The Great Gatsby · chapter 1 of 20
The Green Light
绿灯
Nick dines with his cousin Daisy across the bay, hears a secret about her husband, and comes home to find someone alone on the dark lawn next door.
Hear the chapter
Read what you hear
- Nick Carraway 我小的时候，爸爸跟我说过：“不要太快说别人不好。”
Wǒ xiǎo de shíhou, bàba gēn wǒ shuōguo: “Bú yào tài kuài shuō biérén bù hǎo.”
When I was little, my father told me, “Don't be too quick to say other people are bad.”
- Nick Carraway 一九二二年夏天，我来到西卵。我的小房子旁边，是一座很大很大的房子。
Yī jiǔ èr èr nián xiàtiān, wǒ láidào Xīluǎn. Wǒ de xiǎo fángzi pángbiān, shì yí zuò hěn dà hěn dà de fángzi.
In the summer of 1922, I came to West Egg. Next to my little house stood a huge, huge house.
- Nick Carraway 那是盖茨比的家。可是，盖茨比是谁？没有人知道。
Nà shì Gàicíbǐ de jiā. Kěshì, Gàicíbǐ shì shéi? Méiyǒu rén zhīdào.
It was Gatsby's home. But who was Gatsby? Nobody knew.
- Narrator 六月的一个晚上，尼克去海那边的东卵，看他的表妹黛西。
Liùyuè de yí gè wǎnshang, Níkè qù hǎi nàbiān de Dōngluǎn, kàn tā de biǎomèi Dàixī.
One evening in June, Nick went to East Egg, across the bay, to see his cousin Daisy.
- Daisy Buchanan 尼克！我太高兴了，高兴得都动不了了！
Níkè! Wǒ tài gāoxìng le, gāoxìng de dōu dòng bu liǎo le!
Nick! I'm so happy! So happy I can't even move!
- Nick Carraway 黛西，你家的窗户都开着，风好大啊！
Dàixī, nǐ jiā de chuānghu dōu kāizhe, fēng hǎo dà a!
Daisy, all your windows are open. What a wind!
- Daisy Buchanan 是啊！风再大一点儿，我们都要飞走了！
Shì a! Fēng zài dà yìdiǎnr, wǒmen dōu yào fēizǒu le!
Yes! If the wind gets any stronger, we'll all fly away!
- Tom Buchanan 风这么大，开什么窗户！
Fēng zhème dà, kāi shénme chuānghu!
In a wind like this, why are the windows open?
- Daisy Buchanan 你看，汤姆一关窗户，我们就飞不起来了。
Nǐ kàn, Tāngmǔ yì guān chuānghu, wǒmen jiù fēi bu qǐlái le.
See? Tom shuts the windows, and we can't fly anymore.
- Tom Buchanan 尼克，这是乔丹·贝克。她打球很有名，明天有一个大比赛。
Níkè, zhè shì Qiáodān Bèikè. Tā dǎqiú hěn yǒumíng, míngtiān yǒu yí gè dà bǐsài.
Nick, this is Jordan Baker. She's a famous player, and she has a big tournament tomorrow.
- Jordan Baker 所以我今天晚上什么都不想做。你住在哪儿？
Suǒyǐ wǒ jīntiān wǎnshang shénme dōu bù xiǎng zuò. Nǐ zhù zài nǎr?
So tonight I don't want to do a thing. Where do you live?
- Nick Carraway 西卵。
Xīluǎn.
West Egg.
- Jordan Baker 西卵？那你一定认识盖茨比。
Xīluǎn? Nà nǐ yídìng rènshi Gàicíbǐ.
West Egg? Then you must know Gatsby.
- Nick Carraway 他就住在我家旁边，可是我不认识他。
Tā jiù zhù zài wǒ jiā pángbiān, kěshì wǒ bú rènshi tā.
He lives right next door to me, but I don't know him.
- Daisy Buchanan 盖茨比？哪个盖茨比？
Gàicíbǐ? Nǎge Gàicíbǐ?
Gatsby? What Gatsby?
- Tom Buchanan 吃饭了！尼克，我跟你说，这个世界要完了！
Chīfàn le! Níkè, wǒ gēn nǐ shuō, zhège shìjiè yào wán le!
