Every night in the year, four of us sat in the small parlour of the George at Debenham—the undertaker, and the landlord, and Fettes, and myself. Sometimes there would be more; but blow high, blow low, come rain or snow or frost, we four would be each planted in his own particular arm-chair. Fettes was an old drunken Scotchman, a man of education obviously, and a man of some property, since he lived in idleness. He had come to Debenham years ago, while still young, and by a mere continuance of living had grown to be an adopted townsman. His blue camlet cloak was a local antiquity, like the church-spire. His place in the parlour at the George, his absence from church, his old, crapulous, disreputable vices, were all things of course in Debenham. He had some vague Radical opinions and some fleeting infidelities, which he would now and again set forth and emphasise with tottering slaps upon the table. He drank rum—five glasses regularly every evening; and for the greater portion of his nightly visit to the George sat, with his glass in his right hand, in a state of melancholy alcoholic saturation. We called him the Doctor, for he was supposed to have some special knowledge of medicine, and had been known, upon a pinch, to set a fracture or reduce a dislocation; but beyond these slight particulars, we had no knowledge of his character and antecedents.
parlour:(ホテルやバーの)談話室(古い表現、parlourの綴りは主にイギリス)。George:ジョージ(店名)。Debenham:デベナム(イギリスのサフォーク州の村と行政教区)。undertaker:葬儀屋。landlord:(旅館や下宿の)主人。Fettes:フェテス(人名/名字)。planted:置かれる(据えられる)。arm-chair:肘掛け椅子。Scotchman:スコットランド人。man of education:教養人。man of some property:一廉の資産家。in idleness:怠惰に。continuance of living:生活の継続。adopted townsman:承認された町民。camlet:キャムレット(駱駝やアンゴラ山羊の毛織物)。cloak:クローク(袖なし外套)。local antiquity:地元の古物。church-spire:教会尖塔。place:席。absence from church:礼拝の欠席。crapulous:飲み過ぎの。disreputable:如何わしい。vices:悪習。vague radical opinions:漠然とした過激な意見。fleeting infidelities:束の間の不信心。now and again:折々。set forth:発表する。tottering slaps:ぐら付いて(机を)バンと叩くこと。rum:ラム(酒の一種)。portion:部分。nightly:夜中の。melancholy alcoholic saturation:憂鬱なアルコール浸け。upon a pinch:いざとなれば(at a pinchの古い表現)。set a fracture:骨折を整復した。reduce a dislocation:脱臼を復位した。slight particulars:微かな特色。character and antecedents:性格や素性。
One dark winter night—it had struck nine some time before the landlord joined us—there was a sick man in the George, a great neighbouring proprietor suddenly struck down with apoplexy on his way to Parliament; and the great man’s still greater London doctor had been telegraphed to his bedside. It was the first time that such a thing had happened in Debenham, for the railway was but newly open, and we were all proportionately moved by the occurrence.
some time:ある時。great neighbouring proprietor:大物の近所の起業家(経営所有者)。struck down:(病気などで)倒れた。apoplexy:脳卒中。on his way to Parliament:彼の議会への途上で。great man's:大人物の。still greater:やはり大物の。telegraphed:電報を送られる。proportionately:一同に(比例して)。moved by:~で心を動かされる。occurrence:出来事。
‘He’s come,’ said the landlord, after he had filled and lighted his pipe.
‘He?’ said I. ‘Who?—not the doctor?’
‘Himself,’ replied our host.
host:(ホテルや旅館の)亭主。
‘What is his name?’
‘Doctor Macfarlane,’ said the landlord.
Macfarlane:マクファーレン(人名/名字)。
Fettes was far through his third tumbler, stupidly fuddled, now nodding over, now staring mazily around him; but at the last word he seemed to awaken, and repeated the name ‘Macfarlane’ twice, quietly enough the first time, but with sudden emotion at the second.
tumbler:タンブラー(大コップ)。stupidly fuddled:愚かしく酔っ払った。nodding over:顎でしゃくって。staring mazily around:~をボーッと見回した。with sudden emotion :突然、感情的に。
‘Yes,’ said the landlord, ‘that’s his name, Doctor Wolfe Macfarlane.’
Wolfe:ウルフ(人名/名前)。
Fettes became instantly sober; his eyes awoke, his voice became clear, loud, and steady, his language forcible and earnest. We were all startled by the transformation, as if a man had risen from the dead.
instantly:瞬時に。(became) sober:酔いが覚めた。steady:安定した。forcible and earnest:有力で熱心な。startled:驚愕する。transformation:変容。had risen from the dead:死人から甦った。
‘I beg your pardon,’ he said, ‘I am afraid I have not been paying much attention to your talk. Who is this Wolfe Macfarlane?’ And then, when he had heard the landlord out, ‘It cannot be, it cannot be,’ he added; ‘and yet I would like well to see him face to face.’
I beg your pardon:(聞き返しに)何といわれたか(済まない)。have not been paying much attention to:~に良く注意を払っていなかった。had heard (out):最後まで聞いた。and yet:といえども。see him face to face:差し向かいで会う(相見える)。
‘Do you know him, Doctor?’ asked the undertaker, with a gasp.
with a gasp:喘ぎ声で。
‘God forbid’ was the reply. ‘And yet the name is a strange one; it were too much to fancy two. Tell me, landlord, is he old?’
God forbid:飛んでもない。it were too much to fancy two:二つと思い描けないくらいだ。
‘Well,’ said the host, ‘he’s not a young man, to be sure, and his hair is white; but he looks younger than you.’
‘He is older, though; years older. But,’ with a slap upon the table, ‘it’s the rum you see in my face—rum and sin. This man, perhaps, may have an easy conscience and a good digestion. Conscience! Hear me speak. You would think I was some good, old, decent Christian, would you not? But no, not I; I never canted. Voltaire might have canted if he’d stood in my shoes; but the brains’—with a rattling fillip on his bald head—‘the brains were clear and active, and I saw and made no deductions.’
sin:罪。have an easy conscience and a good digestion:疚しいところはなくて(良心に咎めず)胃は丈夫(優れた消化)である。conscience:良心。decent:きちんとした。Christian:キリスト教徒。canted:偽善的ないい方をした。Voltaire:ヴォルテール(哲学者:François-Marie Arouet/フランソワ=マリー・エルテ)。if he’d stood in my shoes:もしも彼が私の見地に(靴で)立てば。rattling fillip:俊敏にコツンと打つこと。made no deductions:推論を下さなかった。
‘If you know this doctor,’ I ventured to remark, after a somewhat awful pause, ‘I should gather that you do not share the landlord’s good opinion.’
ventured to remark:思い切っていった。after a somewhat awful pause:何だか恐しい停止の後。gather that:~と判断する。share the landlord’s good opinion:(主人と)良い意見を共にする。
Fettes paid no regard to me.
paid no regard to:~に関心を払わなかった。
‘Yes,’ he said, with sudden decision, ‘I must see him face to face.’
There was another pause, and then a door was closed rather sharply on the first floor, and a step was heard upon the stair.
first floor:二階(イギリス英語)。
‘That’s the doctor,’ cried the landlord. ‘Look sharp, and you can catch him.’
look sharp:急げ(うかうかするな)。
It was but two steps from the small parlour to the door of the old George Inn; the wide oak staircase landed almost in the street; there was room for a Turkey rug and nothing more between the threshold and the last round of the descent; but this little space was every evening brilliantly lit up, not only by the light upon the stair and the great signal-lamp below the sign, but by the warm radiance of the bar-room window. The George thus brightly advertised itself to passers-by in the cold street. Fettes walked steadily to the spot, and we, who were hanging behind, beheld the two men meet, as one of them had phrased it, face to face. Dr. Macfarlane was alert and vigorous. His white hair set off his pale and placid, although energetic, countenance. He was richly dressed in the finest of broadcloth and the whitest of linen, with a great gold watch-chain, and studs and spectacles of the same precious material. He wore a broad-folded tie, white and speckled with lilac, and he carried on his arm a comfortable driving-coat of fur. There was no doubt but he became his years, breathing, as he did, of wealth and consideration; and it was a surprising contrast to see our parlour sot—bald, dirty, pimpled, and robed in his old camlet cloak—confront him at the bottom of the stairs.
inn:小旅館(一階に飲食店や社交場を持って二階に宿泊するようなもの)。oak:楢(木の一種)。staircase:(壁や手摺を含む全体としてのの)階段。landed:接地した。Turkey rug:トルコ(国名)絨毯。threshold:戸口。last round of the descent:下り(斜面)の最終の円み。brilliantly lit up:煌々と照らし出される。signal-lamp:表示燈。sign:看板。radiance:輝き。bar-room:酒場。passers-by:通行人。steadily:しっかり。hanging behind:居残る。beheld:見た。had phrased:表現した。alert and vigorous:機敏で頑健な。set off:引き立てた。pale and placid:青白くも大人しい。countenance:顔付き。richly:裕福に。broadcloth:ブロード(広幅織物)。linen:リネン(亜麻布)。watch-chain:懐中時計の鎖。studs and spectacles:飾り釦と眼鏡。precious material:貴金属。broad-folded tie:。広折りの(太い)ネクタイ。speckled with lilac:薄紫の斑点のある。carried on his arm:(彼が)腕に携えた。driving-coat of fur:毛皮のドライヴィング(乗車用)コート(屋根なしの車でも風雨を凌げるもの)。no doubt but:~は疑いがない。became his years (of):(彼が)~の年齢になった。breathing:生きながら。wealth and consideration:富と熟慮。sot:飲んだくれ。bald:禿げた。pimpled:吹き出物のある。robed:着た。confront:向かい合う。
‘Macfarlane!’ he said somewhat loudly, more like a herald than a friend.
herald:通報官。
The great doctor pulled up short on the fourth step, as though the familiarity of the address surprised and somewhat shocked his dignity.
pulled up short:急に止まった。familiarity of the address:呼びかけの遠慮なさ。dignity:品位。
‘Toddy Macfarlane!’ repeated Fettes.
