介绍： The road to her adult life began with a Christmas party at the home of her father’s boss. One of the richest men in New York City. The house, in the Westchester suburbs, had columns and Persian rugs and gold-edged crystal. Women with low heels.
斯隆的成年之路始于她父亲老板家里的一个圣诞派对，他是纽约最富有的...

介绍： The road to her adult life began with a Christmas party at the home of her father’s boss. One of the richest men in New York City. The house, in the Westchester suburbs, had columns and Persian rugs and gold-edged crystal. Women with low heels.
斯隆的成年之路始于她父亲老板家里的一个圣诞派对，他是纽约最富有的人之一。这所房子位于韦斯特切斯特郊区，有圆柱、波斯地毯和镶金边的水晶，还有穿低跟鞋的女人。
Outside, the tree branches were swollen with ice. The streets shone. Sloane was her father’s date and her date was a boy named Bobby. He was good-looking, like all the boys she dated. 
屋外的树枝上结满了冰，街道上灯火通明。斯隆在派对上是她父亲的男伴，而她的约会对象是一个叫鲍比的男孩。他长得很帅，和她以前约会过的所有男孩一样。
Sloane was twenty-two and taking a break from the restaurant business. She wanted to explore theater. She was going out almost every night and her social calendar was full with a range of events, from warm beer in dank music venues to chilled martinis in homes like this one.
斯隆当时二十二岁，因为餐馆正在歇业，她就想发展演艺事业。她几乎每天晚上都要出去，她的社交日程上写满了各种各样的活动，在潮湿的音乐场所喝温啤酒，或像在这样的家里喝冰镇马提尼酒的派对都有。
Her father’s boss’s wife, a prim, silver woman named Selma, said: We should get Keith and Sloane together.
斯隆父亲的老板的妻子塞尔玛是一个古板的银发女人，她说：“我们应该把基斯和斯隆撮合在一起。”
She said this somewhat in front of Sloane’s date, Bobby. It was like an epiphany. Keith, their son; and Sloane, their right-hand man’s daughter, beautiful, well-bred, thin. Deific and, like two horses, ready to reproduce. They lived two blocks from each other. How had they not thought of this before!
她在斯隆的约会对象鲍比面前说这的这话，这就像一个顿悟。基斯，他们的儿子，还有斯隆，他们的得力助手的女儿，貌美，有教养，身材苗条。这是神圣的，就像两匹准备繁殖的马一样。他们住的地方只相隔两个街区，他们以前怎么没想到这一点呢？
Sloane wasn’t so interested in money but all the same this young man, Keith, had a lot of it. His family name was at the top of most of the programs in the art world.
斯隆对钱不怎么感兴趣，这个年轻人基斯也一样，不过他很有钱。他的家族在艺术界的大多数项目中都是数一数二的。
A few weeks later, Sloane went out with Keith. She was happy to do it for her father. That her sexual energy was somehow usable in his business world made her feel powerful.
几周之后，斯隆和基斯开始约会了。她很乐意满足父亲的期望。她的女性魅力对于父亲在商界中拓展关系很有作用。
Keith asked her where she wanted to go for their date and Sloane said, Vong. The next place she wanted to go was always on the tip of her tongue.
基斯问她想去哪里约会，斯隆说去沃恩餐厅。对于自己下一个她想去的地方，她总能脱口而出。
That’s funny, Keith said, my best friend is the manager there.
真巧，基斯说，我最好的朋友就是这个餐厅的经理。
Sloane wore an olive turtleneck, velvety cigarette pants, and a pair of boots. They were seated at the best table, a banquette in an alcove. It sat six, but that night it was reserved for the two of them. Sloane was used to being a special guest. She had on small earrings. The restaurant was buzzing with the energy of being the spot of the moment.
斯隆穿着一件橄榄色的高领毛衣，天鹅绒的直筒裤和一双靴子。他们坐在餐厅最好的桌子旁，一个隔间里的长椅上。座位一共是六个，但那晚是为他俩预留的。斯隆对于作为贵宾很习以为常。她戴着小耳环。餐厅因当下热闹非凡。
Servers were walking quickly, seamlessly weaving around one another like half of them were ghosts. Plates were artful—white and gray rectangles of fish cresting atop pyramids of vegetables, glazed in something slick and sweet and tanned. The smell of acid and heat. Radiators warm with sparing no expense.
服务员们步伐很快，彼此无缝地交织穿梭于餐厅，有些就像幽灵一般。菜品很精致——白灰相间的长条形鱼，顶在金字塔形的蔬菜上，上面配有光滑、香甜、棕褐色的酱汁，散发着酸和热的气息。暖气片的温暖是不吝惜费用的。
The manager, Keith’s best friend, came by to let them know the chef would be sending out a special tasting menu. Before dinner, Keith and Sloane had smoked weed. Sloane always did the perfect amount of every drug. Sometimes the perfect amount meant overdoing it, and so that was what she’d do. Alcohol, for example. Sometimes, she knew, it was appropriate to be a little too drunk.
餐厅经理，也就是凯斯最好的朋友，过来告诉他们大厨将推出一份特别的品尝菜单。晚餐前，凯斯和斯隆抽了点大麻。斯隆对每种药的用量控制的都恰到好处。有时，完美的量意味着过量，这就是她想要的。比如酒精，她知道，有时喝得有点醉是可以的。
Five courses were sent out, each more interesting than the last. But it was the final one before dessert that impressed Sloane the most. A whole black sea bass with Chinese long beans in a viscous black bean sauce.
五道菜陆续上桌，一道都比一道精彩。但最令斯隆印象深刻的还是甜点前的最后一道菜。一整条黑鲈鱼配上长豆角和粘稠的豆瓣酱。
She kept saying to Keith, This is fucking amazing. And Keith would smile and alternately gaze at her and at the servers going by. He seemed amused by the rapid flow of the world. Sloane knew that inside the mind of boys like these was the casual appreciation of another nice dinner out with another pretty girl.
斯隆一直对凯斯说：太特么好吃了。凯斯会心一笑，一会儿看着她，一会儿看着走过的服务员。他似乎被这瞬息万变的世界逗乐了。斯隆知道，在这样的男孩心中，他们只是在随意地欣赏与另一个漂亮女孩共进晚餐。
One day he would have a billiards table in a downstairs room, cigar smoke, and sons. This sea bass would become halibut or seared tuna. Sloane would become Christina or Caitlin. But Sloane, in that moment, in most moments, was not like the water that waved around her.
有一天，他会在楼下的房间里摆上一张台球桌、抽着雪茄烟，旁边围着几个儿子。这种鲈鱼会变成大比目鱼或烤金枪鱼。斯隆会变成克里斯蒂娜或凯特琳。但在那一刻，在大多数时刻，斯隆都不像在她周围的水那样荡漾。
This sea bass, she said, touching Keith’s wrist. This fucking fish! There was something about food—there always had been—that connected Sloane to a different world, one where she didn’t have to be pretty and poised. A world where juices could run down her chin.
“这条海鲈鱼......”她拍着基斯的手腕说，“这条鱼真的太棒了！”食物总是能将斯隆与另一个世界联系起来，在那个世界里，她不需要漂亮，不需要仪态万方。在那个世界里，果汁可以顺着她的下巴流下来。