Metaphor and Translation

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[Abstract]Translation,asatoolforthecommunicationofcultures,transfersthecognitionofthesourcelanguageintothetargetlanguage,andtranslationofmetaphorhasbecameacontroversyreceivingmoreandmoreattentions.ThispaperintroducestheEnglishandtheChinesemetaphorindetails.Inthebeginning,differentdefinitionsofEnglishmetaphorarequotedfromauthorities.ThentheconstructionofEnglishmetaphorandthreebasiccomponents,thetenor,thevehicleandtheground,areintroduced,followedbythefourbasicstructurepatterns.Differentclassificationsofmetaphorareappreciatedandstudiedatthedifferentlevels.Fromtheangleofrhetoriceffect,thelivemetaphorandthedeadmetaphorareclassifiedinthefirsttype,andfromNewmark’sview,fourcategoriesareclassified,andfinallyfourcategoriescanbesortedoutaccordingtotheemergenceofmetaphor’sthreecomponents.AtthelevelofcognitionthreecategoriesareintroducedformLakoff’sclassification.ThenChinesemetaphorisanalyzedinthesameway,sothecontrastandcomparisonareapparentlymade.Basedonthat,theobstacleswhichmayexistinthetranslationofmetaphorareprobedinto,thatis,thestudyoftheoriginoftheobstacles----cultureclash,includingthedifferencesofthelivingenvironmentandhistory,traditionandcustom,classicaltalesandliteraryworks,religionandsoon.Atlast,thestandardandtheskillsofthetranslationofmetaphorarediscussed.

[Keywords]:metaphor;translation;thesourcelanguage;thetargetlanguage;cultureclash

【摘要】：翻譯是將一種文化中的語言所表現(xiàn)的認(rèn)知方式用目的語傳遞到目的語的文化中去，而隱喻的翻譯已經(jīng)開始成為研究翻譯方向里的重點和難點之一。本文詳細(xì)介紹英語隱喻和漢語隱喻，首先在概念上引用權(quán)威的定義和詮釋，接著從結(jié)構(gòu)特征上下手分析英語隱喻的基本構(gòu)成成分，即：本體、喻體、喻底。由此引出英語隱喻的三大基本句型。在分類上,首先從修辭效果的角度進(jìn)行論證，①將其分成活隱喻和死隱喻兩大類；②引用Mark的觀點分成四類進(jìn)行分析特點；③根據(jù)隱喻的三大成分之間的關(guān)系，隱喻又可分成四種情況。接著，從認(rèn)知層面上，總結(jié)分析Lakoff的觀點中有利于理解隱喻特點的結(jié)構(gòu)隱喻，實體隱喻，方位隱喻。接著本文對漢語隱喻和英語隱喻形作一比較，指出在語言上的目標(biāo)和功能作用成為英語隱喻和漢語隱喻最大的共同點。在此基礎(chǔ)之上，分析了在隱喻翻譯過程中會遇上的‘?dāng)r路虎’，并深入到產(chǎn)生翻譯障礙的根本原因----文化差異，包括地理和歷史，傳統(tǒng)習(xí)俗因，宗教信仰，經(jīng)典傳說和文學(xué)作品等其它因素。最后，探述了隱喻翻譯的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和基本原則，綜合英、漢隱喻的特點和文化因素，討論了幾種隱喻翻譯的技巧和方法。

【關(guān)鍵詞】隱喻；翻譯；原語；目的語；文化沖突

1.Introduction

Metaphor,mentionedbyLakoffG&JohnsoninMetaphorsWeLiveBy,ispervasiveinourdailylife,happensnotonlyinhuman’slanguagebutalsoinhuman’sthinkingandbehavior.[1]P1Theutilizationofmetaphorsisveryfrequent,andpracticallyitishighlyvaluabletostudylinguisticmetaphor.Inresentyears,metaphorsintranslationarestudiedmostlyinthefieldofpoetry,literatureandrhetoric.ForthedifferencesbetweenChinese,whichisregardedasacontextuallanguage,andEnglishthathasitsadvantages,itisveryimportanttofindwaystoachievetheequivalenteffectofsourcelanguagewhentheyaretranslatedintothetargetlanguage.Therearesomeexamples.

(1)WereIinherplace,itseemstomeIshouldwishtheearthtoopenandswallowmeup.(JaneEyreChapter5)

我若是她，會恨不得立刻在地上挖個洞，鉆進(jìn)去

(2)Hedidnotwinthefirstprize;heisjustpullingyourleg.

他并沒有獲得第一名，只不過和你開個玩笑罷了.

(3)孩子是張大媽從小一把屎一把尿待弄出來的,像親生兒子一樣,孩子也把張大媽當(dāng)作親媽,冷丁一下子把娘倆拆開,孩子能受得了嗎?

Shehadnursedhimeversincehewasasmallbabyandlovedhimasherown;andthechild,too,regardedherashisownmother.Whatwouldhappentohimifhewastakenawayfromher.[2]P19

(4)每個人生活都有苦有甜.

