很多人因为挪威的森林去看菲茨杰拉德，也有另外的人因为安妮宝贝去看《情人》，但看得懂村上春树的不一定读得懂菲茨杰拉德，熟识安妮的不一定洞悉杜拉斯。也不一定真的是喜欢。

想到一首叫《界限》的诗
中间有几句：发现我的，是一本书；是不可能的。
飞，是不可能的。
居住一家核桃的内部，是不可能的。
…… ……
让田野充满痛苦是不可能的
………………………………

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The Great Gatsby -《了不起的盖茨比》

An english girl whose major is English strongly recommended me to read it, and then i'm addicted to it...

F.斯科特Fitzgerald如此成为了传奇，神，如上帝他现在是死的。 以前那，虽然， Fitzgerald写了永恒的经典之作，很永恒，如果你告诉pre-pubscent青少年读它，他或她几个小时将苦恼并且呻吟，投掷的脾气勃然大怒和哭泣他们自己睡觉不读书。

每天不是某人写启发世代，在世代通过在金钱虚假建立的奴仆的文明经济foundings懒惰追逐梦想在问题以后的一本小说。 并且它不是为Fitzgerald。 从嫩年龄的三， Fitzgerald是一个酒客。 他爱平均啤酒和酒，但他特别是珍惜汽油并且每天喝了它，在三加仑每天。

Fitzgerald的伟大的Gatsby是很显要的它在他的死亡之后接受了很少新闻直到。 他未曾得到观看罗伯特Redford假装会行动，并且他未曾得到看山姆Waterson连续地使人不耐烦以他的历史渠道声音。 但什么他得到看是许多和许多铅矿石。 严重，如果这个人有在他的一生期间，在恐惧喝了铅矿石，政府将必须抑制他的胃壁他会破裂并且充斥世界。 他是一合法的boozehound。

无论如何，文艺评论家在，诚然阴谋、药物和情热压迫，但一直，豪华和难以置信地中意的世界设法夺取壮丽，精华， Gatsby润发油奥妙，然后，反复，装瓶它出售它对伊朗并且居住。 或者，我喜欢对calll，美国。 然而

，许多了不起的评论家尝试了并且遇见了他们的命运由于强大的杰伊Gatsby的作用象oh那么许多大卫横幅的T恤杉在他们之前。 所以它是攻击这本书的我的计划从backasswardly方式可能。 Gatsby不会期待我对，不仅读全部，伟大的Gatsby，但相似分析它。

伟大的Gatsby，据我所知是关于孤零零‘A和‘我的和混乱偶尔地打破的混乱。 这可能不是我经过重新考虑设立了的最佳的环形交通枢纽计划。 但我们将让人民决定那个问题。 由，叫的世界的国王和他们明显地决定扭转按年代和数值系统。 显然地，你最高，并且五是最低的。 我不知道别的对此，但是我可以再保证你Shvoong已经做一切在它的有能力获取这个新的系统。

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菲茨杰拉德：

　　菲茨杰拉德是“迷惘一代”（Lost Generation）的代表作家，是“爵士乐时代”（Jazz Age）的桂冠诗人。在本世纪二三十年代的美国文坛，菲茨杰拉德占着一个重要的位置。

