英语小说里的过去完成时：过去时讲的故事里，更早发生的事
Hiroki Obara · DeveloperABC George使用指南
《简·爱》的正文是这样开始的：
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.
故事的“现在”，是那一天里已经没法出门散步的这个时刻。第一句的 was 定下了这个“现在”。早上在灌木林里走动，冷风带来阴云和雨，都发生在这之前，所以用 had。第二句末尾是 was now out of the question，过去时后面跟着 now。在小说里，过去时充当“现在”，要回到更早的时候，就用 had。
中文的动词不会随时间变形，时间的先后靠“早上”“之前”“已经”这样的词，有时什么也不写。如果在脑子里译成中文，“早上转了一个小时”和“没法出门了”都带“了”，英语里 had 标出的那层先后就看不见了。
had 很常见。在 The Secret Garden(《秘密花园》)的正文里，算上作实义动词的 had，每1,000词大约出现12次，也就是大约85词一次。这篇用 Project Gutenberg 上的原文，从 Jane Eyre 开始，写一写读到 had 时靠什么判断“这是什么时候的事”。
发生的顺序和读到的顺序不一样
British Council 的过去完成时说明写道，过去完成时表示较早的动作，一般过去时表示较晚的动作。小说里这两者常常倒着出现。The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 的《波希米亚丑闻》里有这样一段：
At three o’clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the house shortly after eight o’clock in the morning.
按发生的顺序排一下：
| 顺序 | 时间 | 原文 | 形式 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 早上8点多 | he had left the house | had + 过去分词 |
| 2 | 到3点为止 | Holmes had not yet returned | had not + 过去分词 |
| 3 | 3点 | I was at Baker Street | 一般过去时 |
| 4 | 之后 | The landlady informed me | 一般过去时 |
故事的“现在”是第3行的3点。带 had 的部分，都是从这里往回看。
第二句 that 后面是房东太太转述的话。转述时时态常常往前退一步，British Council 的间接引语说明写道，一般过去时通常变成过去完成时。所以 said、told 后面的 had，一般可以读成故事里更早的事。
过去完成时那一页还写着，如果只有一件事，哪怕发生在很久以前，也不用过去完成时，例句是 The Romans spoke Latin. 反过来说，看到 had，就说明某处有一个作为基准的过去时间点。
回忆用 had 开始，接着用过去时往下讲
最容易迷路的就是这里，因为 had 中途会消失。如果以为“没有 had 就回到了现在”，整段的时间都会读错。
这是 The Secret Garden 第一页讲主人公玛丽母亲的部分。句首的 She 指母亲，Ayah 是保姆。
She had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah
had not wanted 之后，讲出生时的事就用了 handed，一般过去时。后面还是一般过去时：
by the time she was six years old she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived.
这里讲到六岁，依然没有到故事的“现在”。“现在”从下一段开始：
One frightfully hot morning, when she was about nine years old, she awakened feeling very cross
事情从这里才一件接一件地往前走。这本书的开头，had 在回忆的入口，回忆的内部用一般过去时。时态变成一般过去时，不等于时间回到了“现在”。
《波希米亚丑闻》的开头也是这样。先是 I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us away from each other. 同一段里转成一般过去时：From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings，还有 I knew little of my former friend and companion. 这一段概括的是华生结婚以来的一段时间。下一段以 One night 开头，到了1888年3月20日的晚上。
这两个例子的出口都是换段加上表示时间的词语。One frightfully hot morning 和 One night 都指具体的某一天。概括几个月、几年的文字一旦收到某一天，大致就是回到了“现在”。
和 when 连用时，先后更清楚
有没有 had，when 句的先后读法就不一样。
- When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge once more(《波希米亚丑闻》)。听完之后才开始走。
- she became crosser still when she saw that the servant who stood by her bedside was not her Ayah(The Secret Garden)。一看到就更生气了。
- He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on his overcoat(《贵族单身汉案》)。门刚关上，福尔摩斯就站了起来。
had hardly … when 相当于中文的“刚……就……”。虽然有 had，两件事之间几乎没有间隔。
不表示“更早”的 had
下面都出自《波希米亚丑闻》。看 had 前后的词就能分开。
| 原文 | had 的作用 |
|---|---|
| It is true that I had a country walk on Thursday | 实义动词，后面是名词 |
| I had to look three times before I was certain that it was indeed he. | had to，“不得不” |
| I think that I had better go, Holmes. | had better，“最好”，说的是接下来的事 |
| You would certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. | 即 if you had lived，省略 if，把 had 提前 |
| I wish she had been of my own station | 与事实相反的愿望。国王在惋惜她和自己身份不同 |
第四种形式，British Council 的条件句倒装说明也讲到了。句子中间如果 had 跑到主语前面，意思就是“如果”。
’d 是 had 还是 would
对话里 had 常缩成 ’d，would 也是同样的形式。The Adventures of Tom Sawyer(《汤姆·索亚历险记》)里两种都有。
- I’d made sure you’d played hookey and been a-swimming. made 和 played 是过去分词，所以两处都是 had。波莉姨妈对汤姆说，她原以为他逃学去游泳了。
- Now you said you’d do it, now let’s see you do it. do 是原形，所以是 would。
后面是过去分词就是 had，是原形就是 would。’d better 是 had better，’d rather 是 would rather，’d have 加过去分词是 would have。
读的时候看三处
被 had 卡住时，可以看三处：后面的词是不是过去分词，故事的“现在”在哪里，回忆在哪里结束。第三处，与其看时态在哪里变了，不如找叙述收到某一天的地方，会更容易找到。
福尔摩斯从哪一篇开始读、读的时候容易卡在哪里，写在读福尔摩斯英文原著那篇。
用 ABC George 读
我在做 ABC George，一款可以带词典读 Project Gutenberg 图书的免费 iPhone、iPad 应用，没有广告，也没有应用内购买。
这篇提到的 The Secret Garden、The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 和 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 都在“Start here”书架上。Jane Eyre 可以在“Discover”里按书名搜索，搜索不需要联网。
长按单词再点“Look up”，内置词典就会给出解释。像 risen 这样的过去分词会回到 rise。在“Chat”视图里，章节一句一句以气泡的形式出现，可以逐句确认回忆的入口和出口。切换视图和读第一本书的步骤，见 ABC George 上手指南。
