常 见 误 解

译/刘莉 邓阳秀灵

常 见 误 解

Common Misbeliefs About Sherlock Holmes

译/刘莉 邓阳秀灵

Sherlock Holmes was a handsome man.

I t is a misconception that the detective was handsome. Though for movies, films and theatre plays producers cast good-looking actors to play the sleuth, Conan Doyle did not want him to be a nice man. According to the author’s description Holmes is rather hideous1hideous十分丑陋的。: he is balding and has a big nose. Many years later J. K. Rowling hid Harry Potter under a scar and glasses, and this way people saw his features and deeds and formed their opinions accordingly. Doyle wanted to show the spirit, courage and humanity of Holmes. The detective became handsome because of a brilliant artist called Sidney Paget. He was commissioned byThe Strand Magazineto make illustrations to the Holmes novels. While reading the stories Sidney came to like the eccentric Sherlock and that is why the character was handsome for him. But Conan Doyle thought it was Frank Wiles who depicted Holmes the closest to his original idea.

歇洛克·福尔摩斯英俊潇洒。

“神探歇洛克英俊潇洒”是个误解。尽管在银幕上和舞台剧中，制片人总让好看的演员扮演这位侦探，但柯南·道尔本不想如此。根据作者的描述，福尔摩斯相当丑陋：他不但谢顶，还长了只大鼻子！多年以后，J. K.罗琳把哈利·波特藏在了伤疤和眼镜之后，人们由此注意到他的特质和行为，从而形成对他的看法。道尔希望展示的，是福尔摩斯的精神、勇气和人道关怀。神探之所以变得英俊潇洒，要归功于一个名叫西德尼·佩吉特的优秀画家。他受《斯特兰杂志》委托，为福尔摩斯系列小说绘制插画。在阅读故事的过程中，西德尼喜欢上了这个古怪的主人公，所以将他画得格外英俊。但是，柯南·道尔认为，弗兰克·怀尔斯所画的福尔摩斯最符合他的原意。

Holmes and Watson are old.

[2] Many people imagine the duo is middle-aged at the beginning of their friendship. Before their first encounter Watson served as an army doctor in Afghanistan and Holmes already had a reputation in solving crimes. In fact they both are young, around thirty years during most of their adventures. The two are almost coveal—Holmes was born in 1854 and he met Watson in 1881. It is easy to explain how could they achieve so many things at such a young age: they both were extraordinary young men. Though Watson is lightly overshadowed by Holmes, the good doctor was an intelligent man and a well-trained surgeon, who pulled through2on the battle fi eld.

福尔摩斯和华生都是老头。

[2]很多人想象这对搭档相识时都已人到中年。他们初次相遇之前，华生在阿富汗当军医，而福尔摩斯已经在破案方面颇有名气。事实上，他们俩都挺年轻，大部分冒险都发生在他们三十岁左右。福尔摩斯出生于1854年，与华生相识于1881年。他们如此年轻有为也很好解释——因为他们都是卓尔不群的青年。虽然华生有点儿被福尔摩斯的光芒掩盖了，但他的确是个聪慧机敏的好医生，一个久经沙场、训练有素的外科医生。

歇洛克一直信任华生。

[3]约翰·华生医生是歇洛克·福尔摩斯最好的（也是唯一的）朋友，作为他的传记作者和伙伴支持着他。两人终生都非常亲密。福尔摩斯甚至宣称：“少了我的博斯韦尔，我就该找不着方向啦。”——他指的是英国作家塞缪尔·约翰逊的传记作者及密友詹姆斯·博斯韦尔。尽管华生医生能让他恢复健康，医术也得到了很高评价，但福尔摩斯并不完全信任华生。在《巴斯克维尔的猎犬》中，福尔摩斯派华生去达特莫尔荒原调查这个案子，但他自己也赶到了犯罪现场，因为他并不相信华生的观察能力。更糟糕的是，他没有告诉华生自己也到了。在《垂死的侦探》中，福尔摩斯让华生相信他已病入膏肓，因为他认为华生无法保守秘密。在莱辛巴赫坠崖多年后，福尔摩斯才重新出现，而此前他一直让华生以为他死了。

Sherlock always trusts Watson.