Everylifehasitsrosesandthorns.

parisonbetweenEnglishmetaphorandChinesemetaphorwillhelptostrengthenourunderstandingoftheessenceoflanguage,andtheculturedifferenceswhichcouldbetracedbackbehindthephenomenonoflanguage,bothofwhichservetoprobeintotheartoftranslation;Therefore,inonesense,itishighlyvaluabletocombinethestudyofcomparisonandcontrastbetweenEnglishmetaphorandChinesemetaphor,theculturedifferencesandtranslationskillsintoawhole

2.Englishmetaphor

Metaphorisafigurativephenomenon,animportanttoolinlanguagecommunication;what’smore,ithasaclosedrelationshipwithmanysubjects,[3]P1suchasLiterature,Aesthetics,Sociology,Philosophy,Logicandsoon,formetaphorcanpermeateintoone’ssubjectivethinkingandconceptofaesthetic.One’spersonality,includingphilosophy,culture,standardofaestheticsandsoon,willbereflectedthroughthemetaphoroneuses.Therefore,metaphorshouldbestudiedfromamoreprofoundandhigherlevel.

2.1AuthoritativeDefinition

Variousdefinitionofmetaphorhavebeenproposedandsomeofthemarequotedbelow.

i)metaphor:(exampleofthe)useofawordorphrasetoindicatesomethingdifferentfrom(thoughtrelatedinsomewayto)theliteralmeaning,asin‘I’llmakehimeathiswords’or‘shehasaheartofstone’.(OxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionthefourthedition)

ii)metaphor:awayofdescribingsomethingbycomparingittosomethingelsethathassimilarqualities,withoutusingthewords‘like’or‘a(chǎn)s’,‘thesunshineofhersimile’isametaphor.(LongmanDictionaryofContemporary1995)

iii)metaphor:隱喻(一種修辭手段如drowninginmoney,foodforthought之類).(TheEnglish-ChineseDictionary1993)

iv)“Bymetaphor.Imeananyfigurativeexpression:thetransferredsenseofaphysicalword;thepersonificationofanabstraction;theapplicationofawordorcollocationtowhatdoesnotliterallydenote,i.e,todescribeonethingintermsofanother”.PeterNewMark[4]P123

v)metaphor:afigureofspeechcontaininganimpliedcomparison,inwhichawordorphraseordinarilyandprimarilyusedofonethingisappliedtoanother.(Web’sNowWorldDictionary)

2.2StructureinEnglishmetaphor

MetaphorcomesfromtheancientGreecewords‘meta’and‘pherein’‘meta’means‘a(chǎn)cross’,‘pherein’means‘change’;Thereforethebasicfunctionofmetaphoristotransformsomethingfromoneplacetoanother.[5]P1Fromsemanticview,therearethreebasicfactorscomposingametaphors:thetenor,thevehicle,theground,notallofwhichneedtobepresentedinametaphor,thatis,someofthemmaybehidden.Therefore,itisveryimportanttodistinguishthreefactorsfromeachotherwhenfacingametaphor.

(5)Alltheworldisastage,andallthemenandwomenaremerelyplayers.(Shakespere)

(6)Ihaveseenthemermaidsridingseawardsonthewave.(T.S.Eliot)

Inexample(1)‘stage’isthevehicle,itsliteralmeaningistheraisedflooronwhichplaysareperformedinatheatrewhichexitinourreallife,while‘world’isthetenor,andthegroundofthismetaphoristhatbotharefullofillusionandabsurdity.In(6)‘riding’isthevehicle,whichliterallymeansanactiontotravellongcontrollingandsittingonahorse,andthegroundisthesituationthatthemermaidsfloatingonthewaveslightly.However,notallvehiclesandtenorsinmetaphorsrefertotherealityinourlifejustasexample(5)and(6)do,theymayrefertotheabstractconceptimpliedinthecontext,andalsotheymayrefertosomekindsofqualityorconditionqualities.Therearesomeexamples.

(7)Thetreeoflibertymustberefreshedfromtimetotimewiththebloodofpatriotsandtyrants.Itisitsnaturalmanure.(TomasJefferson)

(8)Somebooksaretobetasted,othersswallowed,andsomefewtobechewedanddigested.

(9)Hisreplywassmooth.

In(7)thevehicle,‘liberty’,referstoanabstractiveconcept,whichthetenor,‘tree’isamaterialobject,andthegroundimpliesthatlibertycannotbeachievedordefeatedwithouttheshadingofthebloodofboththedefendersandoppressorsofthelibertyinaviolentstruggle.Ontheotherhand,blood(manure)nurturesliberty.Wordsinexample(8)as‘tasted’,‘swallowed’,‘chewed’,‘digested’literallymeansdifferentwaysofeatingfoods,whicharethevehicle,andthetenoris‘readingbooks’,soobviouslythegroundistheconditionthatbookscouldbereadinvariouswaysasfoodscouldbeeatenindifferentmethod.‘smooth’inexample(9)meanshaveanevensurfacewithoutpoints,lumps,pump;notrough;whichisthevehicle,andthetenoris‘reply’.Sothegroundisthatherreplyistactfulandshrewdjustasthesamesatisfactorycharacterorconditionofsmooth.

