Note: the other noise in this sentence is ウン not ワン
I’m guessing from context and from having hounds myself that both of the sounds above are types of excited whimpers and whines that scenting hounds make when they have a hit on a scent.
Okay, so Kuroboshi plays the “simple police officer” who always just goes with the first thing in front of him even though it’s usually obviously wrong. And admittedly in this case Bobo doesn’t seem to think Akita has been near the crime scene.
However. Spitz’s knockdown of Kuroboshi’s theory seems a bit harsh? I mean, it’s not totally outside the realm of possibility that it’s kind of difficult to carefully shove a fishing rod into somebody’s living room from between some bars! Brushing his theory aside aside on the basis that it doesn’t explain why the bowl is broken seems a bit much. The bowl could easily have been knocked over as he was extracting the rod/fish.
He could at least have pretended it was a good theory and just told him that sadly Bobo’s evidence contradicts it
He obviously is very impressed by Akita’s fishing skills to think he must be able to catch a fish from a bowl, at a distance, through an iron grille without any risk of knocking the bowl over. Maybe because he used to be a professional athlete he thinks he must have amazing dexterity!
Akita has motive, means and opportunity, he must be prime suspect! Plus I don’t know how much we can trust Bobo’s opinion, he doesn’t look very bright to me!
That last sentence on page 24 was a bit trickier. It helped once I realised the verb was のこってand not こって! I had it as:
つるだけなら、はちは、そのままのこっているはずです。
If it was just fishing, you would expect the bowl to remain as it was.
Quite! At least on page 25 now he adds the (imo much more pertinent) point that Bobo doesn’t indicate that Akita has been near the crime scene.
Yes, I thought that might trip some people up. Definitely one you’d prefer some kanji for. Your translation looks good to me
Gosh, we’re a talkative lot, aren’t we
How are people finding the reading? Are we not getting many questions because people are too overwhelmed to know what to ask about, or because people just aren’t having many issues?
You’re always welcome just to post a sentence from the book, and either ask for a full breakdown or give a translation attempt.
I’m finding some sentences fine and in others the negatives are tripping me up. I also got lost as to what page we were up to…
I translated the first half of p24 as follows:
While Mr Akita tidied up his fishing tackle, the police inspector whispered to me. “The guy is definitely the criminal.” He inserted a pole through the iron grille, to fish for the “telescope” goldfish.
But the sentence after this confused me due to maybe a double negative?
At this point I wouldn’t really worry about which page we’re on - I meant to say this week that we’d stop moderating the discussion in that way, but I forgot and added the timer to the OP anyway, so thought we might as well roll with it for another week
Looks great to me. If I were trying to be super accurate I might say he inserted a pole from the iron grille (as in, stood at the iron grille and inserted a pole from there, I guess), given the 鉄ごうしのあいだから, but that’s very nitpicky.
So we have 謎がとけたじゃないか as the core part of our sentence, which indeed uses the confusing “negative seeking confirmation” - the riddle is solved, isn’t it?!
Then the first part of our sentence describes the riddle (謎) we’re talking about. デメキンがいない謎 - “the riddle of the missing goldfish” or “the riddle of the not-there goldfish” (or whatever that special kind of fish is called ).
The これで introduces the sentence and links it back to the theory he proposes in the previous - “with this, the riddle of the missing fish is solved, isn’t it?!”
We have the noun 手がかり, sandwiched between なんの and も.
なんの means “any” here, because it’s a negative clause, and the も adds emphasis; “even” usually works well.
つかめない is the negative potential of つかむ, “to acquire”.
まま means “state” - one of those weird nebulous words, but basically this is the state in which they returned.
I reckon:
“In the end, we returned to the front of Kaneyama’s house without even being able to get any leads.”
Yes, it is indeed, but 声をかける is a specific phrase meaning “to call out; to hail; to greet”.
かける is one of those words that means absolutely everything.
And for the last sentence - the dachshund is called Tobo Tobo! It doesn’t mention Bobo, just says this dachshund “also” appears / emerges.
The verb in the middle is でる - “to emerge; to come out”
So I think, more specifically than “on the way back”, it’s identifying the location as being “the place where they emerged onto the road” (from leaving Akita, presumably).
Also I’d probably translate it as “he exclaimed” - screaming makes it sound like somebody has run up and stabbed him or something it’s more like he’s had a eureka moment and is giving a shout of realisation.
Having four kittens who need bottle feeding can be a lot of work…also getting distracted by Final Fantasy VII doesn’t help either…
I love how Kuroboshi has such faith in Akita’s skills that he believes he could fish through an iron grille or throw a ball through the gap from far enough away that his scent is not on the ground Bobo sniffed
Aww babies! <3 Yeah that takes a LOT of work and strange waking hours!
Also… yes, very much distracted by FFVII It’s SO good!
We also had a “real mystery” this weekend.
I own half of a house, both halves rent out a section each. I’ve had trouble with the other owner lately, as he has decided that my tenant and ALL his friends are hardened criminals and drug addicts (with absolutely no proof, he can just “tell by looking at them”… um, they look completely normal and are nice and polite people)
On Saturday my tenant had some friends over, there were two mopeds outside. Yesterday the other owner couldn’t find the “handlebar warmers” for his bike. Some fluffy muffs to keep the hands warm. So these hardened criminals on mopeds MUST have stolen them!
Yeah, cause they would take the stupid muffs and leave the bike behind (it’s an electric bike and probably worth a bit)
I can’t talk sense with him. I think he might have had a stroke or something, which have led to paranoia. My grandfather was the same way the year before he passed (had mini strokes)
I read it as meaning the opposite (only he could), but I can’t find anything online to back me up on it. Here’s my take, which I may be wrong on:
“I’ve got it! He didn’t have to go up to the bars. That guy’s a former pro baseball player. It’s impossible to do so much as to throw the ball from a distance, pass it between the iron bars, and hit the goldfish bowl, right?” (Implication: Only a pro could have done it.)
It’s SO good!
(with absolutely no proof, he can just “tell by looking at them”… um, they look completely normal and are nice and polite people)