よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 3: The Lady in Black
You've finished this scene
Notes on this scene
Nothing delights Watson more than watching Holmes reason at close range, so he dresses quickly and follows him downstairs. A woman in black stands by the window, her face concealed by a heavy veil. She rises to greet them, and Holmes cheerfully invites her to take a seat near the fire.
Japanese in this scene
- ございます
- ございます is the polite form of ある used inside the formal morning greeting. It gives Holmes's welcome to the young visitor a courteous tone.
- おはよう
- おはよう is the morning greeting, and ございます makes it polite. Holmes uses the full expression while cheerfully welcoming the distressed visitor.
- いつも論理の土台に支えられた彼の推理
- いつも says that Holmes's apparently intuitive deductions were invariably supported by logic.
- 解きほぐしていく
- 解きほぐしていく presents Holmes's deductions as gradually unravelling each problem. The 〜ていく form emphasizes the process unfolding as Watson watches.
Background
- veil
- Victorian women sometimes attached veils to outdoor hats. Keeping a heavy veil lowered indoors suggests that the visitor has a strong reason to conceal her face.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in the window, rose as we entered.
私にとって、ホームズの職業上の調査につき従い、直感のように素早いのに、いつも論理の土台に支えられた彼の推理が、持ち込まれた問題を解きほぐしていくのに見とれることほど、大きな楽しみはなかった。私は大急ぎで服を着て、数分で、友人について居間へ降りていく支度を整えた。黒い服を着て厚いヴェールをかぶった女性が、窓辺に座っていたが、私たちが入ると立ち上がった。
"Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that you are shivering."
「おはようございます、お嬢さん」とホームズは陽気に言った。「私はシャーロック・ホームズです。こちらは親友であり仕事仲間のワトソン博士で、私に話すのと同じくらい自由に、彼の前でもお話しになれますよ。ほう！ハドソン夫人が気を利かせて暖炉に火を入れてくれたようで、何よりです。どうぞ火のそばにお寄りなさい。熱いコーヒーを頼んで差し上げましょう。震えておいでのようですから」