“The night was fine, but still it was a very weary vigil. Of course it has the sort of excitement about it that the sportsman feels when he lies beside the watercourse and waits for the big game. It was very long, though – almost as long, Watson, as when you and I waited in that deadly room when we looked into the little problem of the Speckled Band. There was a church-clock down at Woking which struck the quarters, and I thought more than once that it had stopped. At last, however, about two in the morning, I suddenly heard the gentle sound of a bolt being pushed back and the creaking of a key. A moment later the servants’ door was opened, and Mr. Joseph Harrison stepped out into the moonlight.”

「その夜は晴れていた / しかしそれでも辛い夜明かしだった◆もちろん一種の興奮はあった / 狩りをする人間が水路の側に寝そべって大きな獲物の待つような◆しかし、非常に長かった / / ワトソン、ほとんど君と僕があの死の部屋で待っていたのと同じくらい長かった / まだらの紐の事件を捜査している時◆十五分毎にウォーキングの教会の鐘が鳴る / そして一度ならずそれが止まったかと思ったよ◆しかし、遂に / 朝二時ごろ / 僕は突然留め金が戻される小さな音を聞いた / そして鍵のきしむ音を◆次の瞬間、使用人の扉が開けられた / そしてジョセフ・ハリソンが月明かりの中に出てきた」

“Joseph!” ejaculated Phelps.

「ジョセフが！」 / フェルプスは叫んだ

“He was bare-headed, but he had a black cloak thrown over his shoulder, so that he could conceal his face in an instant if there were any alarm. He walked on tiptoe under the shadow of the wall, and when he reached the window he worked a long-bladed knife through the sash and pushed back the catch. Then he flung open the window, and putting his knife through the crack in the shutters, he thrust the bar up and swung them open.

「彼は帽子を被っていなかった / しかし彼は黒いコートを羽織っていた / 自分の顔をすぐに隠せるように / もし何か騒ぎがあれば◆彼は爪先だって壁の影の下を歩いた / そして彼は窓のところに来ると / 長い刃のナイフを窓枠に差込み / 留め金を戻した◆それから窓を開き / 雨戸の割れ目にナイフを入れ / 横棒を押し上げて開けた」

“From where I lay I had a perfect view of the inside of the room and of every one of his movements. He lit the two candles which stood upon the mantelpiece, and then he proceeded to turn back the corner of the carpet in the neighbourhood of the door. Presently he stooped and picked out a square piece of board, such as is usually left to enable plumbers to get at the joints of the gas-pipes. This one covered, as a matter of fact, the T joint which gives off the pipe which supplies the kitchen underneath. Out of this hiding-place he drew that little cylinder of paper, pushed down the board, rearranged the carpet, blew out the candles, and walked straight into my arms as I stood waiting for him outside the window.

「僕がいるところから / 完全に見えた / 部屋の内部と彼の動きの全てが◆彼はマントルピースの上の二本のロウソクに火をつけ / それから絨毯の角をひっくり返し始めた / 扉のすぐ近くの◆まもなく彼はかがんで四角い板の一片を取り上げた / ちょうど普通配管工のために残されているような / ガス配管のつなぎ目に手が届くように◆これは覆っていた / 実際 / 下の台所に供給するパイプのT字の連結部を◆この隠し場所から / 彼は小さな紙の巻物を取り出し / 板を押し戻し / 絨毯をもう一度整え / ロウソクを吹き消し / そして僕の腕の中に真っ直ぐ歩いてきた / 僕がは窓の外で彼を待っていると」

“Well, he has rather more viciousness than I gave him credit for, has Master Joseph. He flew at me with his knife, and I had to grasp him twice, and got a cut over the knuckles, before I had the upper hand of him. He looked murder out of the only eye he could see with when we had finished, but he listened to reason and gave up the papers. Having got them I let my man go, but I wired full particulars to Forbes this morning. If he is quick enough to catch his bird, well and good. But if, as I shrewdly suspect, he finds the nest empty before he gets there, why, all the better for the government. I fancy that Lord Holdhurst, for one, and Mr. Percy Phelps for another, would very much rather that the affair never got as far as a police-court.”

