In this article we will look at one of the most famous stories about Sherlock Holmes - "Dancing Men". Summary and brief analysis will interest us first of all.
Conan Doyle himself included this work among the 12 best of his stories about the great detective. The composition got its unusual name thanks to the mysterious cipher, which resembled moving people.
Summary of "Dancing Men": the plot
Dr. Watson watched Holmes conduct a chemical experiment for several hours, until finally the detective asked a friend if he wanted to invest his savings in South African securities.
The doctor was extremely surprised by the friend's sagacity, to which Holmes replied that everything was very simple. He learned about this from the hollow between his thumb and forefinger. Hearing the full chain of logical conclusions, Watson agreed that everything is really very simple.
The bruised Holmes replied that everything becomes clear as soon as he interprets. Then the detective handed Watson a piece of paper, and he continued his experiments. To his surprise, the doctor saw that the paper was dotted with strange obscure hieroglyphs, and decided that it was just children's scribbles. To this, the detective said that Mr. Hilton Kyubit, a representative of a very ancient English family, asked to find out what kind of letters they are and how they can be deciphered.
At that moment, steps were heard on the stairs.
First suspicions
Even from the brief content of The Dancing Men, I’d like to understand how Sherlock Holmes unravels such complex puzzles. So, the steps on the stairs belonged to Mr. Qubit. He brought a detective a new letter with the same strange characters. In addition, Kyubit talks about the fact that a year ago he married a young American Ilsi. But just before the wedding, the girl took the word from her future spouse that he would never try to find out from her about her past life. Despite this, the couple lived in peace and harmony until recently, until Ilsi began to behave very strange.
First, she received a letter from America, which she immediately burned. Then, on the windowsill, strange patterns resembling dancing people appeared. Some of the figures were depicted with flags. This figure was erased by servants, without giving it special significance. But when Ilsi was told about this, she asked - if the drawings were seen again, call her. Several days passed, and 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 indescribable horror is read in her eyes.
Mr. Kyubit does not want to go to the police, because he is afraid that he will not be taken seriously. But he could not ask Ilsi what the matter was, because he had given his word. And the only thing left is to turn to the great detective for help.
The new appearance of Mr. Cube
The mystery of the dancing men seemed very interesting to Holmes. The summary cannot fully convey all the mystery and strangeness of the situation, so it is better to refer to the original if you want to completely immerse yourself in the investigation of this detective story.
So, Holmes asks Kyubit to pay attention to the appearance of strangers in the area where he lives, as well as to monitor the emergence of new messages with dancing people and carefully redraw them.
Two weeks pass, and Mr. Quitbit appears on the doorstep of an apartment on Baker Street. The guest looks depressed and preoccupied. His wife was completely exhausted, and drawings appeared more and more often. One night, Kyubit decided to sneak into the garden and watch over the one who leaves these messages. But Ilsey dissuaded him from this venture. But at that moment Kyubit noticed that someone was outside their door. He was about to catch the insolent, but his wife again intervened and did not allow him to leave the room. In the morning on the door they discovered a new pattern.
Tragedy
It is noticeable that Arthur Conan Doyle “The Dancing Men” thought out very well (a summary is proof of this). There is nothing superfluous in this story, everything is very logical and concise.
Holmes takes up the study of the drawings brought by Mr. Quitbit. A few days later, a letter arrived from Norfolk, the Kuybit family lands, in which there was a leaflet with the same mysterious symbols. This message seriously troubled the detective. On the next train, he goes to his employer's home.
But Sherlock is late - the tragedy could not be prevented. Mr. Kyubit was killed, and Ilsi was seriously wounded. Arriving at the scene, the police blamed Mrs. Kyubit. According to them, a woman first killed her husband, and then decided to commit suicide. The maid and the cook, who were at home at that time, say the same thing - they were awakened by the sounds of two shots. Women went downstairs and saw a dead master 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.
Ilsi's story
A summary of the “Dancing Men" continues with the fact that Holmes begins to investigate the crime scene. In the room, the detective finds a bullet hole in the window frame, and in the purse he finds many bank credit cards. In the garden under the window there was a sleeve and a trace of men's shoes.
After that, Holmes took out a piece of paper with drawings and plunged into his study. Then he wrote a note and asked to take it to Elridge's farm, where a certain Ab Sleni lives.
The detective himself talks with the policeman, tells him about visits to Mr. Kewbit and shows letters with pictures. Sherlock explains that dancing people are just a code, and flags are used to mark the end of a word. Gradually, the detective managed to unravel all the messages. He knew that Ilsie was American, and realized that the author of the letters was also American Ab Sleni, who lives on the Elridge farm.
Holmes realized that Sleney was trying to persuade Ilsey 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 tricks of the cipher, Holmes wrote a letter to Sleney on behalf of Ilsi, which he managed to send.
The appearance of the villain
The story “Dancing Men” is approaching its climax, a brief summary of which is proposed in the article. An American appears, who is sure that Ilsi wrote a letter to him, because no one knew the code except her. Ab Sleni finds out that Mrs. Cubebit tried to commit suicide, now her life is in danger. The bandit is saddened by what he heard; he does not even resist justice.
Now the whole life story of Mrs. Cuybit is becoming known. Ilsey's father led one of the Chicago gangs, it was he who invented the code of the dancing men. Ab was the henchman of Ilsi's father, he fell in love with a girl and wanted to marry her. But she did not want to connect her life with a bandit, and therefore fled to England. Abu managed to find out where his lover was hiding, then he began to pursue her. Ilsey asked to forget about her, even offered money, but Sleen did not want to put up with the loss of her beloved woman.
One night, Ab entered the Kyubit house and met with Ilsi. For talking them and found her husband. Mr. Kyubit and Ab shot at the same time, but the owner of the house missed, and the bandit hit the target. Realizing that he had killed a man, Sleen fled, but received a message from his beloved, could not ignore him. In the letter, only two words were written: "Come immediately."
Denouement
Conan Doyle’s short story “The Dancing Men” is approaching its end, the summary of which cannot convey the full intensity of the work of art. Ab Slene is behind bars. In winter, a court session is held in Norwich, according to which the prisoner is sentenced to death. However, Sherlock Holmes was able to prove that Mr. Cubebit shot first. Thanks to this, the sentence was commuted, and Slenie went to hard labor. Mrs. Kyubitt has completely recovered over time. She remains a widow and devotes all her free time to caring for the poor.
Analysis
Criticism has long noticed that Doyle's short story “Dancing Men” (a brief summary of this proves it) is very similar to the works of E.A. By The Golden Beetle. Doyle was very reluctant to say that another writer really influenced his work. However, later the author expressed sincere gratitude to his predecessor. In 1884 in New York, he even admitted that he considered detective Edgar Poe the best works among fiction.
A brief summary of the story "Dancing Men" suggests that Conan Doyle himself made a significant contribution to the development of the detective genre.