晨塵

How Sherlock Holmes Changed the World

By Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

英國(guó)廣播公司出品的《神探夏洛克》無(wú)疑是當(dāng)今最熱門(mén)的電視劇之一，受到世界各地?zé)o數(shù)粉絲的熱烈追捧。自第一則福爾摩斯故事出版至今已經(jīng)120多年，而福爾摩斯熱卻一直沒(méi)消退過(guò)，無(wú)數(shù)改編的影視作品不斷出現(xiàn)，一代又一代的粉絲前仆后繼。那么這其中的魔力究竟是什么呢？

1. 1893年，作家阿瑟·柯南·道爾把偵探夏洛克·福爾摩斯“推下”了懸崖。shove： 猛推。這里指的是柯南·道爾在《最后一案》（“The Final Problem”）中讓福爾摩斯和死敵莫里亞蒂教授一同跌入深淵，以結(jié)束福爾摩斯的故事。

2. fictionally： 虛構(gòu)地，杜撰地；Switzerland： 瑞士；Reichenbach Fall： 萊辛巴赫瀑布。

3.“懷著沉重的心情，我拿起筆寫(xiě)下這結(jié)局，這是我最后一次書(shū)寫(xiě)我的朋友夏洛克·福爾摩斯先生那非凡的天賦，這讓他成為了如此杰出的人物，”在柯南·道爾的《最后一案》中，敘事人約翰·華生如是說(shuō)。這個(gè)故事于1893年12月被登載在《海濱雜志》上。singular： 突出的，非凡的；distinguished： 杰出的，卓越的。

4. 你可以想象柯南·道爾后梳的頭發(fā)在燭光中微微發(fā)光，他欣喜地捻著他濃密的胡子。slicked-back： 后梳式的；shimmer： 閃爍，發(fā)微光；twirl： 捻弄，卷曲；ample： 豐富的，充足的；glee： 快樂(lè)，歡喜。

5. “我寫(xiě)這個(gè)角色過(guò)多了，感覺(jué)就像有次我吃太多鵝肝醬而吃傷了一樣，時(shí)至今日我聽(tīng)到‘鵝肝醬三個(gè)字都感到反胃?！眔verdose： 過(guò)量；paté de foie gras： 鵝肝醬。

6. 當(dāng)決定停止出版夏洛克故事時(shí)，柯南·道爾可能想這樣結(jié)束就結(jié)束了吧。in print： 已印出，已出版。

7. 公眾對(duì)于夏洛克之死的反應(yīng)在小說(shuō)史上是前所未見(jiàn)的。

8. 多達(dá)兩萬(wàn)多名《海濱雜志》的讀者被福爾摩斯的早亡所激怒，并取消了雜志訂閱。outrage： 引起……的義憤，激怒；premature： 提早的，過(guò)早的；demise： 死亡。

9. dreadful： 可怕的，糟糕的。

10. 有傳言說(shuō)在福爾摩斯去世當(dāng)月，倫敦隨處可見(jiàn)年輕人在帽子或手臂上佩戴黑紗以示哀悼，盡管這一傳言最近受到了質(zhì)疑。mourning： 哀悼；crêpe： 縐紗，縐綢。

11. brute： 畜生，殘暴的人。

12. 面對(duì)這些抗議，柯南·道爾依然堅(jiān)持己見(jiàn)，聲稱(chēng)讓福爾摩斯死去是“正當(dāng)殺人”——當(dāng)然，這應(yīng)該是為他自己的辯護(hù)，而非莫里亞蒂教授。stick to ones guns： 堅(jiān)持己見(jiàn)；justifiable： 正當(dāng)?shù)?，情有可原的；homicide： 殺人行為，殺人犯；presumably： 可能，大概；justification： 辯解，正當(dāng)理由。

13. a/the torrent of： 大量，許多（尤指令人不快的東西）；vitriol： 刻薄話(huà)，尖銳批評(píng)。

14. fanatic：（政治或宗教的）狂熱信徒；enthusiast： 熱衷者，愛(ài)好者。

15. conform to： 符合，遵照。

16. reciprocal： 相互的，互惠的。

17. frenzy： 狂熱，瘋狂。

18. 夏洛克·福爾摩斯狂熱的讀者創(chuàng)造了現(xiàn)代的追星行為。avid： 熱衷的，熱心的； fandom： 電視迷，影迷。

19. 有趣的是，福爾摩斯熱延續(xù)至今，催生了無(wú)數(shù)再創(chuàng)作的虛構(gòu)作品，比如美國(guó)的破案連續(xù)劇《基本演繹法》和英國(guó)廣播公司的《神探夏洛克》，后者在元旦當(dāng)天推出萬(wàn)眾期待的特輯，現(xiàn)代版的夏洛克和華生穿越回到維多利亞時(shí)期。spawn： 引起，大量產(chǎn)生。

