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比喻
古语有云:“言之无文,行而不远”。这句话讲的是说话不讲究修辞,没有文采,就流传不远。为了使语言表达生动形象,丰富多彩,形神兼备,比喻就成了最常用的一种修辞方式。比喻运用得当,能增强文章的生动性和论说力度,启发读者进行更多的思索。牛津高中英语模块10、11中运用了大量比喻句,帮助同学们对文本进行准确解读、提升文本阅读的趣味性,有些表达的文化兼容还能引起学生的共鸣从而促进学生英语学习的兴趣。简单讲,比喻分为明喻和暗喻两大类,笔者将结合高中课本所学谈谈明喻、暗喻的使用特点。
1. 明喻 (Simile)
明喻是比喻中最为简单、基本的方式。明喻也称直喻, 即用我们熟悉的东西比喻我们不熟悉的东西。它是把两个截然不同的事物之间的相似处进行比较,表明本体和喻体的相类似关系。例如:My heart is like a singing bird, whose nest is in a waters shoot; My heart is like an apple tree, whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit...(我的心像一只歌唱的小鸟,鸟窝在一枝浇了水的嫩枝上;我的心像一棵苹果树,树枝上果实累累……)诗人克里斯蒂娜·乔治娜用like a singing bird和like an apple tree形象地说明了她内心的欢乐与充实。再比如,I see also the dull, drilled, docile, brutish masses of the Hun solidery poldding on like a swarm of crawling locusts. 我还看到,一大队愚蠢的、受过训练的、驯服、野蛮的德国大兵像一群群爬行着的蝗虫。“Here Churchill uses a simile, comparing the German soliders to locusts because they have one thing in common—the spreading of destruction.” [梅仁毅 王立禮著:Advanced English (Teachers book IP83)]。明喻一般都可采用直译。明喻的类型众多,常见的形式有以下几种。
1) 介词like型
But relief soon spread through Nome like the golden rays of the dawn itself.(Heroes of the North, SEFC 3, P.53)但是人们变得轻松的感觉就像黎明时的金色阳光一样迅速传遍了诺姆镇。
He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen for him to crow. 他就像一只骄傲的公鸡,以为太阳的升起是为了他的啼叫。把人比喻作公鸡,借助这一比喻,委婉地批评人骄傲自大的行径,既形象又生动,使人物形象栩栩如生。
Marriage is like a beleaguered fortress; those who are without want to get in, and those within want to get out. 婚姻像是一个被包围的堡垒;外面的人想要进去, 里面的人想要出来。
So now Dellas long, beautiful hair fell about her shoulders like a cascade of brown waters. (A sacrifice for love, SEFC 3, P.85)她解开头发让它披散下来。这美丽的长发像褐色的小瀑布。以上的四个例句中,完全不同的人或物被放在一起进行比较:钱财和生命、感觉和金色阳光、长发和瀑布。但是每个例句都有一个鲜明的特点,正是因为前后两者比较的事物有显著的差别,他们的相似点才会显得非常鲜明。
2) 连词as型
As the lion is the king of beasts, so is the eagle king of birds. 鹰是鸟中之王,犹如狮是兽中之王。本句主要突出了鹰的不同之处,它翱翔于天际之遥,犹如雄狮屹立于荒原,它俯视着大地,目光炯然,它穿梭于云端,凌空展翅,让人遐想。
As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. 有好消息自远方来,犹如以凉水供口渴者享用。该句把好消息比作炎炎盛夏的甘泉,刻画了人的渴望心理,其比喻新颖生动, 令人咂舌。
My money and goods are as dear to me as life itself. (The Merchant of Venice, SEFC 2B, P.71)我的钱财对我来说就像生命一样宝贵。
Love goes towards love, as schoolboys from their books; But love from love, towards school with heavy looks. (Shakespeare) 赴情人的约会,像学童抛开书一样,和情人分别,像学童板着脸上学堂。
另外在英语的明喻中还常用as...as连接某个事物来达到其明喻的效果,但要特别注意其内涵的意义。因为有些喻体与汉语有相似之处,而有一些则不相对应。
as strong as a horse 强壮如牛
as sure as a gun 千真万确
as white as snow 雪一样白 as cool as cucumber 泰然自若
as merry as a lark 快乐得像只云雀
as brave as a lion 狮子一般勇敢
as busy as a bee 忙得像只蜜蜂
as timid as a mouse 胆小如鼠
as sly as a fox 狡诈如狐狸
as black as a crow 黑如乌鸦
但有些明喻在直译成汉语时要做些调整,才符合汉语的表达习惯。
as bitter as wormwood 苦似黄连
as happy as a cow 快乐得像只百灵鸟
as bold as brass 脸皮厚得像城墙
as stupid as goose 笨得像猪
3) 动词seem, remind of, compare... to, treat... to, regard....as, as if型
My handwriting looks as if a swarm of ants, escaping from an ink bottle, had walked over a sheet of paper without wiping their legs. 我的书写看起来就好像一群蚂蚁从墨水瓶里逃出来,没把脚抹干净就在纸上行走似的。
