名著阅读

Sherlock Holmes's eyes glistened, his pale cheeks took a warmer hue, and his whole eager face shone with an inward light when the call for work reached him. Leaning forward in the cab, he listened intently to MacDonald's short sketch of the problem which awaited us in Sussex. The inspector was himself dependent, as he explained to us, upon a scribbled account forwarded to him by the milk train in the early hours of the morning. White Mason, the local officer, was a personal friend, and hence MacDonald had been notified much more promptly than is usual at Scotland Yard when provincials need their assistance. It is a very cold scent upon which the Metropolitan expert is generally asked to run. "DEAR INSPECTOR MACDONALD (said the letter which he read to us): "Official requisition for your services is in separate envelope. This is for your private eye. Wire me what train in the morning you can get for Birlstone, and I will meet it--or have it met if I am too occupied. This case is a snorter. Don't waste a moment in getting started. If you can bring Mr. Holmes, please do so; for he will find something after his own heart. We would think the whole had been fixed up for theatrical effect if there wasn't a dead man in the middle of it. My word! it IS a snorter."
"Your friend seems to be no fool," remarked Holmes.
"No, sir, White Mason is a very live man, if I am any judge."
"Well, have you anything more?"
"Only that he will give us every detail when we meet."
"Then how did you get at Mr. Douglas and the fact that he had been horribly murdered?"
"That was in the inclosed official report. It didn't say 'horrible': that's not a recognized official term. It gave the name John Douglas. It mentioned that his injuries had been in the head, from the discharge of a shotgun. It also mentioned the hour of the alarm, which was close on to midnight last night. It added that the case was undoubtedly one of murder, but that no arrest had been made, and that the case was one which presented some very perplexing and extraordinary features. That's absolutely all we have at present, Mr. Holmes."
"Then, with your permission, we will leave it at that, Mr. Mac. The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession. I can see only two things for certain at present--a great brain in London, and a dead man in Sussex. It's the chain between that we are going to trace."
歇洛克·福尔摩斯遇到了要求他解决的案子，他的两眼炯炯传神，苍白的双颊微现红晕，急于求成的面庞神采奕奕。他坐在车上，上身前倾，聚精会神地倾听麦克唐纳讲述这个案子的简要情况。这个案子正等待着我们到苏塞克斯去解决呢。警官向我们解释说，他是根据送给他的一份草草写成的报告讲的，这份报告是清晨通过送牛奶的火车带给他的。地方官怀特·梅森是他的好朋友，在别处的人需要他们帮忙的时候，麦克唐纳总是比苏格兰场收到通知要快得多。这是一桩无从下手的案子，这样的案子一般需要由大城市的专家去解决的。“亲爱的麦克唐纳警官（他念给我们的信上这样说）：这信是写给你个人的，另有公文送到警署。请打电报通知我，你坐早晨哪一班车到伯尔斯通来，以便我去迎候。如果我不能脱身，也将派人去接。这个案件不比寻常。请你火速前来，不要耽误一点时间。如果你能和福尔摩斯先生一起来，务请同行。他会发现一些完全合他心意的事。如果不是其中有一个死人，我们就会以为全部案子是戏剧性地解决了呢。哎呀，这真是个不寻常的案子啊！”
“你的朋友似乎并不愚蠢，"福尔摩斯说道。
“对，先生，如果让我评价的话，怀特·梅森是一个精力非常充沛的人。”
“好，你还有什么别的话要说吗？”
“咱们遇到他时，他会把一切详情告诉咱们的。”
“那么，你是怎么知道道格拉斯先生和他惨遭杀害的事实的？”
“那是随信附来的正式报告上说的。报告上没有用那'惨遭'二字，这不是一个公认的正式术语，只是说死者叫约翰·道格拉斯，提到他伤在头部，是被火枪射中的；还提到案发的时间是昨晚接近午夜时分；还说这案件无疑是一桩谋杀案，不过还没有对任何人实行拘捕。此案案件具有非常复杂和分外离奇的持点。福尔摩斯先生，这就是当前我们所知道的全部情况。”
“那么，麦克先生，你如果赞成，我们就谈到这里。根据不足过早做出判断，这对咱们的工作是极为有害的。当前我只能肯定两件事——伦敦的一个大智囊和苏塞克斯的死者。我们所要查清的正是这两者之间的联系。”

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”。