“No, Watson, I never was in it. My note to you was absolutely genuine. I had little doubt that I had come to the end of my career when I perceived the somewhat sinister figure of the late Professor Moriarty standing upon the narrow pathway which led to safety. I read an inexorable purpose in his gray eyes. I exchanged some remarks with him, therefore, and obtained his courteous permission to write the short note which you afterwards received. I left it with my cigarette-box and my stick, and I walked along the pathway, Moriarty still at my heels. When I reached the end I stood at bay. He drew no weapon, but he rushed at me and threw his long arms around me. He knew that his own game was up, and was only anxious to revenge himself upon me. We tottered together upon the brink of the fall. I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me. I slipped through his grip, and he with a horrible scream kicked madly for a few seconds, and clawed the air with both his hands. But for all his efforts he could not get his balance, and over he went. With my face over the brink, I saw him fall for a long way. Then he struck a rock, bounded off, and splashed into the water.”

「そうだ、僕は落ちなかった◆僕が君に書いた手紙は完全に本物だった◆僕はほとんど疑っていなかった / 僕が自分の経歴の終わりに達した事を / 僕が故モリアーティ教授のやや悪意に満ちた姿を見た時には / 安全な方向に通じる狭い道の上に立っている◆僕は彼の灰色の瞳の中に容赦のない意志を見て取った◆それゆえ、僕は彼と少し会話を交わし / そして短い手紙を書くという礼儀正しい許しを得た / 君が後で受け取ることになる◆僕はそれを煙草入れと杖と一緒に置き / そして道に沿って歩いた / モリアーティはまだすぐ後ろにいた◆行き止まりに達すると僕は窮地に立った◆彼は武器を出さなかった / しかし彼は僕にぶつかってきて長い腕を僕に巻きつけた◆彼は自分の勝負がついたことを知っていた / そしてただ僕に自分の手で復讐することだけを望んでいた◆我々は滝への崖っぷちでよろめいた◆しかし僕にはちょっとした心得があった / バリツという / 日本の格闘技だが / これは一度ならず非常に役立った◆僕は彼が掴んでいるところをすり抜け / そして彼は恐ろしい悲鳴を上げて / 数秒間足を狂ったようにバタバタ動かし / そして両手で虚空を掻きむしった◆しかしどんなに頑張っても彼は平衡を保てず / そして落ちて行った◆僕は断崖を覗き込んで / 彼が長い距離を落ちるのを見た◆その後彼は岩にぶつかり / 跳ね返り / 水の中にしぶきを上げて落ちた」

I listened with amazement to this explanation, which Holmes delivered between the puffs of his cigarette.

私はこの説明に驚いて聞き入っていた / ホームズが煙草の煙を吐き出す間に繰り広げられる

“But the tracks!” I cried. “I saw, with my own eyes, that two went down the path and none returned.

「しかし足跡が！」 / 私は叫んだ◆「僕は自分の目で見た / 二つが道を行き、戻って来るのはなかった」

“It came about in this way. The instant that the Professor had disappeared, it struck me what a really extraordinarily lucky chance Fate had placed in my way. I knew that Moriarty was not the only man who had sworn my death. There were at least three others whose desire for vengeance upon me would only be increased by the death of their leader. They were all most dangerous men. One or other would certainly get me. On the other hand, if all the world was convinced that I was dead they would take liberties, these men, they would soon lay themselves open, and sooner or later I could destroy them. Then it would be time for me to announce that I was still in the land of the living. So rapidly does the brain act that I believe I had thought this all out before Professor Moriarty had reached the bottom of the Reichenbach Fall.

「それはこういう風に起きたのだ◆教授が消えた瞬間 / 僕は突然思いついた / 本当に途方も無く幸運なチャンスが転がり込んできたと◆僕を殺すと誓っていたのはモリアーティだけではないことを僕は知っていた◆少なくとも三人いた / 彼らの復讐の欲求はただ増大するだけだったろう / 首領の死によって◆彼らはみんな危険な男達だった◆誰かがきっと僕を始末しようとしただろう◆一方 / もし全世界が僕が死んだものと確信すれば / 彼らは自由に振舞うだろう / こいつらは / すぐに姿を現し / 遅かれ早かれ僕は彼らを滅ぼす事ができるだろう◆その時が僕にとって公表する時だ / 僕がまだこの地上にいることを◆非常に僕の脳が素早く活動したので / 僕はこれら全てを考えたと信じている / モリアーティ教授がライヘンバッハの滝底に届く前に」

“I stood up and examined the rocky wall behind me. In your picturesque account of the matter, which I read with great interest some months later, you assert that the wall was sheer. That was not literally true. A few small footholds presented themselves, and there was some indication of a ledge. The cliff is so high that to climb it all was an obvious impossibility, and it was equally impossible to make my way along the wet path without leaving some tracks. I might, it is true, have reversed my boots, as I have done on similar occasions, but the sight of three sets of tracks in one direction would certainly have suggested a deception. On the whole, then, it was best that I should risk the climb. It was not a pleasant business, Watson. The fall roared beneath me. I am not a fanciful person, but I give you my word that I seemed to hear Moriarty’s voice screaming at me out of the abyss. A mistake would have been fatal. More than once, as tufts of grass came out in my hand or my foot slipped in the wet notches of the rock, I thought that I was gone. But I struggled upward, and at last I reached a ledge several feet deep and covered with soft green moss, where I could lie unseen, in the most perfect comfort. There I was stretched, when you, my dear Watson, and all your following were investigating in the most sympathetic and inefficient manner the circumstances of my death.

