Scene 25 · Notes

Notes　Scene 25: What Was Observed

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Notes on this scene

Watson says that Holmes saw things invisible to him, but Holmes corrects the distinction: Watson saw them without drawing conclusions. Challenged to describe Mary, Watson remembers her hat, dress, jacket, fur, gloves, and general appearance, though not the details Holmes considers decisive.

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

"You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite invisible to me," I remarked.

「きみには、私にはまったく見えなかったことが、彼女についてずいぶん読み取れたようだね」と私は言った。

"Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe it."

「見えなかったのではなく、気づかなかったのだ、ワトソン。どこを見るべきか知らなかったから、肝心なことをすべて見落としたのだよ。私はどうしてもきみに、袖の重要さや、親指の爪が何を物語るか、一本の靴ひもに重大な問題がかかっていることを、分かってもらえない。さて、あの女性の外見から何を読み取ったかね。説明してみたまえ」

"Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, easy-going way."

「そうだな、石板のような灰色のつばの広い麦わら帽子をかぶり、れんが色がかった赤い羽根が付いていた。上着は黒で、黒いビーズが縫い付けてあり、小さな黒玉の飾りの房が付いていた。服はコーヒー色よりやや濃い茶色で、首と袖には少し紫のプラッシュがあった。手袋は灰色がかっていて、右の人差し指のところがすり切れていた。靴は見なかったよ。小さな丸い金のイヤリングを下げていて、全体として、俗っぽいが気楽でのんきな、かなり暮らし向きのよい人という様子だった」

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

  • 一本（いっぽん） — one long cylindrical thing; one film, TV show, etc.; one goal, home run, etc.; one telephone callhard
  • たまえ — Old-fashioned authoritative request ending after a verb stem.hard
  • 私（わたし） — I; me
  • 彼女（かのじょ） — she; her
  • について — Marks the topic: about; concerning.
  • ずいぶん — considerably; very much
  • 読み取れる（よみとれる） — to be able to read; to be able to infer
  • よう — way; means of doing something

Next scene: A Question of Sleeves

Holmes listens to Watson’s description, gently claps his hands, and laughs. Watson has learned the method, he says, but has missed every important point. When the subject is a woman, Holmes first studies her sleeves. What traces did the plush cuff preserve, and what mark did he notice on Mary’s face?

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