よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 55: A Voice in the Street
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Notes on this scene
Holmes and Watson stop at their door after returning to Baker Street. A passerby wishes Sherlock Holmes good night by name. The speaker seems to be a slender young man in an ulster, moving quickly along the pavement. Holmes recognizes the voice but cannot immediately identify the person who greeted him.
Japanese in this scene
- 探っている
- 探る, read さぐる, means searching by feeling around or probing. Holmes is feeling in his pocket for his key.
- ことがある
- Past form + ことがある expresses previous experience. Holmes has heard the voice before.
- いったい誰
- いったい strengthens a question, expressing puzzlement or insistence: “who on earth.”
Background
- Ulster coat
- Named after Ulster in Ireland, this was a long, loose, heavy coat, often with a cape. It was popular for travel and going out on cold evenings.
- Pavement
- In British English pavement means the pedestrian walkway, called a sidewalk in American English. In American usage pavement can instead refer to the paved road surface.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said:
私たちはベイカー街に着き、戸口の前で足を止めていた。彼がポケットの中の鍵を探っていると、通りがかった誰かがこう言った。
"Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes."
「おやすみなさい、シャーロック・ホームズさん」
There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had hurried by.
そのとき歩道には何人か人がいたが、その挨拶は、アルスター外套を着て足早に通り過ぎていった、ほっそりした若者から発せられたようだった。
"I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have been."
「あの声は前に聞いたことがある」とホームズは、薄暗い通りの先を見つめながら言った。「さて、いったい誰だったのだろうね」