[3] Dr. John Watson is the best (and only) friend of Sherlock Holmes, he stands by the sleuth as his biographer and companion. They are very close to each other till the end of their lives. Holmes even declares: “I am lost without my Boswell”3—it is a reference to the biographer of Samuel Johnson. Though the doctor could set him on his legs4again and had a high opinion of his medical skills, he did not really trust Watson. In The Hound of

2 pull through扛住，熬过。 3出自福尔摩斯探案故事《波希米亚丑闻》。 4源自set one on one’s feet again帮助某人重新振作，恢复活力。the Baskervilles he sends his friend to Dartmoor to follow the events, while he travels to the crime scene too, as he could not trust his companion’s observations. To worsen the situation, he keeps dark his arrival. In The Dying Detective he makes the doctor believe he is deadly ill, because he does not think Watson can keep a secret. He reappears years after Reichenbach, but lets his friend think he is dead.

[4] Holmes respects the medical skills of Watson, but he does not think he can follow his thinking.

[4]福尔摩斯欣赏华生的医术，但认为华生跟不上他的思维。

Moriarty is the only enemy of Holmes.

[5] Even though lots of adaptations suggest it, Professor Moriarty is not the only enemy of Holmes. The character appears in one single story (The Final Problem), and in The Valley of Fear it is mentioned that he consultates other criminals if they pay for him. There is no evidence that he and Holmes met more than twice (at Baker Street and at the Reichenbach Falls). Actually Doyle got tired of his detective and wanted to focus on other themes—so he created the Professor and killed him and Sherlock in Switzerland. But there was such a vast public outcry that he had to bring the latter back.

莫里亚蒂是福尔摩斯唯一的敌人。

[5]虽然许多改编作品都暗示这一点，但莫里亚蒂教授并非福尔摩斯唯一的敌人。这个角色是在一个单独的故事（《最后一案》）中出现的，《恐怖谷》中提到他会为其他罪犯提供有偿建议。没有证据表明他和福尔摩斯的见面超过两次（一次在贝克街，一次在莱辛巴赫瀑布）。事实上，道尔厌倦了自己塑造的侦探形象，想要专注于其他主题，所以创造了教授这个角色，并让他和福尔摩斯在瑞士丧命。不过此举激起了公众广泛的抗议，令他不得不将后者复活。

[6] The detective had many otheropponents both before and after meeting Moriarty.

Sherlock had romantic feelings towards Irene Adler.

[7] The sleuth did not hate women. Because of his work he regarded them as causes of crimes, or sometimes as criminals.

[8] There was a woman, who played a special part in his life: the beautiful and clever Irene Adler5福尔摩斯与阿德勒的遭遇见《波希米亚丑闻》。. Holmes had never been in love with her—he immensely respected her for outwitting him. Before he met Miss Adler, he often passed sarcastic remarks on the fair sex, but after that he had a more fortunate opinion on6have a more fortunate opinion on不认为……那么不吉利。them.

[6]在遇到莫里亚蒂之前和之后，神探都有很多对手。

歇洛克对艾琳·阿德勒动了情。

[7]神探并不讨厌女性。由于工作的缘故，他才将她们视作罪恶之因，有时还把她们当作罪犯。

[8]有一个女人却在他生命中扮演了特殊的角色：她就是美丽聪慧的艾琳·阿德勒。福尔摩斯从未爱过她——他只是折服于她的智慧而对她满怀敬意。在遇到阿德勒小姐之前，福尔摩斯总是尖酸刻薄地讽刺女性，而在这之后，他不再将女性视作不祥之人。

福尔摩斯一直在吸毒。

[9]这位推理大师只有在做药物试验，或者没有接到新案、百无聊赖的时候，才会吸毒。科学家发现，毒品能给工作狂带来那种沉浸在任务当中的感觉。也就是说，歇洛克之所以染指这些危险品，是为了辅助调查或摆脱无聊。所以，并不能把他当成瘾君子。只要手头有事，他可以很长一段时间不碰可卡因。对福尔摩斯这个特质的刻画说明了道尔对工作狂的观察是多么精准。

Holmes used drugs all the time.

[9] The master of deduction turned to drugs only when he experimented with them, or when he had no new case and was bored. Scientists revealed that drugs have the same effects on workaholics like immersion into tasks. That is to say that Sherlock used the dangerous materials for the sake of the investigation or to repress boredom. So he cannot be considered a drug user or addict. When he had something to work on, this could break him away from cocaine for longer periods of time. Thischaracteristic of Holmes shows how accurate observations Doyle had about being workaholic.