Toddy:トディ(人名/名前)。
The London man almost staggered. He stared for the swiftest of seconds at the man before him, glanced behind him with a sort of scare, and then in a startled whisper, ‘Fettes!’ he said, ‘You!’
London:ロンドン(イギリスの首都)。staggered:蹌踉めいた。stared (at):~を凝視した。for the swiftest of seconds:ほんの(最速の)何秒間か。glanced:一瞥した。
‘Ay,’ said the other, ‘me! Did you think I was dead too? We are not so easy shut of our acquaintance.’
Ay:あぁ(はい)。so easy shut of:そんなに容易く免れる(縁を切る)。acquaintance:知り合い。
‘Hush, hush!’ exclaimed the doctor. ‘Hush, hush! this meeting is so unexpected—I can see you are unmanned. I hardly knew you, I confess, at first; but I am overjoyed—overjoyed to have this opportunity. For the present it must be how-d’ye-do and good-bye in one, for my fly is waiting, and I must not fail the train; but you shall—let me see—yes—you shall give me your address, and you can count on early news of me. We must do something for you, Fettes. I fear you are out at elbows; but we must see to that for auld lang syne, as once we sang at suppers.’
hush:静かに(しっ)。meeting:出会い。unmanned:酷く気落ちする。confess:打ち明ける。overjoyed:大喜びする。for the present:差し当たり。how-d’ye-do and good-bye:どうですかとさよなら(d'yeはdo ye/youの古い表現の短縮形)。in one:一度で。fly:軽装貸し馬車(イギリス英語)。let me see:ええと。you shall give me your address:貴方は私に貴方の住所を教えなさい。you can count on early news of me:貴方は私からの早々の知らせを当てにして良い。out at elbows:見窄らしい(肘のところが破れた)。see to that:上手く取り計らう。auld lang syne:オールドラングサイン(スコットランドの民謡:old long since/古く長くからという意味のスコットランドの方言)。
‘Money!’ cried Fettes; ‘money from you! The money that I had from you is lying where I cast it in the rain.’
Dr. Macfarlane had talked himself into some measure of superiority and confidence, but the uncommon energy of this refusal cast him back into his first confusion.
had talked himself into:(彼が)自分に~をいい聞かせた。some measure of superiority and confidence:多少の優越と自信。confusion:混乱。
A horrible, ugly look came and went across his almost venerable countenance. ‘My dear fellow,’ he said, ‘be it as you please; my last thought is to offend you. I would intrude on none. I will leave you my address, however—’
horrible, ugly look:ぞっとする醜い表情。went across:過った。venerable countenance:尊ぶべき顔立ち。my dear fellow:おい、君(イギリス英語)。be it as you please:どうぞお好きに。offend:怒らせる。intrude on:(私事を)侵害する。
‘I do not wish it—I do not wish to know the roof that shelters you,’ interrupted the other. ‘I heard your name; I feared it might be you; I wished to know if, after all, there were a God; I know now that there is none. Begone!’
interrupted:遮った。begone:立ち去れ。
He still stood in the middle of the rug, between the stair and doorway; and the great London physician, in order to escape, would be forced to step to one side. It was plain that he hesitated before the thought of this humiliation. White as he was, there was a dangerous glitter in his spectacles; but while he still paused uncertain, he became aware that the driver of his fly was peering in from the street at this unusual scene and caught a glimpse at the same time of our little body from the parlour, huddled by the corner of the bar. The presence of so many witnesses decided him at once to flee. He crouched together, brushing on the wainscot, and made a dart like a serpent, striking for the door. But his tribulation was not yet entirely at an end, for even as he was passing Fettes clutched him by the arm and these words came in a whisper, and yet painfully distinct, ‘Have you seen it again?’
doorway:玄関口。physician:医者(内科医)。hesitated:躊躇した。humiliation:屈辱。glitter:煌めき。uncertain:あやふやな。peering in (at):~を覗き込む。caught a glimpse (of):~を垣間見た。little body:小者。huddled:縮こまった。witnesses:目撃者。decided him at once to:彼に~を直ちに決心させた。flee:逃げる。crouched together:全体的に屈んだ。brushing on:~を掠め続けた。wainscot:腰羽目。made a dart:突進した。serpent:蛇。striking for:~へ進む。tribulation:苦難。even as:丁度~のときに。clutched:掴んだ。and yet:それにも拘わらず。painfully distinct:悲痛に明確な。
The great rich London doctor cried out aloud with a sharp, throttling cry; he dashed his questioner across the open space, and, with his hands over his head, fled out of the door like a detected thief. Before it had occurred to one of us to make a movement the fly was already rattling toward the station. The scene was over like a dream, but the dream had left proofs and traces of its passage. Next day the servant found the fine gold spectacles broken on the threshold, and that very night we were all standing breathless by the bar-room window, and Fettes at our side, sober, pale, and resolute in look.
throttling:喉を絞る。dashed (across):~へ突っ切った。detected thief:見付かった盗人。rattling:ガタガタ走った。proofs and traces of its passage:その経過の証拠と痕跡。servant:使用人。breathless:息を凝らした。resolute:断固とした。in look:様子で。
‘God protect us, Mr. Fettes!’ said the landlord, coming first into possession of his customary senses. ‘What in the universe is all this? These are strange things you have been saying.’
coming first into possession of his customary senses:一番に通常の(慣習的な)感覚を手に入れる。in the universe:世にも。
Fettes turned toward us; he looked us each in succession in the face. ‘See if you can hold your tongues,’ said he. ‘That man Macfarlane is not safe to cross; those that have done so already have repented it too late.’
in succession:立て続けに。see if:~かやってみろ。hold your tongues:(貴方が)口を噤む(黙っておく)。cross:逆らう。repented:後悔した。
And then, without so much as finishing his third glass, far less waiting for the other two, he bade us good-bye and went forth, under the lamp of the hotel, into the black night.
without so much as:~さえもせずに。far less waiting:殆ど待たず。bade us good-bye:私たちにさよならを告げた。went forth:出て行った。
We three turned to our places in the parlour, with the big red fire and four clear candles; and as we recapitulated what had passed, the first chill of our surprise soon changed into a glow of curiosity. We sat late; it was the latest session I have known in the old George. Each man, before we parted, had his theory that he was bound to prove; and none of us had any nearer business in this world than to track out the past of our condemned companion, and surprise the secret that he shared with the great London doctor. It is no great boast, but I believe I was a better hand at worming out a story than either of my fellows at the George; and perhaps there is now no other man alive who could narrate to you the following foul and unnatural events.
recapitulated:総括した。chill:怖じ気。glow:高まり。curiosity:好奇心。session:集い。had his theory that:(彼が)〜と考えていた。bound to:~しなければならない(する運命にある)。none of us had any nearer business in this world than:私たちの誰も全く〜よりも近いどんな用事も持たなかった。track out:探り出す。condemned companion:厳しく非難される連れ合い。surprise:(秘密などを)聞き出す。boast:自慢。a better hand at (than):~よりも熟達する。worming out:巧みに引き出す。narrate:物語る。foul:卑劣な。
In his young days Fettes studied medicine in the schools of Edinburgh. He had talent of a kind, the talent that picks up swiftly what it hears and readily retails it for its own. He worked little at home; but he was civil, attentive, and intelligent in the presence of his masters. They soon picked him out as a lad who listened closely and remembered well; nay, strange as it seemed to me when I first heard it, he was in those days well favoured, and pleased by his exterior. There was, at that period, a certain extramural teacher of anatomy, whom I shall here designate by the letter K. His name was subsequently too well known. The man who bore it skulked through the streets of Edinburgh in disguise, while the mob that applauded at the execution of Burke called loudly for the blood of his employer. But Mr. K— was then at the top of his vogue; he enjoyed a popularity due partly to his own talent and address, partly to the incapacity of his rival, the university professor. The students, at least, swore by his name, and Fettes believed himself, and was believed by others, to have laid the foundations of success when he had acquired the favour of this meteorically famous man. Mr. K— was a bon vivant as well as an accomplished teacher; he liked a sly illusion no less than a careful preparation. In both capacities Fettes enjoyed and deserved his notice, and by the second year of his attendance he held the half-regular position of second demonstrator or sub-assistant in his class.
