Sherlock Holmes has appeared in books， stories， films， TV series， cartoons， radio and stage. He is one of the most famous characters in literature， and has made his creator， Sir Arthur Conan Doyle， immortal. Small wonder， then， that many myths have grown up around the famous detective.

夏洛克·福爾摩斯在各種書籍、小說、電影、電視劇、動畫片、廣播劇以及舞臺上頻頻出現(xiàn)，可謂最著名的文學(xué)形象之一，其創(chuàng)作者柯南·道爾也因為他而流芳百世。這樣看來，圍繞這位名偵探產(chǎn)生了許多真真假假的傳言也不足為奇。

Myth 1: In Conan Doyle's stories， whenever Watson was baffled1) by a mystery， Sherlock Holmes would work out the solution with ease， and claim that it was \"Elementary， my dear Watson\".

False. Holmes never used this phrase in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. However， many films and television versions of Sherlock Holmes stories have used this catchphrase2). It is unclear where the phrase originated， but it certainly caught the public imagination! The actor， Basil Rathbone， who played Sherlock Holmes on film， used this expression many times.

Myth 2: Sherlock Holmes always wore an inverness3) cape4) and a deerstalker hat.

False. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories never describe this. However， Sidney Paget， the original illustrator of the Sherlock Holmes stories which appeared in The Strand Magazine， was fond of wearing a deerstalker hat， and in some of his illustrations， he depicted Holmes as wearing one. The idea caught on5)， and we consider that no production of Sherlock Holmes nowadays would be complete without the great detective's famous deerstalker hat and cape!

Myth 3: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sometimes turned detective and solved mysteries himself.

True. By applying Sherlock Holmes' methods of deduction6)， Conan Doyle was able to correct some miscarriages7) of justice. He saved George Edalji8)， who had been blamed for slashing9) horses and cows， and Oscar Slater， who had been wrongly convicted of murdering his landlady.

Myth 4: Arthur Conan Doyle himself didn't like his creation， Sherlock Holmes.

To a large extent， this is true. Conan Doyle also wrote a great deal of other books including science fiction， historical novels and non-fiction. He wanted to be known as a great literary writer， and felt that the public's craving for more and more Sherlock Holmes stories was overshadowing his other work. In 1893， Conan Doyle famously \"killed off\" Sherlock Holmes， sparking a public outcry10). It was to be ten years before he weakened and brought the famous detective back from the dead.

Myth 5: 221B， Baker Street， Sherlock Holmes' famous house， is real—and tourists who visit London can take a tour of the premises11)!

Both true and 1. When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote his stories， he ensured that there was no such number as 221B， Baker Street—thus deliberately giving Sherlock Holmes a fictional address. However， nowadays there is a museum at the site. Visitors to London can enjoy this reconstruction of Holmes and Watson's rooms， complete with12) items such as Holmes' chemistry set and Watson's medical instruments. They should also pause to admire the many wax13) reconstructions of famous characters and moments from the Holmes stories. For souvenir hunters， all sorts of Sherlock Holmes-related items are available， including books， videos， pipes and hats!

Myth 6: British spies are trained in Sherlock Holmes deduction.

It's true to some extent. In the wake of14) intelligence breakdowns in MI515) and MI616) leading up to the Iraq war， the UK's Cabinet Office began sending officers in those secret service agencies， as well as civil servants involved in intelligence， off to King's College， London， to study deductive thinking. According to the Daily Mail， case studies are said to include the Sherlock Holmes short story A Scandal in Bohemia along with an assortment of real-life examples.

傳言1：在柯南·道爾的小說中，每當(dāng)華生被一個謎題難住時，夏洛克·福爾摩斯總會輕松破解，然后說上一句“這是小兒科，我親愛的華生”。

此言差矣。在柯南·道爾筆下，福爾摩斯從未這樣說過?？墒牵谠S多福爾摩斯電影和電視劇中，這卻成了一句經(jīng)典臺詞。這句話出處不詳，但它無疑激發(fā)了大眾的興趣！在電影中扮演過福爾摩斯的演員巴茲爾·拉思伯恩就曾多次說過這句臺詞。

