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EnglishCEFR Level · B2Public Domain & Translation Note

The Great Gatsby Bilingual EPUB & Word List

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is celebrated for its lyrical 1920s prose and nuanced psychological vocabulary at the CEFR B2 level. Read the opening of chapters 1 and 2 and download the bilingual EPUB.

Original language
English · F. Scott Fitzgerald
First published
1925
CEFR Level
B2
Public Domain & Translation Note
Full original EPUB on Project Gutenberg

Free Downloads & Online Reader

Download the two-chapter bilingual preview EPUB or the core vocabulary list for Anki right away, or open the LangBox EPUB reader to read and save words across the full book.

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Chapter 1 & 2 Bilingual Preview

Double-click any word in the excerpt to hear its pronunciation and see its dictionary meaning.

Chapter ICapítulo I

Original · English

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”

Parallel translation

En mis años más jóvenes y vulnerables mi padre me dio un consejo que desde entonces no he dejado de dar vueltas en la cabeza. «Cuando sientas deseos de criticar a alguien —me dijo—, recuerda que no todo el mundo ha tenido las ventajas que tú has tenido».

Original · English

He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me.

Parallel translation

No dijo nada más, pero siempre nos hemos comunicado extraordinariamente bien de un modo reservado, y comprendí que quería decir mucho más que eso. En consecuencia, tiendo a reservarme todo juicio, una costumbre que me ha abierto muchas naturalezas curiosas.

Chapter IICapítulo II

Original · English

About halfway between West Egg and New York the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land.

Parallel translation

A mitad de camino entre West Egg y Nueva York, la carretera se une apresuradamente a la vía férrea y corre junto a ella durante un cuarto de milla, como encogiéndose para esquivar cierta zona desolada de tierra.

Original · English

This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.

Parallel translation

Es un valle de cenizas: una granja fantástica donde la ceniza crece como el trigo formando crestas, colinas y jardines grotescos; donde la ceniza toma la forma de casas, chimeneas y humo ascendente y, finalmente, con un esfuerzo trascendente, de hombres que se mueven borrosamente por el aire polvoriento.

Core Vocabulary from Chapters 1 & 2

Key words and phrases in context from the opening chapters, ready to review or import into Anki.

Word & PronunciationMeaning in ContextSentence in Book
vulnerable/ˈvʌlnərəbəl/adj.easily hurt, influenced, or emotionally affectedIn my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice.
turn over in one's mind/tɜːn ˈəʊvər ɪn wʌnz maɪnd/phr.to think about something carefully and repeatedly over timeMy father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
reserved/rɪˈzɜːvd/adj.quiet and restrained in showing feelings or opinionsWe’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way.
inclined to/ɪnˈklaɪnd tuː/phr.having a natural tendency or willingness to do somethingIn consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgments.
desolate/ˈdesələt/adj.empty, bleak, and lifelessThe motor road runs beside it so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land.
grotesque/ɡrəʊˈtesk/adj.strangely distorted, unnatural, or bizarre in shapeA fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens.