よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 56: Taking Positions
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Notes on this scene
Holmes jokes that he hoped to provide Merryweather’s card game, but safety requires darkness. He places the four men behind boxes and gives direct instructions: when light is shown, they must seize the intruders; if the criminals fire, Watson is to shoot without hesitation. The ambush is set.
Japanese in this scene
- かもしれない
- かもしれない means “might; may.” It marks a possibility rather than a firm conclusion and is less certain than でしょう or だろう.
- ておく
- Verb + ておく means doing something in advance or leaving a result in place for later. In speech, it often contracts to 〜とく.
- ていた
- The 〜ていた form is the past of 〜ている. It describes an action that was in progress or a state that continued at the time being discussed.
- は
- は marks the topic of a sentence and can also set up a contrast with another item.
Background
- Whist
- Whist is a four-player partnership card game and an ancestor of bridge. It was extremely popular in Victorian clubs and homes; a rubber was commonly decided by the best of three games.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no compunction about shooting them down."
「あいにく、そうなります。ポケットにトランプを一組入れてきましたので、ちょうど四人そろったことですし、結局あなたもいつもの一勝負ができるだろうと思っていたのですが。ですが敵の準備はもうそこまで進んでいるようですから、明かりをつけておく危険はおかせません。それに、何よりもまず、めいめいの持ち場を決めなくてはならない。相手は大胆な連中だから、こちらが不意をつく形になるとはいえ、用心しないと痛い目にあうかもしれない。私はこの木箱の陰に立つから、きみたちはあちらの箱の陰に身を隠してくれたまえ。そして私が連中に光を浴びせたら、すばやく取り押さえにかかるのだ。もし向こうが撃ってきたら、ワトソン、ためらわずに撃ち倒したまえ」