Fromsyntacticview,theapplicationofmetaphorisalwaysflexibleandmultiple,forinthesentencestructure,thevehiclemaybeimpliedinthesubject,thepredicate,theobject,thepredicative,theattributeortheadverbialmodifier;What’smore,thevehiclecanbeasingleword,aphrase,asentence,orevenaparagraph.However,threebasicstructurepatternsarecommonlyusedinEnglishmetaphor.

PatternI:thetenorandthevehicleareconnectedbythewordssuchas:be,become,turninto,ect.,andthevehiclemostlyactsasthepredicative.

(10)Jane’sUncleisanoldfox,uptoallkindsofevils.

(11)Hollywood,California,wasthefilmcapital,amagnetforthetalented,thegreedy,thebeautiful,thehopefulandtheweird.

(12)Afterthatlongtalk,Jimbecamethesuninherheart.

Inexample(10)(11)(12),thetenorsarerespectively‘Jane’sUncle’,‘Hollywood’,‘Jim’,thevehicle,‘a(chǎn)noldfox’,‘a(chǎn)magnet’,‘thesun’,whicharethepredicativeinthesentences.Thispatternisthemostbasictype.

PatternII:thepreposition‘of’isusedtoconnectthetenorandthevehicle,indicatingtheappositiverelationship,suchas,

(13)Mirageisthebloomorblightofallmen’shappiness.

(14)Butinacountrywherericefarmershavespentnearly50yearsinacomfortablecocoonofgovernmentprotection.

Intheexample(14)(15)themetaphorisinaphraseconsistingofthetenorsandthevehicleandthepreposition‘of’.Ontheotherhand,thevehicleandthetenoraretheappositive,thatis,‘happinessisthebloomorblight;governmentprotectionisacomfortablecocoon’.

PattenIII:verbsandadjectivesareappliedtotransferthemetaphor,thatis,wordsusedtodescribethespecialqualityofonethingareadoptedtodescribetheotherthingtowhichthespecialqualityaretransferred.Therearestillmanycasesinthispattern.

(15)Fromtheburninglookinhiseye,Iknewhewasangrywithme.

(16)Toby’sfearshadevaporated.

Theword‘burning’actuallyisusedtodescribethestateofthefire,whileinexample(15)itistransfertodescribe‘look’.Readercouldimmediatelyexperiencesuchsituation.‘evaporate’isaVerbwhichexpressestheparticularqualityofthegas,whileitisusedinthecase(16),theabstractiveconcept‘fear’aretransferredtoaconcreteimagelikesthegas.Thispatternisgreatlyusedinthepressandtheliteratureasrhetoricdevicestostrengthentheauthor’sopinionandtoimpressreadersdeeply.

2.3ThecategoriesofEnglishmetaphor

SincethestudyonmetaphorcanbetracedbacktoAristotle,thefirstonewhostudiedmetaphorssystematically.Therehasbeenahistoryofmorethantwothousandyearsstudyonmetaphor,uptillnownumerouspeoplemaketheirgreateffortstoresearchonmetaphorfromvariousangles;therefore,metaphorcanbeclassifiedinmanywaysaccordingtotheanglesitwasstudiedfrom.

2.3.1Classificationsattherhetoriclevel

I)Thedeadmetaphorandthelivemetaphor

Fromitsrhetoriceffect,metaphorcanbesortedintotwocategories:oneisthegenuinemetaphororthelivemetaphor,andtheotheristhetritemetaphorordeadmetaphor.Asweknow,thebasicfunctionofmetaphormentionedbeforeistotransferaspecialqualityfromonethingtotheothertomakemuchmoreconcrete,impressive,profoundimages.Howeverthosewhichwereusedfromtimetotimewithitsrhetoriceffectdeclininggraduallytozerowouldberegardedasthecommonexpression,meltingintothelanguage,andthentheywouldbecomeout-of-dateexpressions,whichiswhatwecalledthedeadmetaphor,suchas‘thebonnetofacar’,‘a(chǎn)coatofpain’,‘theteethofasaw’,‘theappleofone’seyes’,‘raincatsanddogs’.Ontheotherhand,thelivemetaphorreferstothosewithfreshnessandoriginalityandeffect.However,thedisadvantageofthiskindofclassificationisthatitistoovagueanddifficulttodefinetheboundarybetweenthelivemetaphorandthedeadmetaphor.Forexampleitishardtodecidetosort‘theheartofChina,Beijing’intothedeadmetaphororthelivemetaphor.

