よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 15: Where the Letters Went
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Notes on this scene
Mary says that Hosmer asked her to send letters poste restante because coworkers might tease him about receiving mail from a woman. He rejected her offer to type them, claiming that handwritten words felt more directly hers, while typed letters seemed to place a machine between them.
Japanese in this scene
- は
- は marks the topic of the sentence and can also contrast it with another topic. It is written ha but normally pronounced wa.
- が
- が marks the grammatical subject or introduces newly focused information. It can also connect clauses with a mild contrast.
- を
- を marks the direct object of a verb. With a movement verb, it can instead mark the route or place being crossed.
- に
- に can mark a destination, target, time, recipient, purpose, or resulting state. The predicate shows its role here.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think of."
「レドンホール街の郵便局留めで、受け取りに来るまで預かってもらっていました。事務所に送ると、女性から手紙が来たことをほかの事務員みんなにからかわれると言うんです。それで、彼が自分の手紙でしているように、私もタイプで打ちましょうかと申し出ました。でも、それは嫌がりました。私が手で書くと私自身から届いた感じがするのに、タイプで打ってあると、いつも機械が二人の間に入った気がする、と言うんです。これだけでも、ホームズさん、どれほど私を大切にしてくれていたか、どんな小さなことまで考えてくれていたか、お分かりになるでしょう」
"It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?"
「たいへん示唆に富んだお話です」とホームズは言った。「細かな事柄こそ、はるかに重要だというのは、長く私の信条となっています。エンジェルさんについて、ほかにも何か細かなことを覚えていませんか」