小飛機，太不該．．．

2005年際，曾有架小飛機誤闖飛航禁區，進入離白宮三英哩方圓上空，白宮紅色警戒（red alert），全員疏散，戰鬥機昇空攔截。搞了半天原來是賓州一處飛航俱樂部的教練機。最擅長搞笑嘲諷的漫畫家自然不放過機會，丁丁轉載的這幅漫畫標題 (The Little Airplane That Shouldn't Have ) 可有意思了，可以分成兩部分來藉題發揮。

先從 The little something that … 說起，此題是從一九三○年出版的一本童書《The Little Engine That Could》蛻變而來。Could 後面的主動詞是隱性的（implied），若寫出來應該就是 The Little Engine That Could Do It。小小引擎志氣高，爬越高山，不屈不撓，終將滿載玩具送到眾多乖孩子手中。小引擎的「I think I can」積極態度，激勵了七十年來許多小小讀者，也成為兒童勵志書的祖師爺。The Little ．．．that could 更成為極受歡迎的句型，大引擎、小引撆、各式引擎、能的、不能的，變化之妙，各在一心，應用例子捬手即是：

• The Big Engine That Couldn't
• Amtrak: The little engine that couldn't
• The Euro: The Engine That Couldn't
• The Search Engine That Could

在此漫畫家用否定式：小小飛機本不該（shouldn't have done this），不該闖禁區。大家都知道，英文文法告訴我們，與現在相反的事實要用過去式，與過去相反則用完成式。小小飛機不該闖，但是它闖了，所以 should 後面用完成式說它不該做了這件事：

• You shouldn't have done this / You should have done that──木已成舟。
• I wouldn't have done this / I would have done that──馬後炮。
• I couldn't have done this / I could have done that──不是我要做 / 不做呀。

通常這話後面有個條件子句，if this or that had (happened)… 因為這先決條件發生的時間更早，所以用的是過去完成式，一路往前溯源去：

• I wouldn't have done this if I had known that──我要早知道，哪會這樣幹啊？

有一本不新的書，就是專講這種事後懊悔、早知道、要不是、真可惜的性格分析《Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda : Overcoming Regrets, Mistakes, and Missed Opportunities》。da、da、da 則是 would have, could have, should have 簡化成 would've, could've, should've 的混音。

曾幾何時，The Little Island That Could 卻竟變成了 The Little Island That Should Have/Shouldn't Have…da, da, da…Oh, well, nobody could have foreseen this, even if you had told me so…Yes? No? I really don't know…