The Great Gatsby · chapter 20 of 20
Boats Against the Current
逆水的小船
Summer is over. Jordan has news for Nick, Tom has something to say about that terrible day, and on his last night Nick walks over to Gatsby's empty house.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 葬礼以后，尼克去见乔丹。
Zànglǐ yǐhòu, Níkè qù jiàn Qiáodān.
After the funeral, Nick went to see Jordan.
- Jordan Baker 听说，你要回中西部了？
Tīngshuō, nǐ yào huí Zhōngxībù le?
I hear you're going back to the Middle West?
- Nick Carraway 是啊。我的根在那儿。
Shì a. Wǒ de gēn zài nàr.
Yes. My roots are there.
Chapter 20 is part of SayMei Stories Unlimited ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Part 1 of The Great Gatsby (chapters 1–6) is free, and The Second Cup of Tea, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, The Kitchen God, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Chang'e and the Moon, Alice in Wonderland and Judge Dee's Cases are free from start to finish.
- Jordan Baker 我要结婚了。不是跟你。
Wǒ yào jiéhūn le. Bú shì gēn nǐ.
I'm getting married. Not to you.
- Jordan Baker 你还记得我们说过开车的事吗？
Nǐ hái jìde wǒmen shuōguo kāichē de shì ma?
Do you still remember our talk about driving?
- Nick Carraway 记得。你说，你不喜欢不小心的人。
Jìde. Nǐ shuō, nǐ bù xǐhuan bù xiǎoxīn de rén.
I remember. You said you didn't like careless people.
- Jordan Baker 可是，你也是一个不小心的人。我还以为，你是一个说真话的人。
Kěshì, nǐ yě shì yí gè bù xiǎoxīn de rén. Wǒ hái yǐwéi, nǐ shì yí gè shuō zhēnhuà de rén.
But you're a careless one too. And I thought you were an honest man.
- Nick Carraway 乔丹，我三十岁了。太老了，不能再骗自己了。
Qiáodān, wǒ sānshí suì le. Tài lǎo le, bù néng zài piàn zìjǐ le.
Jordan, I'm thirty. Too old to lie to myself anymore.
- Narrator 十月的一个下午，尼克在第五大道上看见了汤姆。
Shíyuè de yí gè xiàwǔ, Níkè zài Dìwǔ Dàdào shang kànjiàn le Tāngmǔ.
One afternoon in October, Nick saw Tom on Fifth Avenue.
- Tom Buchanan 尼克！怎么了？不想跟我说话？
Níkè! Zěnme le? Bù xiǎng gēn wǒ shuōhuà?
Nick! What's the matter? Don't want to talk to me?
- Nick Carraway 汤姆，那天你跟威尔逊说了什么？
Tāngmǔ, nà tiān nǐ gēn Wēi'ěrxùn shuō le shénme?
Tom, what did you say to Wilson that day?
- Tom Buchanan 我说的是真话！他带着枪来我家，要到楼上找我。
Wǒ shuō de shì zhēnhuà! Tā dàizhe qiāng lái wǒ jiā, yào dào lóushàng zhǎo wǒ.
I told him the truth! He came to my house with a gun and tried to get upstairs to me.
- Tom Buchanan 他有枪啊，尼克！我不说，他就会杀了我！
Tā yǒu qiāng a, Níkè! Wǒ bù shuō, tā jiù huì shā le wǒ!
He had a gun, Nick! If I hadn't told him, he'd have killed me!
- Tom Buchanan 我告诉他车是谁的，又怎么样？那个家伙，是他自己找的！
Wǒ gàosu tā chē shì shéi de, yòu zěnmeyàng? Nàge jiāhuo, shì tā zìjǐ zhǎo de!
So what if I told him whose car it was? That fellow had it coming!
- Tom Buchanan 这个家伙撞了茉特尔，就像撞一只狗，停都没停！
Zhège jiāhuo zhuàng le Mòtè'ěr, jiù xiàng zhuàng yì zhī gǒu, tíng dōu méi tíng!
That fellow ran Myrtle down like a dog, and he didn't even stop!
- Nick Carraway 开车的不是盖茨比。可是，这个我不能说。
Kāichē de bú shì Gàicíbǐ. Kěshì, zhège wǒ bù néng shuō.
