55709
The following is from a mystery manga. The criminal mastermind is lamenting
that his accomplice Masumi failed to properly kill Kimisawa.

> ますみの奴・・・  
>  最後の最後でしくじったな  
>  あの至近距離でよもや急所をはずす
>
> 君沢ユリエのケガの具合によっては (new bubble if relevant)  
>  また私が直接手を **くださねばなるまい**

Basic idea I hope: "That damn Masumi messed up right at the last minute. She
missed a vital point from point blank range. Depending on Kimisawa Yurie's
condition, ..."

I am having trouble **understanding the last sentence, particularly the bold
part**. I have heard of the negative volitional form and assume that なるまい
means the speaker has a strong will for something to not occur. This
understanding however does not seem to be consistent with the によっては part. It
seems to me that an action should follow and not a "will that a state not
occur".

I am also uncertain about **what form くださねば actually is**. I am familiar with
くだせば, くださなければ, くださせば but not the given form.

I also wonder **why the speaker used はずす** rather than はずした. The action of
missing the vital point is clearly completed and in the past so why treat it
as though it is not?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-05T17:12:09.163
55706
2018-01-05T20:32:04.073
2018-01-05T20:32:04.073
3296
question
grammar translation classical-japanese modality polarity-items
What verb form is くださねばなるまい
くださねば is くださなければ written in 文語 (classical Japanese).

  * [ねばねば食べねば, relation between ねば and なければ](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/3061/5010)
  * [Help me to understand やらなきゃいけない and やらなきゃならない](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/42861/5010)

> 私が直接手をくださねばなるまい。  
>  I would not help doing it myself.

* * *

よもや is a [negative polarity
item](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/16060/5010) (i.e., expects a
negative predicate after it). From 明鏡国語辞典:

> よも‐や  
>  副 **《多く打ち消しを伴って》** ほとんどありえないという気持ちを表す。まさか。いくらなんでも。万が一にも。「━来ないということはあるまい」

So we can tell a main predicate is omitted after はずす, and the tense of はずす is
relative to the omitted verb. The "full" sentence would be something like
あの至近距離でよもや急所をはずすとは思わなかった or よもや急所をはずすとは信じられない. I hope these はずす now look
natural to you.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-05T18:24:08.247
55709
2018-01-05T18:32:34.833
2018-01-05T18:32:34.833
5010
5010
55706
answer