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Included in The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Tales of Terror and Mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Signature Edition The Complete Works Collections, 2011. Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 2804 KB. Print Length: 1592 pages. ASIN: B004LE7PCM. ISBN: 2940012102744. “The Adventure Of The Speckled Band” was first published in The Strand Magazine in February 1892 and was published in book form in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a collection of twelve short stories, on 14 October 1892.
Book Description: This collection brings together Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Tales of Terror and Mystery along with all the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels in a single, convenient, high quality, but extremely low priced Kindle volume! This volume has been authorized for publication by the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd. which holds the copyright to this title.
My Take: This short story, a classic locked room mystery, is considered by many to be one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s finest works, with Sir Arthur himself calling it his best story. It is rated in tenth position in the Sherlock Holmes canon. The story, narrated by Dr Watson, refers to one of Holmes earliest cases.
‘The events in question occurred in the early days of my association with Holmes, when we were sharing a room as bachelors in Baker Street. …. It was early in April in the year ‘83 that I woke one morning to find Sherlock Holmes standing fully dressed, by the side of my bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits.’
It happened that a young lady by the name of Helen Stoner wished to see Holmes to ask him for his advice. She’s living with her stepfather, the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, in the western border of Surrey.
‘When Dr Roylott was in India he married, my mother [Helen’s mother], Mrs Stoner, the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old at the time of my mother’s re-marriage. She had a considerable sum of money – not less than 1000 pounds a year – and this she bequeathed to Dr Roylott entirely while we resided with him, with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return to England my mother died … in a railway accident near Crewe. Dr Roylott then abandoned his attempts to established himself in practice in London and took us to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and there seem to be no obstacle to our happiness. But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. Instead of making friends … he shut himself up in his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his path.’
Two years ago, Julia died shortly before she was about to get married, and it was about her death that she wished to speak to Holmes. On that same day, Julia told her that during the last few nights, at about three in the morning, she had heard a low clear whistle. She couldn’t tell her where it come from but she would like to ask Helen whether she had heard it. She had not hear it, but the question left her in a state of certain concern and when she heard a scream in the middle of the night, she feared that something wrong had happened to her sister. In fact, she found her shortly before dying and her last words were: ‘Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band! Now Helen is preparing her wedding and has started to hear the same whistling her sister had heard shortly before her death, when she was also about to get married.
Encouraged by my interest on locked-room mysteries, I decided to read “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”, one of the best Sherlock Holmes short stories. It can be read in one sitting, since it just amounts a few pages, and can be easily found. Although I hate the phrase, I think it is appropriate in this case to say it’s a must-read for all the lovers of the genre. It is also a good place to start reading The Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes, even if this is the only one you are willing to read.
My rating: A (I loved it)
About the Author: Arthur Conan Doyle, in full Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, (born May 22, 1859, Edinburgh, Scotland—died July 7, 1930, Crowborough, Sussex, England), Scottish writer best known for his creation of the detective Sherlock Holmes—one of the most vivid and enduring characters in English fiction. While a medical student, Conan Doyle was deeply impressed by the skill of his professor, Dr Joseph Bell, in observing the most minute detail regarding a patient’s condition. This master of diagnostic deduction became the model for Conan Doyle’s literary creation, Sherlock Holmes, who first appeared in A Study in Scarlet, a novel-length story published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. Driven by public clamour, Conan Doyle continued writing Sherlock Holmes adventures through 1926. (Source; Britannica)
The Official Site of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate
The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia
LibriVox recording of The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Read in English by Phil Chenevert.
La banda de lunares de Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Mi opinión: Este relato breve, un clásico misterio de cuarto cerrado, está considerado por muchos como una de las mejores obras de Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, y el propio Sir Arthur la llama su mejor relato. Está clasificado en la décima posición en el canon Sherlock Holmes. La historia, narrada por el Dr. Watson, se refiere a uno de los primeros casos de Holmes.
“Los hechos en cuestión ocurrieron en los primeros días de mi asociación con Holmes, cuando compartíamos una habitación de solteros en Baker Street. … A principios de abril del año ‘83 me desperté una mañana para encontrar a Sherlock Holmes de pie, completamente vestido, al lado de mi cama. Por lo general era poco madrugador, y como el reloj de la repisa de la chimenea me mostró que eran solo las siete y cuarto, parpadeé hacia él con sorpresa y tal vez con algo de resentimiento, dado que yo era muy regular en mis costumbres.”
