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(2002-05-20)
关于couldn't let
陈清霖博士：
本人在阅读Agatha Christie的小说“Murder is Easy”时，小说中有一句：“Oh, no, he belonged to an old friend of mine, Miss Pinkerton. She was run over by one of these horrid motorcars and of course I couldn't have let Wonky Pooh go to strangers. Lavinia would have been most upset. She simply worshipped him - and he is very beautiful isn't he ?”
句中Wonky Pooh是一只猫，小说中这只猫由说话人抚养。
请问：
1. 既然已由说话人抚养，为何句中用”of course I couldn't have let Wonky Pooh go to strangers.”
2. 为何不用“of course I couldn't let Wonky Pooh go to strangers.”
3. 在这句中，用couldn't have let 与couldn't let，有何不同？
尤磊
尤磊：
根据时态结构，“I couldn't let WP go to the strangers”要和“Lavinia would be most upset”连用，意思是“如让WP落入陌生人手里，Lavinia就会很伤心”，但是用“I couldn't have let ...”就要配合“Lavinia would have been ...”。前者可能发生，后者则表示上述事件没发生，即：“WP没落入……，Lavinia当然不……”
至于“of course I couldn't have let ...”不是很明白表示，说话人会看着猫儿，不让它走掉吗？
陈清霖复
| 陈清霖博士，国大英语教学中心高级教研员。毕业于前南洋大学
现代语言文学系，并考获英国伦敦大学校外荣誉学士学位、美国印第
安纳大学语言学硕士学位、国立大学中／英翻译博士。著作丰富。
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