よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 62: After the Letter
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Notes on this scene
The King praises Adler’s resourcefulness but again regrets her lower birth. Holmes coolly agrees that she is on a different level, implying a very different judgment of their merits. He apologizes for the result, but the King calls it a success, trusting Adler’s promise as much as if the photograph were destroyed.
Japanese in this scene
- ではないか
- ではないか can seek emphatic agreement rather than information. The King expects Holmes to share his admiration and regret.
- 格が違う
- 格が違う means being in a different class or league. Holmes’s cool delivery makes his comparison ironic rather than endorsing the King’s pride in birth.
- いただけて
- いただく is a humble verb for receiving. Its potential いただける presents the King’s words as something Holmes is grateful to receive.
Background
- Holmes’s coolness
- Holmes has little liking for a King who rejected a former lover over rank and thinks only of recovering the photograph. His irony responds to the King praising Adler while still emphasizing the difference in their birth.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"What a woman—oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?"
「なんという女だ――ああ、なんという女だろう！」三人がこの手紙を読み終えると、ボヘミア国王はそう叫んだ。「あの女がどれほど機敏で思い切りがよいか、言っておいたではないか。見事な王妃になったとは思わぬか。私と同じ格の生まれでなかったのは、まったく惜しいことではないか」
"From what I have seen of the lady, she seems, indeed, to be on a very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business to a more successful conclusion."
「私が見たかぎりでは、あの方はたしかに、陛下とはまるで格が違うようです」とホームズは冷ややかに言った。「陛下のご依頼を、もっとうまく決着させられず、申し訳ありません」
"On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire."
「とんでもない、君」と国王は叫んだ。「これ以上の成功はありえぬ。あの女が一度口にしたことを決して破らないのは、よく分かっているのだ。もうあの写真は、火にくべてしまったのと同じくらい安全だ」
"I am glad to hear your Majesty say so."
「陛下にそうおっしゃっていただけて、何よりです」