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。

莫斯坦小姐的父亲十年前神秘失踪，从六年前开始，她每年都会收到一颗珍贵的珍珠，而她至今仍不知道这珍珠究竟是谁寄给他的。莫斯坦小姐收到一封匿名信。她向福尔摩斯寻求帮助。为了揭开谜题，福尔摩斯和华生决定陪她去赴一个神秘的约会。莫斯坦小姐从父亲的遗物中发现了一张令人费解的印度纸，上面绘有大量的建筑和四个奇怪的签名，这究竟代表了什么意思哪？福尔摩斯能否解开谜团？而华生医生能否和令他一见钟情的莫斯坦小姐共结连理吗？

Chapter 1 The Science of Deduction

Chapter 2 The Statement of the Case

Chapter 3 In Quest of a Solution

Chapter 4 The Story of the Bald-Headed Man

Chapter 5 The Tragedy of Pondicherry Lodge

Chapter 6 Sherlock Holmes Gives a Demonstration

Chapter 7 The Episode of the Barrel

Chapter 8 The Baker Street Irregulars

Chapter 9 A Break in the Chain

Chapter 10 The End of the Islander

Chapter 11 The Great Agra Treasure

Chapter 12 The Strange Story of Jonathan Small

"I have heard you say it is difficult for a man to have any object in daily use without leaving the impress of his individuality upon it in such a way that a trained observer might read it. Now, I have here a watch which has recently come into my possession. Would you have the kindness to let me have an opinion upon the character or habits of the late owner?"

I handed him over the watch with some slight feeling of amusement in my heart, for the test was, as I thought, an impossible one, and I intended it as a lesson against the somewhat dogmatic tone which he occasionally assumed.He balanced the watch in his hand, gazed hard at the dial, opened the back, and examined the works, first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful convex lens. I could hardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally snapped the case to and handed it back.

"There are hardly any data," he remarked. "The watch has been recently cleaned, which robs me of my most suggestive facts. "

"You are fight," I answered. "It was cleaned before being sent to me. "

In my heart I accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and impotent excuse to cover his failure.What data could he expect from an uncleaned watch?

"Though unsatisfactory, my research has not been entirely barren," he observed, staring up at the ceiling with dreamy, lack-lustre eyes. "Subject to your correction, I should judge that the watch belonged to your elder brother,who inherited it from your father. "

"That you gather, no doubt, from the H. W. upon theback?"

"Quite so. The W. suggests your own name. The date of the watch is nearly fifty years back, and the initials are as old as the watch so it was made for the last generation.Jewellery usually descends to the eldest son, and he is most likely to have the same name as the father. Your father has, if I remember fight, been dead many years. It has,therefore, been in the hands of your eldest brother. "

"Right, so far," said I. "Anything else?"

"He was a man of untidy habits-very untidy and careless．He was left with good prospects，but he threw away his chances，lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity，and finally，taking to dmlk．he died．That is all I can gather．"

I sprang from my chak and limped impatiently about theroom with considerable bittemess in my heart．

"This is unworthy of you，Holmes，"I said．"I could not have believed that you would have descended to this．You have made inquiries into the history of my unhappy brother，and you now pretend。to deduce this knowledge in some fanciful way．You cannot expect me to befieve that you have read all this from his old watch!It is unkind and，to speak plainly，has a touch of charlatanism in it．"

P11-13

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