II)PeterNewmark’sclassification

FromPeterNewmark’sviewATextbookofTranslation,‘Ihavesuggestedelsewherethattherearefourtypesofmetaphor:fossilized,stock,recentlycreatedandoriginal’.[6]P46

Fromthebeginning,thefossilized,thenameitselfisametaphor.Itliterallymeanstobecomeafossil;actuallyitmeansthetrite,our-of-date,merelyused.Inasense,itisjustthesameasthedeadmetaphorinthefirstclassification.Take‘raincastsanddogs’asanexample.Nowadaysthosewhousedthismetaphorareregardedasthepeoplewholiveinthegenerationbeforethegrandfather.Thestockreferstothemetaphorsthathavebeentakeninthedictionariesfortheusageofmetaphoricalmeaningsandarestillfrequentlyusedindailylife.Herearesomeexamplesofthestockaboutthemetaphoricalusageoftheword‘flood’.

(17)Shewasinafloodoftears.

(18)Thecorridorswerefloodedwithgirls.

(19)Strawberriesfloodedthemarketandpricesdroppeddown

(20)Beerfloodedfromtheglass

Therearetherecentlycreatedmetaphorswhichhavenotyetbeenadoptedinthedictionarybutcanbeacceptedthecommonpeoplewithafeelingofrefreshness.InHamiton’sRescueofANewborntherearesentences[7]P47asfollows.

(21)Ifocusedonasmallblobinthemudamidthecolumnsoflegsandtrunks.

(22)Isuddenlycameuponawalloffeelingelephants.

(23)…grabbedtheirlostbabyandtuggedhergentlyintoastockadeoflegs

Intheabovethreesentences,‘columns’and‘wall’,‘stockade’,havedoublefunctions.Theyfunctionasthemeasurewordswiththemetaphoricalmeanings,whichhasnotyetbeenadoptedinanydictionary.However,threemetaphorshaveacommoncharacteristic--theybelongtothestructurePatternII(thepreposition‘of’linksbetweenthetenorandthevehiclewhichhasbeenrecordedinthedictionary,suchas‘a(chǎn)handofbananas’).

Thelastone,theoriginalareregardedastheproductfromtheinspiredthoughtofthemenfullofwitsandknowledge,andcanhardlybeseenbefore,letalonghavebeenrecordedindictionary.APromiseofSpringbyAmericanmodernwriterJeff.Rennikebeginsinthisway:

(24)Nothing,notracksbutmyownarestitchedintothedustingoffreshsnow,whiteasbirchbark,thatfellduringthenight,noflitteringshadowsinthetrees,notasilverofbirdsongintheair.[8]P47

Theword‘stitch’belongstothosethatarerarelyusedinEnglish,anditsmostimpressiveusageisintheidiom‘Astitchintimesavenight’.WhilefloatedoutofthepenofJeffRennike,itwasshiningwiththebeautyoftheoriginalmetaphor.

Insomesenses,PeterNewmark’sclassification,thefossilized,thestock,therecentlycreated,theoriginalcanbeseentobethesmallbranchesderivingfromthecategoriesofthedeadmetaphorandthelivemetaphor.

III)Classificationaccordingtotheemergenceofthetenor,thevehicle,andtheground

Accordingtothethreebasiccomponentsinmetaphorstructure,fourcategoriescouldbesortedout.

Thefirsttypeisboththetenorandthevehicleemergeinthemetaphor,suchas,

(25)Ifthefatherlardissound,mypersonaltroublesareonlyafleabite.

Thistypeisthemostcommonone,forthegroundofmetaphoriseasytounderstand.FactuallyPattenImentionedabovebelongstothistype.

Secondtypeisthemetaphorinwhichthetenorisimplied,suchas,

(26)Investmentsinrestructuringcompaniesinvolvesubstantialrisks,anddecipheringthedetailsofacompany’sfinancesandplansforre-emergenceisakintopenetratingalegaljungle.

Thethirdtypeisthemetaphorsinwhichthevehicleisimplied,andsometimesthegroundisalsoimplied,leavingthetenoralone.ThiscategorytogetherwiththesecondtypeconstructthePattenⅢinmetaphorstructure.Therearelotsoftypicalexamplessuchas,

(27)Shewishedshecouldstoptimeandfreezethisdaysothatitwouldneverend.

Moreover,example(8)and(9)belongtothiscategories.

Thelasttypeisthatthetenor,thevehicleandthegroundallemergeinthemetaphor,whicharecommontosee.Thereisatypicalexample.

(28)Mylifeisonelongcurve,fullofturningpoints.

Obviously‘mylife’isthetenor,‘curve’isthevehicle,andthesharedcommonis‘fullofturningpoints’,whichistheground.

