よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 4: Shivering with Fear
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Notes on this scene
The veiled woman says that she is trembling from fear, not cold. When she raises her veil, her face is worn and anxious, and her hair is prematurely grey although she is only about thirty. Holmes studies her calmly, then uses a ticket in her glove to describe the journey she made that morning.
Japanese in this scene
- たしかに痛ましいほど取り乱している
- たしかに confirms the narrator's observation: once the veil rises, they can indeed see how distressingly agitated Helen is.
- 走ってこられたのでしょう
- でしょう adds the speaker's reasoned supposition: Holmes concludes that she probably came along a muddy road by dogcart.
- 獣のそれのようだった
- だった is the past form of the copula だ. Here it closes the comparison: her eyes were like those of a hunted animal.
- ざっと
- ざっと shows that Holmes surveys Helen quickly and broadly rather than examining one detail at length, yet his practiced glance still takes everything in.
Background
- dog-cart
- A dogcart was a high, light carriage, originally fitted with a compartment for hunting dogs. It was a common rural vehicle for reaching a railway station.
- return ticket
- A return ticket covered both outward and homeward rail journeys. The unused half in Helen's glove helps Holmes reconstruct how she reached London.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low voice, changing her seat as requested.
「私を震わせているのは寒さではありません」と女性は、頼まれたとおり席を移しながら、低い声で言った。
"What, then?"
「では何が？」
"It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.
「恐怖です、ホームズさん。恐ろしいのです」そう言いながら彼女がヴェールを上げると、たしかに痛ましいほど取り乱していることが私たちにも分かった。顔はやつれて灰色を帯び、目は落ち着きなく怯え、追い詰められた獣のそれのようだった。顔立ちも体つきも三十歳の女性のものだったが、髪には早すぎる白髪が混じり、表情は疲れきってやつれていた。シャーロック・ホームズは、素早く何もかも見て取る例の視線で、彼女をざっと眺め渡した。
"You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see."
「恐れることはありませんよ」と彼はなだめるように言い、身を乗り出して彼女の前腕を軽くたたいた。「すぐに事態を正してみせますよ、間違いなく。今朝は列車でいらっしゃったようですね」
"You know me, then?"
「では、私をご存じなのですか？」
"No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the station."
「いいえ。ただ、あなたの左手の手袋のてのひらに、往復切符の後半分が見えるのですよ。早くに出発なさったはずで、しかも駅に着くまでに、ぬかるんだ道をドッグカートでかなり長く走ってこられたのでしょう」