Cindy.Liu
A question from SherlockHolmes A sentence in this paragraph I cannot understand clearly. The sentence is(from Watson's standpoint): “I should have fallen into the hands of the murderous Ghazis had it not been for the devotion and courage shown by Murray,my orderly,who threw.....” There are no punctuations,that's the reason why I can't know the whole sentence clearly. Thank you very much!!!
Mar 2, 2015 12:27 AM
Answers · 6
3
I think the main culprit for confusion would be this part of the sentence: "had it not been for..." What this section actually means is "If it had not been for". When the sentence reads "I should have fallen into the hands of the murderous Ghazis if it had not been for the devotion and courage shown by Murray", you are able to see the two clauses independently The first clause ("I should have fallen into the hands of the murderous Ghazis") means that he should have been captured or attacked by these "Ghazis". The second clause ("had it not been for the devotion and courage shown by Murray....") is an if-clause saying that the devotion and courage displayed by Murray prevented the situation of the first clause. A shorter way of saying this would simply be "Murray saved my life from those Ghazis." Hope this helps :)
March 2, 2015
3
His orderly, Murray, saved him from the Ghazis. The Ghazis would have captured him if Murray hadn't courageously prevented it.
March 2, 2015
Thanks for your advice Dan.I love Sherlock Holmes too! A very charming man.Through your words, I thought you are a big fan of the Sherlock stories.That 's very nice.
March 2, 2015
I love the Sherlock Holmes stories. They are not easy English. Beside the language, be aware that they are full of references to life in Victorian-era England. "A Study in Scarlet" is set in the 1880s. You can understand the stories without understanding all the details. Don't worry if you are puzzled by some things. Ask about them, or Google for them, or just skip past them.
March 2, 2015
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