「僕は立ち上がって僕の後ろの岩肌を確かめた◆君のこの事件の見事な絵画的説明で / 僕が数ヵ月後に非常に興味を持って読んだが / 君は壁は垂直だと断言していた◆しかし、それは文字通りには本当ではなかった◆いくつか小さな足場があり / そして出っ張った棚があるという兆候があった◆断崖は非常に高く登り切るのは明らかに不可能だった / そしてこれも同じように不可能だった / なんらかの跡を残さずに湿った道を行くのも◆確かに、靴を後ろ向きにできたかもしれない / 似たような状況ですでにやった事があるように / しかし同じ方向に三つの足跡があるという光景は / 確実にごまかしを暗示させただろう◆それで、全体を考え合わせると / 危険を冒して登るのが一番いいということになった◆愉快な仕事ではなかったよ / ワトソン◆滝は足の下で唸り声を上げていた◆僕は空想力豊かな人間ではないが / 誓って言うが / 奈落の底からモリアーティの叫ぶ声が聞こえるような気がした◆一つのミスも致命的だったろう◆一度ならず / 手で持った草の塊が抜けたり / 濡れた岩の刻み目で足が滑り / 落ちたと思ったよ◆しかし僕はなんとか上に向かい / そして遂に / 僕は何フィートかの奥行きのある出っ張りにたどり着いた / そこは柔らかい緑の苔で覆われていた / そこで僕は見られずに横たわることが出来た / 完全に快適な状態で◆僕はそこに寝転んでいたのだ / 君と / ワトソン / 君が連れて来た人物が調査していた時 / 非常に思い遣りがありまた非効果的な方法で / 僕の死の状況を」

“At last, when you had all formed your inevitable and totally erroneous conclusions, you departed for the hotel, and I was left alone. I had imagined that I had reached the end of my adventures, but a very unexpected occurrence showed me that there were surprises still in store for me. A huge rock, falling from above, boomed past me, struck the path, and bounded over into the chasm. For an instant I thought that it was an accident, but a moment later, looking up, I saw a man’s head against the darkening sky, and another stone struck the very ledge upon which I was stretched, within a foot of my head. Of course, the meaning of this was obvious. Moriarty had not been alone. A confederate – and even that one glance had told me how dangerous a man that confederate was – had kept guard while the Professor had attacked me. From a distance, unseen by me, he had been a witness of his friend’s death and of my escape. He had waited, and then making his way round to the top of the cliff, he had endeavoured to succeed where his comrade had failed.

「遂に / 君達みんなが避けられない、しかし完全に間違った結論に達し / 君達はホテルに向かって去った / そして僕は一人になった◆僕は驚くような出来事は終わったと思っていた / しかし非常に予期しない出来事が / まだ驚きが僕を待ち構えていたことを示した◆大きな岩が / 上から落ちてきて / 僕の側をうなりを上げて過ぎた / 道にあたり / そして跳ねて割れ目に落ちた◆一瞬 / 僕はそれが事故だと思った / しかし次の瞬間 / 見上げて / 暗くなりかけた空に男の頭が見えた / そしてもう一つの石が僕が横になっていた出っ張りに当たった / 僕の頭の上1フィートもない近くで◆もちろん / その意味は明白だった◆モリアーティは一人ではなかったのだ◆一人の共謀者が / / そしてちょっと見ただけで僕には分かった / その共犯者が如何に危険な男かが / / 彼は教授が僕を襲っている間見張りをしていた◆離れたところから / 僕に見られずに / 彼は友人が死に僕が逃げるのを見ていた◆彼は待った / そして崖の上に登り / 彼は、彼の仲間が失敗した後を引き継ごうとしたのだ」

“I did not take long to think about it, Watson. Again I saw that grim face look over the cliff, and I knew that it was the precursor of another stone. I scrambled down on to the path. I don’t think I could have done it in cold blood. It was a hundred times more difficult than getting up. But I had no time to think of the danger, for another stone sang past me as I hung by my hands from the edge of the ledge. Halfway down I slipped, but, by the blessing of God, I landed, torn and bleeding, upon the path. I took to my heels, did ten miles over the mountains in the darkness, and a week later I found myself in Florence, with the certainty that no one in the world knew what had become of me.