medicine:医学(内科)。Edinburgh:エディンバラ(スコットランドの首都)。had talent of a kind:独自の才能があった。swiftly:迅速に。readily:躊躇なく。retails:(噂などを)受け売りする(いい振らす)。civil, attentive, and intelligent:丁寧で気が利いて聡明な。in the presence of:~の前で。masters:(男の)先生たち(イギリス英語)。lad:若者。listened closely:一心に聞いた。remembered well:物覚えが良い。nay:それどころか。in those days:当時。well favoured:良く好まれる(favouredの綴りは主にイギリス)。exterior:外面。a certain extramural teacher of anatomy:ある解剖学の学外の教師。designate:呼ぶ(名付ける)。letter:文字。K.:ケー(バークとヘア連続殺人事件で解剖用死体の受け取りで関与した医師のRobert Knox/ロバート・ノックスの頭文字)。subsequently:後から。bore:(名前を)持った。skulked through:こそこそ抜けた。in disguise:変装して。mob:群衆。applauded at:~に喝采した。execution of Burke:バーク(バークとヘア連続殺人事件の犯人、死体泥棒の一人のWilliam Burke/ウィリアム・バーク)の死刑執行。called loudly for the blood of:~の(辞職など)を声高に求めた(責めた)。at the top of his vogue:彼の世間受け(流行り)の頂点で。enjoyed a popularity:人気があった。talent and address:才能と手腕。incapacity of his rival:彼の競合者の無能。swore by:~に信頼を置いた。to have laid the foundations of success:成功の基盤を据えようと。meteorically:華々しく。bon vivant:美食家(フランス語)。accomplished:博学の。sly illusion:悪賢い幻想(他の版ではillusionがallusion/仄めかしとなっていて内容は判然としない)。no less than:~に劣らず。both capacities:両方の能力。enjoyed:恵まれていた。deserved his notice:彼の注目に値した。held the half-regular position:準正規の地位を占めた。second demonstrator:第二(イギリスの大学の)実験助手(demonstratorを実験助手とするのはイギリス英語)。sub-assistant:副補佐。
In this capacity the charge of the theatre and lecture-room devolved in particular upon his shoulders. He had to answer for the cleanliness of the premises and the conduct of the other students, and it was a part of his duty to supply, receive, and divide the various subjects. It was with a view to this last—at that time very delicate—affair that he was lodged by Mr. K— in the same wynd, and at last in the same building, with the dissecting-rooms. Here, after a night of turbulent pleasures, his hand still tottering, his sight still misty and confused, he would be called out of bed in the black hours before the winter dawn by the unclean and desperate interlopers who supplied the table. He would open the door to these men, since infamous throughout the land. He would help them with their tragic burden, pay them their sordid price, and remain alone, when they were gone, with the unfriendly relics of humanity. From such a scene he would return to snatch another hour or two of slumber, to repair the abuses of the night, and refresh himself for the labours of the day.
charge:管理。theatre:階段講堂(theatreの綴りは主にイギリス)。lecture-room:講義室。devolved:(職を)負わされた。answer for:担う。cleanliness:清潔。premises:構内。conduct:指導。supply:供給する。divide:分配する。subjects:実験材料。with a view to:~することを目指して。lodged:寄宿させられる。wynd:路地(スコットランド英語)。dissecting-rooms:解剖室。turbulent pleasures:抑えられない喜び。sight:視界。misty:霞んだ。confused:混乱した。dawn:夜明け。unclean and desperate:穢れた自暴自棄の。interlopers:潜り業者(古い表現)。supplied the table:(解剖)台を満たした。since infamous throughout the land:国中に悪名高いので。help them with:彼らの~を手伝った。tragic burden:悲惨な荷物運び。sordid price:浅ましい値段。unfriendly:よそよそしい。relics:遺体。snatch another hour or two of slumber:一二時間の睡眠を急いで取る。repair the abuses:悪弊を修復する。refresh himself:(彼が)元気を回復する。
Few lads could have been more insensible to the impressions of a life thus passed among the ensigns of mortality. His mind was closed against all general considerations. He was incapable of interest in the fate and fortunes of another, the slave of his own desires and low ambitions. Cold, light, and selfish in the last resort, he had that modicum of prudence, miscalled morality, which keeps a man from inconvenient drunkenness or punishable theft. He coveted, besides, a measure of consideration from his masters and his fellow-pupils, and he had no desire to fail conspicuously in the external parts of life. Thus he made it his pleasure to gain some distinction in his studies, and day after day rendered unimpeachable eye-service to his employer, Mr. K—. For his day of work he indemnified himself by nights of roaring, blackguardly enjoyment; and when that balance had been struck, the organ that he called his conscience declared itself content.
insensible:無感覚な。ensigns of mortality:死ぬべき運命の(船舶の)旗。general considerations:世間並みの配慮。incapable of interest in:~に興味を持てない。fate and fortunes of another:別の幸不幸(悪運と幸運)。low ambitions:俗気。cold, light, and selfish:冷淡で軽薄で利己的な。in the last resort:百々の詰まりに。that modicum of prudence:そんな僅かな思慮分別。miscalled:呼び違えた。keeps (from):~をさせない。inconvenient drunkenness:傍迷惑な酩酊。punishable theft:罰せられる盗み。coveted:無闇に欲した。a measure of consideration:一定の配慮。fellow-pupils:同級生。fail conspicuously in the external parts of life:生活の外面的な部分を著しく欠く。gain some distinction in his studies:(彼が)良い成績を幾らか学業で収める。day after day:日々。rendered unimpeachable eye-service to:非の打ち所のない面従後語を~へ行った。indemnified himself:(彼が)保身した。roaring:高笑い。blackguardly:不良の。when that balance had been struck:そんなバランスが取られたとき。declared itself content:(それが)満足を表した。
The supply of subjects was a continual trouble to him as well as to his master. In that large and busy class, the raw material of the anatomists kept perpetually running out; and the business thus rendered necessary was not only unpleasant in itself, but threatened dangerous consequences to all who were concerned. It was the policy of Mr. K— to ask no questions in his dealings with the trade. ‘They bring the body, and we pay the price,’ he used to say, dwelling on the alliteration—‘quid pro quo.’ And, again, and somewhat profanely, ‘Ask no questions,’ he would tell his assistants, ‘for conscience’ sake.’ There was no understanding that the subjects were provided by the crime of murder. Had that idea been broached to him in words, he would have recoiled in horror; but the lightness of his speech upon so grave a matter was, in itself, an offence against good manners, and a temptation to the men with whom he dealt. Fettes, for instance, had often remarked to himself upon the singular freshness of the bodies. He had been struck again and again by the hang-dog, abominable looks of the ruffians who came to him before the dawn; and putting things together clearly in his private thoughts, he perhaps attributed a meaning too immoral and too categorical to the unguarded counsels of his master. He understood his duty, in short, to have three branches: to take what was brought, to pay the price, and to avert the eye from any evidence of crime.
raw material:原材料。anatomists:解剖学者たち。perpetually:年がら年中。running out:尽きる。business thus rendered necessary:こうして必要性を示した業務。threatened dangerous consequences to:~に危険な結果を招きそうだった(恐れがあった)。policy:方針。dealings with the trade:売人との取引。body:死体。dwelling on the alliteration:頭韻法で延ばして。quid pro quo:見返りに(これに対してあれという意味のラテン語)。profanely:不敬に。for conscience’ sake:良心のために。broached to:(話が)~に切り出される。in words:言葉で。have recoiled:怯んだ。in horror:恐怖に。lightness:軽薄さ。so grave a matter was:厳粛な余りの事態。offence against good manners,:不品行。temptation:誘惑(の魔の手)。had often remarked to himself upon:屡々、~について独り言ちた。singular freshness:奇怪な新鮮さ。had been struck (by):〜に苦しまされた。hang-dog, abominable looks of the ruffians:ごろつきの疚しくて厭うべき様子。putting things together clearly in his private thoughts:物事を私的な考えで明瞭に組み立てて。attributed (to):~のせいにした。too immoral and too categorical:不道徳過ぎて断定的過ぎる。unguarded counsels:無防備な忠告。in short:手短に。have three branches:三つの部門を持つ。avert the eye from:目を~から逸らす。
One November morning this policy of silence was put sharply to the test. He had been awake all night with a racking toothache—pacing his room like a caged beast or throwing himself in fury on his bed—and had fallen at last into that profound, uneasy slumber that so often follows on a night of pain, when he was awakened by the third or fourth angry repetition of the concerted signal. There was a thin, bright moonshine; it was bitter cold, windy, and frosty; the town had not yet awakened, but an indefinable stir already preluded the noise and business of the day. The ghouls had come later than usual, and they seemed more than usually eager to be gone. Fettes, sick with sleep, lighted them upstairs. He heard their grumbling Irish voices through a dream; and as they stripped the sack from their sad merchandise he leaned dozing, with his shoulder propped against the wall; he had to shake himself to find the men their money. As he did so his eyes lighted on the dead face. He started; he took two steps nearer, with the candle raised.
