Sherlock Holmes: The Red-Headed League in English with translation

Name: Sherlock Holmes: The Red-Headed League
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Red-Headed League is one of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, told by Dr Watson. A red-haired pawnbroker is hired for a bizarre, highly paid job that suddenly vanishes, and Holmes uncovers the clever conspiracy behind it. The story is short and much of it is lively dialogue. Read in the original, it keeps the polite, slightly formal speech of Victorian London that a retelling flattens.

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Language: English
First published: 1891
Levels: A2 · B1 · B2
Original: C1
Pages: 59

Languages you can read it in: 22

The opening, phrase by phraseExcerpt adapted to B1

I visited my friend,Mr. Sherlock Holmes,one dayin the autumn of last yearand found him talking seriously¹with a very fat,²red-faced,³elderly gentlemanwho had bright red hair.⁴

I apologized for interrupting⁵and I was going to leave,⁶but Holmes suddenly pulled me into the roomand closed the door behind me.

“You could not have come⁷at a better time,my dear Watson,”he saidin a friendly way.

“I was afraidthat you were busy.”⁸

“I am busy.

I am very busy.”

“Then I can waitin the next room.”

“Not at all.

This gentleman,Mr. Wilson,has been my partner and helperin many of my most successful cases,and I am surethat he will be very useful to me⁹in your case also.”

The fat gentlemanstarted to stand upfrom his chairand gave a quick bow¹⁰to greet me,while he looked at mewith a questioning glancefrom his small eyes.

Phrase notes

¹and found him talking seriously
Literallyfound him in a serious conversation
WhyDoyle wrote "found him in deep conversation" — deep conversation is the set phrase for an absorbed, serious talk.
²with a very fat,
Literallywith a very large man
WhyThe original says "a very stout ... gentleman". Stout was the polite Victorian word for fat, and it still sounds kinder.
³red-faced,
Literallywith a red face
WhyDoyle's word is "florid-faced": florid, of a complexion, means flushed and ruddy.
⁴who had bright red hair.
Literallywith vivid red hair
WhyIn the original the gentleman has "fiery red hair" — the detail on which the whole plot turns.
⁵I apologized for interrupting
LiterallyI said sorry for coming in on them
WhyDoyle wrote "With an apology for my intrusion": intrusion, a formal noun, does the work of the verb interrupting.
⁶and I was going to leave,
LiterallyI was about to go
WhyThe original has "I was about to withdraw" — withdraw is the formal word for leaving a room.
⁷“You could not have come
LiterallyYou couldn't have come
WhyWith at a better time this means "your timing is perfect". Doyle adds an intensifier: "could not possibly have come".
⁸that you were busy.”
Literallythat you were occupied
WhyWatson actually says "I was afraid that you were engaged" — engaged in the old sense of busy, still used of phone lines and toilets in British English.
⁹that he will be very useful to me
Literallythat he will help me a great deal
WhyHolmes says "he will be of the utmost use to me": be of use, with utmost, is the formal way to say very useful.
¹⁰and gave a quick bow
Literallybowed briefly
WhyThe original has "gave a bob of greeting" — a bob is a short, quick bow or curtsy.

In the reader, every phrase has a breakdown: what it means and why.

About the text and the author

The story was published in The Strand Magazine in 1891 and collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (George Newnes, 1892). Watson narrates, with a good deal of direct speech. The original uses the polite vocabulary of its day — stout for fat, florid-faced, engaged for busy. The excerpt on this page is the first page retold at level B1.

The description and phrase notes were written by AI and checked by a second model, November 13, 2026.

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Sherlock Holmes: The Red-Headed League in English with translation

About the text and the author

Also read in English

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