I often listen to the You Can Learn Chinese podcast hosted by Jared Turner and John Pasden. The podcast is sponsored by their company “Mandarin Companion,” which publishes Chinese graded readers. So when they announced their most recent book, I ordered it from Amazon as soon as possible. This most recent book is their second adaptation of a Sherlock Holmes story, “Sherlock Holmes and a Scandal in Shanghai” or “片的案子.”
As with their books, Mandarin Companion adapts stories from American and English literature and places them in a Chinese context. This story takes place in Shanghai during the 1920s and is an adaption of “Scandal in Bohemia.” Holmes, in this story, is known as “高明,” although Sherlock Holmes is somewhat well known in China as 歇洛克·福尔摩斯 (Xiē luòkè· Fú’ěrmósī). For a graded reader, I can understand why they went with 高明。
The Irene Adler character is based on a real-life Chinese actress, 蝴蝶， known in the West as Butterfly Wu, and just like Irene Alder, 蝴蝶 is 高明’s intellectual match.
高明 is approached by an American, 马克, who had a relationship with 蝴蝶, but a photograph of them together proves to be a scandal, especially after they abruptly ended their affair. So 马克 commissions 高明 to recover the picture and keep him out of trouble.
“Sherlock Holmes and a Scandal in Shanghai” is a Level 2 graded reader with 450 unique characters. I always enjoy reading Mandarin Compansion Chinese graded readers, and this one is no exception. I have been reading more advanced graded readers such as “Journey to the West” by Imagin8 Press but found this a delightful break. And since I have been reading more difficult graded readers, I was pleased with the speed and ease in reading this book.