put sharply to the test:真価を鋭く問われる。racking toothache:激しい歯痛で。pacing:ゆっくり歩く。caged beast:檻の中の獣。throwing himself:(彼が)身を投げる(倒れ伏す)。in fury:怒って。had fallen at last into that profound, uneasy slumber :あの深い落ち着かない眠りについに落ちた。repetition:繰り返し。concerted signal:申し合わせた合図。thin, bright moonshine:細く明るい月光。bitter cold:酷く寒い。indefinable stir:いい知れない動き。preluded the noise and business of the day:その日の喧騒と業務の前触れとなった。ghouls:グール(アラブ人の伝承の墓を暴いて死肉を食らう怪物:屍食鬼)ども。eager to be gone:頻りに去りたがる。sick with sleep:眠くてうんざりする。grumbling Irish voices:不平をいうアイルランド語の声。stripped (from):(備品など)取り出した(剥がした)。sack:大袋。merchandise:商品。leaned:凭れた。dozing:居眠りしながら。propped against:~に寄りかかった。shake himself:(彼が)身を振り解く。lighted on:偶然に出会した。started:ぎくりとした。
‘God Almighty!’ he cried. ‘That is Jane Galbraith!’
God Almighty:何ということだ。Jane Galbraith:ジェーン・ガルブレイス(人名)。
The men answered nothing, but they shuffled nearer the door.
shuffled:足を引き摺って歩いた。
‘I know her, I tell you,’ he continued. ‘She was alive and hearty yesterday. It’s impossible she can be dead; it’s impossible you should have got this body fairly.’
hearty:達者な。fairly:全く。
‘Sure, sir, you’re mistaken entirely,’ said one of the men.
But the other looked Fettes darkly in the eyes, and demanded the money on the spot.
looked (in the eyes):正視した。darkly:陰気に。on the spot:その場で。
It was impossible to misconceive the threat or to exaggerate the danger. The lad’s heart failed him. He stammered some excuses, counted out the sum, and saw his hateful visitors depart. No sooner were they gone than he hastened to confirm his doubts. By a dozen unquestionable marks he identified the girl he had jested with the day before. He saw, with horror, marks upon her body that might well betoken violence. A panic seized him, and he took refuge in his room. There he reflected at length over the discovery that he had made; considered soberly the bearing of Mr. K—’s instructions and the danger to himself of interference in so serious a business, and at last, in sore perplexity, determined to wait for the advice of his immediate superior, the class assistant.
misconceive:誤解する。threat:脅威。exaggerate:誇張する。lad’s heart failed him:若者の心は挫けた。stammered:吃りながらいった。sum:金額。hateful:憎らしい。hastened to:急いで~した。confirm his doubts:(彼が)疑いを確かめた。a dozen unquestionable marks:沢山の確かな特徴。identified:識別した。had jested with:~を茶化した。with horror:慄然と。marks:傷痕。betoken:示す。took refuge :退避した。reflected (over):考え返した。at length:やっと。soberly:真面目に。bearing:趣旨。interference:妨害。serious:重大な。in sore perplexity:酷く(差し迫って)当惑して。immediate superior:直属の上司。class assistant:授業補佐。
This was a young doctor, Wolfe Macfarlane, a high favourite among all the reckless students, clever, dissipated, and unscrupulous to the last degree. He had travelled and studied abroad. His manners were agreeable and a little forward. He was an authority on the stage, skilful on the ice or the links with skate or golf-club; he dressed with nice audacity, and, to put the finishing touch upon his glory, he kept a gig and a strong trotting-horse. With Fettes he was on terms of intimacy; indeed, their relative positions called for some community of life; and when subjects were scarce the pair would drive far into the country in Macfarlane’s gig, visit and desecrate some lonely graveyard, and return before dawn with their booty to the door of the dissecting-room.
high favourite :大変な人気者(favouriteの綴りは主にイギリス)。reckless:向こう見ずな。clever:利口な。dissipated:放蕩な。unscrupulous:無節操な。to the last degree:極度に。agreeable:感じ良い。forward:進歩的な。an authority on the stage:壇上の権威者。skilful on the ice or the links with skate or golf-club:スケートリンクやゴルフ場(イギリスの海岸近くの余り人工的でないものは特にlinks/リンクスと呼ばれる)で巧みな(skilfulの綴りは主にイギリス)。nice audacity:素敵な豪胆さ。put the finishing touch upon his glory:(彼が)満悦の最後の仕上げを行う。kept a gig and a strong trotting-horse:ギグ(一頭引き二輪馬車)と強靭な早駆け馬を保有する。on terms of intimacy (with):~と親密な間柄である。relative positions:関係位置。called for:~に値した。some community of life:人生の共同体か何か。scarce:不足た。drive far into the country:田舎へと遠く駆った。desecrate:神聖を汚す。booty:略奪品。
On that particular morning Macfarlane arrived somewhat earlier than his wont. Fettes heard him, and met him on the stairs, told him his story, and showed him the cause of his alarm. Macfarlane examined the marks on her body.
on that particular morning:他ならないその朝に。wont:彼のいつも(習慣)。heard:聞き付けた。alarm:不安。
‘Yes,’ he said with a nod, ‘it looks fishy.’
with a nod:頷いて。fishy:怪しい。
‘Well, what should I do?’ asked Fettes.
‘Do?’ repeated the other. ‘Do you want to do anything? Least said soonest mended, I should say.’
least said soonest mended:口は災いの元(喋らなければ早く修繕される)。
‘Some one else might recognise her,’ objected Fettes. ‘She was as well known as the Castle Rock.’
recognise:分かる(recogniseの綴りは主にイギリス)。objected:反対した。Castle Rock:キャッスルロック(スコットランドのエディンバラ城が建てられている岩頸)。
‘We’ll hope not,’ said Macfarlane, ‘and if anybody does—well, you didn’t, don’t you see, and there’s an end. The fact is, this has been going on too long. Stir up the mud, and you’ll get K— into the most unholy trouble; you’ll be in a shocking box yourself. So will I, if you come to that. I should like to know how any one of us would look, or what the devil we should have to say for ourselves, in any Christian witness-box. For me, you know there’s one thing certain—that, practically speaking, all our subjects have been murdered.’
the fact is (that):実のところ〜。stir up the mud, and you’ll get K— into:醜聞を明らかにすれば(泥を掻き回せば)貴方はKを~に陥らせるだろう。unholy:罪深い。you’ll be in a shocking box yourself:貴方は自身で不味い台にいるだろう。if you come to that:もしも貴方がそうならば。should like to:~したい(イギリス英語)。Christian witness-box:キリスト教の証言台。practically speaking:事実上(実際的にいえば)。murdered:殺害される。
‘Macfarlane!’ cried Fettes.
‘Come now!’ sneered the other. ‘As if you hadn’t suspected it yourself!’
come now:さぁさぁ。sneered:せせら笑いながらいった。
‘Suspecting is one thing—’
‘And proof another. Yes, I know; and I’m as sorry as you are this should have come here,’ tapping the body with his cane. ‘The next best thing for me is not to recognise it; and,’ he added coolly, ‘I don’t. You may, if you please. I don’t dictate, but I think a man of the world would do as I do; and I may add, I fancy that is what K— would look for at our hands. The question is, Why did he choose us two for his assistants? And I answer, because he didn’t want old wives.’
proof:証明。tapping:コツコツ叩く。cane:(軽くて細い)杖。coolly:冷ややかに。if you please:呆れたことに。dictate:指図しない。man of the world:世間通。fancy:思い描く。look for:~を期待する。old wives:出鱈目(old wives' tale:老婆の話/若者を諭すために良くいわれるような民間伝承や迷信や良い加減な言葉などの短縮形)。
This was the tone of all others to affect the mind of a lad like Fettes. He agreed to imitate Macfarlane. The body of the unfortunate girl was duly dissected, and no one remarked or appeared to recognise her.
