解説　場面 125「古い食堂」

But the dining-room which opened out of the hall was a place of shadow and gloom. It was a long chamber with a step separating the daïs where the family sat from the lower portion reserved for their dependents. At one end a minstrel's gallery overlooked it. Black beams shot across above our heads, with a smoke-darkened ceiling beyond them. With rows of flaring torches to light it up, and the colour and rude hilarity of an old-time banquet, it might have softened; but now, when two black-clothed gentlemen sat in the little circle of light thrown by a shaded lamp, one's voice became hushed and one's spirit subdued. A dim line of ancestors, in every variety of dress, from the Elizabethan knight to the buck of the Regency, stared down upon us and daunted us by their silent company. We talked little, and I for one was glad when the meal was over and we were able to retire into the modern billiard-room and smoke a cigarette.

だが、広間から入る食堂は、影と薄暗がりの場所だった。長い部屋で、一族の座る高座と、使用人たちのための低い部分が、一段の段差で分けられていた。一方の端には、楽師のための回廊が見下ろしていた。頭上を黒い梁が横切り、その向こうには煙で黒ずんだ天井があった。燃え上がる松明の列で照らし、昔の宴の色彩と粗野な陽気さがあれば、和らいだかもしれない。だが今、覆いのあるランプが作る小さな光の輪に黒い服の紳士二人が座ると、声は低くなり、気持ちも沈んだ。エリザベス朝の騎士から摂政時代の伊達男まで、さまざまな服の先祖が薄暗く並んでこちらを見下ろし、無言の同席で私たちをひるませた。会話は少なく、少なくとも私は、食事が終わり、新しい撞球室へ移って煙草を吸えた時、ほっとした。

"My word, it isn't a very cheerful place," said Sir Henry. "I suppose one can tone down to it, but I feel a bit out of the picture at present. I don't wonder that my uncle got a little jumpy if he lived all alone in such a house as this. However, if it suits you, we will retire early tonight, and perhaps things may seem more cheerful in the morning."

「いや、あまり明るい場所じゃありませんね」とヘンリー卿は言った。「だんだんなじめるのでしょうが、今は少し場違いに感じます。こんな家に独りで住んでいれば、伯父が少し神経過敏になったのも無理はない。ですが、よろしければ今夜は早く休みましょう。朝になれば、もう少し明るく見えるかもしれません」