PROVERBS IN LATIN AMERICAN TALK-拉美人谈话中的谚语(中英)

PROVERBS IN LATIN AMERICAN TALK

Proverbs are the popular sayings that brighten so much Latin American talk, the boiled-down wisdom that you are as apt to hear from professors as from peasants, from beggars as from elegantes. Brief and colorful, they more often than not carry a sting.

When a neighbor's dismally unattractive daughter announce her engagement, Imelda remarked, "You know what they say, Senora:' There's no pot .so ugly it can't find a lid. '" And when her son-in-law blustered about how he was going to get even with the boss who had docked his pay, Imelda fixed him with a cold eye and said, "Little fish does not eat big fish."

One afternoon I heard Imelda and her daughter arguing in the kitchen. Her daughter had quarrelled with her husband's parents, and Imelda was insisting that she apologize to them. Her daughter objected. "But, Mama, I just can't swallow them, not even with honey. They talk so big until we need something; then they're too poor. So today when they wouldn't even tend enough to pay for a new bed, all I did was say something that I've heard you say a hundred times:' If so grand, why so poor? If so poor, why so grand?'"

"Impertinent!" snorted Imelda. "Have I not also taught you, 'What the tongue says, the neck pays for'? I will not have it said that I could never teach my daughter proper respect for her elders. And before you go to beg their pardon, change those trousers for a dress. You know how your mother-in-law feels about pants on a woman. She always says, 'What was hatched a hen must not try to be a rooster!'"

Her daughter made one more try. "But Mama, you often say, ' If the saint is annoyed, don't pray to him until he gets over it. ' Can't I leave it for tomorrow?"

"No, no and no! Remember: 'If the dose is nasty, swallow it fast. 'You know, my child, you did wrong. But, 'A gift is the key to open the door closed against you. ' I have a cake in the oven that l was making for the Senora's dinner, I will explain to the Senora; Now, dear, hurry home and make yourself pretty in your pink dress. By the time you get back, I will have the cake ready for you to take to your mother-in-law. She will be so pleased that she may make your father-in-law pay for the bed. Remember: 'One hand washes the other, but together they wash the face. '" ( Reader's. Digest )

拉美人谈话中的谚语

谚语即流行的说法。它可以使拉美语言变得生动。谚语也是一种浓缩的智慧。从教授到农民，从乞丐到贵族，你都能从他们口中听到谚语。言语是精炼而生动的，它往往带有些讽刺意味。

当一个邻居家抑郁又丑陋的女儿宣布她订婚时，Imelda说：“太太，你知道大家都怎么说么？‘任何一个罐子都不愁找到一个盖子’。”当她的女婿气势汹汹地说，他将如何去找扣他工钱的老板算帐时，Imelda 用冷冷的眼神盯着他说：“小鱼吃不了大鱼。”

一天下午我听到了Imelda和她女儿在争吵。他女儿和公婆吵了一架。Imelda坚持要求女儿去和他们道歉。她的女儿反对道：“可是，妈妈，我只是无法忍受他们。及时涂了蜜变甜也没办法使我接受。他们总是吹牛，知道我们需要东西时，他们又改口说自己很穷。所以今天当他们连一张新床的钱都付不起的时候，我就说了你们常说的那句话：‘既然敢吹牛为什么那么穷？既然那么穷为什么还敢吹牛？’”

“太无礼了！”Imelda嗤之以鼻道，“难道我没教过你，‘舌头说的话，脖子要负责任’吗？我可不想被人说我从不教自己的女儿尊敬长辈。在你去请求他们原谅之前，记得那裤子换成裙子，你应该知道你婆婆是如何看待穿裤子的女人的。她总是说，‘孵出来的是母鸡就别想去做公鸡。’”

她女儿又狡辩道：“但是妈妈，你常说，‘如果圣人被惹怒，也不要在他忘记这件事情之前向他祈。’我能不能明天再去道歉？”

“不行，不行，不行！记住:’如果药很难喝，就把它快点吞下。’你知道的，我的孩子，你做错了。但是，‘一件礼物是打开对你关闭的门的钥匙。’我烤炉里的蛋糕是为太太的晚餐准备的，我会向她解释的；现在，亲爱的，赶快回家换上你那粉色的裙子把自己打扮得漂漂亮亮的。等你回来时，我将为你准备好蛋糕带给你的婆婆。她一定会很高兴，并且她会让你的公公买下那张新床。记住：‘一只手只能洗另一只手，但双手一起可以洗脸。’”