よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 56: A Step Forward
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Notes on this scene
The apparent band moves, revealing a deadly snake coiled around Roylott's head. Holmes declares that it bit the doctor, killing him within seconds, and observes that violence has recoiled upon the violent man. Using the loop of Roylott's dog-whip, Holmes lifts the snake from its perch at a distance and returns it securely to the iron safe.
Japanese in this scene
- たちまち
- たちまち marks an immediate transformation: the strange headband moves at once and reveals itself as a deadly snake.
- まことに
- まことに gives solemn emphasis to Holmes's moral conclusion that violence truly recoils upon the person who uses it.
- 腕をいっぱいに伸ばして
- いっぱいに means ‘to the full extent.’ Holmes holds the snake as far away as his fully extended arm allows.
- 踏み出した
- 一歩前に踏み出した describes Watson taking one deliberate step toward the snake before Holmes stops him from approaching the danger.
Background
- swamp adder
- The ‘swamp adder’ described by Holmes is fictional, and several details do not match real snake behaviour. The invention has prompted much later discussion.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent.
私は一歩前に踏み出した。たちまち、その奇妙な頭飾りが動き出し、髪の間から、平たいひし形の頭とふくらんだ首をもたげた、忌まわしい蛇が現れた。
"It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to some place of shelter and let the county police know what has happened."
「沼毒蛇だ！」とホームズは叫んだ。「インドで最も猛毒の蛇だよ。博士は、噛まれて十秒とたたないうちに死んだのだ。暴力は、まことに、暴力をふるう者にはね返り、策をめぐらす者は、他人のために掘った穴に自分が落ちるのだ。この生き物を巣穴に押し戻そう。そうすれば、ストーナーさんをどこか安全な場所に移し、郡の警察に事情を知らせることができる」
As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into the iron safe, which he closed upon it.
そう言うと彼は、死んだ男の膝から犬用の鞭をすばやく引き取り、その輪を蛇の首にかけて、おぞましい止まり木から引きはがし、腕をいっぱいに伸ばして運び、鉄の金庫に放り込んで扉を閉ざした。