[10] We have to note that though the harmful effects of drugs were already known in Doyle’s time (Watson warns his friend several times), the science of medicine only experienced their real dangers in modern days.

[10]必须指出的是，虽然毒品的危害在道尔那个时代就已为人所知（华生多次警告过福尔摩斯），但其真正的药理危险却在当代才得以揭示。

Sherlock Holmes was homosexual.

[11] It is a current opinion that Holmes and Watson had a romantic relationship. Actually Watson was married not only once in Doyle’s novels, so he was heterosexual7heterosexual异性恋的。. Holmes lived entirely for his profession—he was workaholic. There are people who do not consider sex their purpose. They can fully or partially do without sex urge. Famous scientists like Stephen Hawking or Sir Isaac Newton were workaholics too.歇洛克·福尔摩斯是个同性恋。

[11]现在有人认为，福尔摩斯和华生之间关系暧昧。但事实上，华生在道尔的小说里结过不止一次婚，所以他是个异性恋。福尔摩斯则将全身心投入在事业中——他是个工作狂。有些人不以性为人生目标。他们可以完全或部分舍弃性欲。霍金、牛顿等著名的科学家也是工作狂。

[12] Sherlock’s job is dangerous, it requires fast thinking, the ability of combining things and a perfect buildup8build-up对事件做演绎推理。. It is an extremely exhaustive profession, and after it he has no time or/and energy to other activities or private life. Similar to him C. Auguste Dupin9爱伦·坡推理小说中的侦探，也被视为小说世界里的第一位侦探。and Hercule Poirot10英国作家阿加莎·克里斯蒂塑造的知名大侦探，是文学史上非常杰出且深受欢迎的侦探之一。had no companions.

[12]歇洛克的工作险象环生，不但需要快速思考，还要能将事物综合，完美推演。这个职业会彻底把人掏空，所以歇洛克工作之余根本没有时间、精力去参与其他活动或处理私人生活。与之相似，C.奥古斯特·杜邦和大侦探波洛也都孑然一身。

[13] Roger Johnson (The Sherlock Holmes Society of London Press and Publicity Officer and Hon Editor. He is the editor of theSherlock Holmes Journal.), observed that in Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories, “Watson is something of a ladies’ man11ladies’ man富有女人缘的男性。, but a faithful husband to his wife. And Holmes is essentially asexual, with no erotic interest in women or men.”

[14] “But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias12bias使产生偏见。my judgment.”—Sherlock Holmes quote fromThe Sign of Four. The detective needs true cold reason for his profession.

[13]罗杰·约翰逊是伦敦歇洛克·福尔摩斯协会出版宣传负责人和名誉编辑，也是《歇洛克·福尔摩斯期刊》的主编。他表示，在阿瑟·柯南·道尔的原著故事里，“华生挺有女人缘，但对妻子很忠诚。福尔摩斯则基本上是个性冷淡，对男人女人都不感兴趣”。

[14]“然而，爱情是一种情绪化的东西，与此同时，任何情绪化的东西都与真真正正的冷静理性格格不入，后者才是我最为推崇的东西。我永远也不会结婚，免得影响自己的判断力。”这是歇洛克·福尔摩斯在《四签名》中所说的。侦探职业要求他拥有“真真正正的冷静理性”。

[15] The society of the Victorian era had a different attitude towards sexuality. Nowadays it is an everyday topic. At that time there had been a belief that living a sexually active life shortens life expectancy and dulls thinking. It is possible that Holmes refrained13refrain忍住，节制。from sexuality because of this reason—he thought it is harmful for thinking. He remarked digestion draws away energy from brainwork, and maybe his opinion was the same about sex.

[15]维多利亚时代的社会对于性有着特殊的看法。如今这是一个日常话题，但在那个时代，人们普遍认为频繁的性生活会缩短预期寿命，使人思维迟钝。福尔摩斯很可能是认为性欲对思考有害才禁欲的。他曾说过消化会夺走脑力劳动的能量，也许他对性抱持同样的看法。

（译者单位：复旦大学奇境译坊）