20. novelette： 短篇小說(shuō)；A Study in Scarlet： 《血字的研究》。

21. 福爾摩斯一經(jīng)推出就大受歡迎，以至于不久柯南·道爾便后悔創(chuàng)造了這個(gè)人物，因?yàn)楦柲λ剐≌f(shuō)使得柯南·道爾心目中的嚴(yán)肅作品完全黯然失色，比如他的歷史小說(shuō)《彌迦書(shū)·克拉克》。overshadow： 使失色，使相形見(jiàn)絀。

22. newsstand： 報(bào)紙攤，報(bào)刊亭。

23. Queen Victoria： 維多利亞女王（1819—1901），是英國(guó)歷史上在位時(shí)間第二長(zhǎng)的君主，她在位的64年期間（1837—1901）是英國(guó)最強(qiáng)盛的“日不落帝國(guó)”時(shí)期。

24. Sir Walter Scott： 沃爾特·司各特爵士，英國(guó)著名的歷史小說(shuō)家和詩(shī)人。他以蘇格蘭背景詩(shī)歌而聞名，但拜倫出現(xiàn)后，他意識(shí)到無(wú)法超越，因此開(kāi)始創(chuàng)作歷史小說(shuō)，并成為英國(guó)歷史文學(xué)的一代鼻祖。

25. 他堅(jiān)持8年不寫(xiě)福爾摩斯的故事，但到了1901年，公眾壓力實(shí)在太大，以至于柯南·道爾又寫(xiě)了一則新故事《巴斯克維爾的獵犬》，講述福爾摩斯跌落山崖前的事情。feature： 特寫(xiě)，以……為主要內(nèi)容。

26. 1903年，他又寫(xiě)了一篇《空屋》，小說(shuō)里福爾摩斯復(fù)活了，并解釋說(shuō)當(dāng)時(shí)只有莫里亞蒂在跌落山崖后死掉了，而福爾摩斯只是裝死。resurrect： 使復(fù)活。

27. rejoice： 歡喜，感到高興。

28. obsessive： 著迷的，沉迷的。

29. 即便如此，英國(guó)廣播公司的《神探夏洛克》電視劇一時(shí)間便激起了福爾摩斯影迷們的激情與狂熱。stoke： 添加燃料，燒火；strand：（線(xiàn)、繩的）股，縷。

30. 本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇飾演現(xiàn)代版福爾摩斯，該劇粉絲經(jīng)常光顧夏洛克和華生（馬丁·弗瑞曼飾演）喜歡去的那家三明治店——“史皮迪斯咖啡屋”。frequent： v. 經(jīng)常去。

31. 有時(shí)候，制片人會(huì)創(chuàng)造一些場(chǎng)景以投粉絲所好，比如在一部三集電視連續(xù)劇中，第一集整集就建立在粉絲關(guān)于夏洛克假死的想象上，這也是對(duì)《空屋》的再現(xiàn)。wink at： 使眼色；episode：（電視劇或廣播劇的）一集。

32. 值得注意的是，夏洛克·福爾摩斯的粉絲沉迷于這個(gè)虛構(gòu)的偵探故事長(zhǎng)達(dá)120多年，中間經(jīng)過(guò)許許多多的改編。histrionics：（用作單數(shù)）戲劇表演，演戲；adaptation： 改編。

33. thereafter： 在那之后，此后。

34. onwards： 從……以后；draw a line from： 模擬，模仿。

35. Agatha Christie： 阿加莎·克里斯蒂（1890—1976），英國(guó)著名女偵探小說(shuō)家、劇作家；explicitly： 清楚地，明白地；Poirot： 赫爾克里·波洛，是克里斯蒂筆下著名的偵探人物，和下句中的黑斯廷斯上尉（Captain Hastings）是好友和搭檔；as opposed to： 與……相反的。

36. imperishable： 不滅的，不朽的。

37. 縱觀現(xiàn)在電視上出現(xiàn)的各種英雄人物，大體上都采用福爾摩斯的那種模式——智力超群卻又存在性格缺陷。landscape： 全貌；play on： 對(duì)……加以利用；formula： 方法，方案。

38. 我想道爾開(kāi)啟了這樣一種認(rèn)識(shí)：超級(jí)天才總是以某種社會(huì)功能的缺失為代價(jià)，就算是在偵探之外的領(lǐng)域也是如此，之后人們便將這種思路看成一種敘事可能。dysfunction： 機(jī)能障礙；grasp： 理解，領(lǐng)會(huì)。

39. see to it： 保證，務(wù)必做到。

In 1893， author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle shoved detective Sherlock Holmes off a cliff.1 The cliff was fictionally located in Switzerland， over the Reichenbach Falls.2 But Conan Doyle did the dirty work from his home in London where he wrote. “It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was distinguished，” narrator Dr. John Watson says in Conan Doyles story “The Final Problem”， which appeared in The Strand Magazine in December 1893.3

Conan Doyle himself seemed a little less emotional in private. “Killed Holmes，” he wrote in his diary. One can imagine Conan Doyle， slicked-back hair shimmering in the candlelight， twirling his ample mustache with glee.4 He later said of his famous character： “I have had such an overdose of him that I feel towards him as I do towards paté de foie gras， of which I once ate too much， so that the name of it gives me a sickly feeling to this day.”5

Conan Doyle may have thought， at the time of finishing Holmes off in print， that that was that.6 If he did think this， he did not understand fans—particularly fans of Holmes—very well. The public reaction to the death was unlike anything previously seen for fictional events.7 More than 20，000 The Strand readers cancelled their subscriptions， outraged by Holmes premature demise.8 The magazine barely survived. Its staff referred to Holmes death as “the dreadful9 event”.

