解説　場面 45「帰りの汽車」

How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out of the way of danger.

柔らかな土が明瞭な物語を伝えてくれなければ、水力技師が庭から目覚めた場所へどう運ばれたかは、永遠の謎になっていたかもしれない。明らかに二人が彼を運び、一人は非常に小さな足、もう一人は並外れて大きな足をしていた。全体として、無口なイングランド人は仲間ほど大胆でも残忍でもなかったので、女性が意識のない男を危険から運び出すのを手伝った可能性が最も高かった。

"Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what have I gained?"

「いやはや」と、水力技師は再びロンドンへ戻る列車で席に着き、悔しそうに言った。「私にはまったく大変な仕事でした。親指を失い、五十ギニーの報酬も失って、いったい何を得たのでしょう」

"Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your existence."

「経験です」とホームズは笑って言った。「間接的には価値があるかもしれません。言葉にして話しさえすれば、これから一生、話の実に面白い人という評判を得られます」