Scene 52 · Notes

Notes　Scene 52: Their Positions

Next scene: 53 At the Table ›Read this scene again (from the start)

Notes on this scene

Turner fears that his arrest would break his daughter's heart. Holmes explains that he is not a public investigator and is acting for Alice, though James must be cleared. Turner reveals that he has long suffered from diabetes and may have only a month to live. He wants to die at home rather than in prison.

Japanese in this scene

娘むすめのことさえなければ
さえ with a negative conditional means ‘if only it were not for.’ Turner identifies his daughter as the particular consideration that has prevented him from revealing everything immediately.
公おおやけの捜査官そうさかんではありません
公 is read おおやけ here and means public or official. ではありません politely denies a role. Holmes distinguishes his position from that of a public investigating officer.
生いきられるかどうか
生きられる is the potential form of 生きる. かどうか embeds a yes-or-no question: whether he can live that long. The uncertainty concerns survival, rather than a chosen length of stay.

Full text: original English and Japanese translation

"I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It would break her heart—it will break her heart when she hears that I am arrested."

「大切な娘のことさえなければ、今すぐにでも打ち明けたでしょう。あの子は胸が張り裂けるでしょう。私が逮捕されたと知れば、きっとそうなるのです」

"It may not come to that," said Holmes.

「そこまでは至らないかもしれません」とホームズは言った。

"What?"

「何ですって」

"I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. Young McCarthy must be got off, however."

「私は公の捜査官ではありません。私をここへ呼んだのはお嬢さんだと承知しており、私はその方のために動いています。ただし、若いマッカーシーの嫌疑は晴らさなければなりません」

"I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol."

「私は、もう死にかけているのです」と老ターナーは言った。「何年も糖尿病を患っています。あとひと月生きられるかどうかだと、医者は言います。それでも、牢獄よりは自分の家で死にたいのです」

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

  • 嫌疑（けんぎ） — suspicion of a crime; allegationhard
  • さえ — even; only (in some conditions)
  • 今（いま） — now; the present
  • でも — As a conjunction, means but; With a noun or another expression, highlights an example: even, or something like that; With a question word, expresses unrestricted choice: any.
  • 打ち明ける（うちあける） — to confide; to reveal
  • 子（こ） — child; one's child; young person
  • 張り裂ける（はりさける） — to burst; to break apart
  • 私（わたし） — I; me

Next scene: At the Table

Holmes rises, sits down at the table, and puts pen and paper within reach. He briefly explains to the visitor how he will write down the account they are about to hear, with Watson present as a witness. Quietly, the preparations for recording the conversation are made in the sitting room. Where will the visitor begin his account?

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