2.3.2Classificationatthecognitivelevel

FromLakoff’sviewinMetaphorsWeLiveBy,metaphorsareclassifiedaccordingtodifferentconceptsaboutmetaphors.Onlythreeofthemwillbementionedfortheyhelpsthecognitionofmetaphor:structuralmetaphor,ontologicalmetaphorandorientationalmetaphor.[9]P96

Thestructuralmetaphorreferstometaphorsinwhichoneconceptwasadoptedtoillustrateorcomposetheotherconcept.What’smore,therearetwocomponentsandtwoconditionsthatareessentialtocomposeastructuremetaphor.Thetenorandthevehiclearethetwocomponentsthatmustbetwodifferentconcepts,whichsatisfiesthefirstcondition.Thesecondconditionrequiresthatthetwounlikeconceptsshouldhavesomethingincommonwhichthestructuralmetaphoradoptsfromthevehicletoillustrateandcomprehendtheconceptofthetenor.Forexample,

(29)Angerisheat→a)Trytosimmerdown

b)Sheisstewing

c)Tomwasreadingtheboilingpoint

(30)Angerisfree→a)Shewasburningwithwrath

b)Thatcausedmetobreathefire

Actually,inexample(29)a)b)c)arebasingon‘Angerisheat’andinexample(30)a)b)on‘Angerisfree’.Wordslike‘simmer’’stew’donothaveanythingincommonwith‘Anger’fromsemanticview.However,themetaphoricalthinkingandthelanguageabilitylinkthemtogether.Experienceteachesusthatwhenonewasinanger,thebodytemperatureandthebloodpressureturnup,themodeoffidgetandanxiousandotherphysiologicalreactionswillbeshown,whichwereassociatedwiththephenomenonandthestatewhenthefluidwasheatedtoboiling.Asaresult,manymetaphoricalexpressionscomeintothepresent,suchas‘Heblewup’,‘Thatreallysetmeoff’.

Theontologicalmetaphorisanotherevidencetoshowthatmetaphorisnotonlyaphenomenonoflanguagebutalsoameansofthinkingandbehavior,whichispervasiveinourdailylife.Thevehicleinontologicalmetaphoralwaysreferstothosefamiliarthingsorobjectsinourworld,whichcanbeseenandtouchedeasily,sowecanknowitsfunctionandqualitiesatthefirstsight,thenitcontributestothecomprehensionandcognitionofthetenorwhichareregardedasnon-materialorsupernaturalexperience.Takethefollowingsentenceasanexample.

(31)Argumentsarebuildings

Obviously,buildingsarethemostfamiliarthingthatweseeandhavedirectcontactwitheveryday,sothattheirspecialqualitiesareknowntoeveryone,suchastheappearance,thefoundation,thethicknessthepossibilityofconstruction,repairment,destroy,collapseandsoon.Therefore,Argumentsiscomparedtobuildings,implyingthatthenecessityofthefirmfoundationofthesisandtheperfectwayforargument.Anditwill,otherwise,bedefeated.Basedonthisontologicalmetaphor,therearemanyexpressionsasfollows.

(32)a)Weneedsomefactsortheargumentwillfailapart

b)Weneedtoconstructastrongargumentforthat.

c)Thisisanargument,anditneedsmorefoundation.

d)Ifyoudon’tsupportyourargumentwithsolidfactsthewholethingwillcollapse.

Theorientationalmetaphors,alsocalledthespatializationmetaphor,meansmetaphorsrelatedtothespatializationororientation(suchasup-down,in-out,front-back,left-rightect.)whichareusedtoillustrateordescribetheobjectofthetenor,suchas,

(33)Happyisup,sadisdown

(34)I’mfeelingup/down

(35)Myspiritsrose

(36)Youareinhighspirits

(37)Heisreallylowthesedays

Thespecialtyoftheontologicalmetaphorsisthattheyarenotusedinarbitrarywaybutinafixedwayaccordingtopeople’sexperience.

Differentwaysofclassificationhelptoanalyzingametaphorfromvariousangles,sothatourcomprehensionwouldbedeepandimpressivewhenwefaciewithit,whichservesalotduringthetranslation

parisonandcontrastbetweenEnglishmetaphorandChinesemetaphor

Metaphor,inChineseisalwaysnamed‘隱喻’or‘暗喻’.It’sbettertodistinguishmetaphorand‘隱喻’fromeachother.

3.1AuthoritativeDefinitionAboutChineseMetaphor

i)隱喻：比喻的一種不用“如”、“像”、“似”、“好像”等比喻詞，而用“是”、“成”、“就成為”、“變?yōu)椤钡仍~，把某事物比擬成和它有相似關(guān)系的另一種事物，如：“少年兒童是祖國的花朵”,“荷葉成了一把把撐開的小傘”也叫“暗喻”。（《現(xiàn)代漢語詞典》1997修訂本）

ii)隱喻：比喻的一種，本體和喻體的關(guān)系，比之隱喻更為密切，明喻在形式上只是相類的關(guān)系，隱喻在形式上卻是相和的關(guān)系，本體和喻體兩個成分之間一般要用“是”、“也”等比喻詞，如“兒童是祖國的花朵”。（《辭海》(1980)）

FromtheillustrationfromChinesedictionary,obviouslyisonlyakindoffiguresofspeechinChineserhetoric.

