The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by a small foul river,

灰谷的一边是一条肮脏的小河，

and when the drawbridge is up to let barges through,

当吊桥升起让驳船通过时，

the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour.

在等车的乘客可以盯着这可怕的景象长达半小时之久。

There is always a halt there of at least a minute and it was because of this that I first met Tom Buchanan's mistress.

平时火车在这里至少也要停一分钟，正因为如此，我第一次遇见汤姆·布坎南的情妇。

The fact that he had one was insisted upon wherever he was known.

凡是有人认识他的地方，都坚持说他有一个情妇。

His acquaintances resented the fact that he turned up in popular restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table,

他的熟人对他和她一起出现在受欢迎的餐馆里感到不满，并且让她在一张桌子旁坐下后，

sauntered about,chatting with whomsoever he knew.

又自己闲逛，和他认识的人聊天。

Though I was curious to see her I had no desire to meet her--but I did.

虽然我很好奇，但我并不想见到她——可是我还是见到了。

I went up to New York with Tom on the train one afternoon and when we stopped by the ash heaps

一天下午，我和汤姆一起乘火车去纽约，我们到达这片满是灰尘的地方时，

he jumped to his feet and taking hold of my elbow literally forced me from the car.

他跳了起来，一把抓住我的胳膊肘，把我从车里赶了出来。

"We're getting off!" he insisted. "I want you to meet my girl."

“我们要下车了！”他坚持说。“我想让你见见我的女朋友。”

I think he'd tanked up a good deal at luncheon and his determination to have my company bordered on violence.

我想他午餐时喝了不少酒，他要我陪他的做法近乎于暴力。

The supercilious assumption was that on Sunday afternoon I had nothing better to do.

他傲慢地认为，星期天下午我没有更好的事情可做。

I followed him over a low white-washed railroad fence

我跟在他后面，越过一道低矮的、刷成白色的铁路围栏，

and we walked back a hundred yards along the road under Doctor Eckleburg's persistent stare.

我们在埃克尔堡医生目不转睛的注视下，沿着马路往回走了一百码。

The only building in sight was a small block of yellow brick sitting on the edge of the waste land,

眼前唯一能看到的建筑物是荒地边上的一小排黄砖房子，

a sort of compact Main Street ministering to it and contiguous to absolutely nothing.

一条紧挨着它的主干道，此外附近一片荒凉。

One of the three shops it contained was for rent and another was an all-night restaurant approached by a trail of ashes;

里面有三间店铺，其中一间是出租的，另一间是通宵营业的餐馆，门前有一条同样布满灰尘的小道；

the third was a garage--Repairs. GEORGE B. WILSON.Cars Bought and Sold

第三个是修车厂——乔治·b·威尔逊维修行:汽车买卖

--and I followed Tom inside.

——我跟着汤姆进了屋。

The interior was unprosperous and bare;

屋里可以说是几乎空无一物的；

the only car visible was the dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner.

唯一能看到的是一辆被灰尘覆盖的福特汽车的残骸，它蜷缩在一个昏暗的角落里。