よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 24: Never Leave the Room
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Notes on this scene
Ross says that Wilson must stay inside the building for the entire four-hour shift or lose the appointment forever. Wilson readily agrees, since he has no reason to leave. Ross nevertheless stresses that neither sickness, business, nor any other circumstance will excuse an absence, and Wilson asks about the actual task.
Japanese in this scene
- なければならない
- The negative conditional + ならない expresses obligation: “must; have to.” Literally, it says that things will not do unless the action happens.
- ていただく
- ていただく is the humble, polite form of てもらう. It describes receiving another person’s action while lowering the speaker’s position.
- わけ
- わけ can mean a reason, circumstances, or the logical conclusion of a situation. Expressions such as わけだ and わけがない depend on this sense of an explainable outcome.
- は
- は marks the topic of a sentence and can also set up a contrast with another item.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office during that time.'
「『つまり、勤務時間中はずっと事務所に、少なくともこの建物の中にいなければならないのです。出ていけば、その地位は永久に失われます。その点について、遺言はきわめてはっきりしておりましてな。その時間に少しでも事務所から動けば、条件を守ったことにはなりません』
"'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' said I.
「『一日たった四時間ですから、出ていこうなんて考えもしませんよ』と私は言いました。
"'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose your billet.'
「『どんな言いわけも通りませんぞ』とダンカン・ロスさんは言いました。『病気だろうと、商売だろうと、ほかの何であろうとです。必ずそこにいていただく、さもなければ職を失います』
"'And the work?'
「『それで、仕事のほうは？』