英语论文-动物词在汉英文化中的喻义及其翻译
湖南考试信息港-拜年祝福语
动物词在汉英文化中的喻义及其翻译
[Abstract] As we know,
animals are good friends of human beings. In the
long progress of human
society, animals
contribute much to man’s living. Therefore, animal
words come to human
language and play a very
important role in human communication. Language is
a cultural carrier.
There are a lot of animal
words in both English and Chinese but the two
countries have great
differences in cultural
backgrounds and thinking modes. These differences
between the two
cultures lead to different
figurative meanings of animal words. This essay
will try to compare the
figurative meanings of
animal words both in English and Chinese from the
following aspects:
same animal association
vehicles with the similar and different figurative
meanings, the different
animal association
vehicles with the similar figurative meanings and
the semantic gaps. With
comparison, we can
clearly see that these figurative meanings of
animal words greatly influence
the
intercultural communication. As an important means
of cross-cultural communication,
translation
is also closely connected with culture. For the
purpose of our effective communication,
we
should use different kinds of methods to do the
equivalent translation between the two
languages and build a bridge for the
linguistic cultural exchange.
[Key Words]
animal words; figurative meaning; association
vehicle; English and Chinese cultures;
intercultural communication; translation
【摘 要】众所周知，动物是人类的朋友。在人类社会漫长的发展过程中，动物为人类的生
存提
供物质基础。而语言作为文化的载体，记录着人类社会文明发展的进程；人类的语言中
必然存在着大量的
反映动物名称的词汇。但由于汉英两个民族各自的社会文化背景和思维方
式不同，在动物词的喻义的表现
上也不尽相同。本文拟从英汉两种文化中动物词的联想喻体
与喻义之间的对应关系着手，主要表现为：同
一联想喻体，喻义却有同有异；不同联想喻体，
喻义却相同以及一方语义空缺等来进行比较分析，从中得
知汉英两个民族在以动物为比喻的
应用上存在着差异，而这种差异给跨文化交际带来障碍。因此在跨文化
交际中，我们必须正
确理解这些动物联想喻体所负载的文化信息，采取不同的方法进行英汉两种语言的等
值翻
译，以便减少交际障碍，为两种语言文化的交流搭建一座沟通的桥梁。
【关键词】动物词；喻义；联想喻体；汉英文化；跨文化交际；翻译
1.
Introduction
1.1 Close relationship between
animals and human beings
Human beings and
animals are both the products of natural
evolution, and factually man had
evolved from
animals. But since human beings created language,
there have existed some great
differences
between man and animals. Language, the result of
human labor and social activities, is
human
specific, which is the major factor that
distinguishes human beings from animals. In the
long progress of human society, animals, which
provide food and labor force for human, have
been closely bound up with human existence and
development. Their furs were also good dress
materials for ancient human to keep out wind
and cold. In a certain stage of primitive society,
man
once considered animals as Gods to
worship. So far animals are still close friends of
human beings.
Now that animals play an
important role in human lives, the animal words in
human languages
will bear the deep socio-
cultural imprints in the course of being used long
by the human beings.
1.2 Influence of animal
words in both Chinese and English culture
Language is the carrier and container of cultural
information. Human beings have been
interacting with the world and accumulated
their experience and knowledge about the world,
which are represented in language. As a
result, we can find in language all human
knowledge and
experience which are interpreted
as cultural information. [1] So in human language
there exist a
plenty of animal words that are
often used as kinds of association vehicles. Human
beings often
associate their feelings and
emotions with various animals according to
animals’ features such as
their appearances,
habits and characteristics so that the names or
images of animals possess
specific cultural
connotations.
Culture is the soil of
language. Sir Edward Tylor, a British
anthropologist, was one of those
who first
defined culture，in Primitive Culture (1871). His
definition was that “Culture is complex
whole,
which includes knowledge, belief, art, law,
morals, customs and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of
society.” Tylor’s definition has continually been
the basis
of most anthropological conception
of culture. [2] Culture is also a historical
phenomenon. Each
generation inherits the
culture established by its forefathers and makes
its own contributions to the
development of
culture; so different nations have different
cultures. Universality between Chinese
and
English cultures and similarity in the thinking
modes make people associate the same animal
words with the same or similar figurative
meanings. But differences between these two
cultures
always lead to different association,
i.e. Chinese and English people have different
figurative
meanings to same animal words or
use different animal association vehicles to
express same or
similar figurative meanings.
