名著阅读

"Well, well, it is surely not quite so bad as that. The cipher message begins with a large 534, does it not? We may take it as a working hypothesis that 534 is the particular page to which the cipher refers. So our book has already become a LARGE book, which is surely something gained. What other indications have we as to the nature of this large book? The next sign is C2. What do you make of that, Watson?"
"Chapter the second, no doubt."
"Hardly that, Watson. You will, I am sure, agree with me that if the page be given, the number of the chapter is immaterial. Also that if page 534 finds us only in the second chapter, the length of the first one must have been really intolerable."
"Column!" I cried.
"Brilliant, Watson. You are scintillating this morning. If it is not column, then I am very much deceived. So now, you see, we begin to visualize a large book printed in double columns which are each of a considerable length, since one of the words is numbered in the document as the two hundred and ninety-third. Have we reached the limits of what reason can supply?"
"I fear that we have."
"Surely you do yourself an injustice. One more coruscation, my dear Watson--yet another brain-wave! Had the volume been an unusual one, he would have sent it to me. Instead of that, he had intended, before his plans were nipped, to send me the clue in this envelope. He says so in his note. This would seem to indicate that the book is one which he thought I would have no difficulty in finding for myself. He had it--and he imagined that I would have it, too. In short, Watson, it is a very common book."
"What you say certainly sounds plausible."
"So we have contracted our field of search to a large book, printed in double columns and in common use."
"The Bible!" I cried triumphantly.
"Good, Watson, good! But not, if I may say so, quite good enough! Even if I accepted the compliment for myself I could hardly name any volume which would be less likely to lie at the elbow of one of Moriarty's associates. Besides, the editions of Holy Writ are so numerous that he could hardly suppose that two copies would have the same pagination. This is clearly a book which is standardized. He knows for certain that his page 534 will exactly agree with my page 534."
"But very few books would correspond with that."
"Exactly. Therein lies our salvation. Our search is narrowed down to standardized books which anyone may be supposed to possess."
"Bradshaw!"
“嗯，嗯，未必完全糟到这个地步。这封密码信，开始是一个大534，不是吗？我们可以假设，534是密码出处的页数。那么我们这本书就是一本很厚的书了。这样我们就多少有所进展了。关于这本厚书的种类，我们有些什么别的可以查明的迹象没有呢？第二个符号是C2，你看它是什么意思呢？华生。”①马基雅维里系意大利政治家兼历史学家。——译者注
“当然是说第二章了。"
“不见得是这样，华生。我相信你会同意我的理由的：既然已经指出了页码，那章数就无关紧要了。再说，假如534页还在第二章，那第一章就一定长得令人吃不消了。”
“代表第几栏！”我喊道。
“高明，华生。今天早晨，你真是才华横溢呀。如果它不是第几栏，那我可就真是误入歧途了。所以现在你看，我们设想有一本很厚的书，每页分两栏排印，每一栏又相当长，因为在这信中，有一个词的标数是二百九十三。现在我们的推理是否到顶了呢？”
“恐怕是到顶了。”
“你太小看自己了，我亲爱的华生。让你的智慧再放一次光芒吧。再动一动脑筋看！如果这本书是一本不常见的书，他一定早已寄给我了。在他的计划遭到挫败以前，他没有把书寄给我，只是打算通过信件把线索告诉我。他在信中是这样说的。这就足以表明，这本书一定是他认为我自己不难找到的。他有这样一本，所以料想我也会有。总之，华生，这是一本很普通的书。”
“你的话听起来确实合情合理。”
“所以我们已经把探讨的范围缩小到一本厚书上了。书分两栏排印，并且是一本常用的书。”
“圣经！"我得意洋洋地大声说道。
“好，华生，好！可是，如果你不见怪的话，还不够十分好。即使我接受对我的赞扬，我也不会列举出一个莫里亚蒂党徒手边不大会有的书来。此外，《圣经》的版本那么多，很难设想两个版本页码都相同。这本书显然是版本统一的书。他知道他书上的534页肯定和我书上的534页完全相同。”
“可是符合这种条件的书却很少呢。”
“一点也不错，我们的出路恰恰就在这里。我们的查找范围又缩小到版本统一而又人人都会有的一本书了。”
“肖伯纳的著作！”
“华生，这还是有问题的。肖伯纳的文字洗炼而简洁，但词汇量有限。其词汇很难选择用来传递普通消息。我们还是把肖伯纳的著作排除吧。由于同样的理由，我看字典也不适合。那么还有什么书籍呢？”

背景阅读

作者简介：

亚瑟·柯南·道尔（1859——1930）英国杰出的侦探小说家、剧作家。生于苏格兰爱丁堡，父亲是一位政府建工部的公务员。柯南·道尔自幼喜欢文学，中学时任校刊主编。毕业于爱丁堡医科大学，行医10余年，收入仅能维持生活。后专写侦探小说。《血字的研究》几经退稿才发表，以《四签名》闻名于世。1891年弃医从文，遂成侦探小说家。代表作有《波西米亚丑闻》《红发会》、《五个橘核》等。1894年决定停止写侦探小说，在《最后一案》中让福尔摩斯在激流中死去。不料广大读者对此极端愤慨，提出抗议。柯南道尔只得在《空屋》中让福尔摩斯死里逃生，又写出《巴斯克维尔的猎犬》、《恐怖谷》等侦探小说。塑造的福尔摩斯已成为世界上家喻户晓的人物。就连福尔摩斯的办公地点——伦敦贝克街221号B也成了旅游景点。

导言：

伯尔斯通庄园的主人不幸惨遭杀害，死状奇惨无比，头颅几乎被枪击得粉碎，四周血肉模糊，惨不忍睹！尸体旁边留有卡片，上面潦草地写着“V.V.341”的字样。这令案子更为扑朔迷离：这张卡片难道是凶手留下来的吗？它代表什么意义？“恐怖谷”曾令道格拉斯惴惴不安。“恐怖谷”究竟是个怎样的地方？道格拉斯的死与“恐怖谷 ”又有什么关系？
福尔摩斯，侦探的代名词；没有他，就没有侦探文学和侦探文化——新星出版社倾力打造《福尔摩斯探案全集（图注本）》，根据公认最权威英译本重新翻译，配以五百幅原版配图、两千余条专业学者注释、五十余篇延伸阅读、六十篇注释笔记，为中国福迷铸就世界上最权威、最经典的福尔摩斯探案全录。
阿瑟·柯南·道尔（Arthur Conan Doyle，1859—1930），英国著名侦探小说家、剧作家，现代侦探小说的奠基人之一，被誉为“英国侦探小说之父”。