「僕はこれについて長く考えなかった / ワトソン◆再び僕は恐ろしい顔が崖から覗き込むのを見た / そして僕はそれが別の石の前兆だと分かっていた◆僕は、道に向かって急いで降りた◆僕はそれを平然とやり遂げられたとは思っていないよ◆それは登るよりも百倍以上困難だった◆しかし僕は危険だと考えている時間はなかった / 別の石が音を立てて僕の側を過ぎたからだ / 僕が両手で出っ張りの角にぶら下っている時◆半分僕は滑り落ちた / しかし / 神のご加護で / 僕は降り立った / ボロボロで血が出ていたが / 道上に◆僕は一目散に逃げた / 僕は暗闇の中、山を10マイルほど走り / そして一週間後僕はフローレンスに着いた / 僕に何が起こったか確実に世界中の誰にも知られずに」

“I had only one confidant – my brother Mycroft. I owe you many apologies, my dear Watson, but it was all-important that it should be thought I was dead, and it is quite certain that you would not have written so convincing an account of my unhappy end had you not yourself thought that it was true. Several times during the last three years I have taken up my pen to write to you, but always I feared lest your affectionate regard for me should tempt you to some indiscretion which would betray my secret. For that reason I turned away from you this evening when you upset my books, for I was in danger at the time, and any show of surprise and emotion upon your part might have drawn attention to my identity and led to the most deplorable and irreparable results. As to Mycroft, I had to confide in him in order to obtain the money which I needed. The course of events in London did not run so well as I had hoped, for the trial of the Moriarty gang left two of its most dangerous members, my own most vindictive enemies, at liberty. I travelled for two years in Tibet, therefore, and amused myself by visiting Lhassa, and spending some days with the head lama. You may have read of the remarkable explorations of a Norwegian named Sigerson, but I am sure that it never occurred to you that you were receiving news of your friend. I then passed through Persia, looked in at Mecca, and paid a short but interesting visit to the Khalifa at Khartoum, the results of which I have communicated to the Foreign Office. Returning to France, I spent some months in a research into the coal-tar derivatives, which I conducted in a laboratory at Montpellier, in the south of France. Having concluded this to my satisfaction and learning that only one of my enemies was now left in London, I was about to return when my movements were hastened by the news of this very remarkable Park Lane Mystery, which not only appealed to me by its own merits, but which seemed to offer some most peculiar personal opportunities. I came over at once to London, called in my own person at Baker Street, threw Mrs. Hudson into violent hysterics, and found that Mycroft had preserved my rooms and my papers exactly as they had always been. So it was, my dear Watson, that at two o’clock to-day I found myself in my old armchair in my own old room, and only wishing that I could have seen my old friend Watson in the other chair which he has so often adorned.”

「僕は一人だけに秘密を打ち明けた / / 兄のマイクロフトだ◆君には本当に申し訳ないと思う / ワトソン / しかし僕が死んだと思われていることが非常に重要だったのだ / そしてこれは極めて確かだ / 君は僕の不幸な結末についてあそこまで説得力のある記述ができなかった / もし君がそれを本当だと思っていなかったら◆この三年間の間何度も / 僕は君に手紙を書こうとペンを取った / しかしいつも恐れた / 君の愛情豊かな僕に対する心遣いが / 君に何か軽率な行動をとらせたくならないか / それが僕の秘密を暴くかもしれない◆この理由で / 僕は今夜君が僕の本をひっくり返した時に背中を見せたのだ / あの時僕は危険の中にあった / そして君の態度に驚きや感動がちょっとでも表れたら / 僕の正体がばれるかも知れなかった / そして非常に遺憾で取り返しのつかない結果に繋がったかもしれなかった◆マイクロフトについてだが / 僕は彼に打ち明けざるを得なかった / 僕が必要な金を調達するために◆ロンドンでの成り行きは僕の望んだように上手くは行かなかった / モリアーティ一味の裁判は一番危険な仲間を二人を残した / 僕の最も復讐心に燃えた敵を / 自由な状態に◆それゆえ僕は二年間チベットを旅行し / そしてラサを訪れて楽しんだ / そしてダライラマと数日を過ごした◆シガーソンという名前のノルウェー人の面白い探検記を読んだ事があるかもしれないが / しかし僕は確信している / 君が全く気付かなかったことを / 君が友人から頼りを受け取っていると◆僕はそれからペルシャを過ぎ / メッカを訪れた / それからハルツームでハリファの所で短いが面白い滞在をした / その結果は外務省に伝えてある◆フランスに戻り / 僕は数ヶ月をコールタール誘導体の研究に費やした / 僕はそれをモンペリエの研究所で実施した / 南フランスの◆これを満足の行く結果に終わらせて / 唯一の敵がロンドンに残っていると知り / 僕は戻ろうとした / その時僕の動きは急がされた / この非常に注目すべきパークレーン事件の知らせによって / それは僕にとって事件自体に優れた価値があるだけではなく / 非常に特別な個人的好機を提供しているように見えたからだ◆僕はすぐにロンドンにやって来た / ベーカー街を自ら訪ねて / ハドソン夫人を激しいヒステリーに投げ込み / そして見つけた / マイクロフトが僕の部屋と書類を正確にそのままの状態に保っていたことを◆だからそれは / ワトソン / 今日の二時だった / 僕は自分のかつての部屋の安楽椅子に座り / そしてただ望みながら / 僕が旧友のワトソンを見られたらいいのにと / 君が非常にしばしば美観を添えていたもう一つの椅子に」