English and Chinese are rich in animal
words as association vehicles, so in this paper
the author
mainly compares figurative meanings
of animal words in English and Chinese culture and
indicates translation techniques.
2.
Animal words as association vehicles
It is
well known that there are many figurative
expressions in English and Chinese, especially
animal metaphors. However, because of
different histories, social backgrounds and
cultures, the
connotations of animal words are
different. If Chinese people and English people
want to use the
figurative way to express the
same tenor, they would use the same or different
association vehicles,
so the corresponding
relationships between association vehicles and
figurative meanings are also
different.
2.1 Same animal association vehicles and
similar figurative meanings
As all human
beings live in the similar environment, the
Chinese people and English people
nearly have
the same knowledge of animals. Therefore, they
have the same or similar figurative
meanings
to animal words. For example, English people would
say, “He is a fox.” Similarly,
Chinese people
can understand the meaning of the sentence “He is
a fox.” in Chinese “他是一只
狐狸。” This example
shows that in English “fox” can be used to
describe somebody who is
cunning and
dishonest. This example indicates that different
languages and cultures endow “fox’’
the same
figurative meanings.
The following
animal words have the similar figurative meanings
both in English and Chinese.
“Sheep(羊) or
lamb(羔羊)” can be considered as a kind of animal
with a sweet and tame temper.
As a result, the
“sheep(羊) or lamb(羔羊)” is used to show the
character with a sweet and tame
temper both in
English and Chinese, for example: “as lovely as a
little sheep (像小羊羔一样可
爱)”.
Wolf(狼) is a
kind of greedy, savage and cruel beast, so in
Chinese there exist such expressions:
“狼心狗肺”,
“豺狼当道”, “如狼似虎”, “狼吞虎咽”, “狼狈为奸”, “狼子野心”. Similarly,
the
greedy, sinister, dishonest character of
wolf also displays vividly and incisively in
western culture,
e.g.: “a wolf in a sheep’s
clothing or a wolf in lamb’s skin (披着羊皮的狼)”; “wake
a sleeping
wolf (自找麻烦)”; “hold a wolf by the
ears (骑虎难下，进退两难)”;“keep the wolf from the door
(勉强度日)”. [3]
In addition, when “wolf”
is used to refer to a person, it means “a man who
charms women so as
to use them for his own
pleasure’’. Therefore, in English there is an
idiom “a wolf whistle(挑逗口
哨)”. In Chinese,
there is also such an expression “色狼”.
“Ass(驴)” in English and Chinese has the same
connotation and figurative meaning “foolish,
stupid”. In Chinese the expression “笨驴” is
used to indicate a fool or an idiot. In English,
most of
the set phrases, idioms and proverbs
including the word “ass’’ all imply the meaning of
“foolish”,
e.g. “ass in grain (十足的大傻瓜)”; “an
ass in a lion’s skin (from Aesop’s Fables,
冒充聪明人的
傻瓜)”; “all asses wag their ears
(谚语：驴子摇耳朵，傻瓜装聪明)”; “asses’ bridge (笨人难过的
桥)”;
“act the ass (做糊涂事)”; “make an ass of oneself
(做蠢事)”; “sell you ass (口语：不要这样
呆头呆脑)”. [4]
The word “dove” in Chinese and English shares
the same meaning, and symbolizes for peace. We
regard the dove as “peace dove”. In some grand
celebrations, we often see the scene of taking the
doves away, standing for cherished desire for
peace world of all of us. [5]
The following
are some other familiar examples: as free as a
bird (像鸟儿一样自由); as ugly as a
toad (像癞蛤蟆一样丑);
as busy as a bee (像蜜蜂一样忙碌); as slow as a nail
(像蜗牛一样慢).
