Whas matter? he inquired calmly. Did we run out of gas?79
Look!
Half a dozen fingers pointed at the amputated wheel he stared at it for a moment. A pause. Then he remarked in a determined voice:
Wonderff tell me where theres a gasline station?80 At least a dozen men explained to him that wheel and car were no longer joined.
The beeping had reached its culmination and I turned away toward home. I glanced back once. The night was ne as before, but a sudden emptiness seemed to ow now from the windows and the great doors, giving the impression of complete loneliness to the gure of the host, who stood on the porch, his hand up in a formal gesture of farewell.
Reading over what I have written so far, I see it seems that the events of three nights were all that absorbed me. On the contrary, they were merely casual events in a crowded summer, and, until much later, they absorbed me innitely less than my personal affairs81.
Most of the time I worked. In the early morning I hurried down the streets of lower New York. I knew the other clerks and young bond salesmen by their rst names, and lunched with them in dark, crowded restaurants on little pig sausages and mashed potatoes and coffee. I even had a short affair with a girl who worked in the accounting department, but her brother began throwing mean looks in my direction, so I broke up with her.
I began to like New York, the adventurous feel of it at night, and the satisfaction that the constant icker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye. I liked to walk up Fifth Avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd and imagine that in a few minutes I was going to enter into their lives. At the city twilight I felt loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others poor young clerks, wasting the best moments of night and life.
For a while I lost sight of Jordan Baker, and then in midsummer I found her again. At rst I liked to go places with her, because she was a golf champion, and everyone knew her name. Then it was something more.
I wasnt actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity. The bored haughty face that she turned to the world concealed something and one day I found what it was. When we were on a house party, she left a borrowed car out in the rain with the top down82, and then lied about it and suddenly I remembered the story about her that had come to my mind that night at Daisys. At her rst big golf tournament there was a scandal that nearly reached the newspapers a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad position in the seminal round. The incident and the name had remained together in my mind.
Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men, and now I saw that this was because she felt safer in a company where no one would think that its possible to break the rules. She was incurably dishonest. She wasnt able to endure being at a disadvantage and I suppose she had begun doing her tricks when she was very young. So she managed to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard young body.
It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply I was casually sorry, and then I forgot. It was on that same house party that we had a curious conversation about driving a car. It started because she passed so close to some workman that our fender icked a button83 on one mans coat.
Youre a bad driver, I protested. Either you ought to be more careful, or you oughtnt to drive at all.
I am careful.
No, youre not.
Well, other people are, she said lightly. Theyll keep out of my way.
Suppose you met somebody just as careless as yourself.
I hope I never will, she answered. I hate careless people. Thats why I like you.
Her gray, sun-strained eyes stared straight ahead, but she had deliberately changed our relations, and for a moment I thought I loved her. But I am slow thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires, and I knew that rst I had to get myself out of that story back home. I understood that I had to break up with that girl tactfully before I was free.
Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal goodness, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.
Exercises1. Read the chapter and answer if these statements are true, false or there is no information in the text.
1. Gatsbys guests liked spending time on his beach.
2. Gatsby personally invited all his guests.
3. Jordan had a yellow dress on.
4. Jordan lost the last golf tournament.
5. When one of the guests tore her dress at a Gatsbys party he sent her a new one, but it was very cheap.
6. There were only imitations of books in Gatsbys library.
7. Nick understood immediately that the man sitting at his table was Gatsby himself.
8. Nick and Gatsby were in the same division during the War.
9. Gatsby wanted to speak with Jordan in private about her plans for future.
10. After the party a car lost one wheel and blocked the driveway.
11. Jordan Baker was a dishonest person.
12. Jordan liked fast driving.
2. Practice the pronunciation of these words.
6
I enjoyed the counter-raid so thoroughly that I came back restless. Меня так увлекло контрнаступление, что, вернувшись домой, я не мог найти покоя.
7
Dodge марка автомобилей, производимых американской компанией «Крайслер»
8
muttered Finnish wisdom бормотала под нос финские премудрости
9
the Tom Buchanans [ˈbju:kənəns] артикль the указывает на то, что речь идет о семействе Бьюкененов
10
a string of polo ponies конюшня пони для игры в поло
11
supercilious manner надменные манеры
12
a touch of paternal contempt нотка презрительной отеческой снисходительности
13
their dresses were rippling and uttering их платья подрагивали и колыхались
14
with exhibition of complete self-sufciency с выражением полной самодостаточности
15
All the cars have the left rear wheel painted black as a mourning wreath, and theres a persistent wail all night along the north shore. У всех машин левое заднее колесо выкрашено черной краской в знак траура, а берега озера всю ночь оглашаются плачем и стенаниями.
16
bond man служащий, занимающийся кредитными операциями
17
with such suddenness that I started с такой внезапностью, что я вздрогнул
18
Her gray sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite curiosity out of a charming, discontented face. Ее серые слегка прищуренные глаза посмотрели на меня с вежливым любопытством, которое, однако, не коснулось ее очаровательного недовольного лица.
19
hulking physical specimen неповоротливый здоровенный дылда
20
they accepted Tom and me, making only a polite pleasant effort to entertain or to be entertained они терпели Тома и меня, лишь из светской любезности развлекая нас и помогая нам развлекать их
21
its up to us все зависит от нас
22
winking ferociously toward the fervent sun свирепо подмигивая в сторону жаркого солнца
23
subdued murmur was audible был слышен приглушенный шепот
24
she might have the decency она могла бы ради приличия
25
wicker settee плетеный диванчик
26
I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling я очнулась после наркоза, чувствуя себя всеми брошенной
27
I felt the basic insincerity of what she had said. В глубине ее слов я чувствовал неискренность.
28
she held us silent for a moment with a lifted hand она предостерегающе подняла руку, чтобы мы молчали
29
Hot Springs and Palm Beach Хот-Спрингс и Палм-Бич небольшие города в США
30
see you anon пока; до встречи
31
Ill sort of oh ing you together я как это говорится? брошу вас в объятия друг друга
32
an abandoned grass roller брошенная старая газонокосилка
33
that would do for an introduction это сойдет для знакомства
34
I could have sworn я мог бы поклясться
35
then sank down himself into eternal blindness потом сам отошел в край вечной слепоты
36
literally forced me from the car буквально вытащил меня из вагона
37
wiping his hands on a piece of waste вытирая руки ветошью
38
Works pretty slow, dont he? грамматически неверная фраза, подчеркивающая невежество и необразованность говорящего. Правильно: He works pretty slowly, doesnt he?
39
the thickish gure of a woman blocked out the light from the ofce door плотная женская фигура загородила свет, падавший из закутка
40
A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity Налет шлаковой пыли выбелил его темный костюм и бесцветные волосы, как и все кругом
41
which stretched tight over her rather wide hips as Tom helped her to the platform in New York которое туго натянулось на ее широковатых бедрах, когда Том помогал ей выйти из вагона в Нью-Йорке
42
Town Tattle журнал «Городские сплетни».