However,EnglishmetaphorcoversmuchmorefieldsthanChinesemetaphor.Thefollowingshowsthecomparisonbetweenthem.

Metaphor暗喻

1.acharacteristicofhumanthinkingandlanguage1.***

2.deadmetaphor:表面不是,實際是2.***

3.activemetaphor:一種修辭格3.一種修辭格

[10]P124

3.2ThestructureandclassificationofChinesemetaphor

Thestructureof‘隱喻’issaidtobeamode“X”是“Y”.Moreover,ithasnotyetbeenclassifiedintocategoriesinitsnarrowsenseinChinese,whichsupporttheviewofunequalrelationshipbetweenEnglishmetaphorand隱喻.However,itdoesn’tmeanthatChineseisnotametaphoricallanguage.Eventually,ChinesepeopleusemetaphorsexcellentlyasEnglishpeopledo,forexamples‘閑時不燒香，臨時抱佛腳’,‘狗嘴里吐不出象牙’.

ThedifferenceisthatvariouskindsoffiguresofspeechinChineseareabsorbedtoachievethemetaphoricaleffect,suchas借喻,縮喻ect..ThereareexamplesinChinesemetaphor,

(38)敵人夾著自己的尾巴逃跑了。（擬喻）

(39)我騎著思想的野馬奔馳到很遠(yuǎn)很遠(yuǎn)的地方，然后，才收住了韁繩，緩步回到眼前燦爛的現(xiàn)實中。（縮喻）

(40)天下烏鴉一般黑。（借喻）

3.3SimilaritiesbetweenEnglishandChinesemetaphor

ThemostimportantsimilaritythatEnglishmetaphorandChinesemetaphorbarewitheachotheristoachievetheeffectivefunctionofmetaphororauthor’sintention.Fromrhetoricangle,bothEnglishandChinesemetaphorshavethreemainfeatures:descriptive,illuminativeandillustrative,[11]P168ascanbeseenfromthefollowingexamples.

3.3.1Descriptive

(41)Thehallwaywaszebra—stripedwithdarknessandmoonlight.(Adescriptionofthealternatedbandsoflightandshadeinthehall,likeazebra’sstripes)

(42)荷葉成了一把把撐開的小傘。

3.3.2Illuminative

Example(7)—Englishand(4)—Chinesearethetypicalexamplesandhereareanothertwo

(43)

Theasolider,

Fullofstrangeoaths,andbeardedlikethepard,

Jealousinhonour,suddenandquickinquarrel

Seekingthebubblereputation

Eveninthecannon’smouth.(Shakespear:Asyoulikeit)

(Bubblehereimpliesthatthepursuitofreputationisvisionaryandasingofvanity)

(44)人生必需的知識就是引人向光明方向的明燈.()

3.3.3Illustrative

(45)Learningisclimbingupamountain.

Thequestion‘Howtoconstructaneffectivemetaphor’leadstosomepropertiesrequiredinbothEnglishandChinesemetaphors.Firstly,refressnessandoriginality.metaphorslike‘hewasalioninthebattle’,‘兒童是祖國的花朵’aretriteandstale.Thoseout-of-dateexpressionssometimeswouldspoilthespeechorwriting.Secondly,aptness.Ametaphorisaptandappropriateifthecomparisonimpliedheightenseffectorenhancesthesubject.Inthesentence‘herbeautifullonghairwaspitch-black’,theassociationoftheblacknessofthebeautifulhairwithpitchisinappropriate.Thirdly,consistencybecomesrelevantandimportantwhenweareusingtwoormoremetaphorstoillustratethesamesubject.Themetaphorsareconsistentiftheyproduceimagesrelatedtoandsupportingeachotherandarenotmixedanddiscordant.Mixedmetaphors,whichcanproduceveryamusingandillogicalimagery,shouldbestrictlyavoided,suchas‘Iskinoverthebooktotastethetoneofit’(tonecannotbetasted).Ontheotherhand,ametaphorbothinEnglishandChinese,tobeeffective,shouldbeterseinwordsandprofoundinimplication,abundantinrefreshnessandhumor,vividinassociationandimaginary.

4.Translationofmetaphors

4.1Onthestandardoftranslation

Inthefieldoftranslation,thestandardoftranslationhasbeenafiercecontroversy,includingNida’sformalcorrespondencevs.FunctionalEquivalence,Newmark’municationtranslation,literaltranslationvs.freetranslation,formvs.content,source-orientedvs.target-oriented,author-centeredvs.reader-centered,thepurposeoftheauthorvs.thepurposeofthetranslationandsoon;[12]P5Therefore,itisimpossibletodefineastandardforthetranslationofallmetaphors.Metaphorrevealstheaestheticsoflanguage;what’smore,itreflectsthespeakerorwriter’seducation,experiences,observation,conceptiontowardstheworldect.,soitisveryimportanttokeepthemetaphoricalmeaningandtheimagesbyusinganyskillsoftranslation,thatis,metaphorscanbetranslatedinflexiblewaystoconveytheinformationandtheeffectofthesourcelanguage.

