問:《英漢大詞典》主編陸谷孫教授有"When
I saw Her Picture Again"一文,說昂山素姬被軟禁之後:
The entire world protested.... But all to no avail(全球抗議,但毫無效果)。第二句是不是漏了動詞?
答: Avail作名詞,指「效用」, to no avail即「沒有效果」,例如: Her pleas for help were to no avail(她請求幫忙,但無人援手)。陸谷孫那一句沒有動詞,文法當然不完整,但句子不算錯誤。
英文有時會故意用短句甚至斷句,以突出要強調的事物。請看英國名作家
DH Lawrence的斷句: Too soon there would be overpopulation,
overcrowding, and slum conditions. Which is a horrid thought, for one who loves
an island for its insulation(島上不久就會人口過多,擁擠不堪,並有貧民窟。對喜歡海島和外界隔絕的人來說,這是非常可怕的情景)。這兩句文法上絕對應該合成一句,只須把 conditions一字之後的句號改為逗點就可以;作者硬用句號,使 which缺乏了前述詞(
antecedent),以便突出 which is a horrid thought這斷句。
另一著名英國作家 Aldous Huxley則有以下斷句:
He wasn't a gorilla. Just the cutest little baboon(他不是猩猩,只是隻非常可愛的小狒狒)。第二句文法上應作 He was just the
cutest little baboon,但作者略去主詞( subject)、動詞,以便突出 just the cutest little baboon一語。
留意斷句只可偶一為之,而假如不是文章高手,最好不要用。當然,陸谷孫不算英文高手,甚至連基本英文文法似乎都未能掌握,這一點,明天再談。