发布时间 : 星期三 文章英汉动物习语比较及其翻译更新完毕开始阅读
“我不知道该不该见他。”查理摇摇头说，“你别见。他会告诉大叔，大叔会生气，结果是弄不到抵押款。还是别惹是生非吧。” (32) Pug did believe he hadn’t played his particular fish. 帕格的确相信，他并没有玩弄这个大笨蛋。 (33) 如鱼得水 like a duck to water
(34) “That is a horse of anther color. 那是完全另外一回事。”
3.3 Image-shift translation
Because of the influence of different cultures and customs, each nation has its own way of expressing the same concept. So in translating, a translator should change ways of expression to conform to the habits of the target language. For example, Chinese idiom “一箭双雕” in English means “ to kill two birds with one stone”. And among various languages, cultural differences are reflected by people’s recognition in the objective world. The same objective thing contains different values in different languages, which arise different associations and contain different connotations. Animal idioms are a case in point.
Different animals in two languages represent certain characters. For example, the horse in English often plays the role of the ox in Chinese such as “ as strong as a horse” and “壮得像头牛”, and the lion in English often assumes the image of the tiger in Chinese such as “a lion in the way” and “拦路虎”. So it is necessary to make appropriate transference. In fact, this is one way of “cultural transference”.
Here are some examples of translation containing different images of animals in Chinese and English idioms with animal words.
(35) Better be the head of an ass than the tail of a horse. 宁为鸡头，毋为风尾。 (36) as timid as a rabbit 胆小如鼠 (37) 牛饮 to drink like a fish
(38) 老虎屁股摸不得 One should not twist the lion’s tail.
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3.4 Literal translation plus annotation
In spite of the differences between the source culture and target culture, it is still understandable after making some special explanation. The following examples are given to illustrate this method, which is mainly used to translate Chinese literary allusion-stressed idioms and English allusive idioms .
(39) An early owl called; but to Charles it seemed an afternoon singularly without wisdom.
早起的猫头鹰叫了起来，但对查尔斯来说，这半天却毫无智慧可言。（在英国文化中，猫头鹰是智慧的象征。）
(40) Accordingly, having adopted this attitude of “watching the stump and waiting for a hare”, he continued with his councillorship.
这样，他采取“守株待兔”的态度，还是当他的乡董.(From the story of a peasant who, seeing a hare run headlong against a tree-stump and break its neck, abandoned his plough and waited by the stump in the hope that another hare would do the same thing.)
3.5 Literal plus free translation
All the illustrations considered, it is not hard to infer that “literal translation” is in a sense something like “formal correspondence”, while “free translation” like “functional equivalence”. Generally, whether we should use literal translation or free translation depends upon the interrelation between the source language and the target language. Chinese and English have similarities and differences in their ways of expression. We may adopt the proper method of translation in accordance with concrete situations and context.
However, as stated above, both literal and free translations have their own merits and demerits. Literal translation, so to speak, can helpfully provide a broader cultural vision and retain original charms and flavors by borrowing original images or modes of expression. But sometimes, literally-translated images and expressions are not easy to understand, some of which even lead to misunderstandings or errors; whereas free
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translation can make the translated texts easily understood, being succinct and smooth in style. But it lacks vivid images so as not to create “an exotic atmosphere”, nor enrich the target language vocabulary. Here, literal plus free translation is in fact a method of the overlapping translation in which literal and free translations bring out their own merits and offset their demerits to convey accurately and faithfully the meanings of the original texts. For example, “黄鼠狼给鸡拜年” is literally translated into “The weasel goes to pay his respects to the hen”. The English people might understand the literal meaning, but the implicated meaning is hard to figure out. Thus something more should be added to convey the implicated meaning. Through the employment of the method of literal plus free translation, “黄鼠狼给鸡拜年” is rendered into “ The weasel goes to pay his respects to the hen not with the best of intention”. Take the English idiom for example, “All asses wag their ears” is translated into “驴子爱摆耳朵，傻瓜爱装聪明”. The first part is its literal translation. The second part is the rendering of its implicated meaning. The following example will demonstrate the employment of this strategy to make the implicated meaning revealed with the literal meaning and figurative meaning retained in the translated text. (41) Shed crocodile tears 鳄鱼掉眼泪,假慈悲
(42) Can the leopard change its spots? 豹子改不了身上的斑点，本性难移 (43) A good dog deserves a good bone. 好狗应该得到好骨头，有功者应该受奖。 (44) hang up a sheep’s head and sell dog meat , trying to palm off the something 挂羊头,买狗肉
(45) “Don’t change horses in the middle of the river. 不要在河中间换马，太危险了。”
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Conclusion
Language is the carrier of culture with profound cultural meanings. It is a kind of code system reflecting concrete culture. The special characteristics of a nation’s culture can be understood through languages. It can be seen from the comparison between English idioms and Chinese idioms, which have such close relationship with the culture they represent, that they truly reflect the colorful life of the people in that culture throughout history. Chinese and English have developed the abundance and variety of idioms, which make themselves more vivid, more succinct. As an important element in forming idiom, animal words play distinctive role and has rich expressiveness. In order to communicate smoothly, it is not only important for language learners to follow the laws of the language and understand words’ literal meanings, but also to deal with the relations between languages and culture; especially to deeply understand the cultural tradition and customs of western countries. Then it will be easier to keep loyal to original language without losing its national distinctive flavors.
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