よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 4: A Simple Case
You've finished this scene
Notes on this scene
Holmes argues that unusual features offer useful clues, whereas an ordinary-looking crime may be harder to prove. In this case, considerable evidence supports suspicion against the dead man's son. Even so, Holmes refuses to accept anything without examining it himself and proposes to summarize the circumstances as far as he understands them.
Japanese in this scene
- ありふれたものであるほど
- ほど indicates degree: ‘the more commonplace it is.’ The phrase links a crime's ordinary appearance with increased difficulty in proving guilt. ありふれた modifies もの, meaning something unremarkable.
- 推測されている
- This passive form of 推測する means ‘is being supposed.’ It keeps the assumption separate from the speaker's own judgment: Holmes reports what people think rather than endorsing it.
- 受け入れはしない
- A verb stem followed by はしない strongly rejects the action. The insertion of は emphasizes Holmes's refusal to accept assumptions before investigating. The ordinary negative would be 受け入れない.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they have established a very serious case against the son of the murdered man."
「だが、まさしく本当のことだ。変わった点は、ほとんど必ず手掛かりになる。犯罪が特徴に乏しく、ありふれたものであるほど、犯人の罪を立証するのは難しい。もっとも、今回の事件では、殺された男の息子に対し、非常に重大な嫌疑を裏付ける証拠がそろっている」
"It is a murder, then?"
「すると、殺人なのかい」
"Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have been able to understand it, in a very few words.
「まあ、そう推測されている。自分で調べる機会を得るまでは、何も当然のこととして受け入れはしない。私が理解できた限りの事情を、ごく手短に説明しよう。