关于夏洛克·福尔摩斯的十大误解
We have all heard of Sherlock Holmes, and in theeyes of most of the world he is the greatest fictionaldetective of all time. His popularity is so great thatthere is an entire society devoted to SherlockHolmes fan fiction and sometimes to pretending heis real, called the Baker Street Irregulars. It isinevitable that with such popularity there will bemany mistaken notions about the character. Itsmythology becomes distorted and things that arenot at all true become commonly repeated as fact. Below are ten things most people think aboutSherlock Holmes, that are completely wrong.
我们都听说过夏洛克·福尔摩斯,在世界上大多数人眼中他是有史以来最厉害的小说版侦探。他深受欢迎,甚至有一整个协会都致力于夏洛克福尔摩斯粉丝小说的创作,有时候还假装他真实存在,称之为贝克街小分队。如此流行的人物,人们有所误解也在所难免。他的传奇被扭曲,许多不尽不实的事情却成为了人们口口相传的事实。以下是大多数人对于福尔摩斯的十大误解。
10.Innocent People
10.清白的人
Misconception: He wouldn't treat an innocent person badly just to solve a case.
误解: 他不会为了破案而伤害无辜的人们。
Many people see Sherlock Holmes as a white knight of the detective world: he solves casesusing only the power of his mind and innocent people never get hurt in the process. He isuniversally beloved as the greatest fictional detective in the world, but he had more of a darkside than just his drug use and other eccentric habits. Sherlock Holmes was not at all averseto doing whatever it took to win a case, and he often played the game for the games own sake. In one story The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, he becomes engaged to ahousemaid to get closer to a villain he is trying to expose. After he solves the case, he simplyleaves the woman, presumably upsetting her greatly. He never makes any effort to explain thesituation to her and we never hear about it again. He also employed a small group of streeturchins to do his dirty work, which he affectionately called "The Baker Street Irregulars." Wesee them in The Sign of the Four, A Study in Scarlet, and The Adventure of the Crooked Man.
许多人认为福尔摩斯是侦探世界里的白马骑士:在破案时他只需要运用他的智慧,无辜的人也不会受伤。他深受人们喜爱,是世界上最伟大的小说侦探,但是除了吸毒和其他怪癖之外,他还有一些阴暗面。他为了破案不折手段,常常玩花样。在《查尔斯·奥古斯塔斯·米尔沃顿》这个故事中,为了揭发一个恶棍,他接近他的女仆并与之订婚。破案之后,他就离开了那个女人,让她伤透了心。他也不曾向她做出任何解释,而此事很多人都蒙在鼓里。而且,他还雇佣一些街童做非法勾当,美其名曰"贝克街小分队"。我们可以在《四签名》、《血字的研究》和《驼背人》中看见他们的身影。
9.Socially Advanced
9.思想开明
Misconception: Sherlock Holmes was a socially-forward thinker
误解: 福尔摩斯是一个思想开明的人。
In The Adventure of the Three Gables Sherlock Holmes engages in some very cruel and racistconversations with black people. He basically calls a black boxer stupid based on his skin colorand then goes so far as to make fun of the size of his lips. An excerpt from Holmes encounterwith Steve Dixie, a black boxer: "‘That's my name, Masser Holmes, and you'll get put through itfor sure if you give me any lip.' ‘It is certainly the last thing you need,' said Holmes, staring atour visitor's hideous mouth." After The boxer left Sherlock Holmes comments: "I am glad youwere not forced to break his woolly head, Watson. I observed your maneuvers with the poker. But he is really rather a harmless fellow, a great muscular, foolish, blustering baby, andeasily cowed, as you have seen." There are other times where more commonplace commentsare made about people from Africa in general, that are somewhat disparaging. There are acouple of important things to note, however. When the stories were written, these attitudeswere fairly commonplace, it doesn't excuse them, but it doesn't make the character muchdifferent from anyone else in England at the time. It is also interesting to note that manyscholars believe The Adventure of the Three Gables, which had the most obvious racism, wasactually a forgery and not written by Arthur Conan Doyle at all. This would not be particularlysurprising as Sherlock Holmes fan fiction has been popular for a long time.