Gatsby wasn't the one driving. But I can't tell him that.
- Tom Buchanan 我也很难过！我去了那个小房子，小狗吃的东西还在……
Wǒ yě hěn nánguò! Wǒ qù le nàge xiǎo fángzi, xiǎogǒu chī de dōngxi hái zài…
I felt awful too! I went to that little apartment, and the dog's food was still there...
- Tom Buchanan 我坐下来，像孩子一样哭了。
Wǒ zuò xiàlai, xiàng háizi yíyàng kū le.
I sat down and cried like a child.
- Tom Buchanan 好了，我要去买珍珠了。
Hǎo le, wǒ yào qù mǎi zhēnzhū le.
Well. I'm off to buy some pearls.
- Nick Carraway 又是珍珠。汤姆和黛西，都是不小心的人。
Yòu shì zhēnzhū. Tāngmǔ hé Dàixī, dōu shì bù xiǎoxīn de rén.
Pearls again. Tom and Daisy are careless people.
- Nick Carraway 他们撞了东西，也撞了别人，就回到他们的钱里去。
Tāmen zhuàng le dōngxi, yě zhuàng le biérén, jiù huí dào tāmen de qián li qù.
They smash into things and into people, and then they go back into their money.
- Narrator 走的前一天晚上，尼克又去了盖茨比的家。
Zǒu de qián yì tiān wǎnshang, Níkè yòu qù le Gàicíbǐ de jiā.
On the night before he left, Nick went over to Gatsby's house once more.
- Nick Carraway 窗户上的布，没有人拿开了。
Chuānghu shang de bù, méiyǒu rén ná kāi le.
Nobody pulls the curtains back anymore.
- Nick Carraway 门前，有人写了一个不好的字。
Mén qián, yǒu rén xiě le yí gè bù hǎo de zì.
By the door, someone has written a bad word.
- Nick Carraway 我用鞋把它擦了。这是盖茨比的家啊。
Wǒ yòng xié bǎ tā cā le. Zhè shì Gàicíbǐ de jiā a.
I rub it out with my shoe. This is Gatsby's home.
- Nick Carraway 我在海边躺了下来。海那边，码头那头的绿灯还在。
Wǒ zài hǎibiān tǎng le xiàlai. Hǎi nàbiān, mǎtou nà tóu de lǜdēng hái zài.
I lie down by the water. Across the bay, the green light at the end of the dock is still there.
- Nick Carraway 盖茨比等了这么多年。他不知道，梦早就在他后边了。
Gàicíbǐ děng le zhème duō nián. Tā bù zhīdào, mèng zǎojiù zài tā hòubian le.
Gatsby waited so many years. He didn't know his dream was already behind him.
- Nick Carraway 盖茨比相信绿灯，相信明天。可是明天，一年比一年远了。
Gàicíbǐ xiāngxìn lǜdēng, xiāngxìn míngtiān. Kěshì míngtiān, yì nián bǐ yì nián yuǎn le.
Gatsby believed in the green light, in tomorrow. But every year, tomorrow moved farther away.
- Nick Carraway 没关系。明天，我们跑得再快一点儿，走得再远一点儿……
Méi guānxi. Míngtiān, wǒmen pǎo de zài kuài yìdiǎnr, zǒu de zài yuǎn yìdiǎnr…
It doesn't matter. Tomorrow we will run a little faster and go a little farther...
- Nick Carraway 所以，我们像小船一样往前划。可是水一次又一次，把我们带回到过去。
Suǒyǐ, wǒmen xiàng xiǎochuán yíyàng wǎng qián huá. Kěshì shuǐ yí cì yòu yí cì, bǎ wǒmen dài huí dào guòqù.
So we row on like little boats. But again and again, the water carries us back into the past.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What news does Jordan give Nick?
“我要结婚了。不是跟你。”
- Why did Tom tell Wilson whose car it was?
“他带着枪来我家……他有枪啊，尼克！我不说，他就会杀了我！”
- What does Tom say made him cry in the little apartment?
“小狗吃的东西还在……我坐下来，像孩子一样哭了。”
- What does Nick do at Gatsby's house on his last night?
“门前，有人写了一个不好的字……我用鞋把它擦了。”
- In Nick's last lines, what does the water do to the little boats?
“可是水一次又一次，把我们带回到过去。”