解説　場面 22「月下の谷間」

"The company had come to a halt, more sober men, as you may guess, than when they started. The most of them would by no means advance, but three of them, the boldest, or it may be the most drunken, rode forward down the goyal. Now, it opened into a broad space in which stood two of those great stones, still to be seen there, which were set by certain forgotten peoples in the days of old. The moon was shining bright upon the clearing, and there in the centre lay the unhappy maid where she had fallen, dead of fear and of fatigue. But it was not the sight of her body, nor yet was it that of the body of Hugo Baskerville lying near her, which raised the hair upon the heads of these three dare-devil roysterers, but it was that, standing over Hugo, and plucking at his throat, there stood a foul thing, a great, black beast, shaped like a hound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal eye has rested upon. And even as they looked the thing tore the throat out of Hugo Baskerville, on which, as it turned its blazing eyes and dripping jaws upon them, the three shrieked with fear and rode for dear life, still screaming, across the moor. One, it is said, died that very night of what he had seen, and the other twain were but broken men for the rest of their days.

「一行は足を止めた。想像もつくだろうが、出発時よりはずっと酔いがさめていた。大半はどうしても先へ進もうとしなかったが、最も大胆な、あるいは最も酔った三人が、馬で谷を下っていった。谷は広場へと開け、そこには、大昔の今は忘れられた民が立てた巨石が二つあった。それらは今も見ることができる。月明かりが空き地を明るく照らし、その中央に不幸な乙女が倒れたまま横たわっていた。恐怖と疲労で死んでいたのである。だが、この三人の向こう見ずな酒飲みの髪を逆立てさせたのは、その亡骸でも、すぐ近くに横たわるヒューゴ・バスカヴィルの亡骸でもなかった。ヒューゴの上に立ち、喉を引き裂いている忌まわしいものがいたのだ。犬の形をした巨大な黒い獣だったが、人間の目がかつて見たどんな犬よりも大きかった。見ている間にも、そのものはヒューゴ・バスカヴィルの喉を食い破った。そして燃えるような目と滴る顎を彼らへ向けると、三人は恐怖に悲鳴を上げ、叫び続けながら荒れ地を馬で命からがら逃げた。一人は見たものの衝撃でその夜のうちに死に、ほかの二人も残りの生涯を立ち直れぬまま過ごしたという。