「彼はもっと邪悪なやつだった / 僕が考えていたよりも / ジョセフ坊やは◆彼はナイフを手に飛び掛ってきた / そして僕は彼を二度捕まえなければならなかった / そして拳に切り傷を負った / 僕が彼を取り押さえる前に◆彼は見ることが出来る片方の目で恐ろしげに睨んでいた / 格闘が終わった時 / しかし彼は説得に耳を貸して書類を諦めた◆それを手にして僕は男を逃がした / しかし今朝フォーブズに完全な詳細を電報で伝えた◆もし彼がこの犯人を素早く捕まえるなら、それもよし◆しかしもし / 僕が思っているように / 彼がそこに着くまでに逃げおおせているなら / 政府にはその方がいいだろう◆ホールドハースト卿にもパーシー・フェルプスさんにとっても / 事件が警察沙汰になるよりは非常にましだろう」

“My God!” gasped our client. “Do you tell me that during these long ten weeks of agony the stolen papers were within the very room with me all the time?”

「なんということだ！」 / 依頼人はあえぎながら言った◆「あなたは、私にこの長い十週間の苦悩の間 / 盗まれた書類はずっと僕が居た部屋の中にあったと言うのですか？」

“So it was.”

「そのとおりです」

“And Joseph! Joseph a villain and a thief!”

「しかしジョセフ！ / 悪党で泥棒のジョセフ！」

“Hum! I am afraid Joseph’s character is a rather deeper and more dangerous one than one might judge from his appearance. From what I have heard from him this morning, I gather that he has lost heavily in dabbling with stocks, and that he is ready to do anything on earth to better his fortunes. Being an absolutely selfish man, when a chance presents itself he did not allow either his sister’s happiness or your reputation to hold his hand.”

「フム！ / 残念な事にジョセフの性格はずっと複雑で / 危険なもののようです / 彼の外見から想像されるよりも◆僕が今朝彼から聞いたところでは / 彼は株に手を出して大きな損失を出したらしい / そして彼は金のためなら何でもやるつもりでいます◆完全に自己中心の男で / チャンスがあれば / 妹の幸せもあなたの名誉も手を引かすことはできなかった」

Percy Phelps sank back in his chair. “My head whirls,” said he. “Your words have dazed me.”

パーシー・フェルプスは椅子に沈み込んだ◆「目が回ります」 / 彼は言った◆「あなたの話を聞いてクラクラします」

“The principal difficulty in your case,” remarked Holmes in his didactic fashion, “lay in the fact of there being too much evidence. What was vital was overlaid and hidden by what was irrelevant. Of all the facts which were presented to us we had to pick just those which we deemed to be essential, and then piece them together in their order, so as to reconstruct this very remarkable chain of events. I had already begun to suspect Joseph from the fact that you had intended to travel home with him that night, and that therefore it was a likely enough thing that he should call for you, knowing the Foreign Office well, upon his way. When I heard that someone had been so anxious to get into the bedroom, in which no one but Joseph could have concealed anything – you told us in your narrative how you had turned Joseph out when you arrived with the doctor – my suspicions all changed to certainties, especially as the attempt was made on the first night upon which the nurse was absent, showing that the intruder was well acquainted with the ways of the house.”

「この事件の根本的な難しさは」 / ホームズは独特の学者風の態度で言った / 「証拠が多すぎるという言う事でした◆関係ないことによって重要な事が覆い隠されていた◆我々に提供された全ての事実の中から / 我々は本質的と思われるものを選び出さねばならなかった / それからそれらを正しい順序に並べ替えて / 非常に特徴的な出来事の連鎖を再構築するために◆僕はすでにジョセフを疑い始めていた / あなたがあの夜ジョセフと一緒に家に帰るつもりだったという事実から / そして、それゆえ / 彼があなたを訪ねてくる可能性は高かった / 外務省の事務所は良く知っていたので、道すがら◆私が誰かあなたの寝室に入りたくてたまらない人物が居ると聞いたとき / そこはジョセフ以外の誰も何かを隠せないところだ / / あなたはお話の中で言っていた / どのようにジョセフが追い出されたか / あなたが医者と一緒に家に着いた時 / / 僕の疑いは確実なものになった / 特に企てが起きたのが / 看護人がいない最初の夜だったことは / 侵入者が家の中の事情に通じていることを示している」

“How blind I have been!”

「何と分かっていなかったことか！」

“The facts of the case, as far as I have worked them out, are these: This Joseph Harrison entered the office through the Charles Street door, and knowing his way he walked straight into your room the instant after you left it. Finding no one there he promptly rang the bell, and at the instant that he did so his eyes caught the paper upon the table. A glance showed him that chance had put in his way a State document of immense value, and in an instant he had thrust it into his pocket and was gone. A few minutes elapsed, as you remember, before the sleepy commissionaire drew your attention to the bell, and those were just enough to give the thief time to make his escape.

