Summary - "Dancing Men" by Arthur Conan Doyle

In this article we will consider one of the most famous stories about Sherlock Holmes - "Dancing Men". The summary and brief analysis will be of interest to us first.

Conan Doyle himself included this work among the 12 best stories about the great detective. Its unusual name was given to the work thanks to a mysterious cipher that resembled moving little men.

Summary of "Dancing Men": string

Dr. Watson watched for hours how Holmes conducts chemical experience, until finally the detective asked his friend if he would like to invest in South African securities.

The doctor was extremely surprised by the friend's perspicacity, to which Holmes responded that everything is very simple. He found out about it on the hollow between the thumb and forefinger. Hearing the full chain of logical conclusions, Watson agreed that everything is really very simple.

The wounded Holmes replied that everything becomes clear as soon as he explains it. Then the detective gave Watson a sheet, and he continued his experiments. To my surprise, the doctor saw that the paper was covered with strange, incomprehensible hieroglyphs, and decided that it was just childish scribbles. The detective said that Mr. Hilton Cubit, a representative of a very ancient English family, asked to find out what kind of writing and how they could be deciphered.

At that moment footsteps were heard on the stairs.

The first suspicions

Even from the brief content of "Dancing Men" I want to understand how Sherlock Holmes unravels such complex riddles. So, the steps on the stairs belonged to Mr. Kyubit. He brought the detective a new letter with the same incomprehensible symbols. In addition, Kyubit says that a year ago married a young American Ilsi. But before the wedding itself, the girl took the word from her future wife that he would never try to find out about her past life. Despite this, the couple lived in peace and harmony until recently, until Ilsi began to behave very strangely.

First she received a letter from America, which she immediately burned. Then on the windowsill appeared strange drawings, reminiscent of dancing men. Some of the pieces were depicted with flags. This picture was wiped by the servants, without giving it much importance. But when Ilsi was told about this, she asked - in case the drawings are seen again, to call her. A few days later, a piece of paper with the same figures was found in the garden. Seeing them, the woman immediately lost her senses. Since that time, Ilsi lives as if in a dream, and in her eyes is an indescribable horror.

Mr. Kyubit does not want to go to the police, because he is afraid that he will not be taken seriously. And Ilsi can not ask what the matter is, he can not, because he gave his word. And the only thing left is to turn to the great detective for help.

The new appearance of Mr. Kyubit

Holmes seemed very interesting riddles dancing people. The summary can not fully convey all the mystery and strangeness of the situation, so it's better to refer to the original if you want to completely immerse yourself in investigating this detective story.

So Holmes asks Quibitt to pay attention to the appearance of strangers in the area where he lives, and also to monitor the appearance of new messages with dancing men and carefully redraw them.

It takes two weeks, and on the threshold of the apartment on Baker Street appears Mr. Cubitt. The guest looks depressed and anxious. His wife was completely exhausted, and drawings are appearing more and more often. One night, Cubit decided to sneak into the garden and watch for someone who leaves these messages. But Ilsi dissuaded him from this idea. But at that moment, Kyubit noticed that someone was at their door. He was about to catch a fool, but his wife intervened again and did not let him leave the room. In the morning they found a new drawing on the door.

Tragedy

It is noticeable that Arthur Conan Doyle "Dancing Men" thought very well (the short content is that proof). In this story there is nothing superfluous, everything is very logical and laconic.

Holmes takes up the study of the drawings brought by Mr. Kyubit. A couple of days later from Norfolk, the family lands of the Kyubits, a letter came in which there was a leaf with the same enigmatic symbols. This message seriously troubled the detective. On the next train, he goes to his employer's house.

But Sherlock is late - the tragedy could not be prevented. Mr. Kyubit was killed, and Ilsi was seriously wounded. The police who arrived at the scene blamed Mrs. Cubit for everything. According to their version, the woman first killed her husband, and then decided to commit suicide. The maid and cook, who were at home at the time, say the same thing - they were awakened by the sounds of two shots. The women went downstairs and saw a dead host lying in a pool of blood. Next to him was his wounded wife, she was unconscious. There was a powder smell in the room, and the doors and windows were locked.

History of Ilsi

The summary of "Dancing Men" continues with the fact that Holmes is taken to inspect the crime scene. In the room, the detective finds a bullet hole in the window frame, and in the handbag detects a lot of bank cards. In the garden under the window there was a sleeve and a trace from the men's shoes.

After that, Holmes took out a sheet of paper with drawings and immersed himself in his study. Then he wrote a note and asked to take it to the farm of Elridge, where some Ab Sleni lived.

The detective himself talks to the policeman, tells him about the visits of Mr. Kyubit and shows letters with drawings. Sherlock explains that dancing people are just a cipher, and flags are used to mark the end of a word. Gradually, the detective managed to solve all the messages. He knew that Ilsi was an American, and guessed that the author of the letters was also the American Ab Sleny, who lives on the farm of Elridge.

Holmes realized that Sleny was trying to persuade Ilsi to come to the meeting. But she did not agree, and then he began to threaten her. The detective managed to make a request and found out that this man is a famous and very dangerous bandit from Chicago. Having mastered the cipher's cunning, Holmes wrote a letter to Sleny on behalf of Ilsi, which he managed to send.

The appearance of a villain

Closer to the culmination of the story "Dancing Men", a summary of which is proposed in the article. An American appears who is sure that the letter was written to him by Ilsi, because besides her no one knew the code. Ab Sleney learns that Mrs. Cubitt tried to commit suicide, now her life is under threat. The bandit is saddened by what he heard, he does not even resist justice.

Now the whole story of Mrs. Cubit's life becomes known. Father Ilsi headed one of the Chicago gangs, it was he who invented the cipher of dancing men. Ab was his father's assistant Ilsi, he fell in love with a girl and wanted to marry her. But she did not want to associate her life with the bandit, so she fled to England. Abu managed to find out where his lover was hiding, then he began to pursue her. Ilsi asked me to forget about her, even offered money, but Sleny did not want to put up with the loss of his beloved woman.

One night Ab entered the house of the Kyubits and met with Ilsi. We talked to them and found her husband. Mr. Kyubit and Ab shot simultaneously, but the owner of the house missed, and the bandit hit the target. Realizing that he killed a man, Sleny fled, but after receiving a message from his beloved, he could not ignore it. In the letter, however, only two words were written: "Come immediately."

Decoupling

The story of Conan Doyle "Dancing Men", whose brief content can not convey the whole intensity of the work of art, is coming to an end. Ab Slenni is behind bars. In winter, a court session is held in Norwich, according to which the prisoner is sentenced to death. However, Sherlock Holmes succeeded in proving that Mr. Cubitt was the first to shoot. Due to this the sentence was relaxed, and Sleny went to hard labor. Mrs. Cubitt eventually recovered completely. She remains a widow and devotes all her free time to caring for the poor.

Analysis

Criticism has long noticed that Doyle's story "Dancing Men" (a brief summary proves it) is very similar to the works of E.A. According to the "Golden Beetle". Doyle was very reluctant to say that his work was really influenced by another writer. However, the author subsequently expressed sincere gratitude to his predecessor. In 1884, in New York, he even admitted that he considers Detective Edgar Po the best works among fiction.

The summary of the story "Dancing Men" says that Conan Doyle himself made a significant contribution to the development of the detective genre.