Lost in English

Within a locked glass case, on trays of black velvet, lay small metal swirls, shapes that merely hinted rather than were. They gave Mr. Tagomi a queer feeling as he stopped to study. (The Man in the High Castle)

在一個上了鎖的玻璃櫃裏，以黑色絲絨襯底的淺盤中，躺著一些小小的、漩渦似的金屬物件，而它們與其說是一目瞭然，不如說是僅止於提供些許暗示的形狀。Tagomi先生停步下來細加審視時，某種怪異的感覺向他襲來。（高塔隱者）

箇中奧妙 

作者的筆就如同電影鏡頭一般，引領讀者的目光由遠而近，首先看見的是櫃子，接著是淺盤，最後才是放在盤子上無以名狀的物事。退一步來講，一般人熟悉的句法應該是:

Small metal swirls lay on trays of black velvet within a locked glass case.

可作者畢竟還是選擇了倒裝的手法，以一種出人意表的描述shapes that merely hinted rather than were作為壓軸，簡直是神來之筆。讓人尤其贊歎的是hinted與were二字，有賴讀者諸君特別用心體會，筆者絞盡腦汁試圖找出差可對應的中文，仍然深感力有未逮。

關鍵字詞 

1. lay: 本文中的lay是過去式型態，其原形是不及物動詞lie，意為躺臥、座落，而過去分詞、現在分詞與第三人稱現在式型態分別是lain, lying, lies。lie也可用來意指說謊，一般常作不及物動詞(lied, lying, lies)與可數名詞。lay若作原形動詞(主要是及物型態)，意為放置或下蛋，其詞態變化是laid(過去式與過去分詞)，laying(現在分詞)，lays(第三人稱現在式)。

     That man has lain there for an hour.

     Lying down, he felt an overwhelming exhaustion.

     The store lies at the heart of the town.

     That boy has been caught lying many times. There’s no counting how many lies he has told.

     Your hard work has laid a solid foundation for the project.

     I have no intention of laying blame on others.

     The farmer owns a hen that lays eggs twice a day.

2. shape: 這個名詞最常見的字義是形狀或狀態，同義字是form, state, condition，take shape (form)是慣用語，意為成形。另外，shape也可以及物或不及物動詞型態(後接into或up)出現，意為(使)成形。

You must exercise regularly to stay in good shape.

     Some kind of Plan B started to take shape in my mind.

     “His mouth was opening and shutting, trying to shape a sentence.” (The Sailor by V. S. Pritchett)

     A feasible plan is finally shaping up after their weeklong discussions.

3. merely: 同樣表達僅僅、只有之義的副詞包括only, just, simply。另外，only也可作表達惟一之義的形容詞，而形容詞mere則仍是用來強調僅僅、只有之意。

As an only child in her family, Jennifer has always wanted a brother or sister.

     Don’t be so harsh on Tom. He’s a mere child.

     Its 2010 sales grew a mere 27%, lagging behind the industry average of 34%.

4. hint: 在本文當中，hint是個表達暗示之義的不及物動詞，有時會再加上介詞at形成片語動詞。hint也可作為及物動詞，同義字包括suggest, imply, intimate, insinuate。若是名詞形態，hint的同義字包括suggestion, implication, intimation, insinuation。

The unexpected guest simply refused to hint at the purpose of his visit.

     The detective hinted that the case might be drawing to a close soon.

     A hint of rain hung in the air.

 5. queer: 這個形容詞常用來表達古怪或可疑之意，常見的同義字包括strange, peculiar, curious, suspicious。特別值得注意的是，queer也常(以名詞與形容詞形態)被用在同性戀者身上，由於可能被解讀成貶抑或污辱之意，能不用則不用。不含褒貶的相關字彙包括heterosexual (異性戀者)，bisexual (雙性戀者)，homosexual (同性戀者)，gay (man) (男同性戀者)，lesbian (女同性戀者)。

     There’s something queer about this place, but I really can’t tell what it is.

     “Brokeback Mountain” is hailed as a milestone of queer cinema.

6. stop: 讀者諸君也許對此早就成竹在胸，此處不過是再次提供善意的提醒:

stop to V: 停下A動作並開始B動作

stop V-ing: 單純的停下某種動作

     與 stop有類似用法的動詞是forget/remember，而對照組包括begin, start, cease等動詞，其後接不定詞或動名詞，語意上並無差別。

     He stopped to smoke. 他停下來抽煙。

     He stopped smoking. 他不再抽煙了。

     She forgot to mail the letter. 她忘了有封信要寄。

     She did not remember mailing the letter. 她不記得信已寄出這檔事。

     She began to cry (crying).

     We started to repair (repairing) the house last week.

     You never cease to amaze (amazing) me.