请问老师：

If Harry could only enter, unseen, behind him, what might he not see or hear？

这句话中的 not 否定的是哪一个部分？

给出的翻译是“假如哈利跟在他后面，神不知鬼不觉地混进来，他会看到什么、听到什么呢？”这句话中仿佛没把 not 翻译出来啊？

If Harry could only enter, unseen, behind him, what might he not see or hear？

这个问句是修辞性问句。否定的问句形式实质表示强烈的一定。

因此，what might he not see or hear?= he might see or hear everything.

原翻译没理解修辞性问句，对问句部分的翻译是不对的。另外，if...only为只须。。。

正确译文应为：

只须哈里能跟在他后面进来不被发现，他有哪些看不见或听不到呢？


与刘老师讨论

刘老师对修辞性问句的理解有的狭隘了。请读一下夸克书中的以下内容：

夸克《英语语法大全》（英文版）P. 825-826

Rhetorical questions

11.23 The rhetorical question is interrogative in structure, but has the force of a strong assertion. It generally does not expect an answer.

A positive rhetorical yes-no question is like a strong negative assertion, while a negative question is like a strong positive one.

POSITIVE :

Is that a reason for despair? [Surely that is not a reason. . .]

Can anyone doubt the wisdom of this action? [Surely no one can doubt. . .]

NEGATIVE :

Isnt the answer obvious? [Surely the answer is obvious.]

Havent you got anything better to do? [Surely you have something better to do.]

… …

There are also rhetorical wh-questions. The positive question is equivalent to a statement in which the wh-element is replaced by a negative element:

Who knows/cares? [Nobody knows/cares or I dont know/care.]

What difference does it make? [It makes no difference.]

How should I know? [There is no reason why I should know.]

What should I say? [There is nothing that I should say.]

What makes you think you can do better? [Nothing should make

you think you can do better.]

How can I help it? [There is no reason why I can help it.]

Non-assertives may occur:

What has he ever done for you?

Who has any money to spare these days?

The less common negative question is equivalent to a statement in which the

wh-element is replaced by a positive element:

Who doesn’t know? [Everybody knows.]

How couldn’t you remember? [You certainly should have remembered.]

因此，我对句子的理解和翻译是正确的。你的理解不符合该句的语境。原翻译忽略了if...only，只须。。。就。。。同时也忽视了修辞性问句的否定形式表示一定的意义，而二者是呼应的。只须。。。一定就。。。如何会是普通的问句呢？刘老师再想想。