GR translation: And when the mice run down...

[Phillip Grayson]

I'd say that here, "but what" means, essentially: "whether or not".  I'd say
it emphasizes that they have run for good, but I could stand to be
corrected.

phllp


On Tue, May 31, 2011 at 3:29 AM, Mike Jing <mikezjing at hotmail.com> wrote:

>  P38.9-10  And when the mice run down, who knows tonight but what they've
> run for good?
>
> Again, my problem has more to do with grammar than with interpretation.  I
> don't know how to parse the second part of the sentence.  Is it like "who
> knows but them?" and if so, what is "what they've run for good" then?  Or is
> it like "who knows what they've run for good?", but then what is "but" doing
> there?  In any case, "what they've run for good" doesn't make much sense to
> me at all.  Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Mike
>
>
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