在《三角墙山庄》中,福尔摩斯和一名黑人的谈话非常残忍并带有种族歧视。他只是基于他的肤色就把黑人拳击手叫做笨蛋,而且还取笑了他的嘴唇大小。摘录中,福尔摩斯遇见了一名名叫史蒂夫·迪克西(SteveDixie)的黑人拳击手。"我就是福尔摩斯,如果你说些好话我或许会放过你""那你倒用不着",福尔摩斯使劲盯着他奇丑无比的嘴巴说。拳击手离开后,福尔摩斯评价道:"华生,幸亏你没有敲破他那结实的脑袋。我看见你拿拨火棒的动作了。其实他倒是一个不妨事的,别看浑身是肌肉,倒是个愚蠢的、放空炮的小孩子,很容易把他镇住,就象刚才那样。"在其他时候他对非洲人的评价普遍如此,还带有一些侮辱性的言辞。但是,我们也要注意到一些重要的事情。写故事的时候,这种态度非常普遍,我不是在找借口,但人物的态度和当时其他英格兰的人们一样,没有什么不同。很有意思的是,许多学者认为《三角墙山庄》中种族歧视最为明显,事实上是赝品,根本不是出自柯南·道尔之手。福尔摩斯同人小说一直都很流行,出现这种事情也不足为奇。
8.Withholding Information
8.隐瞒信息
Misconception: Sherlock Holmes withholds information from the police.
误解:福尔摩斯对警察隐瞒了信息。
In the recent Sherlock Holmes movies, he is pictured taking evidence from crime scenes andhiding it from the police on multiple occasions. This allows him to stay several steps ahead atall times and ensures he solves the case before they do. The only problem here is that this istotally the opposite of how he behaved in the books. Sherlock Holmes would always leaveenough evidence for the police to figure out the same things he did if they were so inclined aswe see in The Adventure of the Devils Foot. And he would often share information with them ifhe thought they were pursuing a useless line of inquiry, which we can see in The Adventure ofWisteria Lodge. Sherlock Holmes stayed ahead of the police because he was simply better atdeduction than they were; it does a disservice to his character to suggest that he would evermisappropriate evidence.
在最近的一些福尔摩斯电影中,他被塑造为从犯罪现场带走证物多次对警察隐瞒信息的人物形象。这样的话,他可以一直比警察快一步,在警察之前破案。唯一的问题是他的这些行为与书中所写完全相反。在《魔鬼之足》中,我们可以看到警方如果配合他的话,福尔摩斯总是会给警方留下线索,让他们推理出自己知道的一切。在《藤荘》中,福尔摩斯如果认为警方追踪的是一条无用的线索,也会与警方分享信息。他总是比警方快一步仅仅是因为他比他们更加擅长推理;他盗用证据只会贬低他的人物形象。
7.Best Friend
7.最好的朋友
Misconception: Holmes trusts his best friend Dr. Watson.
误解:福尔摩斯信任他最好的朋友华生。
Sherlock Holmes's best friend is Dr. John Watson, and he relies on him as his biographer andcompanion, especially on very dangerous missions. The pair are incredibly close and remaingood friends throughout most of their lives. Holmes even comments that he would be "lostwithout his Boswell," in reference to the famous 18th century biographer of Samuel Johnson. However, while Holmes may have trusted his best friend to defend him in a scrape, and trustedhis medical knowledge, he does not truly trust Dr. Watson. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes sends Dr. Watson to keep an eye on the situation at Baskerville hall, and then sneaksout to the moor to keep an eye on the situation himself rather than trusting his friendsaccount. And to make matters worse he does not even tell Dr. Watson of his arrival. Also, inThe Adventure of the Dying Detective, he tricks his best friend into thinking he is dying of adeadly disease because he does not believe that Dr. Watson would be able to keep the secretthat he was faking it if he told him. While he claims respect for Dr. Watson's medical skills, it's apoor show that he doesn't think his friend could go along with his game.
