Since there’s been no discussion yet this week. I think I’ll kick it off with the last sentence on Page 44. I wouldn’t mind community feedback. I’ve updated the vocab list with the words from this sentence as well.
Japanese as a spoiler just in case someone hasn’t read the previous week?
こういうときのために、わざわざ犬の毛でコートをつくっておくなんて、かんがえたもんですね。
Breakdown and translation (below)
こういうときのために - for (reason) a time like this
わざわざ - going out of one’s way (to do) (adverb)
犬の毛でコートを - a coat that has been made from dog’s fur
つくっておく - created and placed
なんて - to think that
かんがえたもんですね - to have thought (もん grammar makes it refer to an event as an object in order to express emotive intent such as exclamation)
overall: To think that someone has thought up creating and placing a coat make of dog fur for a situiation like this.
Alternatively, I have some doubt that maybe the last part refers to the one who had thought of it happening is actually Spitz since he is explaining how he figured out the puzzle.
It’s not, it’s passive. Potential and passive can look the same so you have to go by context.
I broke it down slightly differently but similar meaning:
わざわざ - could just read this as “especially” (I guess that’s fairly similar to “going out of one’s way to do”)
つくっておく: ~ておく means “to do in advance” so this is “make in advance”
なんて - a tricky word, I often translate as “such a”
考えたもん - the もん could just be “thing” - Deepl translates this “thought thing” as “idea”
Hard putting it all together in English and capturing all the nuances like “such a coat” and “made in advance”. I think your attempt is fairly good. I’m not sure I can do any better! Deepl tends to go for a more natural translation and doesn’t necessarily capture all the nuances. It gives us: “The idea was to make a coat out of dog hair for just such an occasion.”
On page 46, do I understand correctly that はず in よっていかないはずのエドワードが、is should be read as supposed to and the sentence would mean something like “Edward who supposedly doesn’t approach others”
I’d say you have it right. はず gives a sense that things are expected to be a certain way (and I tend to see it used when speaking about a situation that doesn’t match the expectation), so I’d say “supposedly” conveys that meaning precisely.