「この事件の事実関係は / 僕が調べたかぎりでは / こうです / ジョセフ・ハリソンはチャールズ街の扉を通って事務所に入った / 道は分かっていたので / あなたが出たすぐ後に真っ直ぐ部屋に入った◆誰も居ないのを見て彼はすぐにベルを鳴らした / そしてそうした瞬間彼はテーブルの上の書類に目を止めた◆ちょっと見て彼はチャンスが転がり込んで来たと知った / 途方もない価値の国家文書が / そして次の瞬間彼はそれをポケットに突っ込んで去った◆数分経過していた / 覚えているように / 寝ぼけた便利屋がベルにあなたの注意を引くまでに / そしてそれは泥棒が逃げるのに十分な時間だった」

“He made his way to Woking by the first train, and, having examined his booty and assured himself that it really was of immense value, he had concealed it in what he thought was a very safe place, with the intention of taking it out again in a day or two, and carrying it to the French embassy, or wherever he thought that a long price was to be had. Then came your sudden return. He, without a moment’s warning, was bundled out of his room, and from that time onward there were always at least two of you there to prevent him from regaining his treasure. The situation to him must have been a maddening one. But at last he thought he saw his chance. He tried to steal in, but was baffled by your wakefulness. You may remember that you did not take your usual draught that night.”

「彼は最初の列車でウォーキングに帰った / 盗品を調べて / それが本当に途方もない価値があると確信した / 彼はそれを一番安心だと思う場所に隠した / 一日二日の間にもう一度取り出すつもりで / そしてそれをフランス大使館に持って行くか / 彼が大金を得られると思うどこかに◆その時あなたが突然帰ってきた◆彼は、まったく予期しないうちに / 自分の部屋を追い出された / そしてそれから以降 / 少なくとも二人の人間がそこにいた / 彼の財宝をもう一度取り出すことを妨げる◆彼にとってこの状況は狂おしいものだったに違いない◆しかし遂に彼はチャンスが来たと思った◆彼は忍び込もうとした / しかしあなたが目覚めたので妨げられた◆あなたはいつもの薬をその夜は飲まなかった事を覚えているかもしれませんね」

“I remember.”

「覚えています」

“I fancy that he had taken steps to make that draught efficacious, and that he quite relied upon your being unconscious. Of course, I understood that he would repeat the attempt whenever it could be done with safety. Your leaving the room gave him the chance he wanted. I kept Miss Harrison in it all day so that he might not anticipate us. Then, having given him the idea that the coast was clear, I kept guard as I have described. I already knew that the papers were probably in the room, but I had no desire to rip up all the planking and skirting in search of them. I let him take them, therefore, from the hiding-place, and so saved myself an infinity of trouble. Is there any other point which I can make clear?”

「僕は彼がその飲み薬を有効にしていたと思う / そして彼はあなたの意識がないことを疑っていなかった◆もちろん / 僕は彼が何度でもやるだろうと分かっていた / いつでも安全にできる時が来れば◆あなたがあの部屋を開ける事で彼に願ってもないチャンスが来た◆私はハリソン嬢をずっとそこにいさせた / 彼が我々を出し抜くかもしれないので◆それから / 彼に危険がないと思わせておいて / 僕は説明したとおり目を光らせていた◆僕はすでに書類はおそらく部屋の中だと分かっていたが / しかしそれを探して部屋中を引き剥がしたいとは思わなかった◆それゆえ、僕は彼にそれを取り出させた / 隠し場所から / そして自分自身大変な手間を省略できた◆他にはっきりしないことがあればお話しますが？」

“Why did he try the window on the first occasion,” I asked, “when he might have entered by the door?”

「最初の時、なぜ彼は窓から忍び込もうとしたんだ？」 / 私は尋ねた / 「彼は扉から入っても良かったのに」

“In reaching the door he would have to pass seven bedrooms. On the other hand, he could get out on to the lawn with ease. Anything else?”

「扉につくには彼は七つの寝室を通らなければならなかった◆一方 / 彼は簡単に芝生に降りることができた◆他には？」

“You do not think,” asked Phelps, “that he had any murderous intention? The knife was only meant as a tool.”

「あなたはお考えではないでしょう」 / フェルプスが尋ねた / 彼が殺意を持っていたとは？ / あのナイフは窓を開ける道具としてだけの意味しかない」

“It may be so,” answered Holmes, shrugging his shoulders. “I can only say for certain that Mr. Joseph Harrison is a gentleman to whose mercy I should be extremely unwilling to trust.”

「そうかもしれません」 / ホームズは言った / 肩をすぼめて◆「これだけははっきりと言えます / ジョセフ・ハリソン氏は僕がその慈悲を信頼できるとは、全く思えない人物だという事です」