Skandal di Bohemia

Pria Bertopeng

The Man in the Mask

Bagi Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler selalu menjadi wanita itu . Dia hampir tidak pernah menggunakan nama aslinya. Baginya, dia lebih baik daripada setiap wanita lain di dunia.

To Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler is always the woman. He almost never uses her real name. For him, she is better than every other woman in the world.

Namun Holmes tidak mencintainya. Dia sama sekali tidak menyukai perasaan, terutama cinta. Pikirannya dingin dan tepat, seperti mesin sempurna untuk melihat dan berpikir. Namun dalam hidupnya sendiri, perasaan yang kuat seperti pasir di dalam jam yang bagus. Dan tetap saja ada satu wanita untuknya, dan dia adalah Irene Adler.

But Holmes did not love her. He did not like feelings at all, and love least of all. His mind was cold and exact, like a perfect machine for seeing and thinking. But in his own life, a strong feeling was like sand in a fine clock. And still there was one woman for him, and she was Irene Adler.

Biarkan saya menceritakan tentang Holmes dan saya. Saya Dr John Watson, seorang dokter. Selama beberapa tahun saya tinggal bersama Holmes di kamarnya di Baker Street 221B, di London. Holmes adalah seorang detektif swasta: orang-orang membayarnya untuk menemukan jawaban. Dia menemukan jawabannya dari fakta-fakta yang sangat kecil.

Let me tell you about Holmes and me. I am Dr John Watson, a doctor. For some years I lived with Holmes in his rooms at 221B Baker Street, in London. Holmes is a private detective: people pay him to find answers. He finds his answers in very small facts.

Musim semi itu saya tidak sering bertemu Holmes. Saya sudah menikah sekarang, dan saya sangat bahagia di rumah saya sendiri. Holmes tidak suka bertemu orang. Dia tinggal sendirian di Baker Street bersama buku-buku lamanya. Beberapa minggu dia memakai kokain, obat yang keras, dan melamun. Minggu-minggu lainnya dia bekerja keras untuk kejahatan-kejahatan yang sulit. Kadang-kadang saya membaca tentang kasus-kasusnya di surat kabar, tetapi hanya itu.

That spring I did not see Holmes much. I was married now, and I was very happy in my own home. Holmes did not like to meet people. He stayed alone in Baker Street with his old books. Some weeks he took cocaine, a strong drug, and dreamed. Other weeks he worked hard on difficult crimes. Sometimes I read about his cases in the newspapers, but that was all.

Suatu malam, pada tanggal dua puluh Maret 1888, saya sedang dalam perjalanan pulang dari seorang pasien. Saya bekerja sebagai dokter lagi. Jalan saya melewati Baker Street. Saya melewati pintu yang sangat saya kenal, dan tiba-tiba saya ingin bertemu Holmes lagi.

One night, on the twentieth of March, 1888, I was coming home from a patient. I was working as a doctor again. My way took me through Baker Street. I passed the door that I knew so well, and suddenly I wanted to see Holmes again.

Kamarnya penuh dengan cahaya. Saya melihat ke atas dan melihat bayangannya yang tinggi dan kurus di tirai jendela. Bayangan itu lewat sekali, lalu dua kali. Holmes sedang berjalan cepat bolak-balik di dalam ruangan. Kepalanya tertunduk di dadanya, dan tangannya berada di belakang punggungnya. Saya tahu kebiasaannya dengan baik, jadi saya langsung mengerti. Dia sedang bekerja lagi. Dia punya masalah baru. Saya membunyikan bel, dan pelayan wanita mengantar saya ke kamar yang dulu sebagian adalah milik saya.

His rooms were full of light. I looked up and saw his tall, thin shadow on the blind, a cloth over the window. The shadow passed once, then twice. Holmes was walking quickly up and down the room. His head was down on his chest, and his hands were behind his back. I knew his habits well, so I understood at once. He was working again. He had a new problem. I rang the bell, and the maid took me up to the room that was once partly mine.

Holmes tidak banyak bicara. Dia memang tidak pernah banyak bicara. Namun saya rasa dia senang melihat saya. Dia memberi isyarat ke kursi berlengan dengan pandangan ramah. Lalu dia berdiri di depan perapian dan memandang saya dengan saksama, dengan caranya yang aneh dan tenang.

Holmes did not say much. He never did. But I think he was glad to see me. He waved me to an armchair with a kind look. Then he stood in front of the fire and looked at me carefully, in his strange, quiet way.

“Pernikahan baik untukmu,” katanya. “Kupikir, Watson, berat badanmu bertambah tujuh setengah pon dari sebelumnya.”

“Marriage is good for you,” he said. “I think, Watson, that you are seven and a half pounds heavier than before.”

“Tujuh!” jawab saya.

“Seven!” I answered.

“Benarkah? Kupikir sedikit lebih banyak. Hanya sedikit lebih banyak, Watson. Dan kulihat kamu bekerja sebagai dokter lagi. Kamu tidak memberitahuku tentang itu.”

“Really? I think a little more. Just a little more, Watson. And you are working as a doctor again, I see. You didn’t tell me about that.”

“Lalu bagaimana kamu bisa tahu?”

“Then how do you know?”

Holmes tersenyum. Deduksi berarti Anda melihat fakta-fakta kecil dan berpikir untuk menemukan jawabannya. “Aku melihatnya, dan aku mendeduksinya,” katanya. “Bagaimana aku tahu bahwa kamu basah kuyup beberapa hari yang lalu? Dan bahwa kamu memiliki pelayan wanita yang sangat ceroboh?”

Holmes smiled. Deduction means you see small facts and think your way to the answer. “I see it, and I deduce it,” he said. “How do I know that you got very wet a few days ago? And that you have a very careless servant girl?”

“Holmes sahabatku,” kata saya, “ini keterlaluan. Beberapa ratus tahun yang lalu, orang-orang membakar orang sepertimu sebagai penyihir. Ya, aku pergi berjalan-jalan di desa pada hari Kamis. Aku pulang dalam keadaan basah dan kotor. Tapi aku sudah berganti pakaian sejak saat itu. Jadi bagaimana kamu tahu? Dan Mary Jane, pelayan wanita kami, memang ceroboh. Tapi bagaimana kamu bisa tahu hal itu?”

“My dear Holmes,” I said, “this is too much. A few hundred years ago, people burned men like you as witches. Yes, I went for a walk in the country on Thursday. I came home wet and dirty. But I have changed my clothes since then. So how do you know? And Mary Jane, our servant girl, really is careless. But how can you know that?”