Miss Baker and I exchanged a short glance without any meaning. I was about to speak when she said “Sh!” in a warning voice. A subdued murmur was audible23 in the room beyond, and Miss Baker leaned forward unashamed, trying to hear. The murmur trembled on the verge of understandability, sank down, mounted excitedly, and then ended altogether.
“Is something happening?” I asked innocently.
“You mean to say you don’t know?” said Miss Baker, honestly surprised. “I thought everybody knew. Tom’s got some woman in New York. She might have the decency24 not to telephone him at dinner time. Don’t you think?”
Almost before I had understood her meaning there was the flutter of a dress and the crunch of leather boots, and Tom and Daisy were back at the table. Daisy sat down and cried with tense gayety: “I looked out-doors for a minute. There’s a nightingale singing away —” Her voice sang: “It’s romantic, isn’t it, Tom?”
“Very romantic,” he said, and then miserably to me: “If it’s light enough after dinner, I want to take you down to the stables.”
The telephone rang inside, startlingly, and, as Daisy shook her head decisively at Tom, the subject of the stables and all other subjects, disappeared into air. I realized that I wanted to look directly at every one, and yet to keep off all eyes. I couldn’t guess what Daisy and Tom were thinking, but I doubt if even Miss Baker was able to put the fifth guest out of mind.
The horses, needless to say, were not mentioned again. Tom and Miss Baker walked back into the library, while, trying to look pleasantly interested, I followed Daisy to the porch in front, where we sat down side by side on a wicker settee25.
Daisy took her face in her hands and her eyes moved gradually out into the velvet twilight. I saw that unquiet emotions possessed her, so I asked what I thought would be some calming questions about her little girl.
“We don’t know each other very well, Nick,” she said suddenly. “Even if we are cousins. You didn’t come to my wedding.”
“I wasn’t back from the war.”
“That’s true.” She hesitated. “Well, I’ve had a very bad time, Nick, and I’m pretty cynical about everything.”
Evidently she had reason to be. I waited but she didn’t say any more, and after a moment I returned rather weakly to the subject of her daughter.
“I suppose she talks, and – eats, and everything.”
“Oh, yes.” She looked at me absently. “Listen, Nick; let me tell you what I said when she was born. Would you like to hear?”
“Very much.”
“It’ll show you how I’ve gotten to feel about – things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling26, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and cried. ‘All right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.’ ”
“You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow,” she went on in a convinced way. “Everybody thinks so. And I know. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.” She laughed with thrilling scorn. “Sophisticated – God, I’m sophisticated!”
I felt the basic insincerity of what she had said27. It made me worried, as though the whole evening had been a trick of some sort to get some emotion from me.
Inside, the crimson room bloomed with light. Tom and Miss Baker sat at either end of the long couch and she read aloud to him from The Saturday Evening Post. When we came in she held us silent for a moment with a lifted hand28.
“To be continued,” she said, throwing the magazine on the table, “in our very next issue.” She stood up. “Ten o’clock,” she remarked, as though finding the time on the ceiling. “Time for this good girl to go to bed.”
“Jordan’s going to play in the tournament tomorrow,” explained Daisy.
“Oh – you’re Jordan Baker.”
I knew now why her face was familiar – its pleasing contemptuous expression had looked out at me from many pictures of the sporting life at Hot Springs and Palm Beach29. I had heard some unpleasant story of her too, but what it was I had forgotten long ago.
“Good night,” she said softly. “Wake me at eight, won’t you?”
“If you’ll get up.”
“I will. Good night, Mr. Carraway. See you anon30.”
“Of course you will,” confirmed Daisy. “In fact, I think I’ll arrange a marriage. Come over often, Nick, and I’ll sort of – oh – fling you together31. You know – lock you up accidentally in linen closets and push you out to sea in a boat —”
“Good night,” called Miss Baker from the stairs. “I haven’t heard a word.”
“She’s a nice girl,” said Tom after a moment. “Her family oughtn’t to let her run around the country this way.”
“Her family is one aunt about a thousand years old. Besides, Nick’s going to look after her, aren’t you, Nick? She’s going to spend lots of week-ends out here this summer. I think the home influence will be very good for her.”
Daisy and Tom looked at each other for a moment in silence.
“Did you give Nick a little heart-to-heart talk on the veranda?” demanded Tom suddenly.
“Did I?” She looked at me. “I can’t seem to remember, but I think we talked about the Nordic race. Yes, I’m sure we did. And first thing you know —”
“Don’t believe everything you hear, Nick,” he advised me.
I said lightly that I had heard nothing at all, and a few minutes later I got up to go home. As I started my motor Daisy called: “Wait! I forgot to ask you something, and it’s important. We heard you were engaged to a girl out West.”
“That’s right,” agreed Tom kindly. “We heard that you were engaged.”
“It’s a libel. I’m too poor.”
Of course I knew what they were referring to, but I wasn’t even vaguely engaged. This gossip was one of the reasons I had come East. You can’t stop going with an old friend because of rumors, and on the other hand I didn’t want the rumors to make me marry anyone.
Their interest touched me – nevertheless, I was confused and a little disgusted as I drove away. It seemed to me that the thing for Daisy to do was to rush out of the house, child in arms – but apparently there were no such thoughts in her head.
When I reached my house at West Egg I sat for a while on an abandoned grass roller32 in the yard. The silhouette of a moving cat was seen across the moonlight, and turning my head to watch it, I saw that I was not alone – fifty feet away a figure had appeared from the shadow of my neighbor’s mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets looking at the silver pepper of the stars. Something in his lazy movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself.
I decided to call to him. Miss Baker had mentioned him at dinner, and that would do for an introduction33. But I didn’t call to him, as he gave a sudden sign that he was content to be alone – he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn34 he was trembling. Automatically I glanced seaward – and could see nothing except a single green light that maybe was the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had disappeared, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.