This kind of terms with same or
similar figurative meanings show that in different
cultures there
does exist something in common,
which reflects the commonness of different
national cultures.
2.2 Same animal association
vehicles and different figurative meanings
Different living conditions have caused varied
states of mind and ways of thinking, so Chinese
and English people have different ideas and
attitudes to some animals such as dragon, dogs,
etc.
And their figurative meanings in both
languages and cultures differ greatly.
2.2.1
Some animal words with commendatory figurative
meaning in Chinese, but with derogatory
figurative meaning in English
We must be
very familiar with the word “dragon (龙)”, which is
completely opposite in Chinese
and English.
“Dragon (龙)”is not a real animal but an imaginary
one. In China, dragon is the
symbol of the
Chinese nation, especially in the ancient time,
people worshiped dragon to beg for
rain. And
the Chinese feudal emperors were often referred to
as sons of dragons (龙子), wearing
clothes with
designs of dragons (龙袍). And also the Chinese all
call themselves descendents of
the
dragon（龙的传人）and are very proud of being the
descendents of the dragon. However, in
Western
people’s minds, the dragon is some evil monster
with a large tail with wings and claws,
breathing out fire and smoke. It symbolizes
evil.
“Monkey (猴子)” has different
figurative meaning in Chinese and English
languages. In Chinese,
“monkey” is often
likened to a smart and agile person, with
commendatory sense. The Chinese
people often
jokingly call clever and cute children “little
monkey”. But, if you praise a western
child
“You are like a little monkey.”, he will be angry,
thinking that you curse him. Because in
English, “little monkey,” means “a troublesome
playful child”. And “monkey” is often likened to
a person with a whole bag of tricks, e.g. “The
man is as tricky as a monkey. (那人诡计多端，极为
狡猾。)”
Therefore, in English, expressions with “monkey”
have derogatory meanings, e.g.
“monkey
business (捣鬼，骗人的勾当)”; “monkey around (闲荡，瞎弄)”;
“monkey meat (美俚：
劣等牛肉)”; “suck the monkey
(英俚：酗酒)”. [6]
Let’s take a look at the word
“petrel (海燕)”. In English the petrel is considered
as an omen of
disaster. The Longman Dictionary
of English-Chinese offers us the explanations: “A
stormy petrel
is a person whose presence
excites discontentment, quarrelling, etc. in a
social group.” The reason
for such a dislike
is that they think petrel is the symbol for
disaster. However, in China the word
“petrel”
is associated with braving hardship and adversity,
advancing with perseverance and
courage. The
spirit is well reflected in the poem petrel
written by Gorky, a famous Russian writer.
To
English people, if a magpie (喜鹊) flies near a
window, it is a symbol of bad luck. There are
two explanations in The Oxford Advanced
Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary: (a) person
who
collects or hoards things (爱收藏或贮藏东西的人),
(b) person who chatters a lot (爱饶舌的人).
All
these explanations are figurative with derogatory
meanings. On the contrary, a magpie is a
symbol of good luck in China. If a magpie
sings in a tree near houses, people would think
some
happy things would happen. So Chinese
people often say, “Magpie sings, happy thing
comes.”
What’s about the animal word “fish”?
“fish” and “鱼” has quite different cultural
figurative
meanings in English and Chinese. In
English “fish” has derogatory meaning that refers
to bad
things and persons, e.g.: “a poor fish
(可怜虫)”; “a loose fish (生活放荡的女人)”; “fish in the air
(水中捞月)”. In Chinese the letter “鱼” and “余” are
homophones. Therefore, in the important
festivals such as Spring Festival, Chinese
people would like to use “fish” as an
indispensable dish
to symbolize “abundance”.
[7]
In China, “elephant (象)” is a mascot.
Many places in China are named for the letter “象”
such as
“象山” in Zhejiang province, “象州”, “象鼻山”
in Guangxi province, “象河” in Tibet, etc.
