うぬぼれ #5『隅の老人』
The Old Man in the Corner（対訳・英語勉強中）
The attitude of that timid man in the corner, therefore, was peculiarly exasperating, and she retorted with sarcasm destined to completely annihilate her self-complacent interlocutor.
The Old Man in the Corner
それゆえ、コーナーにいる内気な男の意見は、ひどく腹立たしいものでした。だから彼女は嫌味を言って、うぬぼれた対話者を完璧に打ち負かそうとしました。
"What a pity it is, in that case, that you do not offer your priceless services to our misguided though well-meaning police."
The Old Man in the Corner
「例の事件に、あなたが協力を申し出ないなんて残念です。警察が頑張っているのに」
"Isn't it?" he replied with perfect good-humour.
The Old Man in the Corner
「そうでしょう」彼は上機嫌で答えました。
"Well, you know, for one thing I doubt if they would accept them; and in the second place my inclinations and my duty would—were I to become an active member of the detective force—nearly always be in direct conflict.
The Old Man in the Corner
「第一に、彼らが私の意見を受け入れるか怪しいものです。第二に、私が捜査機関の一員になったら、自分の気持ちと義務がぶつかり合うことになるでしょうから」
As often as not my sympathies go to the criminal who is clever and astute enough to lead our entire police force by the nose.
The Old Man in the Corner
「私は、警官隊を手玉に取るほど利口で機敏な犯人に同情することもあります」
"I don't know how much of the case you remember," he went on quietly.
The Old Man in the Corner
「あなたが例の事件をどれだけ覚えているか分かりませんが」彼は静かに続けました。
"It certainly, at first, began even to puzzle me.
The Old Man in the Corner
「最初、例の事件は確かに私を戸惑わせました」
On the 12th of last December a woman, poorly dressed, but with an unmistakable air of having seen better days, gave information at Scotland Yard of the disappearance of her husband, William Kershaw, of no occupation, and apparently of no fixed abode.
The Old Man in the Corner
「去年の12月１２日に、貧しい恰好をした女性がスコットランドヤードで夫の失踪届を出しました。彼女の夫はウイリアム・カーショーという名前で、住所不定で無職でした」
She was accompanied by a friend—a fat, oily-looking German—and between them they told a tale which set the police immediately on the move.
The Old Man in the Corner
「彼女は一人の友人を伴っていました。その友人は太った見た目のドイツ人でした。彼らの話は、即座に警察を動かしました」
Reference : The Old Man in the Corner by Baroness Orczy(project gutenberg)
English – Japanese parallel text, handwriting-based foreign language learning