福尔摩斯最好的朋友就是约翰·华生医生。尤其是在执行极其危险的任务时,华生作为他的伙伴和传记作家,是他最依赖的人。两人亲密无间,一生都维持着挚友的关系。福尔摩斯甚至评价说:"没有他的博斯韦尔,他的人生就迷失了。"(参考18世纪著名传记作家塞缪尔·约翰逊的话,博斯韦尔是为密友撰写传记的人)。然而,或许福尔摩斯相信华生会在他处于困境时维护他,信任他的医药知识,但他不是真的信任华生医生。在《巴斯克维尔的猎犬》中,他派华生去监视巴斯克维尔庄园里的一举一动,然后自己偷偷溜去沼泽暗中观察情形,这无疑是不信任华生。更糟糕的是,他甚至没有告诉华生他的行踪。而且在《临终的侦探》中,他欺骗华生,让他认为他病入膏肓而死去。因为他不相信如果他告诉华生真相,华生会隐瞒住他假死的秘密。虽然他敬佩华生的医术,但这也是掩饰自己不认为华生可以和他一起玩侦探游戏的无聊作秀罢了。
6.Eccentric Manners
6.古怪的穿着
Misconception: Holmes dresses in an eccentric manner and is often dirty or unkempt.
误解:福尔摩斯穿着古怪,蓬乱,肮脏不堪。
Not all movies are guilty of this particular offense, but the horrible monstrosity that was therecent two part movie series with Robert Downey Jr is a huge offender. Robert Downey Jrportrays Holmes as dressing in an extremely eccentric manner, including ill fitting clothes, strange ensembles that don't make sense and as having a general air of bad hygiene. However, Sherlock Holmes is actually described in The Hound of the Baskervilles as having a cat like approach to cleanliness. He dressed in very traditional, conservative clothes for his timeand was always impeccably neat. In fact, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes isout on the moor investigating a case in secret, living in an old shack, and still arranges to havefresh linen and other luxuries brought to him so that he can remain neat and clean.
不是所有的电影都要承担这样的罪名,但是可怕的是,由美国演员小罗伯特·道尼主演的两部福尔摩斯的电影却是重犯。小罗伯特·道尼将福尔摩斯刻画为穿着古怪(穿着不合身、古怪的让人费解的衣着搭配)和卫生习惯差的人。然而,事实上福尔摩斯在《巴斯克维尔的猎犬》中被描绘得像猫一样有洁癖。他穿着传统保守的衣服而且总是一尘不染。在《巴斯克维尔的猎犬》中,福尔摩斯前往沼泽调查一宗神秘案件,他还是带了一些干净的亚麻布和其他一些奢侈品,让自己保持整洁和干净。
5.Cap and Pipe
5.猎鹿帽和葫芦烟斗
Misconception: Holmes is always seen with adeerstalker cap and calabash pipe.
误解:人们常常认为福尔摩斯戴着猎鹿帽,抽着葫芦烟斗。
The popular conception of Holmes with his deerstalker cap and calabash pipe has become socommon that it is considered an iconic part of Sherlock's Holmes persona. However, it is also acomplete fabrication. The deerstalker cap and calabash pipe combo was made up for theaterand has never been a part of Sherlock's normal outfit. The calabash pipe was originally used bythe actor in one of the original Sherlock Holmes plays because it was easy to rest on his chestwhile he was talking. But in fictional reality, Holmes used a much different pipe. This mightsound like nitpicking, but the calabash pipe and deerstalker cap combo have becomesynonymous with Sherlock Holmes, or detectives in general though it is entirely inaccurate.