Dinner! Nick, I'm telling you, this world is going to pieces!
- Daisy Buchanan 汤姆天天说世界要完了，可是世界还在这儿。
Tāngmǔ tiāntiān shuō shìjiè yào wán le, kěshì shìjiè hái zài zhèr.
Tom says every day that the world is going to pieces, but the world is still here.
- Tom Buchanan 我去接个电话，你们先吃。
Wǒ qù jiē ge diànhuà, nǐmen xiān chī.
I'll take this call. You start eating.
- Daisy Buchanan 我去看看他。
Wǒ qù kànkan tā.
I'll go and see about him.
- Nick Carraway 贝克小姐，他们怎么了？
Bèikè xiǎojiě, tāmen zěnme le?
Miss Baker, what's going on with them?
- Jordan Baker 汤姆在纽约有一个女人。
Tāngmǔ zài Niǔyuē yǒu yí gè nǚrén.
Tom's got some woman in New York.
- Nick Carraway 什么？可是他结婚了！
Shénme? Kěshì tā jiéhūn le!
What? But he's married!
- Jordan Baker 结婚了又怎么样？大家都知道，就你不知道。
Jiéhūn le yòu zěnmeyàng? Dàjiā dōu zhīdào, jiù nǐ bù zhīdào.
So what if he's married? Everybody knows. Everybody but you.
- Daisy Buchanan 尼克，我女儿出生的时候，我哭了。我想，她最好是个傻瓜，一个漂亮的小傻瓜。
Níkè, wǒ nǚ'ér chūshēng de shíhou, wǒ kū le. Wǒ xiǎng, tā zuìhǎo shì ge shǎguā, yí gè piàoliang de xiǎo shǎguā.
Nick, when my daughter was born, I cried. I thought, it would be best if she were a fool, a beautiful little fool.
- Nick Carraway 傻瓜？为什么？
Shǎguā? Wèishénme?
A fool? Why?
- Daisy Buchanan 因为在这个世界上，女孩子做傻瓜最好。
Yīnwèi zài zhège shìjiè shang, nǚháizi zuò shǎguā zuì hǎo.
Because in this world, the best thing a girl can be is a fool.
- Narrator 很晚了，尼克回到西卵。旁边的草地上，有一个人站着。
Hěn wǎn le, Níkè huí dào Xīluǎn. Pángbiān de cǎodì shang, yǒu yí gè rén zhànzhe.
It was late when Nick got back to West Egg. On the lawn next door, someone was standing.
- Nick Carraway 奇怪，是盖茨比先生吗？他在看什么？
Qíguài, shì Gàicíbǐ xiānsheng ma? Tā zài kàn shénme?
Strange. Is that Mr. Gatsby? What is he looking at?
- Narrator 那个人向着黑黑的海，举起了两只手。
Nàge rén xiàngzhe hēihēi de hǎi, jǔqǐ le liǎng zhī shǒu.
The man raised both hands toward the dark water of the bay.
- Nick Carraway 海那边什么都没有……码头那头，有一盏绿灯。
Hǎi nàbiān shénme dōu méiyǒu… mǎtou nà tóu, yǒu yì zhǎn lǜdēng.
There's nothing across the bay... At the end of a dock, there's a green light.
- Narrator 尼克再看的时候，草地上已经没有人了。
Níkè zài kàn de shíhou, cǎodì shang yǐjīng méiyǒu rén le.
When Nick looked again, there was nobody on the lawn.
- Nick Carraway 他刚才……是在看码头那头的绿灯吗？
Tā gāngcái… shì zài kàn mǎtou nà tóu de lǜdēng ma?
Just now... was he looking at the green light at the end of the dock?
What changed in the story?
- What did Nick's father tell him when he was little?
“不要太快说别人不好。”
- Why does Jordan think Nick must know Gatsby?
“西卵”……“那你一定认识盖茨比”
- What does Jordan tell Nick about Tom?
“汤姆在纽约有一个女人。”
- What does Daisy want her daughter to be?
“她最好是个傻瓜，一个漂亮的小傻瓜。”
- What does Nick see across the bay at night?
“码头那头，有一盏绿灯。”