His words made me very thoughtful. Although Poirot was given at times to exaggeration of language, he was not really an alarmist. For the first time I realised what a desperate struggle it was upon which we were engaged.
彼の言葉には考えさせられた。ポアロは時に大袈裟すぎることもあるが、やたらに不安を煽るようなことはしない。私は初めて、我々が本当に危機迫る状況であがいているのだと気がついた。
Harvey soon rejoined us and the journey went on.
ハーベイが戻り、我々の旅は続いた。
We arrived at Bolzano about midday. From there the journey on was by motor. Several big blue motor-cars were waiting in the central square of the town, and we three got into one of them. Poirot, notwithstanding the heat of the day, was muffled to the eyes in greatcoat and scarf. His eyes and the tips of his ears were all that could be seen of him.
ボルツァーノには昼頃に着いた。そこから先は車で移動だ。青い大きな車が中央広場に並んでおり、我々はその一台に乗り込んだ。ポアロは暑いにも関わらずコートとスカーフで顔まで包んで、目と耳しか見えなかった。
I did not know whether this was due to precaution or merely his exaggerated fear of catching a chill. The motor journey took a couple of hours. It was a really wonderful drive. For the first part of the way we wound in and out of huge cliffs, with a trickling waterfall on one hand.
彼が見つかる危険を避けているのか、単に風邪を極端に恐れているのか、判断がつかなかった。ドライブは２時間ほど続いたが、素晴らしいものだった。初めは滝のあるいくつもの大きな崖を抜けた。
Then we emerged into a fertile valley, which continued for some miles, and then, still winding steadily upwards, the bare rocky peaks began to show with dense clustering pine woods at their base. The whole place was wild and lovely. Finally a series of abrupt curves, with the road running through the pine woods on either side, and we came suddenly upon a big hotel and found that we had arrived.
それから肥沃な谷に入ると、しばらく続いたが、道は常に登りで、ついに頂上の剥き出しの岩と生い茂った松の木が見えてきた。自然が溢れたいいところだ。松の木の間の急カーブを抜け、突如ホテルの前に到着した。
Our rooms had been reserved for us, and under Harvey's guidance we went straight up to them. They looked straight out over the rocky peaks and the long slopes of pine woods leading up to them. Poirot made a gesture towards them.
我々はハーベイの案内で、予約してあった部屋に行った。頂上の岩や松の木の長いスロープが広がっているのが見える。ポアロがそちらを身振りで示した。
"It is there?" he asked in a low voice.
「あそこかね？」彼は低い声で聞いた。
"Yes," replied Harvey. "There is a place called the Felsenlabyrynth—all big boulders piled about in a most fantastic way—a path winds through them. The quarrying is to the right of that, but we think that the entrance is probably in the Felsenlabyrynth."
「そうです。」ハーベイが答える。「フェルゼン迷路と呼ばれています。大きな岩が無秩序に積み重なって、風が通り抜ける。石切場はその右ですが、入り口はおそらくフェルゼン迷路の中にあると考えています。」
Poirot nodded.
"Come, mon ami," he said to me. "Let us go down and sit upon the terrace and enjoy the sunlight."
ポアロは頷いた。
「来てください」彼は私に言った。「テラスに降りて行って、日差しを楽しみましょう。」
"You think that wise?" I asked.
He shrugged his shoulders.
「そんなことして大丈夫か？」私は聞いた。
彼は肩をすくめただけだ。
The sunlight was marvellous—in fact the glare was almost too great for me. We had some creamy coffee instead of tea, then went upstairs and unpacked our few belongings. Poirot was in his most unapproachable mood, lost in a kind of reverie. Once or twice he shook his head and sighed.
素晴らしい日差しだったが、日光は私には強すぎるようだった。紅茶ではなく、クリームたっぷりのコーヒーを飲んでから部屋に戻り、わずかな荷物を解いた。ポアロは夢想に耽っているようで、近づき難い様子だ。１度か２度、首を振ってため息をついたりもしていた。
I had been rather intrigued by a man who had got out of our train at Bolzano, and had been met by a private car. He was a small man, and the thing about him that had attracted my attention was that he was almost as much muffled up as Poirot had been. More so, indeed, for in addition to greatcoat and muffler, he was wearing huge blue spectacles. I was convinced that here we had an emissary of the Big Four. Poirot did not seem very impressed by my idea, but when, leaning out of my bedroom window, I reported that the man in question was strolling about in the vicinity of the hotel, he admitted that there might be something in it.
私は、ボルツァーノで列車を降り、車でも見かけた男が気になっていた。小さな男で、特に私の気をひいたのは、彼がポアロと同じくらい顔を隠していたことだ。さらに、長いコートとマフラー以外にも、彼は大きな青いメガネをかけていた。私はビッグ４の密偵ではないかと思ったが、ポアロは私の考えにはあまり感心しないようだ。それでも、寝室の窓から身を乗り出していた時、問題の男がホテルの近くを歩いていると伝えると、彼も何かあるかもしれないと認めた。
I urged my friend not to go down to dinner, but he insisted on doing so. We entered the dining-room rather late, and were shown to a table by the window. As we sat down, our attention was attracted by an exclamation and a crash of falling china. A dish of haricots verts had been upset over a man who was sitting at the table next to ours.
私は食事に降りていくのは良くないと言ったが、彼はどうしても行くと言う。遅めにダイニングルームへ行くと、窓際の席へ案内された。席についてすぐ、叫び声と食器の割れる音がした。インゲンマメの皿が隣のテーブルの男の上にひっくり返った。