　　菲茨杰拉德一八九六年生于美国明尼苏达州的圣保罗市，一九一三年进入普林斯顿大学学习，一九一七年应征入伍。服役期间，他爱上一位名叫姗尔达（Zelda）的富家小姐，但因贫寒而无力迎娶。他发奋写作，终于在一九二零年因发表长篇小说《人间天堂》（This Side of Paradise）而一举成名，同姗尔达的婚事也如愿以偿。婚后，他们生活阔绰，纵情享受，常常宾客盈门，觥筹交错，并长年侨居欧洲。但由于挥霍无度，终致入不敷出，生活便从欢乐转入悲惨。姗尔达因精神病多次发作被送进精神病院，菲茨杰拉德也染上酗酒的恶习，意志日趋消沉。一九四零年菲茨杰拉德心脏病猝发去世，享年四十六岁。从他的第一部长篇小说《人间天堂》的发表到他一九四零去世的二十年间，菲茨杰拉德写了一百六十多个短篇小说，分别收入《年轻女郎与哲学家》（Flappers and Philosophers ，1920）、《爵士乐时代的故事》（Tales of Jazz Age ，1922）、《所有悲哀的年轻人》（All the Sad Yong Men ，1926）等集子。除《人间天堂》外，他还出版了三部长篇小说，即《漂亮冤家》（The Beautiful and Damned，1922）、《了不起的盖茨比》（The Great Gatsby，1925）及《夜色温柔》（Tender is the Night ，1934）。去世时，还留下一部未完成的长篇《最后一个巨头》（the Last Tycoon）。

时代背景：

　　美国历史上，“爵士乐时代”是指自一站结束（1918）至经济大萧条（1929）的时期，也就是二十年代。这既是一个浮华享乐的年代，又是人们尤其是年轻人普遍感到迷惘失落的年代，“一切神明统统死光，一切仗都已打完，以往关于人的一切信念完全动摇。”这还是美国文化变革转型、美国文学蓬勃发展的年代。菲茨杰拉德及其创作是“爵士乐时代”的典型产物，但称菲茨杰拉德是这个时代的“桂冠诗人”不甚恰当。菲茨杰拉德虽然以他敏锐的观察和巧慧的心灵反映了美国的“爵士乐时代”，但作为一个时代的歌手，他吟唱的不是一首热情洋溢的颂歌，而是一曲悲切的哀歌，一曲“美国梦”（The American Dream）遭遇破灭的哀歌。他自己早就说过：“进入我头脑的故事包含着某种灾祸，在我的长篇小说里，可爱的青年走向毁灭。”

　　“美国梦”由来已久，最初是清教移民对自由信仰、自由创造的渴望和梦想，随后在那片新大陆上及向西部开拓的过程中，美国梦演变为对幸福的追求，尤其是对成功的追求，包括事业、爱情、财富等；南北战争后，随着工业化进程的深入和大都市的相继出现，美国梦更是流行并具体化为对金钱的渴望和追求，它使人们相信：在美国这块土地上，机会均等，只要努力奋斗，一个没有茄子穿的穷孩子完全可以成为百万富翁并获得幸福。菲茨杰拉德的一生经历及其创作正是“美国梦”幻灭的生动的实例。

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“The great Gatsby”

一个男人追爱追了一生，

追一个跟他有着不同阶级，不同背景，不同生活的女人。

直到最后，

付出了他的生命。



是他选错了人，

还是世界的必然性？

以前坚信后者，

而现在却希望前者。

也许都是自欺欺人罢了。

是自己放不下，

还是有些东西不可能放下？



有些感触，

有些悲伤。

有些消沉。



想跟自己说：走吧，走吧。其实你一直知道结果，何必再去欺骗自己。

然而心里总是幻想着侥幸，

站在那里等。

等着被雷电劈死。



为曾经嘲笑Gatsby而感到耻辱。

其实自己一样笨

　

[ 本帖最后由 海蓝蓝 于 2006-7-20 21:16 编辑 ]

在第八章中，Gatsby回忆了他初遇见Daisy时的情景。一个穷小子爱上富家小姐，他到底爱的是这个姑娘本身，还是她所代表的上层生活呢？

最终来说，Gatsby爱上的不是Daisy，而是他念念不忘的美国梦。他追求Daisy，就是为了追求他的梦。

这一段写得非常深刻和优美。我把中英对照的全文都贴在下面。我认为优美的英语句子，都用黑体标出来了。

=====================================

It was this night that he told me the strange story of his youth with Dan Cody--told it to me because "Jay Gatsby." had broken up like glass against Tom's hard malice, and the long secret extravaganza was played out. I think that he would have acknowledged anything now, without reserve, but he wanted to talk about Daisy.

