福尔摩斯探案全集 九

contentspreface                                                                               the adventure of the illustrious client                                   the adventure of the blanched soldier                                  the adventure of the mazarin stone                                      the adventure of the three gables                                        the adventure of the sussex vampire                                    the adventure of the three garridebs                                    the problem of thor bridge                                                 the adventure of the creeping man                                      the adventure of the lion’s mane                                         the adventure of the veiled lodger                                      the adventure of shoscombe old place                                 the adventure of the retired colourman  prefacei fear that mr. sherlock holmes may becomelike one of those popular tenors who, having outlived their time, are stilltempted to make repeated farewell bows to their indulgent audiences. this mustcease and he must go the way of all flesh, material or imaginary. one likes tothink that there is some fantastic limbo for the children of imagination, somestrange, impossible place where the beaux of fielding may still make love tothe belles of richardson, where scott’s heroes still may strut, dickens’sdelightful cockneys still raise a laugh, and thackeray’s worldlings continue tocarry on their reprehensible careers. perhaps in some humble corner of such avalhalla, sherlock and his watson may for a time find a place, while some moreastute sleuth with some even less astute comrade may fill the stage which theyhave vacated.his career has been a long one—though it ispossible to exaggerate it; decrepit gentlemen who approach me and declare thathis adventures formed the reading of their boyhood do not meet the responsefrom me which they seem to expect. one is not anxious to have one’s personaldates handled so unkindly. as a matter of cold fact, holmes made his début in astudy in scarlet and in the sign of four, two small booklets which appearedbetween 1887 and 1889. it was in 1891 that “a scandal in bohemia,” the first ofthe long series of short stories, appeared in the strand magazine. the publicseemed appreciative and desirous of more, so that from that date, thirty-nineyears ago, they have been produced in a broken series which now contains nofewer than fifty-six stories, republished in the adventures, the memoirs, thereturn, and his last bow. and there remain these twelve published during thelast few years which are here produced under the title of the case-book ofsherlock holmes. he began his adventures in the very heart of the latervictorian era, carried it through the all-too-short reign of edward, and hasmanaged to hold his own little niche even in these feverish days. thus it wouldbe true to say that those who first read of him, as young men, have lived tosee their own grown-up children following the same adventures in the samemagazine. it is a striking example of the patience and loyalty of the britishpublic.i had fully determined at the conclusion ofthe memoirs to bring holmes to an end, as i felt that my literary energiesshould not be directed too much into one channel. that pale, clear-cut face andloose-limbed figure were taking up an undue share of my imagination. i did thedeed, but fortunately no coroner had pronounced upon the remains, and so, aftera long interval, it was not difficult for me to respond to the flatteringdemand and to explain my rash act away. i have never regretted it, for i havenot in actual practice found that these lighter sketches have prevented me fromexploring and finding my limitations in such varied branches of literature ashistory, poetry, historical novels, psychic research, and the drama. had holmesnever existed i could not have done more, though he may perhaps have stood alittle in the way of the recognition of my more serious literary work.and so, reader, farewell to sherlock holmes!i thank you for your past constancy, and can but hope that some return has beenmade in the shape of that distraction from the worries of life and stimulatingchange of thought which can only be found in the fairy kingdom of romance.arthur conan doyle.