我們一想起偵探,第一個想到的就是夏洛克·福爾摩斯。甚至在距離關于他的第一個故事已一百多年的今天,他仍然是我們心中偉大的偵探。游客們?nèi)匀粫絺惗氐呢惪私秩タ此墓?。有很多關于他的電影和圖片——我們都知道他的樣子,知道他穿什么衣服。
When we think of a detective, we think first of Sherlock Holmes. Even now, more than a hundred years after the first story about him, he is still the greatest detective of all. Tourists still go to Baker Street, in London, to see the place where he had his flat. There are films about him, pictures of him — we all know what he looked like, we all know what kind of clothes he wore.
但是他從來就沒存在過。他的故事僅僅是故事而已,那么我們?yōu)槭裁从涀∷四?
And yet he never existed. The stories about him are just stories. So, why do we remember him?
因為他喜歡抓罪犯。夏洛克·福爾摩斯追蹤罪犯就像獵人追蹤狐貍一樣。他像獵犬和警犬一樣,鼻子貼在地上——追蹤罪犯到世界的盡頭。罪犯可能試圖藏匿——但只要夏洛克·福爾摩斯開始追蹤,我們就知道他終會成功。
It is because he loves catching criminals. Sherlock Holmes chases the criminal as a hunter chases a fox. He is a bloodhound, a police dog, with his nose to the ground following the criminal to the end of the world. The criminal may try to hide — but when Sherlock Holmes has started the chase, we know that he will finish it with a 'kill'.