就是这天夜里，他把他跟丹·科迪度过的年轻时代的离奇故事告诉了我，因为“杰伊·盖茨比”已经像玻璃一样在汤姆的铁硬的恶意上碰得粉碎，那出漫长的秘密狂想剧也演完了。我想他这时什么都可以毫无保留地承认，但他只想谈黛西的事。

She was the first "nice" girl he had ever known. In various unrevealed capacities he had come in contact with such people, but always with indiscernible barbed wire between. He found her excitingly desirable. He went to her house, at first with other officers from Camp Taylor, then alone. It amazed him--he had never been in such a beautiful house before. but what gave it an air of breathless intensity, was that Daisy lived there--it was as casual a thing to her as his tent out at camp was to him. There was a ripe mystery about it,a hint of bedrooms up-stairs more beautiful and cool than other bedrooms, of gay and radiant activities taking place through its corridors, and of romances that were not musty and laid away already in lavender but fresh and breathing and redolent of this year's shining motor-cars and of dances whose flowers were scarcely withered. It excited him, too, that many men had already loved Daisy--it increased her value in his eyes. He felt their presence all about the house,pervading the air with the shades and echoes of still vibrant emotions.

她是他所认识的第一个“大家闺秀”。他以前以各种未透露的身份电曾和这一类人接触过，但每次总有一层无形的铁丝网隔在中间。他为她神魂颠倒。他到她家里去，起先和泰勒营的其他军官一起去，后来单独前往。她的家使他惊异——他从来没进过这样美丽的住宅，但是其所以有一种扣人心弦的强烈的情凋却是因为她住在那里——这房子对于她就像他在军营里的帐篷对于他一样地平淡无奇。这房子充满了引人入胜的神秘气氛，仿佛暗示楼上有许多比其他卧室都美丽而凉爽的卧室，走廊里到处都是赏心乐事，还有许多风流艳史——不是霉烘烘、用熏香草保存起来的，而是活生生的，使人联想到今年的雪亮的汽车－联想到鲜花还没凋谢的舞会－很多男人曾经爱过黛西。这也使他激动——这在他眼中增高了她的身价，他感到她家里到处都有他们的存在。空气中弥漫着仍然颤动的感情的阴影和回声。

But he knew that he was in Daisy's house by a colossal accident.However glorious might be his future as Jay Gatsby, he was at present apenniless young man without a past, and at any moment the invisible cloak of his uniform might slip from his shoulders. So he made the mostof his time. He took what he could get, ravenously and unscrupulously--eventually he took Daisy one still October night, took her because he hadno real right to touch her hand.

但是，他明白他之所以能出入黛西家里纯粹是出于偶然，不管他作为杰伊·盖茨比会有何等的锦绣前程，目前他只是一个默默无闻、一文不名的青年人，而且他的军服——这件看不见的外衣随时都可能从他肩上滑落下来。因此地尽所利用他的时间，他占有了他所能得到的东西，狼吞点咽，肆无忌惮——终于在一个静寂的十月的夜晚他占有了黛西，占有了她，正因为他并没有否正的权利去摸她的手。

He might have despised himself, for he had certainly taken her under false pretenses. I don't mean that he had traded on his phantom millions, but he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself--that he was fully able to take care of her. As a matter of fact, he had no such facilities--he had no comfortable family standing behind him, and he was liable at the whim of an impersonal governmentto be blown anywhere about the world.

