“I think of slaying Holmes…and winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things.(我考虑杀掉福尔摩斯……把他干掉,一了百了。他占据了我太多的时间。)” ――Arthur Conan Doyle 因为创造了福尔摩斯而名留青史的阿瑟・柯南・道尔真正的梦想是成为一位严肃文学作家,但正是这些侦探小说确立了他在文学史上作为侦探小说鼻祖无可争议的地位。 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He studied to be a doctor at the University of Edinburgh and set up a small practice[医务所] at Southsea in Hampshire during his 20s. While the practice proved largely unsuccessful, the lack of patients provided him with the opportunity to create possibly the most popular character ever introduced in the history of fiction―Sherlock Holmes. While at university, Conan Doyle had been greatly influenced by Joseph Bell, one of his professors. Bell was an expert in the use of deductive[推论的,演绎的] reasoning to diagnose[诊断] disease. Conan Doyle was so impressed that he used these same principles when creating his famous detective. Sherlock Holmes was introduced in A Study in Scarlet (1887), followed by A Sign of Four in 1890, but didn’t really take hold of the public’s imagination until Strand Magazine, newly founded in 1890, published a series of short stories called The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. From that point on the public couldn’t get enough of Holmes and his always reliable[可信赖的] confidant[心腹朋友], John H. Watson, a retired military doctor. Residing in London at 221B Baker Street, Holmes’s character and personality set him apart from all others. “Holmes, with his keen sense of observation, his lean[瘦的] face and hooked nose, his long legs, his deerstalker[护耳软猎帽] hat, his magnifying glass, and his ever-present pipe, caught the reader’s imagination.” (The Literature of Crime and Detection) Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson From 1891 to 1893, Strand Magazine published stories featuring Holmes and Watson, all avidly[热心地] followed by the public. When, in The Final Problem (1893), Holmes and his longtime nemesis[给以报应者], Professor Moriarty, are killed off, the public outcry[大声疾呼] was so great, Conan Doyle was forced to bring him back to life. He continued the exploits of Holmes and Watson nine years later in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902). More novels and short stories appeared to the delight of Conan Doyle’s fans until The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes(1927), the last to feature the brilliant sleuth[侦探]. Sherlock Holmes is without doubt one of the most beloved figures in the history of mystery fiction. Conan Doyle’s works were made into several stage plays and feature films. In all, Holmes and Watson were featured in four novels and 56 short stories. Despite the success of his most famous character, throughout his life Conan Doyle sought to escape the Sherlock Holmes phenomenon[现象] and concentrate[集中] on writing about his other interests. Although he was never completely successful due to the intense popularity of Holmes, he was knighted[授以爵位] for his nonfiction work on the Boer War注 and also wrote other works such as The Lost World(1912) and The White Company(1891).