“Elephant” also symbolizes status. For
example, in remote antiquity, the noble ladies
wore clothes
with designs of elephants (象服);
The emperors rode on elephants. The “elephant” is
doted by
Chinese people because of the
Buddhist legends. It is said that the Buddhist
patriarch was the
reincarnation of white
elephant. On the contrary, in English white
elephant (白象) is likened to
things that are
useless and often expensive. The allusion is
originated from a folk story that in
Siam (now
Thailand), the king would give a white elephant as
a present to a subject that he did not
like.
The subject would have to spend all his money on
looking after the rare animal. Therefore,
there exist such expressions in English,
“elephantine (笨拙)”, “elephant humor (蹩脚的幽默)”,
“elephant task (累赘的活儿)”.[8]
2.2.2 Some
animal words with commendatory figurative meaning
in English, but with derogatory
figurative
meaning in Chinese
Let’s take our familiar
animal word “dog” for example. The dog is very
interesting and closely
related with people.
Most of the “dog” expressions possess a
commendatory sense or at least a
neuter
sense in English. It is all right to refer to
certain people as “big dog (重要人物)”, “top dog
(优胜者)”, “lucky dog (幸运儿)”, etc. in English.
“To help a lame dog over the stile” means “to
help someone in difficulty”. “To let sleeping
dogs lie” means “to make no trouble” or “not to
disturb people”. “Every dog has its day,”
means “every person will some day succeed or
become
fortunate.” Such usage does not contain
derogatory meaning. But figures of speech like
these are
not proper in Chinese as the word
“狗” in most Chinese phrases is associated with
some
derogatory meanings, as is reflected in
sayings like “狗胆包天、狗急跳墙、狗头军师、狗腿子、
狗血喷头、狼心狗肺、狗眼看
人低、丧家之犬、狗嘴吐不出象牙”, etc., even though most Chinese
now think the dog is man’s faithful friend.
[9]
However, in some cases the word “dog” may
have derogatory sense in English, as is shown in
the
following examples: “yellow dog (卑鄙之人)”,
“dirty dog (龌龊之人)”, “sly dog (阴险之人)”,
“dead
dog (无用的人)”, and some vulgar languages: “son of
bitch (狗杂种)”, “you dog (狗东西)”,
“that cur
(小杂种狗)”, etc. [10]
“Owl (猫头鹰)” is very
popular with the western. The Greeks use “owl” to
stand for Athens,
which is famous for its many
owls. And it’s said that Athena, the woman patron
saint was given
an owls as her mark. It
symbolizes wisdom, calmness, gravity and
steadiness. In dispute among
birds and beats,
it is the owl that they go to for advice, and we
can see such idiom “as wise as an
owl”. If we
use “owlish” to describe somebody, we want to say
he is clever or serious, e.g.
“Patrick peered
owlishly at us through his glasses.
(帕特里克透过他的眼镜严肃而机智地审视
着我们。) ” But in Chinese, the
figurative meaning of the word “owl” is quite
different. “Owl” is
described as the devil,
ill omen and evil. People are afraid of seeing an
owl, especially seeing its
entering the house,
so there are proverbs which go like these:
“夜猫子进宅，无事不来”; “夜猫子
抖擞翅，大小有点事儿”. The mere sight
of an owl or the sound of its hooting might cause
people
to draw back in fear. [11]
To
Chinese people and English people, “bear” has
quite different figurative meanings. To Chinese
people “bear” means “cowardly and timid” or
“stupid”, such as “笨熊”, “瞧那熊样”, etc.
