よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 31: Bring Me the Books
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Notes on this scene
Certain of victory, Breckinridge orders his boy to bring the supplier list and the large sales ledger. 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
- 強情を張るものではないと教えてさしあげるために
- In 教えてさしあげるために, verb + ために states the supposed purpose of the wager: to show Holmes where the geese came from.
- そんな話は信じませんよ
- In そんな話は信じませんよ, そんな describes the following noun as ‘that kind of’ thing connected with what was just said.
- じゃあ、賭けるか
- In じゃあ、賭けるか, じゃあ casually moves from the preceding information to a conclusion or next action.
- ですが、強情を張る
- In ですが、強情を張る, ですが politely contrasts the following statement with what precedes it.
Background
- sovereign
- A sovereign was a British gold coin worth one pound, a conspicuously valuable coin to produce for an immediate wager.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that went to the Alpha were town bred."
「ガキのころから鳥を扱ってきた俺より、あんたのほうが詳しいとでも思ってんのか？いいか、アルファ亭に行った鳥はどれも町育ちだ」
"You'll never persuade me to believe that."
「何と言われようと、そんな話は信じませんよ」
"Will you bet, then?"
「じゃあ、賭けるか？」
"It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be obstinate."
「あなたのお金をいただくだけのことですよ。私が正しいのは分かっているのですから。ですが、強情を張るものではないと教えてさしあげるために、1 ポンド金貨を一枚賭けましょう」
The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said he.
商人は凄みのある含み笑いをした。「ビル、帳簿を持ってこい」と彼は言った。
The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging lamp.
小僧が薄い小型の帳面と、背の脂じみた大きな台帳を持ってきて、つり下げたランプの下に並べて広げた。