よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 43: On the Rug
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Notes on this scene
Ryder falls at Holmes's knees and begs for mercy, but Holmes reminds him of the innocent man facing trial. 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
- これまで悪いことなんて
- In これまで悪いことなんて, まで marks the preceding item as the endpoint or outer limit reached in this statement.
- 聖書にかけて誓います
- This means “I swear on the Bible.” In this oath, 〜にかけて names the sacred thing on which the speaker stakes the truth of the promise.
- これまで悪いことなんて
- In これまで悪いことなんて, なんて picks up the surrounding expression informally, with the speaker's surprise or emphasis.
- わが友のひざにすがりついた
- In わが友のひざにすがりついた, わが is a formal literary modifier meaning ‘my’ or ‘our’ before the following noun.
Background
- the dock
- The dock was the enclosed place where a defendant stood in a British criminal court; in the dock also means on trial.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's sake, don't!"
ライダーは突然、敷物の上に身を投げ出し、わが友のひざにすがりついた。「お願いです、どうかお慈悲を！」と彼は金切り声を上げた。「父のことを考えてください！母のことも！二人とも、胸がつぶれてしまいます。これまで悪いことなんて、一度もしたことがないんです！もう二度としません。誓います。聖書にかけて誓います。ああ、どうか裁判にはしないでください！後生ですから、やめてください！」
"Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing."
「椅子に戻りたまえ！」とホームズは厳しく言った。「今になって縮こまり、這いつくばるのは結構だが、身に覚えのない罪で被告席に立たされた気の毒なホーナーのことなど、きみはろくに考えもしなかったではないか」