4.2Obstaclesinthetranslationofmetaphor

Forthedifferencesbetweenlanguages,theobstaclesintranslationsometimesmakeitverydifficultevenimpossibletoconveytheeffectofthesourcemetaphor.AsChineseisregardedcontextuallanguage,whichalwaysturnstobeobstaclesontranslationintoEnglish.Thefollowingcasesareamongthemostcommon.

(46)她就是這樣風(fēng)里來雨里去。成年累月地工作著.

Thishowshecarriesonherwork,rainorshine,alltheyearround.

A‘Scene’comesintoreaders’mind,thatisanimageofhumanbeingwalkingintherainandwind,whenreading‘風(fēng)里來,雨里去’sixcharacters;However,thereisonlythefactof‘rainandshine’leftintheEnglishexpression.

(47)人言鼎沸

Manypeopletalktogetherandthenoisetheymakeislikethebubblingwaterboilinginacauldron.

Infact,mostobstaclescanbetracedbacktothecultureclash.Therefore,metaphorsarestampedwiththecultureofsociety,whichhavegreatimpactsoneveryaspectofpeople’slife.Therearefiveaspectswhichinfluencetheexpressionofmetaphorgreatlyinculture.

4.2.1Livingenvironmentandhistory

Englandisanislandnation,anditsnavigationhasbeenthemostadvancedintheworldhistory,whileChineseisacontinentalnationwithitspeoplelivingontheland.Therefore,thereismetaphor‘spendingmoneylikewater’,sharingthesamemetaphoricalmeaningwithChinesemetaphor‘揮金如土’.Asaresultofthedifferentclimates,Chinesehasasaying‘萬事具備只欠東風(fēng)’,incontrastwith‘westwarmwind’inEnglish.Moreover,therearealotofuniquemetaphoricalexpressionsthatcomeoutastheproductofanation’sdevelopedhistory.Take‘zippergate’asanexample.Itbecameametaphoricalwordfrequentlyusedbythepress(referringtothesexualscandals)sincethenewsofthesexualrelationshipbetweenPresidentClintonandWensgi.InChinesetherearesomanytypicalexamplessuchas‘守株待兔’.

4.2.2Traditionandcustom

Traditionandcustomhavegreatinfluencesonthewayofpeople’thinking;therefore,metaphor,asaproportionoflanguage,comesoutofpeople’smind,whichhasbeenlaidwiththebrandofthecustomandtraditionoftheircountry.Differentmetaphorsaboutanimalsarethemostobviousevidence.Take‘bear’asanexample.InEnglish,bearisassociatedwiththepersonwithspecialtalents,suchas‘heisabearatmaths’.Incontrast,bearinChinesereferstothefoolmanortheignorant,suchas“瞧他那個熊樣”“笨熊”.

4.2.3Religion

Buddhismhasahistoryofmorethanonethousandyears.Asaresult,people’sconceptandattitudetowardsworldareinfluencedgreatly,andtherearenumerousmetaphorsrelatedtoBuddhism,suchas‘借花獻(xiàn)佛’,‘閑時不燒香,臨時抱佛腳’ect.However,inwesterncounties,mostpeopletaketheChristianityastheirreligion,sotherearesayingssuchas‘norespectofpersons(一視同仁)’,‘Godcomeswithleadenfeetbutstrikeswithironhands(天網(wǎng)恢恢，輸而不漏)’ect.Religionasapartofculturepenetratesintoeveryaspectofpeople’slifeincludinglanguage.

4.2.4Classicaltalesandliteraryworks

Alargesumofmetaphorsisquotedfromclassicaltalesandworks,whicharethecomponentsofthenationalspirits.Ontheotherhand,metaphor,inasense,isthereflectionoftheliterature,fairyandfolktalesect.,forexample‘Faustianspirit’comesfromtheclassicalworkFaust,inwhichtheprotagonistsoldouthissoultothedevilinordertoobtaintheknowledgeandthepower,andnow‘Faustianspirit’referstoaspirittoobtainknowledgeatanyprice.

4.3Skillsintranslationofmetaphor

FromNewmark’sview,“therearefivemethodsoftranslatingmetaphor:transferringtheimage,findinganequivalentimage,convertingthemetaphortoasimileorsenseplussimile,mostfrequentlyconvertingtheimagetosense,whichmayinvolveanalysisintoseveralcomponents,includingfigurativeandconcreteelements.”[13]P42However,inaboardsense,therewouldbeonly3waysinthetranslationofmetaphor.

