解説　場面 6「家庭教師の職」

"Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything that I can to serve you."

「どうぞお掛けください、ハンターさん。お力になれることなら、何でも喜んでいたしましょう」

I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and his finger-tips together, to listen to her story.

ホームズが新しい依頼人の物腰と言葉遣いに好感を抱いたことは、私にも見て取れた。彼は探るような目で彼女を見渡すと、まぶたを伏せ、指先を合わせて姿勢を整え、話に耳を傾けた。

"I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his children over to America with him, so that I found myself without a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but without success. At last the little money which I had saved began to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do.

「私は五年間、スペンス・マンロー大佐のお宅で家庭教師をしてまいりました」と彼女は言った。「ところが二か月前、大佐がノヴァ・スコシアのハリファックスへ赴任することになり、お子さんたちを連れてアメリカへ渡ってしまわれたので、私は職を失いました。広告を出し、求人広告にも応募しましたが、うまくいきませんでした。とうとう、わずかばかりの蓄えも心細くなり始め、どうすればよいのか途方に暮れてしまいました。

"There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers and sees whether she has anything which would suit them.

「ウェスト・エンドには、ウェスタウェイズというよく知られた家庭教師紹介所がありまして、私に合う口が出ていないか確かめるため、週に一度ほど通っておりました。ウェスタウェイというのは創業者の名前ですが、実際に切り盛りしているのはストーパーさんです。彼女は小さな個室に座り、仕事を探す女性たちは控室で待ってから一人ずつ通されます。そこでストーパーさんが台帳を調べ、その人に合う仕事があるかを確かめるのです。