爱丁堡城里的名人
WHAT do literary greats Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Burns have in common？
They both lived and wrote in Edinburgh, along with many other big names in the field of literature. This fact helped UNESCO award the city the title of world's first City of Literature on October 14.
Edinburgh left a lasting impression on Arthur Conan Doyle （1859-1930）. Although he was born there he went to school in England but returned home for medical school. After graduating he moved to London and began writing his Sherlock Holmes stories. His inspiration for the character came from one of his professors at university. Holmes' methods were so clever that they actually furthered the advance of the study of criminology.
Robert Burns （1759-1796） is still regarded as Scotland's national poet, more than 200 years after his death. He is celebrated all over the world through translations of his work and the annual Burns Night supper on his birthday. One of his songs, “My Love is Like a Red Red Rose” ranks among the finest love songs ever written and “Auld Lang Syne” is sung all around the world.
As one of the first literate societies in Europe, the Scottish Parliament passed the world's first compulsory education law in 1496. By the 1790s, almost all Scots could read. Visitors to Scotland often observed that even the lowest members of society had copies of Burns' poems and other books.
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你知道文坛泰斗亚瑟？科南？道尔和罗伯特？伯恩斯有哪些共同之处吗？
和文学界的其他一些名人一样，他们两人都出生在爱丁堡，笔耕于爱丁堡。在这座城市里诞生了许许多多的作家，正因为这浓郁的书香，联合国教科文组织于10月14日把“世界首座文学之城”的荣誉授予了爱丁堡。
爱丁堡给科南？道尔（1859-1930）留下了很深的印象。他在那里出生，后去伦敦求学，后来他又重返故里读医学院。毕业后，他移居伦敦，开始写作福尔摩斯故事系列，故事中的人物原型是他大学时代的一位教授。在小说中，福尔摩斯的探案方法被描绘得非常奇妙，这让犯罪学研究也获益匪浅，得到了进一步的发展。
另外一个诗人是罗伯特？伯恩斯。他已辞世200多年，被誉为苏格兰的民族诗人。他的作品被译成多种文字，流播全球。每年，人们在他的诞辰日举行“伯恩斯之夜”晚宴，以示纪念。他的“我的爱人就像是一朵红红的玫瑰”堪称情诗中的经典之作，到处被人传唱，而“友谊地久天长”更是唱遍了全球。
苏格兰浓郁的书香氛围有其历史渊源。苏格兰议会于1496年通过了世界上第一个义务教育法案。在这项法案的推动下，到18世纪90年代的时候，几乎所有的苏格兰人都能识字了。许多去苏格兰游览的人发现，就连苏格兰的市井小民也在读着伯恩斯的诗以及其它一些书。
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