福尔摩斯探案故事情节曲折、引人入胜。《血字研究》、《四签名》、《巴斯克维尔庄园的猎犬》以及《恐怖谷》是《福尔摩斯全集》中最著名的四个故事。这四个故事短小精悍、难度适中，极适合中等程度的英语学习者使用。为方便读者学习，我们对书中出现的含义晦涩的英语单词及个别难句作了简要注释，力求使其成为既能引起读者阅读兴趣，又有助于读者英语学习的优秀读物。

伦敦郊区一处废弃的公寓里发现了一具骇人的尸体，死者是一个中年美国男子，其面目狰狞可怖，四肢扭曲纠结。满是泥灰的斑驳墙壁上，留下了用血写就的“RACHE”。福尔摩斯拿着放大镜，寻找着凶手留下来的蛛丝马迹。他专注而沉着地凝视着墙上的血字，巧设陷阱引蛇出洞，却招来了一个出乎意外的访客……让我们随福尔摩斯一同去剥开那个扣人心弦的爱与复仇的故事。

    PART Ⅰ: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscence

       of John H. Watson, M.D. , Late of th

      Army Medical Department

Chapter 1 Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 2 The Science of Deduction

Chapter 3 The Lauriston Garden Mystery

Chapter 4 What John Rance Had to Tell

Chapter 5 Our Advertisement Brings a Visitor

Chapter 6 Tobias Gregson Shows What He Can Do

Chapter 7 Light in the Darkness

    PART Ⅱ: The Country of the Saints

Chapter 1 On the Great Alkali Plain

Chapter 2 The Flower Of Utah

Chapter 3 John Ferrier Talks with the Prophet

Chapter 4 A Flight for Life

Chapter 5 The Avenging Angels

Chapter 6 A Continuation of the Reminiscences of John Watson, M.D. 

Chapter 7 The Conclusion

He was not studying medicine. He had himself, in reply to a question, confirmed Stamford's opinion upon that point. Neither did he appear to have pursued any course of reading which might fit him for a degree in science or any other recognized portal which would give him an entrance into the learned world. Yet his zeal~ for certain studies was remarkable, and within eccentric limits his knowledge was so extraordinarily ample and minute that his observations have fairly astounded me. Surely no man would work so hard or attain such precise information unless he had some definite end in view. Desultory readers are seldom remarkable for the exactness of their learning. No man burdens his mind with small matters unless he has some very good reason for doing so.

His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing. Upon my quoting Thomas Carlyle, he inquired in the naivest way who he might be and what he had done. My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System. That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to me to be such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.

"You appear to be astonished," he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. "Now that I do know it I shall do my best to forget it. "

"To forget it !"

"You see," he explained, "I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up~ with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones. "

"But the Solar System!" I protested.

"What the deuce is it to me?" he interrupted impatiently : "you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth ofdifference to me or to my work."

P20-22

英语学习是一个积累的过程，在这个过程中，大量的阅读至关重要，而英语原著无疑是最好的阅读材料。通过阅读英语原著，英语学习者能够巩固和增加词汇量，积累足够的句式，吸收、内化语言规律，从而能够用英语自由流畅地进行表达，还可获取文化背景方面的知识。

阅读英语文学原著既有益又有趣。但很多人在阅读过程中都会遇到一个难题：原著中的生词、难词极大地影响了阅读速度，查词典要花大量时问，且影响阅读的连贯性，不查词典又无法读通、读懂。为了帮助广大英语爱好者阅读原汁原味的英语文学作品，我们选择福尔摩斯探案故事中四部精彩的中篇小说，对其中的阅读难点从语言上或文化背景知识上详加注释，以期帮助读者在享受阅读趣味的同时，提高语言能力，汲取一定的文化背景知识。

福尔摩斯探案故事的作者柯南·道尔爵士由于成功塑造了歇洛克·福尔摩斯这一侦探人物，成为侦探小说历史上最重要的作家之一。柯南·道尔于1859年5月22日出生于爱丁堡，1876年至1881年间在爱丁堡大学学习医学，毕业后作为一名随船医生前往西非海岸，1882年回国后在普利茅斯开业行医，在此期间道尔开始写作。柯南·道尔的第一部重要作品《血字研究》(A Study in Scarlet)发表在《1887年比顿圣诞年刊》(Beeton’s Christmas Annual for 1887)上，小说的主角歇洛克·福尔摩斯由此名声大噪，家喻户晓。柯南·道尔一生一共创作了五十六部短篇侦探小说和四部中篇侦探小说。他对人物的塑造独具匠心，心理刻画细致入微，场景描写和气氛营造都十分引人人胜，其作品具有较高的文学价值。

福尔摩斯探案故事布局严谨，伏笔巧妙，情节环环相扣，令人爱不释手，读者往往要到结局真相大白的时候，才能松一口气。《血字研究》、《四签名》、《巴斯克维尔庄园的猎犬》以及《恐怖谷》是福尔摩斯探案故事中最著名的四个故事。这四个故事不仅情节曲折、引人人胜，而且短小精悍、难度适中，极适合英语学习者使用。通过阅读这套丛书，英语学习者有望提高英语阅读、表达能力，并增加对英国文化的了解。

愿这套丛书能够带领广大英语爱好者走入一个多彩的英语世界。

               上海辞书出版社

                2007年7月