4.3.1Literaltranslation

Assharingthelivingenvironment----theearth,allhumanbeingswouldhavesomethingincommon.Therefore,therewouldbesimilaritiesamongthecultureofdifferentcountries,thatis,equivalentexpressionswouldexistamongthelanguages.Onconditionthatthetenorandthevehicle,theconstructionofmetaphorinsourcelanguagehavethesameusageinthetargetlanguage,literaltranslationisthebestwaytokeepthevividimageandtheeffectofsourcemetaphor,ascanbeseeninthefollowingexamples.

(48)Duringthe1980s,anewdrugcalledcrackbegantofloodthestreet.

80年代有一種叫強(qiáng)效可卡因的在大街小巷大肆泛濫.

(49)ironhand----鐵腕

(50)丟臉----loseface；

(51)中國當(dāng)前的改革的春風(fēng)

Thespringbreezeofpresentreforminchina

Literaltranslationasexample(67)canconveythevividimagewiththespecialcultureofsourcelanguage,andatthesametime,vocabularyandnewexpressionofthetargetlanguagewouldbeexplored.

4.3.2Freetranslation

Thecultureclashresultsintheclashoflanguage.Ontheotherhand,amongthetenorandthevehicleandtheconstructionofmetaphorofsourcelanguage,notallcouldfindthesameusageintargetlanguage;therefore,equivalentimagesorconstructionsintargetlanguageshouldbefoundtoreplacethatofsourcelanguage,orthemetaphoricaleffectofsourcelanguagewouldbedecreased.Bytheway,iftheequivalentimageorconstructioncouldnotbefoundintargetlanguage,whichisverycommon,therewouldbenowaybutcompletelyfreetranslationsuchas‘人言鼎沸’inexample(63).Thereareotherexamples,

(52)熱鍋上的螞蟻

Acatonhotbricks

(53)Itwasdiamondcutdiamondwhenthetwomenmetbecausetheymorebothsosuretheirownwearswereright.

這兩個人都堅持自己的主張正確因此他們相遇是一場棋逢對手的酣戰(zhàn)。

(54)Thepolicemenwhopatrolledthebigcityslumareathatsummerweresittingonavolcano.

那年夏天，在城市大貧民區(qū)巡邏的警察如同在火山口上(construction:metaphorinsourcelanguagetosimileintargetlanguage)

(55)It’sregrettablethatourappealremainedadeadletter

遺憾的是，我們當(dāng)時的呼吁石沉大海。

4.3.3Combinationofliteralandfreetranslation

Asmetaphorreflectsthecustoms,livingcondition,folktalesect.ofitsnation,compensationsareneededinthetranslationtohelptounderstandthemetaphoricalmeaningofsourceslanguage.Ontheotherhand,althoughimagesofsourcelanguagemaybefoundinthetargetlanguage,theyhavenotthemetaphoricalmeaningsofsourcelanguage.Inthatcase,combinationofliteralandfreetranslationcouldhelptoconveythemetaphoricalmeanings.Therearesomeexamples.

(56)PeopleconsiderthatwhathehadplayedonthatoccasionwasnomorethanaJudasKiss.

人們認(rèn)為他在哪種場合的表演不過是猶太人之吻,居心險惡.

(57)掛羊頭賣狗肉.

Crywinebutonlyvinegarforsale

5.Conclusion

Translation,asatoolforthecommunicationbetweendifferentcountries,inagreatsense,dependsonnotonlytheskillsoftranslationbutalsotheunderstandingofboththelanguageandtheculture.Therefore,comparisonbetweenEnglishmetaphorandChinesemetaphortogetherwiththeculturetheyreflectserversthetranslationgreatly.

Accordingtothedefinitionsfromtheauthorities,EnglishmetaphorcoversmuchmorefieldsthanChinesemetaphor.Inthefieldoflanguage,therearethreecomponentsinEnglishmetaphor,thetenor,thevehicleandtheground,basedonwhichtherearefourbasicpatternsinEnglishmetaphorstructure.Fromtheangleofrhetoriceffect,metaphorscanbesortedintothelivemetaphorandthedeadmetaphor.AndfromtheNewmark’sview,Englishmetaphorcouldbeclassifiedintofourcategories,thefossilized,thestock,therecentlycreatedandtheoriginal.Thelastclassificationisbasedontheemergenceofthreecomponentsofmetaphor.Atthelevelofthecognitionofmetaphor,structuremetaphorandontologicalmetaphorandorientational,whicharefromLakeoff’sclassification,arehelpfulintheunderstandingofmetaphor.Incontrast,Chinesemetaphorcalled隱喻differsgreatlyinthedefinitionandstructureandclassification.However,bothEnglishandChinesemetaphorhasthesamefunctions,descriptive,illuminative,illustrative.ThecomparisonandcontrastbetweenEnglishandChinesemetaphorcanbetracedbacktothecultureclash,whichistheoriginoftheobstaclesinthetranslationofmetaphor.Literaltranslation,Freetranslation,andthecombinationofbotharethebasicmethodsintranslationofmetaphor,whichshouldbechosenproperlytosolvetheobstaclesafterthemetaphorisanalyzedexactly.

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