Sucedió que una joven llamada Helen Stoner deseaba ver a Holmes para pedirle su consejo. Ella vive con su padrastro, el último sobreviviente de una de las familias sajonas más antiguas de Inglaterra, los Roylotts de Stoke Moran, en la frontera occidental de Surrey.
“Cuando el Dr. Roylott estaba en la India, se casó con mi madre [la madre de Helen], la señora Stoner, la joven viuda del general de división Stoner, de los artilleros de Bengala. Mi hermana Julia y yo éramos gemelas, y teníamos solo dos años en el momento del segundo matrimonio de mi madre. Ella tenía una considerable suma de dinero, no menos de 1000 libras al año, y se la legó al Dr. Roylott por completo mientras residíamos con él, con la disposición de que se nos debería dotar con una cierta suma anual a cada una de nosotras al casarnos. Poco después de nuestro regreso a Inglaterra, mi madre murió … en un accidente ferroviario cerca de Crewe. El Dr. Roylott abandonó sus intentos de abrir consulta en Londres y nos llevó a vivir con él en la antigua casa de sus ancestros en Stoke Moran. El dinero que mi madre le había dejado era suficiente para cubrir todas nuestras necesidades, y parecía no existir obstáculo alguno para nuestra felicidad. Pero en aquella época tuvo lugar un cambio terrible en nuestro padrastro. En lugar de hacer amigos … se encerró en su casa y rara vez salía, salvo para enzarzarse en feroces disputas con quienquiera que pudiera cruzarse en su camino.”
Hace dos años, Julia murió cuando estaba a punto de casarse, y era acerca de su muerte que deseaba hablar con Holmes. Ese mismo día, Julia le dijo que durante las últimas noches, alrededor de las tres de la mañana, había escuchado un silbido bajo y claro. No podía decirle de dónde venía, pero le gustaría preguntarle a Helen si lo había escuchado. No lo había escuchado, pero la pregunta la dejó en un estado de cierta preocupación y cuando escuchó un grito en medio de la noche, temió que algo malo le hubiera pasado a su hermana. De hecho, la encontró poco antes de morir y sus últimas palabras fueron: ‘¡Dios mío! Helen! ¡Era la banda! La banda de lunares! Ahora Helen está preparando su boda y ha comenzado a escuchar los mismos silbidos que su hermana había escuchado poco antes de su muerte, cuando también estaba a punto de casarse.
Animado por mi interés en los misterios de cuarto cerrado, decidí leer “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”, uno de los mejores cuentos de Sherlock Holmes. Se puede leer de una sola sentada, ya que solo ocupa unas pocas páginas y se puede encontrar fácilmente. Aunque odio la frase, creo que es apropiado en este caso decir que es una lectura obligada para todos los amantes del género. También es un buen lugar para comenzar a leer Los misterios de Sherlock Holmes, incluso si este es el único que está dispuesto a leer.
Mi valoración: A (Me encantó)
Sobre el autor: Arthur Conan Doyle, su nombre completo Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, (nacido el 22 de mayo de 1859, Edimburgo, Escocia, fallecido el 7 de julio de 1930, Crowborough, Sussex, Inglaterra), fue un escritor escocés más conocido por su creación del detective Sherlock Holmes, uno de los personajes más vivos y permanetes de la novela inglesa. Mientras estudiaba medicina, Conan Doyle quedó profundamente impresionado por la habilidad de su profesor, el Dr. Joseph Bell, al observar los detalles más minuciosos con respecto a la condición de un paciente. Este maestro de la deducción aplicada a sus diagnósticos se convirtió en el modelo de la creación literaria de Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, quien apareció por primera vez en A Study in Scarlet, una historia de la extensión de una novela, publicada en el Beeton’s Christmas Annual de 1887. Empujado por el fervor del público, Conan Doyle continuó escribiendo aventuras de Sherlock Holmes hasta 1926. (Fuente; Britannica)
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The work of the Austrian-Romani artist Ceija Stojka (Kraubath, Austria, 1933 – Vienna, Austria, 2013) is an exceptional testimony, both because of it rarity and because of its artistic quality, to the Porrajmos, the persecution and genocide of the Gypsy community at the hands of Nazi Germany. Deported at the age of ten along with her family, Stojka survived three concentration camps during the Second World War. She divulged her experiences forty years later, from 1988 to 2012, when she undertook an intense exercise in memory through writing, drawing, and painting. This exhibition presents a survey of this prolific self-taught artist, organized in a series of thematic sections that help to reconstruct the different situations she confronted. ( Source: Exhibition brochure)
A Crime is Afoot 