よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 16: Asking About Him
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Notes on this scene
Mary describes Hosmer as a quiet man who disliked attention and preferred evening walks. She recalls his weak throat and whispering voice, his modest clothes, dark glasses, and facial hair. Holmes then guides her account forward to Windibank’s next trip abroad.
Japanese in this scene
- 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.
- で
- で commonly marks the place of an action or the means used. It can also be the connective form of the copula だ.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare."
「とても内気な方でした、ホームズさん。目立つのが嫌いだと言って、昼間より夕方に私と歩きたがりました。たいへん控えめで、紳士的な方でした。声まで穏やかでした。若い頃にひどい喉の炎症とリンパ節の腫れを患い、それで喉が弱くなり、ためらうような、ささやくような話し方になったのだと、私に言っていました。いつもきちんとした服装で、たいへん小ぎれいで質素でしたが、私と同じく目が弱く、まぶしさを避けるため色付き眼鏡を掛けていました」
"Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, returned to France?"
「では、継父のウィンディバンクさんが再びフランスへ行くと、何が起きましたか」