原文：I soonlearned to know this flower better. On the little prince's planet the flowershad always been very simple. They had only one ring of petals; they took up noroom at all; they were a trouble to nobody. One morning they would appear inthe grass, and by night they would have faded peacefully away. But one day,from a seed blown from no one knew where, a new flower had come up; and thelittle prince had watched very closely over this small sprout which was notlike any other small sprouts on his planet. It might, you see, have been a newkind of baobab.
I soon learned to know this flower better. 这句话中的soon表示前面提及的一个过去时间后不久的一个确切过去时间，说话人的思绪（即关注的时间）就是此时，learned表示掌握了这个动作发生在这个时间。 On the little prince's planet the flowers had always beenvery simple. 这个过去完成时表示从更早的过去一直持续到 I learned 的这个过去时间的长期状况。They had only one ring of petals; they took up no room atall; they were a trouble to nobody. 这三个句子表示的是在 I learned的这个过去时间存在着的状况或习惯，所以用一般过去时。One morning they would appear in the grass, and by night theywould have faded peacefully away. 这二个句子用情态动词would表示过去习惯，would为推断意义。第二句因为by night这个时间状语表示动作发生在by表示的时间之前，所以would后的不定式用了完成体。But one day, from a seed blown from no one knew where, a newflower had come up; and the little prince had watched very closely over thissmall sprout which was not like any other small sprouts on his planet.这二个句子叙述 I learned这个过去时间之前的某一天发生的事件，为过去的过去，所以用过去完成时。which定语从句was notlike是当时的长期状况，所以用一般过去时。 It might, yousee, have been a new kind of baobab. might have been 表示说话人目前对过去的状况的推断。
from a seed blown from no one knew where 不能像你那样改动。no one knew 和 I learned 是同一个时间，为何要用过去完成时呢？no one knew where 是口语体，一个省略的原位问句被用作一个名词。意思等于 an un-known place.
