文化与翻译

Dragon
• In western countries, a dragon is Satan, the Price of the Devil, a woman who is very stern and has high vigilance.
望子成龙
• to hope that one’s son will
• 路遥知马力,日久见人心. As a long road tests a horse‟s strength, so a long task proves a person‟s heart.
• Every man has a fool in his sleeve. 人人都有糊涂的时候.(不宜直译成 “ 人人袖子里都装着个傻瓜”)
倾国倾城
to be exceedingly beautiful
悬梁刺股
to be extremely hard-working in one‟s study
• Forbidden fruit is sweat. 禁果分外甜 • Half a loaf is better than no bread.有 半块面包总比没有好
公元前49年，凯撒大帝率部渡河，下令 焚舟，表示其不获胜毋宁死的决心。当 年项羽渡过河后，让部下破釜沉舟，也 是志在必胜。由此而来的英汉习语都用 来表达下定决心，不顾一切干到底。它 们的形象和喻义如此相似，也几乎完全 可以互译。
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to fan the flame(s) 赴汤蹈火 to add fuel to the fire / flame 火上加油 to pour cold water over / on 泼冷水 to fish in troubled waters 浑水摸鱼 Pride comes before a fall. 骄者必败
1)门外汉
误译：a man outside the gate (改译为 the uninitiated 或 a layman ) 2)风凉话 误译： cold words (改译为 irresponsible and sarcastic remarks) 3) 扣帽子 误译：put a cap on sb. (改译为 put a label on sb.)
4)寻短见 look for a short view (改译成 commit suicide或 take one‟s own life) 5) 炒冷饭 fry the cold rice (改译成 dish up the same old stuff)
• 在对英汉习语互译时，习语在表现文化特 征方面，可分为三种关系类型：对应关系、 半对应关系和不对应关系。 一、对应(corresponding)关系 burn one„s boat和“破釜沉舟”这对习语
all at sea 不知所措 spend money like water 挥金如土 to rest on one„s oars 暂时歇歇 keep one‟s head above water 奋力图强 ride out the storm of 战胜风暴，战胜困难 learn the rope 熟悉内幕
误译: 狗咬狗 正译: 残酷的争夺; 人吃人的关系
1.无孔不入
to take advantage of every weakness (死译: to get into every hole)
2.开门见山
to come straight to the point (死译: to open the door and see the mountain)
• (如直译成 “ lose where the sun rises and gain where the sun sets” , 使读者感到很费解.)
2)塞翁失马, 安知非福?
• A loss may turn out to be a gain.
• (由于译文读者不了解该谚语的背景, 无法理解它的直 译” when the old man on the frontier lost his mare, who could have guessed it was a blessing in disguise?”)
A friend in need is a friend indeed. 患难朋 友才是真朋友。 Tomorrow comes never. 明日不再来。
Business before pleasure. 工作在先，享乐 在后。
二.起源于寓言、民间传说和民间 故事
Haste makes waste. 欲速则不达。(出自伊索寓言 《口渴的鸽子》，是从great haste is not always great speed 演变而来的。) （一只口渴的鸽子，飞临陌生城市的上空，为了找水 而焦急、犯愁。当它看到路边一幅广告牌上画着一杯 可乐时，喜出望外，那广告画画得十分逼真，富有立 体感，鸽子并不知道这是一幅广告画，便兴冲冲地振 翅扑过去，结果水没有喝到，却狠狠地撞在广告牌上， 翅膀撞成重伤，掉在地上动弹不得，刚好一只狗从此 经过，顺便把它吃了。）
毛遂自荐
源自文库
to volunteer one‟s service
南柯一梦
a fond dreams or illusory joy
四面楚歌
to be besieged on all sides
锱铢必较
to haggle over every penny
初出茅庐
at the beginning of one‟s career
四.起源于生活风俗和劳作习惯
Hunger is the best sauce. 饥者口中尽佳 肴。 (饥饿是最好的调味汁。)
No mill, no meal. 不磨面，没饭吃。(不劳 动，不得食。） You can’t have your cake and eat it too. 鱼与熊掌，不可兼得。(别想把好处占尽。)
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Example 2
Dragon
• In Chinese history, the dragon stood for the emperor. Now we call ourselves “the descendant of a dragon”, so dragon is the deity in Chinese people‟ heart. In a dictionary, “dragon” means a large imaginary animal with wings and the power to breathe out fire.
1.Walls have ears
隔墙有耳 (误译：墙上有耳) 2. move heaven and earth 想方设法; 千方百计 （误译：翻天覆地） 3 .child‟s play 简单的东西; 容易的事情 （误译：孩戏）
4.eat one‟s words 误译: 食言 正译: 承认自己说了错话 5.dog-eat-dog
• When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war. 两雄相争, 其斗必烈. (不宜直译成 “ 希腊人遇上希腊人, 顶有一场好斗”)
1)失之东隅,收之桑榆.
• What one loses on the swings one gets back on the roundabouts.
• And the Chinese people believe in Buddhism and Taoism introduced into China more than one thousand years ago. People believe that it is Buddha who controls everything in the world. Therefore, there are a lot of idioms, bywords literary reference concerned with religion such as” 借花献佛 临时抱佛脚 放下 屠刀，立地成佛“
Culture and idiom translation
英国民俗学家robert chambers (1802—1871) 对谚语的定义是： 通过口头流传的方式, 以相对固 定的格式保留下来的话语。美 国著名的民俗学家泰勒教授认 为：谚语是“简短、明了、通 俗、古老、富有比喻和含义的 话语”。
英语习语的来源 一.英语谚语很大一部分是从警句、 格言演变而来的。
Example 1
• The English people live on an island and their navigation business was once the world’s best. Therefore, they have a large number of special words concerning water and ships. On the other hand, China is a traditional inland nation, so we can hardly find words related to water and ships.
三.起源于宗教信仰和宗教故事
英国人大多为基督教徒，所以很多英语谚语与其宗教有 关。如：God’s mill grinds slow but sure. 天网恢恢, 疏而不漏。 Much cry and little wool 雷声大，雨点小。 源于圣经 故事为题材的中世纪神秘剧《大卫和阿比该》。剧中是 这样写 的：great cry and little wool, as the devil said when he sheared the hogs.(正如魔鬼给猪剪毛时 所说，羊毛没有, 叫声却响。)此语后来缩略为great cry and little wool或much cry and little wool，渐渐变作 谚语。
• Both Eastern language and Western language contain a large number of idioms .Idioms are fixed phrases and short sentences which derived from longterm usage of language. Idioms has a wide range, it usually includes set phrases成语, proverbs谚语, sayings格言, colloquialisms俗语, allusions典故 and slangs俚语. Chinese language also includes Chinese Allegories歇后语.
另外，一种语言里的有些习语是 从另一种语言借用来的，并被广泛 使用，成为借入语的固定习语。 例如： crocodile„s tears 鳄鱼的眼泪 new wine in old bottles 旧瓶装新酒 cold war 冷战 black market 黑市
二、半对应(semi-corresponding)关系 A bolt from the blue和"晴天霹雳"的比喻形象 相同，但汉语的"晴天霹雳"是贬义的，只能比 喻"不幸的意外事情"，英语的a bolt from the blue是中性的，可比喻"不幸或高兴的意外事 情
become a dragon
• to hope that one’s son will become a somebody
• to hope one’s son will have a bright future
Example 3
• Many people in the west believe in Christianity, so there are a large number of related idioms in their language, such as” God helps those who help themselves”(上帝帮助自助的人)” Go to hell” (下地狱去)