よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 6: The Hat in My Hands
You've finished this scene
Notes on this scene
Watson studies the worn lining, broken hat-securer, stains, and initials, but admits that they tell him nothing. The scene establishes this development clearly and closes before the next step begins, preserving the original passage's order and the limits of what the characters know at this point.
Japanese in this scene
- この品をかぶっていた男の人となりについて
- In この品をかぶっていた男の人となりについて, について marks the preceding noun as the topic being discussed.
- 色のあせたところは
- In 色のあせたところは, ところ refers to the aspect or point under discussion—the part of the hat from which Watson is expected to draw a conclusion.
- 冗談だろう
- In 冗談だろう, だろう marks the clause as the speaker's conjecture or expectation rather than a fact.
- こんな古ぼけたフェルトの帽子から
- In こんな古ぼけたフェルトの帽子から, こんな describes the following noun as ‘this kind of’ thing in the present situation.
Background
- hat-securer
- A hat-securer joined a hat to the wearer's coat so that wind could not carry it away. The hole and fittings on this hat once held its cord or elastic.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered felt?"
「冗談だろう。こんな古ぼけたフェルトの帽子から、何がわかるというんだい？」
"Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this article?"
「ここにレンズがある。私のやり方は知っているだろう。この品をかぶっていた男の人となりについて、きみ自身は何が読み取れるかね？」
I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the discoloured patches by smearing them with ink.
私はそのぼろぼろの代物を手に取り、いささか情けない気持ちでひっくり返してみた。ごくありふれた、よくある丸い形の黒い帽子で、固く、すっかり傷んでいた。裏地はもとは赤い絹だったが、ずいぶん色があせていた。製造元の名前はなかったが、ホームズの言ったとおり、片側に「H・B」という頭文字が走り書きしてあった。つばには帽子留めを通す穴があいていたが、ゴムひもはなくなっていた。そのほかは、ひびが入り、ひどくほこりっぽく、あちこちに染みがあった。もっとも、色のあせたところは、インクを塗りつけて隠そうとしたらしかった。
"I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend.
「何もわからないよ」と私は言って、帽子を友人に返した。