Scene 39 · Notes

Notes　Scene 39: Back at Baker Street

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Notes on this scene

After a silent cab ride, Holmes seats Ryder at Baker Street and identifies the exact white goose he seeks. 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

あなたのこのちょっとした件けんを片かたづける前まえに
In あなたのこのちょっとした件を片づける前に, ちょっとした modifies the following noun as small but noteworthy rather than completely trivial.
それとも破滅はめつの一いち歩ほ手前てまえにいるのか分わからない人ひとのように
In それとも破滅の一歩手前にいるのか分からない人のように, それとも presents the following phrase as an alternative question.
それから彼かれは馬車ばしゃに乗のり込こみ
In それから彼は馬車に乗り込み, それから moves the account on to the next action in sequence.
それでは
In それでは, それでは marks the speaker's transition from the preceding exchange to the next action.

Background

basket-chair
A basket-chair was a light chair woven from willow or cane, common in Victorian sitting rooms and easy to move.

Full text: original English and Japanese translation

The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous tension within him.

小男は、思いがけない幸運の一歩手前にいるのか、それとも破滅の一歩手前にいるのか分からない人のように、半ばおびえ、半ば期待する目で、私たちの顔をかわるがわる見ていた。それから彼は馬車に乗り込み、三十分後には、私たちはベイカー街の居間に戻っていた。馬車の中では誰も口をきかなかったが、新しい連れの高く細い息づかいや、手を握ったりほどいたりするしぐさが、彼の内にある張りつめた緊張を物語っていた。

"Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! You want to know what became of those geese?"

「さあ、着きましたよ！」私たちが列になって部屋に入ると、ホームズは陽気に言った。「この寒さには、暖炉の火がいかにもありがたいですね。寒そうですね、ライダーさん。どうぞ、籐椅子におかけなさい。あなたのこのちょっとした件を片づける前に、スリッパにはき替えさせてもらいますよ。さて、それでは！あのガチョウたちがどうなったか、知りたいのでしょう？」

"Yes, sir."

「はい、旦那」

"Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in which you were interested—white, with a black bar across the tail."

「いや、むしろ、あの一羽のガチョウのことだと思いますがね。あなたが気にかけていたのは、ただ一羽の鳥だったはずです——白くて、尾に黒い縞が一本入った鳥です」

Japanese words in this scene (with English meanings; ☆ saves a word)

  • 破滅（はめつ） — ruin; destructionhard
  • たり — -ing and -ing (e.g. "coming and going"); doing such things as ...; expresses a command; to behard
  • 一本（いっぽん） — one long cylindrical thing; one film, TV show, etc.; one goal, home run, etc.; one telephone callhard
  • 思いがけない（おもいがけない） — unexpected; contrary to expectations; by chance; casual
  • 歩（ほ） — step; pace
  • 人（ひと） — person; people
  • よう — way; means of doing something
  • 半ば（なかば） — middle; halfway

Next scene: Where the Goose Went

In the Baker Street sitting room, Holmes seats the little man in a basket-chair and changes into his slippers. He says that the visitor is not interested in the whole flock, but in one white goose with a barred tail. The man shivers and waits to hear where that particular bird went.

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