The Man Who Inspired the Character of Sherlock Holmes Was Sherlock Holmes a real person? Not exactly, but Dr. Joseph Bell, the man who inspired the character of Sherlock Holmes shared many qualities with the famous detective. Conan Doyle met Dr. Bell in 1877 at the University of Edinburgh Medical School. Conan Doyle was studying to be a doctor and Bell was one of his professors. Bell was 39 years old when Conan Doyle first attended one of his lectures. He is said to have walked with a jerky[急跳的] kind of a step that communicated great energy. His nose and chin were angular[有角的] and his eyes twinkled with shrewdness[精明,机灵]. In addition to being a brilliant doctor, Bell was also an amateur[业余的] poet, a sportsman and a bird-watcher. By the end of Conan Doyle’s second year, Bell had selected him to serve as an assistant in his ward[病房]. This gave Conan Doyle the opportunity to view Dr. Bell’s remarkable ability to quickly deduce[推论,演绎出] a great deal about a patient. Dr. Bell observed the way a person moved. The walk of a sailor varied vastly from that of a solider. If he identified[识别] a person as a sailor, he would look for any tattoos that might assist him in knowing where their travels had taken them. He trained himself to listen for small differences in his patient’s accents to help him identify where they were from. Bell studied the hands of his patients because calluses[老茧] or other marks could help him determine their occupation[职业]. So while Conan Doyle went on to write about Sherlock Holmes, he played Dr. Watson, at least for awhile, to his professor. 阿瑟・柯南・道尔爵士(1859-1930)出生于苏格兰的爱丁堡。他在爱丁堡大学学医,二十多岁时到汉普郡的绍斯西开了一家小诊所。他的诊所不大成功,来看病的人很少,这使他有机会创作出也许是小说史上最受欢迎的人物―― 歇洛克・福尔摩斯。 读大学时,柯南・道尔深受其中一位教授约瑟夫・贝尔的影响。贝尔擅长利用演绎推理诊断疾病,这给柯南・道尔留下了极为深刻的印象,以至于他用同样的原理去创作那位著名的侦探。 在1887年发表的《血字的研究》里,歇洛克・福尔摩斯首次露面,接着又出现在1890年的《四签名》里。但是,直到1890年新创办的《海滨杂志》刊登了名为《冒险史》的系列短篇故事之后,这个角色才真正引起了公众的关注。从此,福尔摩斯和他永远可靠的密友――退休军医约翰・H・华生开始风靡大众。 住在伦敦贝克街221号B的福尔摩斯从角色到个性都与众不同。“他那敏锐的观察力、削瘦的脸颊和鹰钩鼻、长腿、猎鹿帽、放大镜,还有永远少不了的烟斗,紧紧抓住了读者的想象力。”(《犯罪与侦探文学》) 歇洛克・福尔摩斯和华生医生从1891到1893年,《海滨杂志》刊登的以福尔摩斯和华生为主角的故事受到了大众的热烈追捧。在1893年的《最后一案》里,福尔摩斯和他长期以来的死对头――莫里亚蒂教授同归于尽。公众对此表示了强烈抗议,以致柯南・道尔不得不让福尔摩斯复活。九年后,在1902年发表的《巴斯克维尔的猎犬》里,他继续讲述福尔摩斯和华生的历险。 更多的小说和短篇故事陆续出炉,让柯南・道尔迷们心满意足,一直到1927年的《新探案》为止――这也是最后一部关于这位聪明绝顶的侦探的小说。 毫无疑问,歇洛克・福尔摩斯是悬疑小说史上最受爱戴的角色之一。柯南・道尔的作品曾被多次改编成舞台剧和电影。以福尔摩斯和华生为主角的作品包括4部小说和56个短篇故事。 尽管柯南・道尔创作的角色大获成功,但他一生都想逃脱福尔摩斯现象的阴影,专注于他感兴趣的其他作品上。虽然福尔摩斯的极度风靡使他未能在别的方面称得上成功,但他还是因其关于布尔战争的非小说类作品被授予爵位,此外他还写了《失落的世界》(1912年)和《白衣纵队》(1891年)等作品。 歇洛克・福尔摩斯的灵感之源歇洛克・福尔摩斯真有其人吗?并非如此,但启发柯南・道尔创作出歇洛克・福尔摩斯的约瑟夫・贝尔博士确实与这位名侦探有许多共同点。 1877年,柯南・道尔在爱丁堡大学医学院遇见贝尔博士。柯南・道尔在那里学医,贝尔是他的其中一位教授。 柯南・道尔去上他的第一节课时,贝尔39岁。据说他的步伐有力而急促,充满活力;他的鼻子和下巴线条清晰、棱角分明,目光敏锐。除了是一名优秀的医生外,贝尔还是一位业余诗人、运动员和观鸟爱好者。 在柯南・道尔读大学的第二年末,贝尔选他到自己的病房当助手,这使他有机会见识到贝尔博士非同一般的推断力――他很快就能从一位病人身上推断出很多事情。 贝尔博士会观察一个人的行动方式。水手的走路方式和士兵有很大不同。如果他推断一个人是水手,他便会在那个人身上寻找一些可能透露他们去过哪里的纹身。他训练自己去分辨病人口音里的细微差别,以判断他们来自哪里。他还会研究病人的手,因为手上的老茧或是其他痕迹能帮他确定他们的职业。 因此,在柯南・道尔创作歇洛克・福尔摩斯的故事时,他偶尔也为自己的教授扮演一下华生医生的角色。 注释 注:布尔战争是英国与南非布尔人建立的共和国之间的战争。历史上一共有两次布尔战争,第一次布尔战争发生在1880年至1881年,第二次布尔战争发生在1899年至1902年。 相关链接 2009年最新版福尔摩斯强势出击 热衷英式格斗的福尔摩斯你见过吗?如果你以为在将于今年12月25日上映的最新电影《大侦探福尔摩斯》(Sherlock Holmes)中会看到绅士派头十足的福尔摩斯,那就大错特错了。 《大侦探福尔摩斯》根据莱昂纳尔・威格拉姆 (Lionel Wigram)的同名漫画改编,由有“英伦昆汀”之称的盖・里奇(Guy Ritchie)执导。制作方多次表示,这次的福尔摩斯和华生将更加锐气,一扫以往版本中维多利亚时代的沉闷,而福尔摩斯更会成为一名击剑高手,赤手空拳制服罪犯,影片也从推理破案变成以动作冒险为主。凭借《钢铁侠》(Iron Man)步入好莱坞一线明星行列的小罗伯特・ 唐尼(Robert Downey Jr.)将扮演福尔摩斯;裘德・洛(Jude Law)出演华生;曾主演《恋恋笔记本》(The Notebook)的瑞切尔・迈克亚当斯(Rachel McAdams)将扮演福尔摩斯心仪的艾琳・艾德勒(Irene Adler)。