However,
in English, people use “bear” to refer to those
persons having special ability, for
instance,
“He is a bear at music. (他是音乐天才。)”
Another
example is an insect---cricket (蟋蟀), which,
however, means totally different to both the
Chinese and the English. In Chinese culture,
“cricket” refers to a small, brown, jumping insect
which makes a shrill sound by rubbing its
front wings together. It is often used to express
“grief”
and “desolation”, which is reflected
in the following example “独申旦而不寐兮，哀蟋蟀之宵征”
written by Song Yu in the book of 《九辩》. But in
English, since Shakespeare used “as merry as
crickets” in Henry IV, the English and
American people have used “cricket” to symbolize
joy all
the time. For example, y once wrote in
his Two Years Ago that “I have not had all the
luck I expected, but… am as merry as a
cricket. (虽然我没有得到想要的一切好运，但我却很高
兴。)” [12]
2.3 Different animal association vehicles and
similar figurative meanings
Different animal
words have similar cultural connotations in
English and Chinese languages and
people use
different animal words to express similar
meanings. Even though the animal
association
vehicles are different, they have similar
figurative meanings.
For instance, agriculture
is the foundation of China’s economic development,
so the cattle (牛)
play a great role in
Chinese culture. There are so many expressions
which use “cattle” as
association vehicles,
such as “壮实如牛”, “牛气冲天”, “象老黄牛一样辛勤工作”,
“过着牛马不
如的生活”. However, in the Middle Ages,
horse was not only the inseparable part of
Knights’
lives, but also the animal kept and
used by the imperial families. So English people
give horse
many good figurative meanings such
as “as strong as a horse”, “to work like a horse”,
“get on
one’s high horse”. Similarly, Great
Britain is an island country, so fishery is
important. Therefore,
there exists such
figurative expression “to drink like a fish (牛饮)”.
[13]
In English, there are many figurative
expressions using the word “horse” as association
vehicles,
e.g. “change horse (换马)” is likened
to “change groups or leaders (换班子或领导人)”; “from the
horse’s mouth (第一手的)”; “talk horse (吹牛)”, etc.
To Chinese people, “tiger” is referred to as
the king of animals and stands for power, vigor
and
bravery. So there are many expressions
with the letter “虎”: “英雄虎胆”, “龙争虎斗”, “藏龙卧
虎”,
“如虎添翼”, “虎将”, etc. But in English “tiger”
symbolizes cruelty. The western regards
“lion”
as the king of animals. Webster’s Third New
International Dictionary of the English
Language interprets “a person felt to be like
a lion especially in courage, ferocity, dignity or
dominance (一个象是狮子的人，特别指勇气、凶猛、威严或权势方面)”. We use
“as bold as a
lion” to describe a brave
person. The lion enjoys high prestige. In
addition, English people regard
lion as the
national emblem of Great Britain. “A literary
lion” is referred to a famous person in the
field of literature. [14]
“Snake” and
“中山狼” share the same figurative meaning in English
and Chinese, which are both
likened to a
person who returns hate for love. The only
difference is that Chinese language uses
“中山狼”
as association vehicle, but English language uses
“snake” as association vehicle.
For generation
the fable of “中山狼” has circulated among the
people. The story is that: Zhao
Jianzi shot at
a wolf in the wood. The wolf escaped and asked
master Dongguo for help. Mr.
Dongguo was
softhearted and hid the wounded wolf in his bag to
keep it from being caught by
Zhao Jianzi. But
the wolf wanted to eat him. So the figurative
meaning “恩将仇报” of “中山狼”
is created.
“Snake” is referred to a person requiting
kindness with enmity, which is originated from
Aesop’s
Fables, that is, a snake was frozen
stiff at the verge of death. A pedestrian saw it
and warmed it in
his bosom. After a while, the
snake came round and bit its benefactor to death.
So it causes the
figurative meaning. [15]
Different animal association vehicles with
similar figurative meanings can be also seen from
such
expressions: “as timid as a rabbit,
chicken-hearted or pigeon-hearted (胆小如鼠)”; “like a
cat on
hot bricks (热锅上的蚂蚁)”; “as stubborn as a
mule (犟得像头牛)”; “wet as a drowned rat (落汤
鸡)”;
“goose flesh (鸡皮疙瘩)”; etc.
2.4 Semantic gaps
Specific cultures and regional discrepancies
exert a strong influence on language. And animal
words as association vehicles are the products
under the specific cultural backgrounds. Then
these
animal association vehicles have their
respective cultural connotations which are known
to
different nations or which are completely
strange to people.
