Великий Гэтсби / The Great Gatsby (на русском и английском языках)

It occurred to me now that I had seen her, or a picture of her, somewhere before.

“You live in West Egg,” she remarked contemptuously. “I know somebody there.”

“I don’t know a single-”

“You must know Gatsby.”

“Gatsby?” demanded Daisy. “What Gatsby?”

Before I could reply that he was my neighbour dinner was announced. Tom Buchanan took me from the room. We went out.

The two young women preceded us toward the sunset where four candles flickered on the table.

“Why candles?” objected Daisy, frowning.

She snapped them out with her fingers. “In two weeks it’ll be the longest day in the year.”

She looked at us all radiantly.

“Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.”

“Let’s plan something,” yawned Miss Baker, sitting down at the table.

“All right,” said Daisy. “What’ll we plan?” She turned to me helplessly.

“What do people plan?”

Before I could answer Daisy showed her little finger.

“Look!” she complained. “I hurt it.”

We all looked-the finger was black and blue.

“You did it, Tom,” she said. “I know you didn’t mean to but you DID do it. Why did I marry such a man!”

She and Miss Baker accepted Tom and me, making only a polite pleasant effort to entertain or to be entertained.

“I feel uncivilized with you, Daisy,” I said.

“Civilization’s going to pieces,” said Tom violently.

“If we don’t look out the white race will be submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved.”

“Tom is becoming a wise man,” said Daisy with an expression of sadness. “He reads clever books with long words in them. What was that word…”

“Well, these books are all scientific,” insisted Tom, glancing at her impatiently. “We, the dominant race, must watch out or these other races will have control of things.

”

“If you lived in California-” began Miss Baker but Tom interrupted her.

“This idea is that we-I, you, and you-we’ve produced all the things that go to make civilization-oh, science and art and all that. Do you see?”

There was something pathetic in his words. Suddenly the telephone rang and Tom left.

Daisy leaned toward me.

“I love to see you at my table, Nick. You remind me of a-of a rose, an absolute rose.