重温经典：柯南·道尔英文原著中的福尔摩斯

特殊记忆技能

大家都知道卷福那个神乎其神的思维宫殿（Mind Palace），这是他帮助自己记忆的方法。原著中的福尔摩斯，并没有那么大的宫殿，他用的是一个大脑阁楼（brain-attic）。

I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it.
我认为人的脑子本来象一间空空的小阁楼，应该有选择地把一些家具装进去。只有傻瓜才会把他碰到的各种各样的破烂杂碎一古脑儿装进去。这样一来，那些对他有用的知识反而被挤了出来；或者，最多不过是和许多其他的东西掺杂在一起。因此，在取用的时候也就感到困难了。

It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.
如果认为这间小阁楼的墙壁富有弹性，可以任意伸缩，那就错了。请相信我的话，总有一天，当你增加新知识的时候，你就会把以前所熟习的东西忘了。所以最要紧的是，不要让一些无用的知识把有用的挤出去。

演绎法

福尔摩斯之所以有实力让一代又一代的侦探小说迷折服，主要是因为他的一套推理演绎法（the Science of Deduction）。

我们来看看他自己是怎样解释的。

From a drop of water, a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other. So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a single link of it.
一个逻辑学家不需亲眼见到或者听说过大西洋或尼加拉瀑布，但他能从一滴水推测出它们有可能存在，所以整个生活就是一条巨大的链条，只要见到其中的一环，整个链条的情况就可推想出来了。

When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
当你排除一切不可能的，剩下的无论是什么——无论多么荒谬——那一定是真相。

I never guess. It is a shocking habit – destructive to the logical faculty.
我从不猜测，那是破坏思维能力的坏习惯。

I never make exceptions. An exception disproves the rule.
我向来不作任何例外。定律没有例外。

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.
在没有得到事实之前妄下猜测是个很可怕的错误。你会不自觉地扭曲事实去套自己的猜测，而不是根据事实来推导结论。

伟大的友（ji）情

福尔摩斯和华生的深厚友情是这个侦探故事中最动人的部分。

原著中各种微妙细节，如今依然是腐女们津津乐道的内容，不如摘录一些感受一下。

我们偶尔能在原著里瞥见这种两人在一起时岁月静好的样子……

Sherlock Holmes was a man who seldom took exercise for exercise's sake... One day in early spring he had so far relaxed as to go for a walk with me in the Park, where the first faint shoots of green were breaking out upon the elms, and the sticky spear-heads of the chestnuts were just beginning to burst into their five-fold leaves. For two hours we rambled about together, in silence for the most part, as befits two men who know each other intimately. It was nearly five before we were back in Baker Street once more.
歇洛克·福尔摩斯是一个很少为锻炼身体而进行体育活动的人……早春的一天，他清闲起来，居然有时间陪我到公园去散步。此时榆树已生出嫩绿的枝芽，栗树梢头开始冒出五瓣形新叶。我们在一起不言不语地漫步了两个小时，这对两个互知肺腑的人是很适合的。我们回到贝克街，已近五点了。

看完下面这段，不禁要感叹，原来柯南道尔才是霸道总裁文鼻祖。

Holmes had been back for some months, and I, at his request, had sold my practice and returned to share the old quarters in Baker Street. A young doctor, named Verner, had purchased my small Kensington practice, and given with astonishingly little demur the highest price that I ventured to ask—an incident which only explained itself some years later when I found that Verner was a distant relation of Holmes's, and that it was my friend who had really found the money.
福尔摩斯回国几个月了。我依着他的请求，出让了我的诊所，搬回贝克街我们合住过的旧寓所。有个姓弗纳的年轻医生买了我在肯辛顿开的小诊所，他半点也没犹豫就照我冒昧提出的最高价付了钱，使我感到奇怪。几年后，我发现弗纳是福尔摩斯的远亲，钱实际上是他筹措的，才明白过来。

在《三个同姓人》中，华生在行动中中枪，福尔摩斯表露出的紧张和关切，让我们首次窥见了这个自称只有大脑的冷漠侦探的内心。

"You're not hurt, Watson? For God's sake, say that you are not hurt!"
“没伤着吧，华生？看在上帝的份上，告诉我你没受伤！”

It was worth a wound; it was worth many wounds; to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation.
当我知道在这张冷冰的面具后面是有着多么深的忠实和友爱时，我觉得受一次伤，甚至受多次伤也是值得的。他那明亮坚强的眼睛有点湿润了，那坚定的嘴唇在颤抖。这仅有的一次，让我窥见了他不仅有伟大的头脑，而且有伟大的心灵。我这么多年的微末而忠心的效劳，有这一点感受也就知足了。

知识储备

华生在初识福尔摩斯时，对于他到底从事什么职业有极大的兴趣，于是列出了他的知识范围。

这个清单再次证明，天才都爱偏科……

Knowledge of Literature – nil.
文学知识——无

Knowledge of Philosophy – nil.
哲学知识——无

Knowledge of Astronomy – nil.
天文学知识——无

Knowledge of Politics – Feeble.
政治学知识——浅薄

Knowledge of Botany – Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.
植物学知识——片面，但对莨蓿制剂和鸦片却非常了解；对毒剂具有一般知识，但对实用园艺一无所知。

Knowledge of Geology – Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks, has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.
地质学知识——限于实用。他一眼就能分辨出不同的土质。散完步，会把裤子上的泥点指给我看，能根据颜色和坚实程度告诉我这是在伦敦什么地方溅上的。

Knowledge of Chemistry – Profound.
化学知识——精深。

Knowledge of Anatomy – Accurate, but unsystematic.
解剖学知识——准确，但无系统。

Knowledge of Sensational Literature – Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.
惊险文学——十分广博，他似乎对近一世纪中发生的一切恐怖事件都深知底细。

Plays the violin well.
小提琴拉得很好。

Is an expert singlestick player, boxer and swordsman.
善用棍棒，精于刀剑拳术。

Has a good practical knowledge of British law.
具有丰富实用的英国法律知识。

语录

言语犀利的福尔摩斯，有数不清的经典语录。

My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don't know.
我的名字是歇洛克·福尔摩斯。知道别人不知道的事是我份内的事。

You see, but you do not observe.
你是在看，不是在观察。

What one man can invent, another can discover.
有人能发明，就有人能看懂。

I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one's self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one's own powers.
我不同意有些人把谦虚列为美德。对逻辑学家来说，一切事物应当是什么样就是什么样，对自己估价过低和夸大自己的才能一样都是违背事实的。

Mediocrity know nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.
一个平庸的人看不到比自己高明的东西，但是一个有才能的人却能立即认出天才。

The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning.
感情作用会影响清醒的逻辑。

Elementary, my dear Watson.
太基础了，我亲爱的华生。

Watson. Come at once if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same.
华生。如方便，速来。如不方便，亦来。

（来源：中国日报网双语新闻微信，编辑：左卓，丁一）