2.4.1 The same animal words
with rich figurative meanings in English, but with
no figurative
meanings in Chinese
“Ostrich (鸵鸟)” is a kind of large bird living
in the area of African deserts, with a long neck
and
long legs and that cannot fly but can run
very fast. In English and American cultures,
“ostrich” has
such figurative meanings, e.g.
“stupid, evading and having a good appetite”. Its
figurative
meaning would be well reflected in
the following expressions: “Ostrich belief (鸵鸟信念)”
is
referred to deceptive idea. “To bury one’s
head ostrich-like in the sand” is likened to a
person who
prefers to ignore problems rather
than try and deal with them. In addition, there
exists such
figurative expression “have the
digestion of an ostrich (胃口好如鸵鸟)”. However, to
most
Chinese people, an ostrich is only a kind
of animal without any figurative meanings. The
Chinese
are only familiar with “ostrich policy
(鸵鸟政策)”borrowed from English. [16]
In Western
culture, what impresses people most may be goat,
for “goat (山羊)” is generally
thought to be
related with evils and the devil. The legend has
that the devil created the goat, which
is
described as the phantom of the devil and the goat
typically stands for those who are fond of
women and loose in morals. And what’s about
the English idiom “separate the sheep from the
goats”? The Bible, Matthew tells us that
“sheep” refers to “people”. We can see the
original
passage from the Bible, Matthew
(25:31-33): “When the son of Man comes in his
glory, and all
the angels with him, then he
will sit on the throne of his glory. All the
nations will be gathered
before him, and he
will separate people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from
the goats,
and he will put the sheep at his right hand the
goats at the left.” [17] And thus the
English
idiom can be translated into “分清好人与坏人”. But to
Chinese people, the goat is only a
common
animal.
Let us see more animal words only
having figurative meanings in English:
“nightingale (夜莺：告
密者，坐探) ”,“albatross
(信天翁：沉重的负担，无法摆脱的烦恼障碍)”, “cock (公鸡：头头)”,
“beaver (河狸：卖力工作的人)”, “cat (猫：心地恶毒的女人，胆小鬼)”,
etc. [18]
2.4.2 The same animal words with
rich figurative meanings in Chinese, but with no
figurative
meanings in English
For Chinese
people, we must be very familiar with the word
“crane (鹤)”, a symbol for longevity
in Chinese
culture. Therefore, some Chinese parents like to
name their children as “鹤年”, “鹤龄”
with the
hope that their children live a long life. The
crane is often linked with the pine tree, which
is a symbol for sturdiness and long life. The
two often appear together with the meaning
“松鹤延
年”. In China, it is a good way for people
to send gifts with such designs of crane and pine
tree to
the older generations, especially on
their birthday celebrating occasions. But in
English culture,
the crane is only an ordinary
animal with no figurative meanings.
“龟(tortoise)” contains two figurative meanings
in Chinese. One is longevity because of its
physical features. Stone tortoises symbolic of
venerable old ages can be seen in front of ancient
halls, temples and palaces. The other is the
symbol for the cuckold. To call a person a
tortoise “王
八” is highly insulting. However, to
the English, the tortoise is just a slow-moving
creature with
no such figurative meanings.
[19]
Other animal words indicate that only
Chinese language has the figurative meanings. For
example,
“蚕(silkworm) ：奉献精神”, “鹗(osprey)
：有才能的人”, “鸿雁(Chinese wild goose) ：喻指信
使”,
“鸳鸯(mandarin duck) ：夫妻”, “黄雀(sis kin) ：得志小人”. [20]
3. Influences of figurative meanings of animal
words on intercultural communication
Intercultural communication is
concerned with communication among people from
different
cultural backgrounds. With the rapid
development of science and technology, especially
communications, the world is becoming smaller
and smaller. And it is necessary to communicate
with people from different cultural
backgrounds. However, different cultures may favor
different
value systems and worldviews.
Moreover, the belief, customs and habits of the
people from
different countries may be
different. Therefore, intercultural communication
provides guidance for
those people engaged in
intercultural communication.