福尔摩斯戴着猎鹿帽,抽着葫芦烟斗的形象已经深入人心,也成为福尔摩斯这个人物的一大特征。然而,这纯属虚构。这一形象是为了话剧编造的,福尔摩斯正常的装束也不是这样。葫芦烟斗最初是演员们在福尔摩斯的戏剧中使用的,因为在谈话的时候,这样子便于将手放在胸部。但在小说里,福尔摩斯用的是另一种烟斗。也许这听起来有点吹毛求疵,但是猎鹿帽和葫芦烟斗却已经成为了福尔摩斯,或者是一般侦探的代名词,尽管这一形象并不属实。
4.Middle-Aged
4.中年人
Misconception: Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes are middle-aged gentlemen.
误解: 华生和福尔摩斯是中等年纪的绅士。
In popular culture many people view Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson as somewherearound middle age, getting older and quite experienced. It's fairly easy to make this mistake, because Dr. Watson had already served in the war and was a skilled doctor, and Holmes hadcreated quite a reputation for himself. However, Holmes and Watson were actually both quiteyoung, in their early twenties for most of their adventures. Holmes and Dr. Watson were closein age, and Holmes was said to be born in 1854 and Dr. Watson met him in 1881. Most of theiradventures spanned the first few years they became friends, which would place them in theirlate twenties and still quite young. The explanation for how they could accomplish so muchat a young age is very simple; they were both brilliant young men. While Dr. Watson is easilyovershadowed by his friend, he was quite an intelligent man, very skilled at practicingmedicine and conducted himself very well during the war.
在大众文化中,许多人认为福尔摩斯和华生是中年人,老练成熟。犯这种错误也算正常,因为华生医生在战争中服过役,是一名技巧熟练的医生,福尔摩斯也是小有名气。但是,实际上福尔摩斯和华生医生非常年轻,在大多数的冒险中才二十几岁。他们两人年龄相近,据说福尔摩斯出生于1854年,华生在1881年遇到了他。他们成为朋友的早些年他们经历了大多数的冒险,大约二十八九的年纪,还是非常年轻。他们何以年纪青青就有如此成就?原因非常简单:他们才华横溢。虽然华生医生很容易在福尔摩斯的阴影下,但他也是非常聪明的一个人,医术精湛,在战争期间表现优异。
3.Short Cases
3.破案时间短
Misconception: He never spent more than a couple months on a case and retired relativelyyoung.
误解: 他从没有在一个案子上花上几个多月的时间,在相对年轻的时候就退休了。
There is some truth to this; Holmes solved most cases with extraordinary speed. And he hadintended to retire young. Holmes had retired to a quiet life of studying bees and evenpublished what he called "the magnum opus of his latter years," which was a book about hisobservations learned from beekeeping. However, the government had a problem; they werelosing information to the other side and losing agents and could not figure out who was behindit. After several high up government officials intervened, Holmes finally agreed to take the casein the story His Last Bow. In the end Holmes catches up with the German secret agent who wascausing all the trouble, and teams up with Dr. Watson for the final act. He reveals to Dr. Watsonthat his plan to defeat the German agent was so convoluted it involved him joining an Irishsecret society in America for two full years, just to get at one agent. We can safely say thatHolmes was nothing if not thorough.
其中也有几分真实;福尔摩斯解决大多数案件的速度都是惊人的快。而且他也有意早点退休。他退居幕后,开始了研究蜜蜂的安静生活,甚至出版了他所谓的"晚年杰作",一本关于他在养蜂时观察蜜蜂的书。但是,政府遇到了困难;他们失去了另一边的情报,情报员也一个个死去,不知道幕后主谋是谁。在一些高层政府官员介入之后,福尔摩斯才答应接下案子 ,这个故事就是《最后的致意》。最终福尔摩斯抓住了制造各种麻烦的德国间谍并与华生一起展开了最后的行动。他向华生透露他击败德国间谍的计划非常复杂,甚至包括他加入爱尔兰的秘密组织,在美国待上整整两年的时间,仅仅为了抓一名间谍。我们可以有把握地说:"福尔摩斯不达目的誓不罢休,不然就不是福尔摩斯了。"
2.Irene Adler
2.艾琳·艾德勒
Misconception: Irene Adler was Sherlock's love interest.
