Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 1

Chapter 2 Research on Scarlet Characters 2
According to his agreement, we met the next day and went to see the house in Block B, No. 220, Baker Street, which he had mentioned when we met the day before.The house has two very comfortable bedrooms and a large and airy living room, the interior is pleasing to the eye and bright light is brought into the room by two large windows.The house was very satisfactory in all aspects, and the rent was not expensive when divided, so we sold it on the spot and rented it immediately.I brought my things from the hotel that evening, and Sherlock Holmes brought in his trunks and purses next morning.We spent a day or two separately packing our things and putting them in the right place as best we could.After the arrangement was completed, we gradually began to settle down and get familiar with the new environment.

Holmes is not at all difficult to live with.He was quiet and his life was very regular.He usually went to bed at ten o'clock at night, and always had a quick breakfast and went out every morning before I was up.Sometimes he would spend a whole day in the chemistry laboratory, and sometimes in the dissection room; he would occasionally go on foot to great distances, and what seemed to be the poorest parts of the city.When he is motivated to work, no one can match his exuberant energy and work tirelessly; but every now and then, he will lose interest in work completely, and will lie in the living room all day long. On the sofa, she was almost silent and motionless.Whenever this happens, I always see a confused and trance look in his eyes.If he hadn't lived a temperate life and avoided any vices, I would have doubted whether he was addicted to drugs.

As the weeks passed, my interest and curiosity for him grew.His appearance alone is very eye-catching.Even the least observant of others will notice him.He is more than six feet tall, slender because he is very thin, with a hooked nose and sharp eyes (except when he is confused), which is enough to show his alertness, decisiveness, and penetrating insight.The square and protruding jaw makes people feel that he is strong-willed.When he was doing chemical experiments and fiddling with laboratory instruments, I found that his hands that had been eroded by chemicals were so sensitive and meticulous in their movements.

I admit that I have a strong curiosity about Sherlock Holmes, and I always want to break his silence, but please don't think that I am an incurable meddler, because life is too monotonous and boring for me.My physical condition prevents me from going out often, and I have no friends in the unaccompanied London. What attracts my attention all day is Sherlock Holmes and his secrets. Most of my time is spent on how to expose his secrets. up.

When he answered my question once, he proved Stanford's inference-he was not studying medicine.In my opinion, he did research neither to get a degree nor to enter academia.However, he has amazing work enthusiasm for some fields, and he knows a lot about some strange knowledge, which often surprises people.If a person does not have some purpose, he will not work so hard, and with such a serious attitude.For a person like him who reads everything, it is very difficult to make his knowledge superb. Unless there is a certain goal, no one is willing to spend so much energy on seemingly insignificant things.

In modern literature, philosophy, and politics, his knowledge is startlingly poor.Once I quote Thomas?Carlisle [Note: Thomas?Carlyle, a famous British writer, historian and philosopher. ], he asked me naively who Carlyle was and what he had done.To my great surprise I found out by accident that he was completely ignorant of Copernican theory and the structure of the solar system.It is beyond my belief that there are educated people in this nineteenth century who do not know that the earth revolves around the sun.

"You seem surprised," he said, smiling at my astonishment, "and even if I know it now, I'm going to try to forget it."

"Forget it?!"

"Listen," he explained, "it seems to me that a man's head is like an empty attic in which one has to choose what to furnish. A fool will take all kinds of rags that come his way. It is all put in, and the useful things are either squeezed out, or at most mixed with many other things. Therefore, he finds it very difficult to access. Therefore, a man who is good at work chooses what to put in His head is indeed very careful when going into this little attic. He chooses only those tools that will help him in his work, and will have everything, and put it in order. If you think that the walls of that small room are flexible. If you can expand and contract freely, it is a big mistake. Please believe me, one day, every time you add a new knowledge, you have to forget a certain knowledge you have previously mastered. Therefore, the most important The point is not to let useless knowledge crowd out useful knowledge."

"But that's the solar system theory!" I argued.

"What use is that to me?" he interrupted impatiently. "It doesn't matter to me or my work whether we orbit the sun or the moon."

I was about to ask him what kind of work he did, but from his demeanor it was an unwelcome question.Nevertheless, I turned over this short conversation between us for a long time, trying to draw some inferences from it.Since he is unwilling to master knowledge that is not related to his research, all the knowledge he has must be useful to him.I made a mental note of what he was interested in and what he was not interested in, and wrote it down with a pencil.After reading it, I couldn't help laughing.The contents of the record are as follows:

Sherlock Holmes and his range of scholarship

1 Knowledge of literature - none.

2 Knowledge of Philosophy - None.

3 knowledge of astronomy - none.

4 knowledge of political science - superficial.

5 Botanical knowledge - not comprehensive.

He knew everything about opium and poisonous plants, but nothing about practical horticulture.

6 Knowledge of geology - limited, but useful.

Different soils can be distinguished at a glance.When he came back from a walk he could show me the spots of mud which had been splashed on his trousers, and by their color and hardness tell me where in London they had been splashed.

7 knowledge of chemistry - profound.

8 Knowledge of anatomy - precise, but not systematic.

9 Horror Literature - Broad.

Every horrible event that has occurred in the past century is well known.

10 played the violin very well.

11 Proficient in sticks, boxing and swordsmanship.

12 Can fully understand and fully apply the laws of the United Kingdom.

As I write this, I throw the note into the fire in disappointment.I thought to myself: "Think about all these abilities of his, but still can't find an industry corresponding to his characteristics."

Previously, Holmes had mentioned that he could play the violin.He played the violin very well, but eccentrically, like everything else he had.I knew that he could play some very difficult pieces, because I had asked him to play several Mendelssohn's short songs and pieces that he liked.But when he was alone at home, he couldn't play any decent or familiar tunes.In the evening, he sat in an armchair, closed his eyes slightly, and leisurely played the violin on his lap.The sound of the piano is sometimes low and sometimes melancholy, sometimes high and sometimes cheerful.It can be seen that his thoughts at the time dominated the sound of the piano, but whether the sound of the piano agitated his thoughts, or whether it was his whim, then I cannot judge.Sometimes, I am very annoyed by his harsh solos that are out of tune, but when my annoyance is about to explode, he will always play a few tunes that I like for me to comfort me and make up for it.

For the first week or two, almost no one came to visit us.I thought he was as unaccompanied as I was.But I soon discovered that there were many people who knew him, and they came from all walks of life.

There is a gentleman named Ray Mirad who comes three or four times a week. He has a sallow complexion and a pair of small black eyes.

One morning a young, fashionable girl came and sat for half an hour.

In the afternoon, another old man who looked like a Jewish merchant came, dressed in rags and looking nervous, followed by an old woman in rags.Once he was visited by a gray-haired gentleman, and another by a train waiter in cotton wool.The visitors were often introduced to me by Holmes, especially the gentleman named Remy Red.When people came, Sherlock Holmes always made me take refuge in the bedroom and invite them in the drawing room.Therefore, he often said to me with a guilty face: "I have to work in the living room, because they are all my customers." This time, it is a good opportunity to ask him questions, but I think he must have some reason Keep silent about his profession.Unexpectedly, he soon took the initiative to talk about this topic and dispelled my opinion.

(End of this chapter)