In the human
communication, a plenty of animal words are widely
used to enrich the language and
culture. The
vivid images of animals enhance expressive ability
of language by associating with
their features
showed from outside appearances or individual
temperaments. As the above
comparisons
represent, animal words have many same or
different figurative meanings. If we do
not
know the cultural information and only understand
the information according to our national
cultural backgrounds, we would cause the
deviation from information transmission and
misunderstanding in intercultural
communication to lead to the failure of
communication. Once a
foreigner said, “The
Jones family live like fighting cocks ever since
he got that new well paid job
at the
ministry.” The structure is very simple but many
people make a wrong understanding. The
problem
lies in the phrase “fighting cocks”. To Chinese
“fighting cocks (打斗的公鸡)” is usually
used to
describe two people living an unpeaceful life. In
ancient China, the palaces or the folks
liked
gamecock to make a pleasure, which brought out the
association. But in English, “live like
fighting cocks” means “to enjoy the best
possible food or life”. So the correct
understanding of
this sentence is that
“自从琼斯在部里找到一个薪水丰厚的新职位后，他家过得很舒服。” [21]
Therefore, we should pay attention to the
figurative meanings of animal words to make
cross-cultural communication successful.
4. Translation of animal metaphors
4.1
Importance of translation
Translation is a
dialogic process. It is not only an inter-lingual
activity but also a cross-cultural
communication event. The purpose of
translation is to transfer the source language
into the target
language to obtain the maximal
equivalence. So translators play an important role
in the process of
translation. They should
consider how to deal with the images of the words
and how to express the
figurative meanings
correctly and properly. Meantime, they should
think over not only the
language structures
and national features in source language but also
the cultural backgrounds and
the expressions
in target language.
Animal words contain many
cultural meanings. In the process of translating
animal words, the big
problem is how to get
the same or nearly the same effect culturally in
the target language as that of
the source
language.
4.2 Methods of translation
4.2.1
Keeping image of animal association vehicles
English culture and Chinese culture have much
in common, so the English and the Chinese share
the same or similar feelings or attitudes to
some animal words. And they use the same animal
images to express the similar figurative
meanings. Therefore, we can adopt literal
translation to
keep the original association
vehicles. To a certain extent, this method helps
to keep the source
national sense and makes
the target language readers to understand the
source language culture.
For example:
(1)
俗话说得好，叫做“杀鸡吓猴”，拿鸡子宰了，那猴儿自然害怕。（李宝嘉：《官场现形
记》）
The saying has it well, “kill the chicken in
order to frighten the monkey”. If the chicken is
killed
the monkey is certainly scared. [22]
(2) 楚兵罢食尽，此天亡楚之时也，不如因其机而遂取之。今释弗击，此所谓养虎遗患也。
（司马迁：《史记.项羽本纪》）
The troops of Chu are short of
food, which shows the gods want to wipe them out
and take up the
state. If we don’t launch an
attack upon them and let them go, what we shall do
is to nourish a
tiger to be a source of the
trouble in the future. [23]
(3) Advice and
correction roll off him like water off a duck’s
back.
劝导对他好像水过鸭背似的不起作用。[24]
(4) You
stupid ass! How could you do a thing like that?
你这头蠢驴！怎么会干出那种事儿来？ [25]
Let’s have a look
at some other examples: dark horse (黑马), paper
tiger (纸老虎), lamb duck (跛
脚鸭子), as pure as a
swan (像天鹅一样圣洁), etc.
Keeping image of
association vehicles can make language vivid and
vigorous and preserve the
original style.
Adopting this method not only reproduces the
source language meaning and charm
but also
benefits the cultural exchange between Chinese and
English.
4.2.2 Changing image of animal
association vehicles
English language and
Chinese language have some cultural discrepancies.
