有人最近问了我一个艾默生《论自助》里的句子,那是相当绕啊:
None but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.
给大家10秒钟,看看能不能直接看懂、理解。
语法划分:
None but he(主) knows(谓)【what that is <which he can do>(定从)】(宾从), nor (连)does he(主) know(谓)< until he has tried>(状从)
比较难理解的应该是【...】里的部分,还涉及到倒装。
常规语序是...what that <which he can do> is
因为这样显得“肚子特别大”,把 is 提到 which 前面,变成 what that is which he can do 形式上就协调了,但内容理解上造成不小的障碍。
原语序就比较容易理解:what that which he can do is,我们先把 which he can do 这个定语从句去掉,剩下 what that is:
结合前面的部分,None but he knows what that is,表示“除了他没人知道那是什么”。
这里的“那”就是刚被我们去掉的部分, which he can do,也就是“他能够做的事情”。
None but he knows what that which he can do is 的意思就是“除了他自己,没人知道他能做的事情是什么”。
理解到这层,整句话的意思也出来了。
给大家梳理一下全句的含义,请大家对照理解一下:
None but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.
別人不知道,但你自己知道应该做什么,而一个人到底要去做什么呢?只有尝试之后,才知道。
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