诺克斯十诫的联想

侦探小说之父隆纳德‧诺克斯，在1928年提出著名的诺克斯十诫，从此定下了侦探小说的基本格式。

1 The criminal must be someone mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to follow.

罪犯必须是故事开始时出现过的人，但不得是读者可以追踪其思想的人。

2 All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.

侦探不能用超自然的或怪异的侦探方法

3 Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.

犯罪现场不能有超过一个秘密房间或通道

4 No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.

作案时候，不能使用尚未发明的毒药，或需要进行深奥的科学解释的装置

5 No Chinaman must figure in the story.

不准有中国人出现在故事里

6 No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.

侦探不得用偶然事件或不负责任的直觉来侦破案件

7 The detective must not himself commit the crime.

侦探不得成为罪犯

8 The detective must not light on any clues which are not instantly produced for the inspection of the reader.

侦探不得根据小说中未向读者提示过的线索破案

9 The stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.

侦探的笨蛋朋友，比如华生，必须将其判断毫无保留地告诉读者，此人的智力须轻微低于读者的平均水平。

10 Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.

小说中如果有双胞胎或双重身份的人时，必须提前告诉人们

最有意思的是第5条，不能有中国人，倒不是歧视中国人，而是那时候中国比较封闭还不被英国人所熟悉，在英国人眼里中国人很神秘，神秘的情节在小说里是可以有的，但是超出读者想象的存在就不是“本格”侦探小说了，有点糊弄读者的嫌疑，当然今天随着我们国家的崛起和国际化，这条我建议应该去掉了。

诺克斯之后，侦探小说开始了长足发展，美国佬和英国佬们发挥了强大的想象力，有轮椅侦探、神父侦探、律师侦探、警察侦探等，还有之前是凶手之后改邪归正当侦探，甚至瞎子也能当侦探。

其中还有大名鼎鼎的福尔摩斯，福尔摩斯已经是家喻户晓了，伦敦贝克街221Ｂ这个作者虚构的办公地点，人们特意在真实的街道竖起这个牌号成立福尔摩斯博物馆成为了旅游景点，就连柯南道尔这个作者死去还有人在谱写福尔摩斯的故事，虚构人物的名气甚至超越了作者本人。

但是我还是喜欢阿婆笔下的波洛，看阿加莎·克里斯蒂的小说就像是在真正的旅行，在旅行中结识众生相，这一刻与凶手交谈甚欢却不自知，下一刻却给自己都鄙视的被害者寻找真凶，波洛的形象比较贴合大众，不像福尔摩斯那么理想化他有自己的缺点和小毛病，阿婆的书畅销20亿册已经书写到吉尼斯世界纪录了，仅次于圣经和莎士比亚。

我最喜欢的一部就是《无人生还》，如果不喜欢看书，可以看看87年俄国版的电影，比较忠实原著。

《无人生还》最后真的一个都没活下来，在封闭的小岛上，讽刺的描述人性的阴暗面，情节安排严谨而不拖拉，１０个小人的设定简直太棒了，谜底也不显得突兀，让人豁然开朗却又合情合理，十多年前看完后至今让我记忆犹新，这本小说在１９３９年这样的年代发行竟然卖到了１亿册，有生之年如果能写出这样一本小说也不枉此生了。

Ten little Indian boys went out to dine;

十个印地安小男孩，为了吃饭去奔走；

One choked his little self and then there were nine.

噎死一个没法救，十个只剩九。

Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;

九个印地安小男孩，深夜不寐真困乏；

One overslept himself and then there were eight.

倒头一睡睡死啦，九个只剩八。

Eight little Indian boys travelling in Devon;

八个印地安小男孩，德文郡里去猎奇；

One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

丢下一个在那里，八个只剩七。

Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;

七个印地安小男孩，伐树砍枝不顺手；

One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

斧劈两半一命休，七个只剩六。

Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;

六个印地安小男孩，玩弄蜂房惹蜂怒；

A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

飞来一蛰命呜呼，六个只剩五。

Five little Indian boys going in for law;

五个印地安小男孩，惹是生非打官司；

One got in Chancery and then there were four.

官司缠身直到死，五个只剩四。

Four little Indian boys going out to sea;

四个印地安小男孩，结伙出海遭大难；

A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

鱼吞一个血斑斑，四个只剩三。

Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo;

三个印地安小男孩，动物园里遭祸殃；

A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

狗熊突然从天降，三个只剩两。

Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun;

两个印地安小男孩，太阳底下长叹息；

One got frizzled up and then there was one.

晒死烤死悲戚戚，两个只剩一。

One little Indian boy left all alone;

一个印地安小男孩，归去来兮只一人；

He went and hanged himself and then there were none.

悬梁自尽了此生，一个也不剩