Exercises
1. Read the chapter and answer if these statements are true, false or there is no information in the text.
1. The Carraways – Nick’s family – are poor.
2. When Nick wanted to go East after the War, his relatives were not sure, but agreed at last.
3. A woman from Finland used to come to cook for Nick.
4. The place where Nick rented the house was called West Egg because there were a lot of farms with chickens in the neighborhood.
5. Tom and Daisy Buchanans married five years ago.
6. When Nick came, Daisy was waiting for him on the porch.
7. Nick didn’t know Daisy’s guest.
8. During the dinner somebody rang, but Tom refused to answer the phone.
9. Jordan Baker was a successful tennis player who had won many tournaments.
10. When Nick returned home he saw Mr. Gatsby standing in the darkness and looking somewhere.
2. Practice the pronunciation of these words.
vulnerable [ˈvʌlnərəbl]
advantage [ədˈvɑːntɪʤ]
curious [ˈkjʊərɪəs]
politician [ˌpɒlɪˈtɪʃən]
feign [feɪn]
hostile [ˈhɒstaɪl]
gesture [ˈʤesʧə]
gorgeous [ˈgɔːʤəs]
heighten [haɪtn]
thoroughly [ˈθʌrəlɪ]
bungalow [ˈbʌŋgələʊ]
familiar [fəˈmɪljə]
squeeze [skwiːz]
enormously [ɪˈnɔːməslɪ]
Buchanan [ˈbju:kənən]
supercilious [ˌsjuːpəˈsɪlɪəs]
muscle [mʌsl]
stationary [ˈsteɪʃnərɪ]
murmur [ˈmɜːmə]
exhibition [ˌɛksɪˈbɪʃən]
self-sufficiency [sɛlf səˈfɪʃənsɪ]
passionate [ˈpæʃənɪt ]
ecstatically [ɪksˈtætɪk(ə)lɪ]
desolate [ˈdesəlɪt]
wreath [riːθ]
decisively [dɪˈsaɪsɪvlɪ]
yawn [jɔːn]
ferociously [fəˈrəʊʃəslɪ]
contemptuously [kənˈtemptjʊəslɪ]
neighbor [ˈneɪbə]
announced [əˈnaʊnst]
accusingly [əˈkjuːzɪŋlɪ]
uncivilized [ʌnˈsɪvɪlaɪzd]
enthusiastically [ɪnˌθjuːzɪˈæstɪk(ə)lɪ]
hesitate [ˈhezɪteɪt]
ether [ˈiːθə]
sophisticated [səˈfɪstɪkeɪtɪd]
insincerity [ˌɪnsɪnˈserɪtɪ]
influence [ˈɪnflʊəns]
vaguely [ˈveɪglɪ]
3. Fill in the blanks with the following adverbs.
Accusingly, contemptuously, helplessly, ecstatically, miserably, honestly, abruptly, decisively, politely, impatiently, ferociously.
1. It was lonely for a day or so until one morning some man asked … the way.
2. Then he turned me around, … and … .
3. “Do they miss me?” she cried … .
4. “Never heard of them,” he remarked … .
5. “You live in West Egg,” she remarked … .
6. “I hurt it. You did it, Tom,” she said … .
7. “Well, these books are all scientific,” insisted Tom, glancing at her … .
8. “We’ve got to beat them down,” whispered Daisy, winking … toward the fervent sun.
9. “You mean to say you don’t know?” said Miss Baker, … surprised.
10. “Very romantic,” he said, and then … to me: “If it’s light enough after dinner, I want to take you down to the stables.”
4. The following are sentences paraphrased from the text. Look through the chapter to fi nd the original ones.
1. I didn’t want to listen to private secrets, so I pretended to be asleep, busy or careless.
2. My own house was a thorn, but it was a small thorn, and it wasn’t noticed.
3. Two shining haughty eyes were notable on his face and he looked aggressive as if he was always bending forward.
4. Tom Buchanan, who had been hanging uneasily about the room, halted and put his hand on my shoulder.
5. We followed the two young women out onto a pink-colored porch, which gave a view on the sunset, where four candles were glowing on the table.
6. His duty was to polish silver all day long, until finally it began to influence his nose.
7. We could hear a muted murmur in the room beyond, and Miss Baker bent forward without any shame, attempting to hear.
8. Almost before I managed to catch what she meant we heard the sounds of rustling dress and crunchy boots, and Tom with Daisy were back at the table.
9. I saw that she was very worried, so I asked what I thought would be some calming questions about her little daughter.
10. Now I understood why I recognized her face – I had seen its nice disdainful expression on many photos of the sporting life at Hot Springs and Palm Beach.
5. Fill in the blanks with prepositions.
1. My father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning … in my mind ever since.
2. I’m inclined … reserve all judgments.
3. In college I was unjustly accused … being a politician.
4. I graduated … New Haven in 1915.
5. He’d left Chicago and come East in a fashion that rather took your breath … .
6. Daisy leaned … again, her voice enthusiastic and singing.
7. His speaking voice added … the impression of irritation.
8. I always had the impression that he approved … me and wanted me to like him.
9. It’s up … us, who are the dominant race, to watch … or these other races will have control of things.
10. “We’ve got to beat them … ,” whispered Daisy.
11. You remind me … a rose, an absolute rose. Doesn’t he?
12. The murmur trembled on the verge … understandability.
13. I doubt if even Miss Baker was able to put the fifth guest … of mind.
14. We heard you were engaged … a girl out West.
15. Of course I knew what they were referring … , but I wasn’t even vaguely engaged.
6. Find derivatives in the text. Who were described with the use of these words?
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