of all others:特段の。affect:影響を及ぼした。imitate:模倣する。unfortunate:不幸な。duly:順当に。dissected:解剖される。remarked:いった。
One afternoon, when his day’s work was over, Fettes dropped into a popular tavern and found Macfarlane sitting with a stranger. This was a small man, very pale and dark, with coal-black eyes. The cut of his features gave a promise of intellect and refinement which was but feebly realised in his manners, for he proved, upon a nearer acquaintance, coarse, vulgar, and stupid. He exercised, however, a very remarkable control over Macfarlane; issued orders like the Great Bashaw; became inflamed at the least discussion or delay, and commented rudely on the servility with which he was obeyed. This most offensive person took a fancy to Fettes on the spot, plied him with drinks, and honoured him with unusual confidences on his past career. If a tenth part of what he confessed were true, he was a very loathsome rogue; and the lad’s vanity was tickled by the attention of so experienced a man.
dropped into:~へと立ち寄った。tavern:パブ(イギリス英語)。very pale and dark:非常に青白くて(顔色などが)陰鬱な。coal-black:真っ黒な(黒炭の)。cut of his features:顔立ちの一片。gave a promise of:~を思わせた(兆しがあった)。intellect and refinement:知性と洗練。feebly:幽かに。upon a nearer acquaintance:近くで知ってみるに。coarse, vulgar, and stupid:粗野で俗悪で愚劣な。exercised, however, a very remarkable control over:しかしながら非常に顕著な支配力を〜に振るった。issued orders:命令を出した。Great Bashaw:大パシャ(bashaw/パシャはオスマン帝国の高官や高級軍人の称号)。became inflamed at the least discussion or delay:少なくとも議論や遅れで(怒って)赤くなった。commented rudely on the servility:奴隷状態への意見(出過ぎた真似をするな)を荒々しく述べた。obeyed:従わされる。took a fancy to:~を好きになった。plied (with):~を執拗く薦めた(強いた)。honoured (with):(光栄に)~を与えた(honouredの綴りは主にイギリス)。unusual confidences:尋常ではない信頼。on his past career:彼の過去の経歴に。a tenth part of:~の十分の一の部分。loathsome:酷く不快な。rogue:悪漢。vanity:虚栄心。tickled:嬉しがる(擽られる)。attention:注目。so experienced a man:大層な老練家。
‘I’m a pretty bad fellow myself,’ the stranger remarked, ‘but Macfarlane is the boy—Toddy Macfarlane I call him. Toddy, order your friend another glass.’ Or it might be, ‘Toddy, you jump up and shut the door.’ ‘Toddy hates me,’ he said again. ‘Oh yes, Toddy, you do!’
‘Don’t you call me that confounded name,’ growled Macfarlane.
confounded:忌々しい。growled:怒鳴った。
‘Hear him! Did you ever see the lads play knife? He would like to do that all over my body,’ remarked the stranger.
play knife:ナイフを閃かす。
‘We medicals have a better way than that,’ said Fettes. ‘When we dislike a dead friend of ours, we dissect him.’
medicals:医学生(medical studentsの短縮形)。dissect:解剖する。
Macfarlane looked up sharply, as though this jest were scarcely to his mind.
jest:洒落。scarcely to his mind:(彼が)殆ど意に介されない。
The afternoon passed. Gray, for that was the stranger’s name, invited Fettes to join them at dinner, ordered a feast so sumptuous that the tavern was thrown into commotion, and when all was done commanded Macfarlane to settle the bill. It was late before they separated; the man Gray was incapably drunk. Macfarlane, sobered by his fury, chewed the cud of the money he had been forced to squander and the slights he had been obliged to swallow. Fettes, with various liquors singing in his head, returned home with devious footsteps and a mind entirely in abeyance. Next day Macfarlane was absent from the class, and Fettes smiled to himself as he imagined him still squiring the intolerable Gray from tavern to tavern. As soon as the hour of liberty had struck he posted from place to place in quest of his last night’s companions. He could find them, however, nowhere; so returned early to his rooms, went early to bed, and slept the sleep of the just.
Gray:グレー(人名/名字)。feast:ご馳走。sumptuous:贅沢な。commotion:大騒ぎ。settle the bill:勘定を済ます。the man Gray:グレーの奴(the manは好ましくない男性の意)。incapably:どうしようもなく(無能に)。sobered:素面の。chewed:噛んだ。cud:食い戻し(反芻動物の胃から口に戻される食べ物)。forced:強いられる。squander:無駄遣いする。slights:冷遇。obliged:〜せざるを得ない。swallow:(無礼を)忍ぶ。liquors:酒。devious:遠回りの。in abeyance:休止した。squiring:(従者や男性が女性に)付き添う。intolerable:耐えられない。posted:急いで行った。in quest of:~を求めて。slept the sleep of the just:熟睡した。
At four in the morning he was awakened by the well-known signal. Descending to the door, he was filled with astonishment to find Macfarlane with his gig, and in the gig one of those long and ghastly packages with which he was so well acquainted{/span>.
descending:下りる。astonishment:驚嘆。ghastly:怖ろしい。acquainted:良く知る。
‘What?’ he cried. ‘Have you been out alone? How did you manage?’
manage:上手くやる。
But Macfarlane silenced him roughly, bidding him turn to business. When they had got the body upstairs and laid it on the table, Macfarlane made at first as if he were going away. Then he paused and seemed to hesitate; and then, ‘You had better look at the face,’ said he, in tones of some constraint. ‘You had better,’ he repeated, as Fettes only stared at him in wonder.
silenced:黙らせる。roughly:粗暴に。bidding:告げる。made at first as if he were going away:(彼が)先ずはまるで去って行くように振る舞った。hesitate:躊躇する。in tones of some constraint:幾らか強制的な口調で。in wonder:驚いて。
‘But where, and how, and when did you come by it?’ cried the other.
come by:手に入れる。
‘Look at the face,’ was the only answer.
Fettes was staggered; strange doubts assailed him. He looked from the young doctor to the body, and then back again. At last, with a start, he did as he was bidden. He had almost expected the sight that met his eyes, and yet the shock was cruel. To see, fixed in the rigidity of death and naked on that coarse layer of sackcloth, the man whom he had left well clad and full of meat and sin upon the threshold of a tavern, awoke, even in the thoughtless Fettes, some of the terrors of the conscience. It was a cras tibi which re-echoed in his soul, that two whom he had known should have come to lie upon these icy tables. Yet these were only secondary thoughts. His first concern regarded Wolfe. Unprepared for a challenge so momentous, he knew not how to look his comrade in the face. He durst not meet his eye, and he had neither words nor voice at his command.
assailed:襲った。with a start:ギグっと。cruel:非情な。rigidity of death:死の硬直。naked:剥き出しの。coarse layer:粗末な層。sackcloth:袋用麻布。well clad:良い身形で。full of meat and sin:溌剌として罰当たりな(肉と罪で一杯の)。awoke:呼び起こした。thoughtless:想い槍のない。terror:怖れ。cras tibi:明日は貴方に(hodie mihi, cras tibi/今日は私に、明日は貴方に――死が訪れる――という墓碑銘で知られるラテン語)。re-echoed:響き渡った。have come to:~することになった。secondary:二番目の。concern:関心。regarded:関係した。unprepared for a challenge so momentous:そんな一大挑戦へ準備されず。comrade:僚友。durst not meet his eye:敢えて彼と目を合わせなかった。
It was Macfarlane himself who made the first advance. He came up quietly behind and laid his hand gently but firmly on the other’s shoulder.
made the first advance:最初に取り入った。
‘Richardson,’ said he, ‘may have the head.’
Richardson:リチャードソン(人名/名字)。
Now Richardson was a student who had long been anxious for that portion of the human subject to dissect. There was no answer, and the murderer resumed: ‘Talking of business, you must pay me; your accounts, you see, must tally.’
murderer:殺人者。resumed:(話を)続けた。accounts:帳簿。tally:一致する。
Fettes found a voice, the ghost of his own: ‘Pay you!’ he cried. ‘Pay you for that?’
found a voice:(やっと)喋り出した(声を見付けた)。the ghost of:ほんの僅かな(影の)〜(イギリス英語)。
‘Why, yes, of course you must. By all means and on every possible account, you must,’ returned the other. ‘I dare not give it for nothing, you dare not take it for nothing; it would compromise us both. This is another case like Jane Galbraith’s. The more things are wrong the more we must act as if all were right. Where does old K— keep his money?’
by all means:是非とも。on every possible account:どんな帳簿でも。for nothing:只(無料)で。compromise:妥協して解決する。keep his money:(彼が)金を隠す。
‘There,’ answered Fettes hoarsely, pointing to a cupboard in the corner.
hoarsely:掠れ声で。cupboard:戸棚。
‘Give me the key, then,’ said the other, calmly, holding out his hand.
holding out:差し出す。
There was an instant’s hesitation, and the die was cast. Macfarlane could not suppress a nervous twitch, the infinitesimal mark of an immense relief, as he felt the key between his fingers. He opened the cupboard, brought out pen and ink and a paper-book that stood in one compartment, and separated from the funds in a drawer a sum suitable to the occasion.
