地狱之路

如果用英文表达「我来了」，我觉得可以这样写

I came.

然而，无事不登三宝殿啊，要表达这个，可以这样写

I came around.

around 是副词，可以修饰 come。around 和 round 是一回事，基本的意思是环绕，迂回。迂回着来……不就是处心积虑么？

我来到何处？一个叫作 Chestnut 的地方：

I came to the Chestnut.

「to the Chestnut」 是介宾短语，即介词 + 名词。

介宾短语可以像形容词那样修饰名词，也可以像副词那样修饰动词。因此，「to the Chestnut」可以修饰 come。

我无事不登三宝殿般地来到 Chestnut，即

I came around to the Chestnut.

我来 Chestnut 干什么？和他相处令我如沐春风啊……

I came around to the Chestnut for the pleasure of his company.

介宾短语可以像形容词那样修饰名词，也可以像副词那样修饰动词。因此，「for the pleasure of his company」可以修饰 come。

还有别的目的吗？非常特别想听他讲讲他对 bimetallism 的见解，即

I came around to the Chestnut for the pleasure of his company, and very especially to hear his views upon bimetallism.

and 之后的东西，在形式上 and 之前的东西总是有着一致性。因此，「very especially to hear his views upon bimetallism」同样是做副词用，修饰谁，除了 come 还能有谁？

「very especially」充分体现了副词的强大，没有它不能修饰的，它连自己都能修饰，very 是副词，修饰同样是副词的 especially 。这个由副词修饰的副词，修饰的又是谁呢？不可能是 come 了，它前面的 and 完全消除了这种可能性，那么唯一的可能就是修饰「to hear his views upon bimetallism」，亦即由副词修饰的副词修饰了一个像副词的短语。

「to hear his views upon bimetallism」里的「to」还是介词吗？不是了，因为它后面接的是动词「hear」，这种形式在语法书里叫作不定式（Infinitive）。

什么是不定式？

什么是不定式？

什么是不定式？

重要的问题问三遍，问得我都有些想睡了。

我的词典告诉我，infinitive 就是

In grammar, the basic form of a verb, used with 'to' in English.

即「to + 动词原型」。

它不可能就这么凭空出来。倘若它能，为何在汉语里出不来呢？一切语法，都是后来才有的。研究它们是怎么来的，这才是研习语法的目的。但是，过去的事情，有谁知道呢？

一致性始终存在。执今之道，可知古始。

今之道，是什么道啊？将不熟悉的事物转化为简单句。试着构造下面这样的句子：

I came around to the Chestnut for the pleasure of his company, and because that very especially I hear his views upon bimetallism.

语法上有错误，hear 没有用过去时，我不可能在过去的某天到了 Chestnut，而在此刻听这个人谈论 bimetallism。但是，我想维持 hear 的原型，这是刚才词典告诉我的，倘若我擅自修改了它的时态，它就再也没机会成为不定式了。

我学过的英文里，有什么办法能够既让时态正确，又能保持动词为原型呢？有一类助动词可以做到，即情态助动词 will/would，can/could，may/might，must，should，其中 can 似乎更合我意。试试看，

I came around to the Chestnut for the pleasure of his company, and because that very especially I can hear his views upon bimetallism.

我来这个地方，是因为我能听他讲讲 bimetallism。由于 can 也可以用 be able to 替换，因此有

I came around to the Chestnut for the pleasure of his company, and because that very especially I was able to hear his views upon bimetallism.

为了更能突出问题所在，我再简化一下这个句子，即去掉我已经熟悉的部分，结果为

I came around to the Chestnut because that I was able to hear his views upon bimetallism.

显然，只需将「because that」和「I was able」省略，就得到了不定式，即

I came around to the Chestnut to hear his views upon bimetallism.

基于上述的构造，即

I came around to the Chestnut because that very especially I was able to hear his views upon bimetallism.

我也能非常确定这个不定式体现的词性是什么。因为 able 是形容词，不定式修饰的是它。能修饰形容词的词，只有副词。

现在，我已经能脱手而出地默写出完整的第三句了，即

I am convinced that he really believed in his heart that I came around to the Chestnut for the pleasure of his company, and very especially to hear his view upon the bimetallism, a subject upon which he was by way of being an authority.

这句话里一共有 9 个副词，我可以去掉其中 4 个，结果就是

I am convinced that he believed that I came to the Chestnut for the pleasure of his company, and especially to hear his view upon the bimetallism, a subject upon which he was by way of being an authority.

并不会让我对这句话表达的事情产生任何误解。有些副词，我认为显然是很多余的。例如，用于修饰 believe 的 really 和 in his heart。谁会在肠胃里假的相信？相信的本意就是在心里为真啊。

难怪斯蒂芬·金会吐槽，地狱之路是由副词铺垫的。

我写英文，会觉得累，因为不熟悉。若用汉文表达近乎同样的内容，我认为并不需要多么借助副词，也不需要借助两层从句结构，而且甚至更有趣一些。试试看，

他让我一直都有一个错觉。我来 Chestnut 似乎是为了与他畅谈甚欢，甚至愿意倾听他对 bimetallism 的见解，在这方面他不同凡响。

要理解这句话，要知道什么是反语：