よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 65: The Cellar Clue
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Notes on this scene
With no woman in the household and no valuable object worth such an elaborate plot, Holmes decided that the target must be outside the shop itself. Spaulding’s interest in photography and repeated trips to the cellar pointed downward. Holmes then identified the assistant as a daring criminal and inferred a tunnel.
Japanese in this scene
- てみる
- Verb + てみる means “try doing” in order to see the result. It describes an experimental action, not simply looking at something.
- ている
- The 〜ている form can show an action in progress, a continuing condition, or the present result of a completed action. The surrounding context selects the meaning.
- ような
- ような links a comparison or example to a following noun: “like; such as.” It is the noun-modifying form corresponding to ように.
- は
- は marks the topic of a sentence and can also set up a contrast with another item.
Background
- Photography
- Photographs were developed from glass plates with chemicals in a dark room. Spaulding’s supposed hobby gave him a believable reason to spend long periods in Wilson’s cellar.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in London. He was doing something in the cellar—something which took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel to some other building.
「家に女性がいたなら、ただの下世話な色恋沙汰を疑ったところだ。しかし、それはありえなかった。あの男の商売はささやかなもので、家の中には、あれほど手の込んだ準備や、あれほどの出費に見合うような物は何もなかった。とすれば、ねらいは家の外の何かに違いない。それは何なのか？私は、助手が写真に夢中なことと、地下室に姿を消す癖があることを思い出した。地下室だ！このもつれた糸の端は、そこにあったのだ。そこで、この謎めいた助手について調べてみると、相手はロンドンでも指折りの冷静で大胆な犯罪者だと分かった。その男が地下室で何かをしている――それも、何か月もぶっ通しで、毎日何時間もかかる何かを。もう一度問うが、それは何なのか？どこか別の建物までトンネルを掘り進めている、としか考えられなかった。