Scene 03 · Notes

Notes　Scene 3: In the Railway Carriage

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Notes on this scene

Holmes studies his newspapers until the train passes Reading, then rolls them up and puts them away. Watson admits that he knows nothing of the case. Holmes has consulted recent papers for details missing from the London reports and describes the affair as difficult because it is simple, a statement Watson finds contradictory.

Japanese in this scene

のを除のぞけば
A verb followed by の can become a noun-like unit. Here 散らかっているの names the newspapers' untidiness, and を除けば means ‘except for’ that condition.
一言ひとことも
A minimum quantity followed by も and an understood negative means ‘not even one.’ Watson's short reply omits the rest of the sentence: he has not heard a single word.
調しらべていたところだ
Verb + ていたところだ places the speaker in a recently ongoing activity: ‘I was just examining.’ Holmes explains what he has been doing with the newspapers.

Full text: original English and Japanese translation

We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack.

ホームズが持ち込んだ大量の新聞が散らかっているのを除けば、客室は私たちの貸し切りだった。彼はその山をかき回しては読み、時折メモを取ったり考え込んだりして、レディングを過ぎるまでそうしていた。やがて突然、それらを全部大きな玉に丸め、上の荷物棚へ放り上げた。

"Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked.

「事件について何か聞いているかい」と彼は尋ねた。

"Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days."

「一言も。ここ何日か、新聞を見ていないんだ」

"The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those simple cases which are so extremely difficult."

「ロンドンの新聞には、あまり詳しい報道が載っていない。細かな事情を把握するために、最近の新聞をすべて調べていたところだ。分かったことからすると、実に難しい、単純な事件というものの一つらしい」

"That sounds a little paradoxical."

「少し矛盾した話に聞こえるね」

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

  • 持ち込む（もちこむ） — to bring in; to introduce
  • 散らかる（ちらかる） — to be scattered; to be untidy
  • 除く（のぞく） — to except; to exclude; to remove
  • 私（わたし） — I; me
  • たち — After a person or people, marks a plural or associated group; quality of character; nature
  • 貸し切り（かしきり） — exclusive use; private booking
  • 彼（かれ） — he; him
  • かき回す（かきまわす） — to rummage through; to stir; to throw into confusion

Next scene: A Simple Case

Watson finds a contradiction in Holmes's description of a case as both simple and difficult. Holmes continues by explaining the connection between distinctive features and the difficulty of an investigation. The discussion then turns to the particular suspicions reported in the newspapers. Having not yet visited the scene, what will the detective accept as an established fact?

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