what share was his of our local heavens.
几分钟之后我就起身告辞了。我回到我在西卵的住处，把车停在小车棚之后，在院子里一架闲置的刈草机上坐了一会儿。一只猫的侧影在月光中慢慢地移动，我掉过头去看它的时候，发觉我不是一个人——五十英尺之外一个人已经从我邻居的大厦的阴影里走了出来，现在两手插在口袋里站在那里仰望银白的星光。从他那悠闲的动作和他那两脚稳踏在草坪上的姿态可以看出他就是盖茨比先生本人，出来确定一下我们本地的天空哪一片是属于他的。
I decided to call to him. But I didn't call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone--he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.
我打定了主意要招呼他。但我并没招呼他，因为他突然做了个动作，好像表示他满足于独自待着——他朝着幽暗的海水把两只胳膊伸了出去，那样子真古怪，并且尽管我离他很远，我可以发誓他正在发抖。我也情不自禁地朝海上望去——什么都看不出来，除了一盏绿灯，又小又远，也许是一座码头的尽头。等我回头再去看盖茨比时，他已经不见了，于是我又独自待在不平静的黑夜里。
重点语句
1. I couldn't guess what Daisy and Tom were thinking, but I doubt if even Miss Baker, who seemed to have mastered a certain hardy skepticism, was able utterly to put this fifth guest's shrill metallic urgency out of mind.
我猜不出黛西和汤姆想什么，但是我也怀疑，就连贝克小姐那样似乎玩世不恭的人，是否能把这第五位客人尖锐刺耳的迫切呼声完全置之度外。
2. I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.
我真希望她将来是个大傻瓜，因为这是女孩子在这样一个世界上最好的出路——当一个美丽的傻瓜。
3. Fifty feet away a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbor's mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars.
五十英尺之外一个人已经从我邻居的大厦的阴影里走了出来，现在两手插在口袋里站在那里仰望银白的星光。
4. He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.
他朝着幽暗的海水把两只胳膊伸了出去，那样子真古怪，并且尽管我离他很远，我可以发誓他正在发抖。我也情不自禁地朝海上望去——什么都看不出来，除了一盏绿灯，又小又远，也许是一座码头的尽头。
重点词汇
1. decency ：正派；体面；庄重；合乎礼仪；礼貌
2. miserably：贫困地；可悲地；糟糕地；非常不幸地
3. skepticism：怀疑论；怀疑的态度
4. sedative：使镇静的；使安静的
5. silhouette：轮廓，剪影
本月共读《The Great Gatsbty》英文版
点击公众号菜单栏“每月读原著”立即加入有书英语共读
☞ 主播：Wilson，口语培训师。爱音乐，爱运动，爱英语，兴趣广泛，尤其对和声音有关的一切事情充满热情。个人公众号：Wilson语音范
☞ 领读达人：谢可慧，专栏作者。热爱读书写字，迷恋任何具有挑战性的人和事。新浪微博：谢可慧的村庄，个人公众号：秋小愚
☞ 设计：刘莹，英语共读首席体验官
☞ 编校：刘亚南，英语共读负责人，85后
—共读书籍简介—
《了不起的盖茨比》是美国作家弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德1925年所写的一部以20世纪20年代的纽约市及长岛为背景的中篇小说，小说的背景被设定在现代化的美国社会中上阶层的白人圈内，通过卡拉韦的叙述展开。
《了不起的盖茨比》问世，奠定了弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德在现代美国文学史上的地位，成了20年代"爵士时代"的发言人和"迷惘的一代"的代表作家之一。20世纪末，美国学术界权威在百年英语文学长河中选出一百部最优秀的小说，《了不起的盖茨比》高居第二位，傲然跻身当代经典行列。