傳言2：福爾摩斯總是身穿一件無袖長披風(fēng)，頭戴一頂獵鹿帽。

并非如此。柯南·道爾從未在小說中做過這樣的描述。但是，當(dāng)福爾摩斯的故事發(fā)表在《海濱雜志》上時，最先為該故事畫插圖的插畫家西德尼·佩吉特本人喜歡戴獵鹿帽，因此他就在某些插畫中給福爾摩斯也戴了這么一頂帽子。他的這種創(chuàng)意廣受歡迎，以至于我們都覺得這位大偵探若是沒有這標(biāo)志性的獵鹿帽和長披風(fēng)，他在今天任何作品中的形象都不完整。

傳言3：柯南·道爾有時會變身為偵探，親自破解一些謎案。

千真萬確。通過福爾摩斯式的推理判斷，柯南·道爾曾糾正過一些被誤判的案件。他救了被控虐打牛和馬的喬治·埃達吉和被誤判謀殺女房東的奧斯卡·斯萊特。

傳言4：柯南·道爾并不喜歡自己創(chuàng)作的福爾摩斯這個人物。

在很大程度上，是這樣的。柯南·道爾還創(chuàng)作過大量其他文學(xué)作品，包括科幻小說、歷史小說和紀(jì)實文學(xué)。他希望自己被人們視作一位偉大的文學(xué)家，但卻感到公眾對福爾摩斯故事的不斷渴求掩蓋了他其他作品的光芒。1893年，柯南道爾在書中“殺死”了福爾摩斯，此舉轟動一時，激起了讀者的強烈抗議。直到十年后，他才態(tài)度松動，讓這位名偵探起死回生。

傳言5：夏洛克·福爾摩斯大名鼎鼎的住所貝克街221號B是真實存在的，來到倫敦的游客都可以到此一游。

半真半假?？履稀さ罓栐趯懜柲λ构适碌臅r候，曾確認(rèn)過貝克街221號B并不存在，于是就特意為福爾摩斯安排了這樣一個虛構(gòu)的住址。但是，如今在這個地址卻有一座博物館。到倫敦旅游的游客可以來此參觀，這里再現(xiàn)了福爾摩斯和華生的住所，里面還有諸如福爾摩斯的化學(xué)實驗裝置和華生的醫(yī)療器械之類的物品。這里還有許多蠟像，再現(xiàn)了福爾摩斯故事中的著名人物和場景，游客可以駐足觀賞。對于那些熱衷于購買紀(jì)念品的人們而言，在這里可以買到形形色色的與福爾摩斯相關(guān)的商品，包括書籍、錄像、煙斗和帽子。

傳言6：英國間諜要接受福爾摩斯式的演繹推理訓(xùn)練。

有一定的真實性。由于伊拉克戰(zhàn)爭爆發(fā)之前英國軍情五處和軍情六局的情報工作出現(xiàn)失誤，英國內(nèi)閣隨后開始將情報機構(gòu)的工作人員和做情報相關(guān)工作的政府公務(wù)員送到倫敦的國王學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)演繹推理。據(jù)《每日郵報》報道，課堂上研究的案例中據(jù)說有一些出自福爾摩斯的故事《波西米亞丑聞》，還包括現(xiàn)實中各色各樣的案例。

1.baffle [?b?fl] vt. 使困惑，難住

2.catchphrase [?k?t?fre?z] n. 時行的話

3.inverness [??nv??nes] n. (披肩可脫卸的)無袖長披風(fēng)

4.cape [ke?p] n. 斗篷，披肩

5.catch on: <口>流行起來；受(人)歡迎

6.deduction [d??d?k?n] n. 演繹，推論

7.miscarriage [?m?sk?r?d?] n. 處理不當(dāng)(尤指案件的誤判或?qū)徖聿还?

8.George Edalji: 喬治·埃達吉(1876～1953)，英國的一位律師。1903年，他被卷入毆打牛和馬事件，被判七年苦役。1907年，柯南·道爾花了八個月的時間用福爾摩斯的推理方式進行推理，證明了喬治的清白。

9.slash [sl??] vt. <古>鞭打

10.outcry [?a?tkra?] n. 強烈抗議(或反對)

11.premises [?prem?s?z] n. (企業(yè)、機構(gòu)等使用的)房屋連地基

12.complete with: 有，具有

13.wax [w?ks] n. 臘

14.in the wake of: 隨著……而來

15.MI5: 英國安全局，又稱為軍情五處。

16.MI6: 英國陸軍情報六局，簡稱軍情六局，又稱秘密情報局。