an instant’s:一瞬の。the die was cast:賽は投げられた(もう後には戻れない)。suppress:抑える。nervous twitch:緊張した痙攣。infinitesimal:微小の。immense:莫大な。paper-book:冊子(紙の本)。compartment:仕切り。funds:資金。suitable:相応の。
‘Now, look here,’ he said, ‘there is the payment made—first proof of your good faith: first step to your security. You have now to clinch it by a second. Enter the payment in your book, and then you for your part may defy the devil.’
proof of your good faith:誠意の証拠。clinch:(取引に)決まりを付ける。by a second:第二に。and then:そうしたら。for your part:貴方としては。defy:反抗する(寄せ付けない)。
The next few seconds were for Fettes an agony of thought; but in balancing his terrors it was the most immediate that triumphed. Any future difficulty seemed almost welcome if he could avoid a present quarrel with Macfarlane. He set down the candle which he had been carrying all this time, and with a steady hand entered the date, the nature, and the amount of the transaction.
an agony of thought:苦悶の思い。in balancing his terrors:彼の怖れとバランスが取れると。triumphed:打ち負かされる。quarrel:仲違い。nature:種別。transaction:売買。
‘And now,’ said Macfarlane, ‘it’s only fair that you should pocket the lucre. I’ve had my share already. By the bye, when a man of the world falls into a bit of luck, has a few shillings extra in his pocket—I’m ashamed to speak of it, but there’s a rule of conduct in the case. No treating, no purchase of expensive class-books, no squaring of old debts; borrow, don’t lend.’
pocket:ポケットに入れる。lucre:利益。share:分け前。by the bye:序でながら。falls into a bit of luck:少しの幸運に見舞われる。shillings:シリング(昔のイギリスの通貨単位:20分の1ポンド)。rule of conduct:行動規範。treating:奢り。class-books:教則本。squaring of old debts:古い借金の清算。
‘Macfarlane,’ began Fettes, still somewhat hoarsely, ‘I have put my neck in a halter to oblige you.’
halter:絞首索。oblige:頼みを聞き入れる。
‘To oblige me?’ cried Wolfe. ‘Oh, come! You did, as near as I can see the matter, what you downright had to do in self-defence. Suppose I got into trouble, where would you be? This second little matter flows clearly from the first. Mr. Gray is the continuation of Miss Galbraith. You can’t begin and then stop. If you begin, you must keep on beginning; that’s the truth. No rest for the wicked.’
as near as I can see the matter:私がその問題を確かめ得るかぎり。downright:徹底的に。in self-defence:自己防衛で。continuation:続き。the wicked:悪党。
A horrible sense of blackness and the treachery of fate seized hold upon the soul of the unhappy student.
horrible sense of blackness:暗黒の恐怖感。treachery of fate seized:掴まれた破滅の裏切り。hold upon:~に留まる。
‘My God!’ he cried, ‘but what have I done? and when did I begin? To be made a class assistant—in the name of reason, where’s the harm in that? Service wanted the position; Service might have got it. Would he have been where I am now?’
my God:何ということだ。in the name of reason:理由の名目で。service:勤務。position:立場。
‘My dear fellow,’ said Macfarlane, ‘what a boy you are! What harm has come to you? What harm can come to you if you hold your tongue? Why, man, do you know what this life is? There are two squads of us—the lions and the lambs. If you’re a lamb, you’ll come to lie upon these tables like Gray or Jane Galbraith; if you’re a lion, you’ll live and drive a horse like me, like K—, like all the world with any wit or courage. You’re staggered at the first. But look at K—! My dear fellow, you’re clever, you have pluck. I like you, and K— likes you. You were born to lead the hunt; and I tell you, on my honour and my experience of life, three days from now you’ll laugh at all these scarecrows like a High School boy at a farce.’
has come to:~に及んだ。hold your tongue:(貴方が)口に出さない。why:なあ。man:おい。squads:部隊。lambs:子羊。come to:~することになる。the world:世の中の人。wit or courage:知恵や度胸。pluck:勇気。lead the hunt:狩りを為す。on my honour:私の名誉に懸けて(honourの綴りは主にイギリス)。scarecrows:(案山子のような)虚仮威し。farce:道化芝居。
And with that Macfarlane took his departure and drove off up the wynd in his gig to get under cover before daylight. Fettes was thus left alone with his regrets. He saw the miserable peril in which he stood involved. He saw, with inexpressible dismay, that there was no limit to his weakness, and that, from concession to concession, he had fallen from the arbiter of Macfarlane’s destiny to his paid and helpless accomplice. He would have given the world to have been a little braver at the time, but it did not occur to him that he might still be brave. The secret of Jane Galbraith and the cursed entry in the day-book closed his mouth.
took his departure:(彼が)出発した。get under cover:物陰に隠れる。miserable peril:無情な危難。with inexpressible dismay:いい表せないくらい狼狽えて。concession:譲歩。arbiter of Macfarlane’s destiny:マクファーレンの運命の決定者。his paid and helpless accomplice:彼の金を渡した(支払い済みの)救いのない共犯者。have given the world to:~するにはどんな犠牲も厭わなかった。braver:強者(勇士)。cursed entry:呪うべき記入。day-book:出納帳(日誌)。
Hours passed; the class began to arrive; the members of the unhappy Gray were dealt out to one and to another, and received without remark. Richardson was made happy with the head; and before the hour of freedom rang Fettes trembled with exultation to perceive how far they had already gone toward safety.
class:クラスの生徒たち。members:(身体の)部分。dealt out:分配される。without remark:何もいわずに。trembled:震えた。with exultation:狂喜して。perceive:悟る。
For two days he continued to watch, with increasing joy, the dreadful process of disguise.
dreadful process of disguise:誤魔化しの実に酷い成り行き。
On the third day Macfarlane made his appearance. He had been ill, he said; but he made up for lost time by the energy with which he directed the students. To Richardson in particular he extended the most valuable assistance and advice, and that student, encouraged by the praise of the demonstrator, burned high with ambitious hopes, and saw the medal already in his grasp.
made his appearance:(彼が)姿を現した。made up for lost time:失われた時間を埋め合わせた。directed:指導した。extended:差し出した。encouraged:励まされる。praise:称賛。burned high with:~で大いに奮起した(燃えた)。ambitious hopes:野心的な望み。saw the medal already in his grasp:(彼が)メダルを手中に早くも思い浮かべた。
Before the week was out Macfarlane’s prophecy had been fulfilled. Fettes had outlived his terrors and had forgotten his baseness. He began to plume himself upon his courage, and had so arranged the story in his mind that he could look back on these events with an unhealthy pride. Of his accomplice he saw but little. They met, of course, in the business of the class; they received their orders together from Mr. K—. At times they had a word or two in private, and Macfarlane was from first to last particularly kind and jovial. But it was plain that he avoided any reference to their common secret; and even when Fettes whispered to him that he had cast in his lot with the lions and foresworn the lambs, he only signed to him smilingly to hold his peace.
prophecy had been fulfilled:予言は果たされた。had outlived:乗り切った。baseness:卑劣。plume himself upon:(彼が)~を得意がった。arranged the story:物語を脚色した。saw (of):~と会った。at times:時偶。had a word or two:一言か二言を話した。particularly:特に。jovial:楽しい。reference:言及(触れること)。common secret:共通の秘密。had cast in his lot:(彼が)~と運命を共にした。foresworn:誓って拒否した。hold his peace:(彼が)沈黙を守った。
At length an occasion arose which threw the pair once more into a closer union. Mr. K— was again short of subjects; pupils were eager, and it was a part of this teacher’s pretensions to be always well supplied. At the same time there came the news of a burial in the rustic graveyard of Glencorse. Time has little changed the place in question. It stood then, as now, upon a cross road, out of call of human habitations, and buried fathom deep in the foliage of six cedar trees. The cries of the sheep upon the neighbouring hills, the streamlets upon either hand, one loudly singing among pebbles, the other dripping furtively from pond to pond, the stir of the wind in mountainous old flowering chestnuts, and once in seven days the voice of the bell and the old tunes of the precentor, were the only sounds that disturbed the silence around the rural church. The Resurrection Man—to use a byname of the period—was not to be deterred by any of the sanctities of customary piety. It was part of his trade to despise and desecrate the scrolls and trumpets of old tombs, the paths worn by the feet of worshippers and mourners, and the offerings and the inscriptions of bereaved affection. To rustic neighbourhoods, where love is more than commonly tenacious, and where some bonds of blood or fellowship unite the entire society of a parish, the body-snatcher, far from being repelled by natural respect, was attracted by the ease and safety of the task. To bodies that had been laid in earth, in joyful expectation of a far different awakening, there came that hasty, lamp-lit, terror-haunted resurrection of the spade and mattock. The coffin was forced, the cerements torn, and the melancholy relics, clad in sackcloth, after being rattled for hours on moonless byways, were at length exposed to uttermost indignities before a class of gaping boys.
