解説　場面 16「夜の道を行く」

He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he is acting for the best.

彼が鞭を軽く当てると、馬車は暗く人けのない通りの果てしない連なりを駆け抜けた。道は次第に広がり、やがて欄干のある大きな橋を飛ぶように渡った。下では濁った川がのろのろと流れていた。その先にも、煉瓦と漆喰の陰気な荒野が広がり、静寂を破るのは警官の重く規則正しい足音か、夜更かしの遊び人たちの歌声や叫び声だけだった。暗いちぎれ雲が空をゆっくり流れ、その切れ間から星が一つ二つ、所々でかすかにまたたいていた。ホームズはあごを胸に沈め、物思いにふけった様子で黙って馬車を走らせていた。私は隣に座り、これほど彼を悩ませる新たな捜索とは何か知りたかったが、その思考の流れを妨げるのをためらった。数マイル進み、郊外の屋敷が連なる一帯の端へ差しかかった頃、彼は身を振るわせ、肩をすくめ、自分の取る道はこれでよいと納得したようにパイプに火をつけた。