The reader may set me down as a hopeless busybody, when I confess how much this man stimulated (刺激) my curiosity,
and how often I endeavoured to break through the reticence (沉默寡言) which he showed on all that concerned himself.
Before pronouncing judgment, however, be it remembered, how objectless was my life, and how little there was to engage my attention.
My health forbade (禁止) me from venturing out unless the weather was exceptionally genial,
and I had no friends who would call upon me and break the monotony (单调) of my daily existence.
Under these circumstances, I eagerly hailed the little mystery which hung around my companion, and spent much of my time in endeavouring to unravel it.
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 (热情) for certain studies was remarkable,
and within eccentric (古怪的) limits his knowledge was so extraordinarily ample (充分的) and minute (详细的) that his observations have fairly astounded me.
Surely no man would work so hard or attain such precise (精确的) information unless he had some definite end in view.
Desultory (漫无目的的) 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 (不懂) was as remarkable as his knowledge.
Of contemporary (当代的) 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. {1}
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. {2}
That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me 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 (阁楼), and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose.
"A fool takes in all the lumber (无用的杂物) 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 skillful 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 (分类), and all in the most perfect order.
"It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic (弹性的) 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 (推挤) out the useful ones."
"But the Solar System!" I protested (对…提出异议).
"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 of difference to me or to my work."
I was on the point of asking him what that work might be, but something in his manner showed me that the question would be an unwelcome one.
I pondered over our short conversation, however, and endeavoured to draw my deductions from it.
He said that he would acquire no knowledge which did not bear upon his object.
Therefore all the knowledge which he possessed was such as would be useful to him.
I enumerated (列举) in my own mind all the various points upon which he had shown me that he was exceptionally well-informed.
I even took a pencil and jotted (略记) them down.
I could not help smiling at the document when I had completed it.
It ran in this way --
Sherlock Holmes -- his limits.
1. Knowledge of Literature. -- Nil (无).
2. " " Philosophy. -- Nil.
3. " " Astronomy (天文学). -- Nil.
4. " " Politics. -- Feeble (薄弱的).
5. " " Botany (植物学). -- Variable.
Well up in belladonna (莨菪，植物名), opium (鸦片), and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.
6. Knowledge of Geology. -- Practical, but limited.
Tells at a glance different soils from each other.
After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.
7. Knowledge of Chemistry. -- Profound.
8. " " Anatomy (解剖学). -- Accurate, but unsystematic.
9. " " Sensational Literature. -- Immense.
He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated (犯罪) in the century.
10. Plays the violin well.
11. Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.
12. Has a good practical knowledge of British law.
When I had got so far in my list I threw it into the fire in despair.
"If I can only find what the fellow is driving at by reconciling all these accomplishments, and discovering a calling (职业) which needs them all," I said to myself, "I may as well give up the attempt at once." {3}
I see that I have alluded (提及) above to his powers upon the violin.
These were very remarkable, but as eccentric as all his other accomplishments (技能).
That he could play pieces, and difficult pieces, I knew well, because at my request he has played me some of Mendelssohn's Lieder, and other favourites.
When left to himself, however, he would seldom produce any music or attempt any recognized air (曲调).
Leaning back in his arm-chair of an evening, he would close his eyes and scrape carelessly at the fiddle (小提琴) which was thrown across his knee.
Sometimes the chords were sonorous (响亮的) and melancholy (忧郁的).
Occasionally they were fantastic and cheerful.
Clearly they reflected the thoughts which possessed him,
but whether the music aided those thoughts, or whether the playing was simply the result of a whim (奇想) or fancy was more than I could determine.
I might have rebelled against these exasperating (使人恼怒的) solos had it not been that he usually terminated them by playing in quick succession a whole series of my favourite airs as a slight compensation for the trial upon my patience. {4}