occasion arose:機会が生じた。closer union:より親しい結び付き。pupils:門下生(教え子)。part of:〜の重要な部分。pretensions:自負。burial:埋葬。rustic:田舎の。Glencorse:グレンコース(スコットランドのミッドロージアン地方の教区)。cross road:十字路。out of call of human habitations:人の居住の求めから。fathom:尋(6フィート/183センチの主に深さの単位)。foliage:(一本の草木の)葉。cedar:ヒマラヤ杉(木の一種)。streamlets:細流。upon either hand:両手(両側)に。singing:(小川が)さらさら鳴る音。pebbles:小石。dripping:滴り。furtively:密かな。stir of the wind:風の戦ぎ。mountainous:山地の。chestnuts:栗。tunes:正調。precentor:(聖歌隊の)先唱者。disturbed:掻き乱した。Resurrection Man:復活者。byname:通り名。deterred:阻止される。sanctities:神聖。customary piety:慣習的な信心。part of his trade:彼の商売の役割(本文)。despise and desecrate:軽蔑して汚辱する。scrolls and trumpets:巻物と喇叭(新約聖書の【ヨハネの黙示録】に由来するか)。worn:歩き古された。worshippers and mourners:参拝者と哀悼者。offerings:供物。inscriptions:碑文。bereaved affection:後に遺された(遺族の)愛着。commonly tenacious:一般的に強い。bonds of blood or fellowship:血縁か友好の絆。parish:教区。body-snatcher:死体泥棒。far from being repelled by:〜で不快感を催すどころか。ease and safety of the task:仕事の平易と安全。in joyful expectation of a far different awakening:全く異なる目覚めを喜ばしく見込んで。hasty:慌ただしい。terror-haunted:怯えに付き纏われた。spade and mattock:踏み鋤と根掘り鍬。coffin:棺。forced:抉じ開けられる。cerements:死体を埋葬するための衣類(死に装束)。torn:破られて。rattled:ガタガタ走られる。moonless byways:月のない間道。exposed:晒される。to uttermost indignities:極めて侮辱的なまでに。gaping:ぽかんと口を開ける。
Somewhat as two vultures may swoop upon a dying lamb, Fettes and Macfarlane were to be let loose upon a grave in that green and quiet resting-place. The wife of a farmer, a woman who had lived for sixty years, and been known for nothing but good butter and a godly conversation, was to be rooted from her grave at midnight and carried, dead and naked, to that far-away city that she had always honoured with her Sunday’s best; the place beside her family was to be empty till the crack of doom; her innocent and almost venerable members to be exposed to that last curiosity of the anatomist.
vultures:禿げ鷲。swoop:飛びかかる。to be let loose:解き放たれること。resting-place:墓場(安息地)。good butter:美味しいバター。godly conversation:信仰厚い会話。rooted from:~から根刮ぎにされる。far-away:遠方の。had always honoured with her Sunday’s best:(彼女が)いつも晴れ着で(敬意を表して)訪れていた。the crack of doom:最後の審判の日。innocent:罪のない。venerable:畏れ多い。that last curiosity:あの最も不相応な好奇心。
Late one afternoon the pair set forth, well wrapped in cloaks and furnished with a formidable bottle. It rained without remission—a cold, dense, lashing rain. Now and again there blew a puff of wind, but these sheets of falling water kept it down. Bottle and all, it was a sad and silent drive as far as Penicuik, where they were to spend the evening. They stopped once, to hide their implements in a thick bush not far from the churchyard, and once again at the Fisher’s Tryst, to have a toast before the kitchen fire and vary their nips of whisky with a glass of ale. When they reached their journey’s end the gig was housed, the horse was fed and comforted, and the two young doctors in a private room sat down to the best dinner and the best wine the house afforded. The lights, the fire, the beating rain upon the window, the cold, incongruous work that lay before them, added zest to their enjoyment of the meal. With every glass their cordiality increased. Soon Macfarlane handed a little pile of gold to his companion.
set forth:出発した。furnished with:~を備えて。formidable bottle:強烈な酒。without remission:容赦なく。cold, dense, lashing rain:冷たく、濃く、打ち据える雨。now and again:偶さか。a puff of wind:一陣の風。kept it down:それを抑えた。bottle and all:酒ばかり(and allを強意とするのはスコットランド英語)。Penicuik:ペニキュイック(スコットランドのミッドロージアン地方の町)。hide their implements in a thick bush:彼らの用具一式を厚い茂みの中に隠す。churchyard:(教会付属の)墓地。Fisher’s Tryst:フィッシャーズトリスト(店名)。have a toast:祝杯を上げる。vary their nips of whisky with:(彼らが)ウイスキーを飲む量を~で変える。ale:エール(ビールの一種)。housed:仕舞われる。fed:餌を遣られる。comforted:楽にされる。the best wine the house afforded:店(レストランなど)が出せる(与える)最上のワイン。incongruous work:不適当な仕事。lay before:(前途などが)〜に広がる。added zest to:妙味を~に添えた。cordiality:温情。a little pile of gold:金貨の小さな山(積み)。
‘A compliment,’ he said. ‘Between friends these little d-d accommodations ought to fly like pipe-lights.’
compliment:賛辞。d-d accommodations:忌々しい便宜(d-dはdamnedの伏せ字)。fly:飛ぶように消える。pipe-lights:パイプ(煙草)点火用の紙縒り。
Fettes pocketed the money, and applauded the sentiment to the echo. ‘You are a philosopher,’ he cried. ‘I was an ass till I knew you. You and K— between you, by the Lord Harry! but you’ll make a man of me.’
applauded the sentiment to the echo:その所感を大々的に(反響するほど)称賛した。philosopher:哲学者。I was an ass:私は頓馬だった。by the Lord Harry:誓って。you’ll make a man of me:貴方は私を一人前の男にした。
‘Of course we shall,’ applauded Macfarlane. ‘A man? I tell you, it required a man to back me up the other morning. There are some big, brawling, forty-year-old cowards who would have turned sick at the look of the d-d thing; but not you—you kept your head. I watched you.’
back me up:支援する。brawling:怒鳴り立てる。cowards:臆病者。you kept your head:貴方は冷静さを保った。
‘Well, and why not?’ Fettes thus vaunted himself. ‘It was no affair of mine. There was nothing to gain on the one side but disturbance, and on the other I could count on your gratitude, don’t you see?’ And he slapped his pocket till the gold pieces rang.
why not:そうとも。vaunted himself:自慢した。count on gratitude:貴方の感謝を当てにする。don’t you see?:貴方ならば分かるだろう?。slapped:ピシャリと打った。
Macfarlane somehow felt a certain touch of alarm at these unpleasant words. He may have regretted that he had taught his young companion so successfully, but he had no time to interfere, for the other noisily continued in this boastful strain:—
somehow:どうも。noisily:喧しく。boastful strain:自慢話。
‘The great thing is not to be afraid. Now, between you and me, I don’t want to hang—that’s practical; but for all cant, Macfarlane, I was born with a contempt. Hell, God, Devil, right, wrong, sin, crime, and all the old gallery of curiosities—they may frighten boys, but men of the world, like you and me, despise them. Here’s to the memory of Gray!’
hang:首を括る(絞首刑になる)。that’s practical:それが実際的だ。for all cant:御託にもせよ。born with a contempt:侮蔑を持って生まれる。all the old gallery of curiosities:全ての好奇心の古い美術館。frighten:恐がらせる。to the memory of:~を偲んで。
It was by this time growing somewhat late. The gig, according to order, was brought round to the door with both lamps brightly shining, and the young men had to pay their bill and take the road. They announced that they were bound for Peebles, and drove in that direction till they were clear of the last houses of the town; then, extinguishing the lamps, returned upon their course, and followed a by-road toward Glencorse. There was no sound but that of their own passage, and the incessant, strident pouring of the rain. It was pitch dark; here and there a white gate or a white stone in the wall guided them for a short space across the night; but for the most part it was at a foot pace, and almost groping, that they picked their way through that resonant blackness to their solemn and isolated destination. In the sunken woods that traverse the neighbourhood of the burying-ground the last glimmer failed them, and it became necessary to kindle a match and re-illumine one of the lanterns of the gig. Thus, under the dripping trees, and environed by huge and moving shadows, they reached the scene of their unhallowed labours.