Legend has it that young men throughout London wore black mourning crêpes on their hats or around their arms for the month of Holmes death， though that has recently been questioned.10 Outraged readers wrote to the magazine in protest： “You brute11！” one letter addressed to Conan Doyle began. Americans started “Lets Keep Holmes Alive” clubs. Conan Doyle stuck to his guns in the face of the protests， calling the death “justifiable homicide”—referring， presumably， to his own justifications， not Moriartys.12

This sounds， of course， like just another day on the internet in 2015. But at the time， Conan Doyle had every reason to be shocked by the torrent of vitriol.13 Fans simply did not do this before then. （In fact， they werent even called “fans” yet. The term， short for “fanatic”， had only recently begun use in reference to American baseball enthusiasts.）14 Readers typically accepted what went on in their favourite books， then moved on. Now they were beginning to take their popular culture personally， and to expect their favourite works to conform to15 certain expectations. They seemed to actually expect a reciprocal16 relationship with the works they loved.

Fan frenzy17

Sherlock Holmes avid readers helped to create the very modern practice of fandom.18 Interestingly enough， Holmes intense following continues to this day， spawning endless reimaginings， such as the US crime-solving series Elementary and the BBCs Sherlock， which returned with a highly-anticipated special on New Years Day， its modern-day Sherlock and Watson returning to Victorian times.19

Holmes first appeared in 1887， in the novelette A Study in Scarlet.20 He was popular from the start—so popular that soon Conan Doyle began to regret having created him， since Holmes stories so completely overshadowed what Conan Doyle considered his serious work， such as his historical novel Micah Clarke.21 Readers lined up at newsstands22 for The Strand on publication day whenever a new Holmes story was to appear inside. Because of Holmes， Conan Doyle was， one historian wrote， “as well-known as Queen Victoria23”.

The demand for Holmes stories seemed endless. The Strand would pay Conan Doyle nicely for whatever he could give them. But he hadnt meant to spend the rest of his life inventing and solving fictional crimes. Hed meant to make some money to support his real art， novels full of what he felt were important ideas and political statements.

By 1893， when Conan Doyle was 34， hed had enough. He wanted to be Sir Walter Scott24. So he had the evil Professor Moriarty push Holmes down the falls. It took eight years， but by 1901， however， public pressure grew so great that Conan Doyle wrote a new story， The Hound of the Baskervilles， featuring Holmes before his fall.25 In 1903， in The Adventure of the Empty House， he went one step further， resurrecting Holmes with the explanation that only Moriarty had died in the fall， while Holmes had faked his own death.26 Fans rejoiced27.

Life after death

Holmes fans have only grown more obsessive28 since then. The only difference is that now were used to super-fandom. Even so， the BBC series Sherlock， in particular， has stoked the most passionate strand of Holmes fandom in some time.29 Fans of the show， which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a modern-day Holmes， frequent the London sandwich shop favoured by Sherlock and his Watson （Martin Freeman）， Speedys Café.30

As a TV show， Sherlock has maintained a complicated relationship with its fans. Sometimes the producers throw in a scene to wink at fans—or in the first episode of series three， an entire episode built out of fan theories about how Sherlock faked his own death， also a callout to The Adventure of the Empty House.31

Of course， Sherlocks ability to cause such intense emotion among its fans is only an indication of how much they love it. Whats remarkable is that Sherlock Holmes fans have been engaging in such histrionics over the fictional detective for more than 120 years， through many， many adaptations.32

Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss， who also plays the detectives brother Mycroft， points out that Holmes is one of the original fictional detectives—most other crime-solvers created thereafter33 were copies of him or a direct reaction to him： “Everything onwards is people drawing a line from Sherlock and Doctor Watson.34 Agatha Christie does it explicitly and makes Poirot short and round as opposed to tall and lean.35 He needs a Watson， so she creates Captain Hastings. Everywhere you go， this is the model. Thats why its imperishable36 I think.”

Just look at the landscape of current TV heroes， many of which play on Holmess brilliant-but-damaged formula.37 “Even outside the world of detection， I think Doyle began the idea that super-intelligence comes at the price of some kind of social dysfunction， something that weve grasped as a narrative possibility ever since，”38 Steven Moffat， the shows co-creator， has said. “Hes a genius， therefore hes a bit strange. I dont know how often that happens in real life， but it happens a lot in fiction.”

In other words， pushing Sherlock Holmes off a cliff has no chance of killing him. Hell always come back， in this lifetime and the next. The fans will see to it39.