If some original
association vehicles are kept
in the process of translation, the target language
readers may not
understand them. Indeed, there
are occasions where certain cultural aspects of
original cannot be
directly transferred into
the target language culture. Thus, in the process
of intercultural
communication, we may replace
the original image with a different one that
retains the meaning of
the original message
and well fits in with the target language. For
example:
To Chinese people, if someone talks
too much and don’t want to stop, we will use
“叽叽喳喳，像
只麻雀” to describe him. In Chinese
culture, people always associate “sparrow” with
someone
talkative. This coincides with the
associative meaning of “magpie” in the English
culture (see
section 2.2.1). Therefore, the
replacement of “sparrow” with “magpie” is quite
necessary for the
sake of English reader’s
acceptability.
(5)
郭彩娣见徐义德装出一副笑面虎的神情，越发使她生气。（周而复： 《上海的早晨》）
It
made Kuo Tsai-ti more furious than ever to see Hsu
Yi-teh putting on this wolf-in-sheep’s
clothing manner. [26]
(6) Mr. Smith may
serve as a good secretary, for he is as close as
an oyster.
失密斯先生可以当个好秘书，因为他守口如瓶。[27]
In
addition, when using other association vehicles to
replace the original association vehicles, we
should pay attention to some traps. Look at
the example:
(7) Lock the stable door after
the horse is stolenhas bolted.
It is not
proper to put it into “亡羊补牢”. This English proverb
means “to take precaution too late
to be
effective”, which emphasizes “late”, equal to
Chinese expression “贼去关门” or “雨后送
伞”. However,
in Chinese proverb it stresses “not too late” and
its complete expression is “亡羊补
牢，犹为未晚”,
which is equal to another English proverb “It’ s
never too late to mined[sic].” [28]
Chinese
and English people adopt different animal images
to express the similar figurative
meanings,
so this method of changing images is the best way
and this conforms to the thinking
modes and
expressions of the source and target language
readers.
4.2.3 Discarding image of animal
association vehicles
Some animal words contain
opposite figurative meanings with commendatory or
derogatory sense
and exist semantic gaps. If
these culturally loaded association vehicles can
be represented in the
target language version,
it would cause many misunderstandings and language
barriers. So the
best way is to discard the
images of animal association vehicles. For
example:
(8) 他被新来的经理炒鱿鱼了。
“炒鱿鱼” is a
dialect in the area of Guangdong province. It is
equal to “fire sb.” or “get the back”
in
English language. If we try to retain the image
“鱿鱼”, the English readers would be baffled.
Here we should choose to tell out the meaning
of the sentence to make the translation clear. So
the
translated version is “He was fired by the
newly-appointed manager.”
(9) Don’t listen to
her gossip; She is a cat.
别听她搬弄是非，她是个心地恶毒的女人。
(10) The lions at her party included two
famous authors and a musician.
她宴请的社会名流包括两名作家和一名音乐家。 [29]
When this
method is used in translation, the target language
readers have no difficulty in reading
and they
do not need to stop to guess the meaning of the
figurative expressions as well.
Along with the
development and close contact with the foreign
countries, the western have been
learning the
Chinese culture all the time. So do the Chinese
people. When translating, we can use
literal
translation plus annotation in the beginning.
After the target language readers have been
very familiar with the expressions and known
their meanings in the source language texts, we
can
omit the annotation. With the lapse of
time, Chinese and English language will be
absorbed each
other. This will benefit more to
know the two countries’ cultures and customs, and
the two
countries can keep their own national
flavors.
5. Conclusion
Human beings always
have inseparable relations with animals. In the
long period of time when
man is in harmony
with animals, he has come to realize that all
animals, whether they are friends
or enemies,
contribute much to man’s living. Therefore, animal
words come into human
communicating language.
It can be said that human language reflects human
ideas and acts; so
animal words play a very
important role in human linguistic communication.
Different cultures of Chinese and English
nations entrust cultural connotations to the
animal
words, which cause discrepancies in the
application of animal association vehicles. These
discrepancies bring obstruction of
intercultural communication. As an important means
of
cross-cultural communication, translation
is also closely connected with culture. For the
purpose
of our effective communication, we
should understand these culturally loaded animal
words
correctly and do the equivalent
translation between English language and Chinese
language, and
build a bridge for the
linguistic cultural exchange.