according to order:注文通り。pay their bill:(彼らが)勘定を払う。take the road:出発した。announced that:~と知らせた。bound for Peebles:ピーブルズ(スコットランドのスコティッシュボーダーズ地方の町)行き。clear of:離れる。by-road:脇道。incessant:引っ切りなしの。strident:耳障りな。pitch dark:真っ暗闇の。for a short space:短区間で。at a foot pace:常歩で。groping:手探りする。picked their way:(彼らが)道を拾って(非常にゆっくり)行った。resonant:共鳴する。solemn and isolated destination:厳粛な孤立した目的地。sunken woods:沈んだ(低い)森。traverse:通る。burying-ground:埋葬地。last glimmer failed them:彼らは最後の微かな光を失った(最後の微かな光が彼らを逸した)。kindle a match:マッチを灯した。re-illumine one of the lanterns:角灯の一つを又照らす。dripping:滴る。environed:包囲される。unhallowed:不浄な。
They were both experienced in such affairs, and powerful with the spade; and they had scarce been twenty minutes at their task before they were rewarded by a dull rattle on the coffin lid. At the same moment Macfarlane, having hurt his hand upon a stone, flung it carelessly above his head. The grave, in which they now stood almost to the shoulders, was close to the edge of the plateau of the graveyard; and the gig lamp had been propped, the better to illuminate their labours, against a tree, and on the immediate verge of the steep bank descending to the stream. Chance had taken a sure aim with the stone. Then came a clang of broken glass; night fell upon them; sounds alternately dull and ringing announced the bounding of the lantern down the bank, and its occasional collision with the trees. A stone or two, which it had dislodged in its descent, rattled behind it into the profundities of the glen; and then silence, like night, resumed its sway; and they might bend their hearing to its utmost pitch, but naught was to be heard except the rain, now marching to the wind, now steadily falling over miles of open country.
rewarded:報いられる。dull:鈍い。rattle:ガタガタ鳴る音。lid:蓋。flung:(手を)放り出した。plateau:台地。propped (against):立てかけられる。illuminate:照らした。on the immediate verge of the steep bank descending to the stream:小川へ下りる急勾配の岸の間際に。chance had taken a sure aim with the stone:石が危険を正しく呼び寄せた(危険は石で確かな狙いを定めた)。clang:ガチャンと鳴る音。night fell upon them:不意に暗くなった(夜が彼らにやって来た)。alternately:交互に。bounding:跳ね返り。occasional collision:時折の激突。had dislodged:取り除いた(剥がした)。descent:転落。profundities:深み。glen:(スコットランドやアイルランドの)谷間。resumed its sway:その支配を再開した。bend their hearing to its utmost pitch:(彼らが)甚だ聞き耳を立てる(聴力をその最高度に傾ける)。naught:無(古い表現)。now (now):時に~時に~。marching:~へ進んで行く。to the wind:あらゆる方向(風任せ)に。steadily falling over:着実に降り尽くす。miles of open country:何マイル(約1.6キロ)も開けた土地。
They were so nearly at an end of their abhorred task that they judged it wisest to complete it in the dark. The coffin was exhumed and broken open; the body inserted in the dripping sack and carried between them to the gig; one mounted to keep it in its place, and the other, taking the horse by the mouth, groped along by wall and bush until they reached the wider road by the Fisher’s Tryst. Here was a faint, diffused radiancy, which they hailed like daylight; by that they pushed the horse to a good pace and began to rattle along merrily in the direction of the town.
abhorred:忌み嫌われた。exhumed:発掘される。sack:大袋。keep it in its place:それを所定の位置に保つ(置いておく)。groped:手探りした。faint, diffused radiancy:微かな放散する輝き。hailed:歓呼して迎えた。rattle along:ガタガタ進む。merrily:陽気に。
They had both been wetted to the skin during their operations, and now, as the gig jumped among the deep ruts, the thing that stood propped between them fell now upon one and now upon the other. At every repetition of the horrid contact each instinctively repelled it with the greater haste; and the process, natural although it was, began to tell upon the nerves of the companions. Macfarlane made some ill-favoured jest about the farmer’s wife, but it came hollowly from his lips, and was allowed to drop in silence. Still their unnatural burden bumped from side to side; and now the head would be laid, as if in confidence, upon their shoulders, and now the drenching sack-cloth would flap icily about their faces. A creeping chill began to possess the soul of Fettes. He peered at the bundle, and it seemed somehow larger than at first. All over the country-side, and from every degree of distance, the farm dogs accompanied their passage with tragic ululations; and it grew and grew upon his mind that some unnatural miracle had been accomplished, that some nameless change had befallen the dead body, and that it was in fear of their unholy burden that the dogs were howling.
during their operations:彼らの作業の間。ruts:轍。instinctively:直感的に。repelled:追い払った。with the greater haste:大慌てで。tell upon :(目に見えて)堪える。made some ill-favoured jest:少し不快な冗談を飛ばした。hollowly:白々しく。allowed to drop in silence:沈黙に落とされる。unnatural:非道な。bumped:ドンと打ち当たった。in confidence:親しげに。drenching:びしょ濡れの。sack-cloth:袋用麻布。flap:はためいた。icily:冷たく。creeping chill:忍び寄る慄き。possess:捕える。peered at:~をじっと見た。bundle:包み。country-side:地方。farm dogs:農家の犬。accompanied:付いて行った。ululations:(犬などの)遠吠え。grew and grew upon his mind that:どんどん~という気持ちになった。unnatural miracle had been accomplished:非道な奇跡が成し遂げられた。nameless:いいようのない。had befallen:起こった。in fear of:~を恐れて。howling:吠える。
‘For God’s sake,’ said he, making a great effort to arrive at speech, ‘for God’s sake, let’s have a light!’
for God’s sake:お願いだから。making a great effort to arrive at speech:言葉を放つのもやっとのことだった(大いに努力して発言に辿り着いた)けど。let’s have a light:明かりを取ろう。
Seemingly Macfarlane was affected in the same direction; for, though he made no reply, he stopped the horse, passed the reins to his companion, got down, and proceeded to kindle the remaining lamp. They had by that time got no farther than the cross-road down to Auchenclinny. The rain still poured as though the deluge were returning, and it was no easy matter to make a light in such a world of wet and darkness. When at last the flickering blue flame had been transferred to the wick and began to expand and clarify, and shed a wide circle of misty brightness round the gig, it became possible for the two young men to see each other and the thing they had along with them. The rain had moulded the rough sacking to the outlines of the body underneath; the head was distinct from the trunk, the shoulders plainly modelled; something at once spectral and human riveted their eyes upon the ghastly comrade of their drive.
seemingly:一見。affected:心を動かされる。reins:手綱。proceeded:進んだ。kindle the remaining lamp:残りのランプを灯した。down to Auchenclinny:オーシャンクリニー(地名)へ至る。deluge:豪雨。flickering:ちら付く。wick:(蝋燭やランプの)芯。clarify:明るむ。shed:(光を)発した。misty:ぼんやりとした。had moulded:象った(mouldの綴りは主にイギリス)。rough sacking:粗い袋地。distinct from:~と全く別な。trunk:胴体。modelled:形に表される。spectral and human:幽霊的で人間的な。riveted:(目を)引き付けた(鋲留めにした)。comrade of their drive:彼らの道連れ(運行の仲間)。
For some time Macfarlane stood motionless, holding up the lamp. A nameless dread was swathed, like a wet sheet, about the body, and tightened the white skin upon the face of Fettes; a fear that was meaningless, a horror of what could not be, kept mounting to his brain. Another beat of the watch, and he had spoken. But his comrade forestalled him.
for some time:暫くの間。motionless:身動ぎせず。dread:恐ろしさ。swathed:包まれる。tightened:引き締めた。meaningless:無意味な。kept mounting to:~へ上り続けた。another beat of the watch:時計の又一つ刻む音。forestalled:先んじた。
‘That is not a woman,’ said Macfarlane, in a hushed voice.
in a hushed voice:静かな声で。
‘It was a woman when we put her in,’ whispered Fettes.
‘Hold that lamp,’ said the other. ‘I must see her face.’
see:確かめる。
And as Fettes took the lamp his companion untied the fastenings of the sack and drew down the cover from the head. The light fell very clear upon the dark, well-moulded features and smooth-shaven cheeks of a too familiar countenance, often beheld in dreams of both of these young men. A wild yell rang up into the night; each leaped from his own side into the roadway: the lamp fell, broke, and was extinguished; and the horse, terrified by this unusual commotion, bounded and went off toward Edinburgh at a gallop, bearing along with it, sole occupant of the gig, the body of the dead and long-dissected Gray.
untied:解いた。fastenings:留め具。well-moulded features:良く象られた顔立ち。smooth-shaven cheeks:滑らかに剃られた頬。countenance:表情。wild yell:狂気の叫び声。rang up:鳴り響いた。leaped:跳んだ。roadway:車道。terrified:脅かされる。bounded:跳び上がった。at a gallop:襲歩で。bearing along with it:それを一緒に運んで。sole occupant:唯一の乗員。long-dissected:長く解剖された。
原文の出典:THE BODY-SNATCHER
単語や熟語の意味は文意に相応しいものを一つだけ選んだ。作品の趣向に合うかどうか、つまり訳語として充分かどうかはさほど考慮しない。英語で理解するための最低限の意味が分かるように努めた。
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