他也许应该鄙视自己的，因为他确实用欺骗的手段占有了她，我不是说他利用了他那虚幻的百万家财。但是他有意给黛西造成一种安全感，让她相信他的出身跟她不相上下——相信他完全能够照料她。实际上，他并没有这种能力——他背后没有生活优裕的家庭撑腰，而且只要全无人情味的政府一声令下，他随时都可以被调到世界上任何地方去。

But he didn't despise himself and it didn't turn out as he had imagined. He had intended, probably, to take what he could and go--but now he found that he had committed himself to the following of a grail.He knew that Daisy was extraordinary, but he didn't realize just how extraordinary a "nice" girl could be. She vanished into her richh ouse, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby--nothing. He felt married to her, that was all.

但是他并没有鄙视自己，事情的结果也出乎他的意料。他起初很可能打算及时行乐，然后一走了之——但是现在他发现他已经把自己献身于追求一种理想。他知道黛西不间寻常，但是他并没认识到一位“大家闺秀”究竟有多少不同寻常。她回到她那豪华的住宅里，回到她那丰富美满的生活，突然不见了，给盖茨比什么也没留下。他觉得他已经和她结了婚了，如此而已。

When they met again, two days later, it was Gatsby who was breathless,who was, somehow, betrayed. Her porch was bright with the bought luxury of star-shine; the wicker of the settee squeaked fashionably as she turned toward him and he kissed her curious and lovely mouth.She had caught a cold, and it made her voice huskier and more charming than ever, and Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes,and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor.

两天之后，他们俩再见面时，显得心慌意乱，似乎上当受骗的倒是盖茨比。她家凉台沐浴在灿烂的星光里。她转身让他吻她那张奇妙、可爱的嘴时，时髦的长靠椅的柳条吱吱作响，她看了凉，她的声音比平时更沙哑，更动人。盖茨比深切地体会到财富怎样禁甸和保存青春与神秘，体会到一套套衣装怎样使人保持清析，体会到黛西像白银一样皎皎发光，安然高踞于穷苦人激烈的生存斗争之上。

"I can't describe to you how surprised I was to find out I loved her,old sport. I even hoped for a while that she'd throw me over, but she didn't, because she was in love with me too. She thought I knew a lot because I knew different things from her. . . . Well, there I was,'way off my ambitions, getting deeper in love every minute, and all of a sudden I didn't care. What was the use of doing great things if I could have a better time telling her what I was going to do?"

我没法向你形容我发现自己爱上了她以后感到多么惊讶，老兄。有一阵我甚至希望她把我甩掉，但她没有，因为她也爱我。她认为我懂很多事，因为我懂的和她懂的不一样……唉，我就是那样，把雄心壮志撇在一边，每一分钟都在情网“越陷越深，而且忽然之间我也什么都不在乎了。如果我能够告诉她我打算去做些什么而从中得到更大的快乐，那么又何必去做大事呢？”

On the last afternoon before he went abroad, he sat with Daisyin his arms for a long, silent time. It was a cold fall day, with firein the room and her cheeks flushed. Now and then she moved and hechanged his arm a little, and once he kissed her dark shining hair. The afternoon had made them tranquil for a while, as if to give them a deep memory for the long parting the next day promised. They had never been closer in their month of love, nor communicated more profoundly one with another, than when she brushed silent lips against his coat's shoulder or when he touched the end of her fingers, gently, as though she were asleep.

在他动身到海外之前的最后一个下午，他搂着黛西默默地坐了很长的时间。那是一个寒冷的秋日，屋子里生了火，她的两颊烘得通红。她不时移动一下，他也微微挪动一同胳臂，有一次他还吻吻她那乌黑光亮的头发。下午已经使他们平静了一会，仿佛为了在他们记忆中留下一个深刻的印象，为第二天即将开始的长远的分离做好准备。她用无言的嘴唇拂过地上衣的肩头，或者他温柔地碰一碰她的指尖，仿佛她是在睡梦之中，他俩在这一月的相爱中从来没有像这样亲密过，也从来没有像这样深刻地互通衷曲。

这一本我读了两遍，却没觉得妙处，反而是合订在一起的《夜色温柔》更有看头。现在看你的英译对照，倒是觉得译得好极。