△ trooper5774 （Chinese）
【问】Lettie had never yet failed to return from townwithoutsome special treat for him.
The Chinese sentence means Lettie could certainly return from town with some special treat for him.
But for the English sentence, isnt it supposed to be Lettie had never yet failed to return from town with some special treat for him?
The negative words never failed confuse me a little bit. Thanks in advance.
△grassy （Warsaw，Polish）
【答】 The English sentence means: Lessie always returned from town with some special treat for him.
△Florentia52
I agree with trooper5774. The sentence contains one too many negatives.
Lettie returned from town without some special treat for him. = He didnt get a treat.
Lettie never returned from town without some special treat for him. = He always got a treat.
Lettie had never yet failed to return from town without some special treat for him. = He never got a treat.
△Uncle Jack
I congratulate you . I read it the same way as grassy, but you are quite correct. Never yet failed is supposed to add emphasis; instead it turns it into gibberish.
Who is going to tell Collins? https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/treat
这个问题，前面我已解答了。借此，我再说一点：
Lettie had never yet failed to return from town without somes pecial treat for him.
作者的原意，是想表达“双重否定”——从而达成“强烈一定”。
最容易见到的双重否定是：
1. no/not/never...without...
2. nobody/none/nothing...without...
3. no/not/never...but...
这里，作者无意中多加了一个failed，结果构成3次否定，最后还是被“否定”。
改正方法：
1. 删掉failed，谓语动词作适合调整。
2. 把without 改为with，也可以。
Lettie had never yet returned from town without somes pecial treat for him.
Lettie had never yet failed to return from town with somes pecial treat for him.