Owen

[oak venture]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

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Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[plucky arrow]

in fact im not sure what it means either que n'ai je

??? gave birth to a whole knot of vipers

[velvet saddle]

Que here is the litterary pourquoi. However this is an exclamation so the "que n'ai-je" basically means "I wish I had" or "I should have". An expression of regret of sorts. "Ne" has to be used alone.

[lavish prism]

https://www.wordreference.com/fren/que

[plucky arrow]

is the ne always used with the litterary pourquoi

also how do you know whether its a question or an exclamation of regret

is it just contextual

like from the "plutôt que de nourrir cette dérision" u know it more along the lines of "i should have" instead of "why"

[velvet saddle]

Seeing how it's translated as a question in Kitties's screenshot, "que ne" is in fact a mix of both. It is a question where pourquoi comes with regret. You can just render your sentence as "why didn't I... ?"
Also, nœud/nid de vipères refers to a very nasty pool of people or things. Basically a mess. A viper's nest.