could have done 和 could do 辨析区分？

Yet he looked ordinary enough. My eyes, resting on him curiously, caused him no embarrassment. I wondered what a stranger would have taken him to be, sitting there in his old Norfolk jacket and his unbrushed bowler; his trousers were baggy, his hands were not clean; and his face, with the red stubble of the unshaved chin, the little eyes, and the large, aggressive nose, was uncouth and coarse. His mouth was large, his lips were heavy and sensual. No; I could not have placed him.

请教老师：

1） I wondered what a stranger would have taken him to be -书上翻译成“我猜想陌生人将会把他当作什么人” ，这是否有误？应该是已经发生的事情推测，所以应该翻译成：我猜想陌生人把他当作什么人。对吗？

2） No; I could not have placed him. - 可是这里为什么不说成 No; I could not place him. 呢？难道这里也是对已发生的事情推测吗？怎么理解呢？

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分类：情态动词

最佳答案 2021-01-13 13:09

1）I wondered what a stranger would have taken him to be.

作者已经见到这个人了，并知道他是谁。故事讲到这里，见到他已经是过去的动作了。现在作者作了一个与过去事实相反的假设：要是刚见到他时的人不是我，而是一个陌生人，这个陌生人会把它当成什么人呢？所以这个宾语从句为虚拟语气，隐含了一个虚拟条件从句，表示与过去事实相反。Wonder并不是猜想的意思，而是不知道因而想知道的意思，翻译为纳闷较好。我纳闷一个陌生人会把他当成什么人了。