误解:艾琳·艾德勒是福尔摩斯的爱慕对象。
Many movies and TV specials felt that to increase viewer eyeballs, they needed to giveSherlock Holmes a love interest. We can see a dramatized example of this in the recent filmswhere Robert Downey Jr plays a bisexual, eccentric playboy who is in love with both IreneAdler and his friend Dr. Watson. Holmes had an ongoing love affair with Irene Adler, so it wasperfect, right? Except that is completely untrue. Irene Adler is only mentioned in one story, AScandal in Bohemia, and the only thing she says to him is "Good-night, Mister SherlockHolmes," while disguised as a passerby. Sherlock later describes her as "the woman," but onlybecause she was the only woman to ever best him at anything. He respected her intellect, but had no romantic inclinations toward her and we never hear of her again. If you need anymore evidence, Arthur Conan Doyle described Sherlock Holmes as "inhuman as a Babbage'scalculating machine," and felt his famous detective was not at all interested in romance.
许多电影和电视剧认为为了吸引观众的眼球,他们有必要赋予福尔摩斯一个爱慕的对象。在最近的一些影片中,我们可以看到一个典型的例子。小罗伯特·唐尼出演的福尔摩斯是一个行为古怪的花花公子。他还是双性恋,爱上了艾琳·艾德勒和他的朋友华生医生。他一直与艾琳·艾德勒闹绯闻,很完美,不是吗?除了这并不是事实之外。艾琳·艾德勒只在《波西米亚丑闻》中有所提及而且她伪装成过路人,对福尔摩斯只说过一句话"晚安,福尔摩斯先生"。后来福尔摩斯称她为"那位女士",但这仅仅是因为她是唯一一位比他还厉害的女人。他尊重她的才能但对她毫无爱意,后来我们也没听说过她的消息。如果你需要更多的证据,作者柯南·道尔把福尔摩斯描述为"冷漠的巴贝奇计算机",对爱情完全没有兴趣。
1.Professor Moriarty
1.莫里亚蒂教授
Misconception: Professor James Moriarty was his arch-enemy.
误解:莫里亚蒂教授是福尔摩斯的死敌。
Contrary to the popular notion that has been ingrained in us by so many television series andmovies on the subject, Professor Moriarty was hardly Sherlock Holmes arch-nemesis. Moriartyactually only appears in one story, The Final Problem, he is also mentioned briefly in The Valleyof Fear but only in the vein of giving paid consultation to other criminals. As far as him facingoff against Holmes there is really no such evidence of it ever happening, apart from theirfamous battle at the Reichenbach falls. In fact, Arthur Conan Doyle had tired of the character ofHolmes and wanted to move on to other projects, so he mainly just made up the conflictbetween Moriarty and Holmes so he could kill his most famous character, but the fans raisedsuch an outcry that he reluctantly brought the detective back from the dead. Hardly hasthere ever been a character with so much popularity that people wore black armbands in thestreets to mourn his death.
许多关于福尔摩斯的电视剧和电影都灌输着莫里亚蒂教授是福尔摩斯的死敌的这种观点,但事实恰恰相反,莫里亚蒂教授根本就不是福尔摩斯的死敌。莫里亚蒂教授只出现在《最后一案》中,在《恐怖谷》中也有简单提及,但只是因为收了其他罪犯的钱给他们做做咨询而已。至于莫里亚蒂教授挑战福尔摩斯根本就毫无证据可言,且不说他们在赖兴巴赫瀑布的著名对决了。事实上,柯南·道尔已经厌倦了福尔摩斯这个人物,想要把主题换成别的人物,所以他编造了莫里亚蒂教授和福尔摩斯之间的冲突,这样他就可以把最著名的人物写死,但是粉丝们强烈抗议他才不得不将福尔摩斯"死而复生"。很少有一个人物如此地受人欢迎,以至于人们都带上黑色的臂章在大街上纷纷哀悼他的死亡。(来源:前十网)
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