よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 39: The Iron Safe
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Notes on this scene
In Dr. Roylott's room, Holmes inspects each piece of furniture in turn. A large iron safe fixed in the room attracts his attention. He asks Helen what is kept inside it, then notices a small dish resting on top and turns his attention to that unexpected object. The scene begins from this carefully established point.
Japanese in this scene
- 書類でいっぱいだった
- いっぱい means ‘full’ here: Helen remembers the safe as being filled with papers.
- たとえば、猫などは入っていませんか
- たとえば introduces a cat as one possible animal that might explain the saucer of milk.
- おかしな
- おかしな expresses Helen's amused disbelief at Holmes's question. She finds the idea of a cat being kept in the safe absurd.
- 書類でいっぱいだった
- だった is the past form of だ. It reports Helen's memory that the safe was full of papers.
Background
- keeping exotic animals
- Some nineteenth-century Britons brought animals home from the colonies. Roylott's free-roaming cheetah and baboon are unusual enough to alarm his neighbours.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe.
「この中には何が入っているのです？」と彼は金庫を軽くたたきながら尋ねた。
"My stepfather's business papers."
「義父の仕事の書類です」
"Oh! you have seen inside, then?"
「ほう！では、中をご覧になったことがあるのですね？」
"Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of papers."
「一度だけ、何年か前に。書類でいっぱいだったのを覚えています」
"There isn't a cat in it, for example?"
「たとえば、猫などは入っていませんか？」
"No. What a strange idea!"
「いいえ。なんておかしなことを！」
"Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which stood on the top of it.
「では、これを見てください！」彼は金庫の上に置いてあった小さなミルクの皿を取り上げた。
"No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon."
「いいえ、猫は飼っていません。でも、チーターとヒヒがいます」