“I am afraid,” said I, “that the facts are so obvious that you will find little credit to be gained out of this case.”

「悪いが」 / 私は言った / 「事実があまりに明白なので / この事件で君が手柄を立てられる可能性は低いようだが」

“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact,” he answered, laughing. “Besides, we may chance to hit upon some other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted even so self-evident a thing as that.”

「明白な事実ほど当てにならないものはない」 / 彼は笑いながら答えた◆「それに / 我々は別の明白な事実を掘り当てる可能性がある / レストレード警部にとって明白には思えなかった◆君は僕を良く知っているからホラを吹いているとは思わないだろう / 僕がこういっても / 僕は彼の理論を立証するか破壊するだろう / 彼が全く適用できない手段によって / または理解することさえできない◆手近な実例を取り上げれば / 僕は非常にはっきりと分かる / 君の寝室の右側に窓があると / しかし僕は疑問に思う / レストレードがこれほど自明な出来事をそうと気付くかどうか」

“How on earth– –”

「い、いったい、なぜそれを - -」

“My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness which characterizes you. You shave every morning, and in this season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in the inquest, and which are worth considering.”

「ワトソン / 僕は君をよく知っている◆君が軍隊的な几帳面さという個性を持っているということを知っている◆君は毎朝髭を剃る / そしてこの季節、君は髭をそる時に陽の光を使う / そして君の髭剃りは左にいけば行くほど剃り残しが多くなる / 顎から直角になっているあたりでは間違いなく乱雑になっている / それははっきりと確かだ / そちら側が反対側よりも明るくなっていないことは◆僕は想像できない君のような性格の人間が / 両方とも均等に明るい自分を見て / その結果で満足するとは◆これは観察と推理のちょっとした実証のために言って見たまでだ◆そこに僕の専門領域がある / そしてちょうど可能性がある / 何か役に立つかもしれない / 我々の前にある調査に◆一つ二つ些細だが調べてみたいことがある / そしてそれは考えてみる値打ちがある」

“What are they?”

「それはなんだ？」

“It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the coroner’s jury.”

「彼はすぐ逮捕されたのではないようだ / そうではなくハザリー農場に帰ってからだ◆地区警察の警部が彼に拘束すると言った時 / 彼は言った / それを聞いても驚かないと / それは当然受ける罰に過ぎないと◆彼のこの意見が / 疑いの痕跡を取り除く当然の効果を果たした / 検死陪審の心に残っていたかもしれない」

“It was a confession,” I ejaculated.

「それは自白じゃないか」 / 私は叫んだ

“No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence.”

「いや / その後に無罪の主張が続いている」

“Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at least a most suspicious remark.”

「これだけの疑わしい出来事の最後に来れば / 少なくとも、最も疑わしい供述だな」

“On the contrary,” said Holmes, “it is the brightest rift which I can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His frank acceptance of the situation marks as either an innocent man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a guilty one.”

「逆だよ」 / ホームズは言った / 「それは今のところ、最も明るい雲の切れ間だ◆いかに彼が無実で能天気であったとしても / そこまで絶対的に愚鈍ではありえない / 状況が彼にとって非常に危ないということに気付かないほど◆もし彼が自分の逮捕に驚いて見せたり / 憤慨する振りをすれば / 僕は非常に疑わしいと見ていただろう / なぜならそのような驚きや怒りはその状況下では不自然だ / それでも謀略家にとっては最善の策に見えるかもしれないが◆彼があっさり状況を受け入れたことは / 表している / 無実の男か / 驚異的な自制心と強固な精神の持ち主のどちらか◆彼が当然の報いと言った事に関しては / これも不自然ではない / もし考えてみれば / 彼が父の死体の側に立っていたこと / そして疑いなく / 彼はその日子供としての義務を忘れて父と言い合いをした / その上 / 重要な少女の証言によれば / 殴ろうとするかのように手を上げた◆自分を非難し悔悟の気持ちが / 彼の供述に表れたのは / 僕にはやましいというより健全な気持ちの表れのように思える」

I shook my head. “Many men have been hanged on far slighter evidence,” I remarked.

私は首を振った◆「もっと僅かな証拠で死刑になった男は沢山いる」 / 私はいった

“So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged.”

「そのとおりだ◆そして無実で死刑になった男が沢山いる」

“What is the young man’s own account of the matter?”

「息子はこの事件をどう説明しているんだ？」

“It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. You will find it here, and may read it for yourself.”

「それは / 残念ながら / 支持者をがっかりさせるものだ / １，２の点は示唆的だが◆ここにあるので / 自分で読んでみて欲しい」