I saw the master looking about him as if he wishes to impress upon his mind everything in the room. 我看教师在环顾四周,仿佛要把教室里的每件东西牢牢记在心里。
Samuel John regarded a dictionary as a watch. 塞缪尔·约翰逊把词典看作钟表。毫不相关的事物被巧妙地加以联系,起到了独特的效果。不看鐘表,无法掌握时间,而不查词典难以获取知识,两者的关系就这样串在一起,深刻地阐明了某个道理。
2. 暗喻 (Metaphor)
暗喻,又称隐喻,它结构不同于明喻,不需要as,like之类的比喻词,而是直接把比喻对象和比喻形象(即本体和喻体)联系起来,即“甲是乙”这种基本形式。暗喻是英语中最普通,最基本,也是最重要的修辞格,其含义含而不露,其含义需要想象,其产生的语言效果较之明喻也更为强烈,更加深刻,其译法有两种:一为直译,以保持与原文的形似与神似;二为意译,既保证符合汉语表达习惯,又使译文能保持原文的神似,即“貌离”而“神合”。
His friend has become a thorn in his side. 他的朋友已变成他的眼中钉肉中刺。
You are your mothers glass. 你是你母亲的翻版。
暗喻的主要构成是本体和喻体,本体和喻体在形式上是相结合的关系,没有借用比喻词。直接明了说明事物、解释道理,语言生动更具表现力。
She felt that she must not yield, she must go on leading her straitened, humdrum life. This was her punishment for having made a mistake. She has made her bed, and she must lie on it. 她觉得她不能屈服,她必须继续她的贫困潦倒的生活。这是对她所犯下的过错的惩罚。她已经犯下过错,她必须承受。
在这个句子中,本体是mistake,喻体是her bed。通过把犯下的错比喻成床,她不得不面对现实接受惩罚(躺上去)。作者运用了暗喻,形象生动地帮助读者明白女主人公的内心独白,虽心有不甘,但错已铸成只能自已咽下苦果。表达生动,不言而喻。
暗喻的类型也有很多。主要包括博喻(sustained metaphor)和延喻(extended metaphor)。
一般而言,连续使用多个喻体去比喻主体的方法就叫做博喻。
There again came out the second flash, with the spring of a serpent and the shout of a fiend, looked green as an emerald, and the reverberation was stunning. 爆发了第二次闪电,她像蛇一样蜿蜒,如魔鬼般嘶叫,像翠玉般碧绿,轰隆隆震耳欲聋。这个例子中对闪电的比喻就用了三个喻体,spring of a serpent(动态),shout of a fiend(声音),green as an emerald(颜色)。它们从不同角度绘声绘色地把闪电呈现在读者面前。由此可见,多喻体的使用其优势是单一喻体所无法比拟的。它可以多角度、多侧面、多层次、多结构地表现主体。
Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good. A shining gloss that vadeth suddently; A flower that dies when first it begins to bud; A brittle glass thats broken presently ... 美貌只不过是变幻莫测的浮影,华彩耀目却会突然失去光明;花儿刚刚绽放转瞬即已枯萎;玻璃一经敲碎眼前顾失晶莹(摘自莎士比亚《爱的礼赞》)。这句话连用三个喻体a shining gloss, a flower, a brittle glass来比喻美貌短暂而虚无缥缈,从而来阐述自己心中对真正的爱的理解。 3. 习语 (Idioms)
新版英语教材的内容涵盖了西方社会的历史、地理、文化、民俗、风情等多方面的知识,只有对西方文化背景知识有一定的了解,学生才能更快更准确地把握英语的语言本质和思想内涵。英语成语是英语词汇的重要组成部分(part and parcel)。当代英语中最常用的成语有4000余条。许多常用的英语成语来自《圣经》(Bible)、莎士比亚(Shakespeare)及其他文学名著。英语成语主要是口语,而汉语成语主要是书面语;English idiom 字数不固定,而汉语成语多为四字词组。下面简要介绍一下英语成语及其汉译方法。
一、英语成语的构成
从文体学来说,广义的英语成语(idiom)包括谚语(proverb)、俚语(slang)、俗语(colloquial)、成对词(twin words)、三词词组(trinomials)、熟语(catchphrase, lexical phrase)和习惯搭配(habitual collocation, restricted collocation)等。
1) 谚语、格言 (proverb),警句(sentence idiom)英语谚语常有缩写形式,类似汉语的歇后语。
Proverbs are children of experience. 谚语是经验的产物。
It s no use crying over spilt milk. 倒翻牛奶,哭也没用。缩写形式:Cry over spilt milk. 覆水难收。
2) 俚语(slang)
古语有云:“言之无文,行而不远”。这句话讲的是说话不讲究修辞,没有文采,就流传不远。为了使语言表达生动形象,丰富多彩,形神兼备,比喻就成了最常用的一种修辞方式。比喻运用得当,能增强文章的生动性和论说力度,启发读者进行更多的思索。牛津高中英语模块10、11中运用了大量比喻句,帮助同学们对文本进行准确解读、提升文本阅读的趣味性,有些表达的文化兼容还能引起学生的共鸣从而促进学生英语学习的兴趣。简单讲,比喻分为明喻和暗喻两大类,笔者将结合高中课本所学谈谈明喻、暗喻的使用特点。
1. 明喻 (Simile)
明喻是比喻中最为简单、基本的方式。明喻也称直喻, 即用我们熟悉的东西比喻我们不熟悉的东西。它是把两个截然不同的事物之间的相似处进行比较,表明本体和喻体的相类似关系。例如:My heart is like a singing bird, whose nest is in a waters shoot; My heart is like an apple tree, whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit...(我的心像一只歌唱的小鸟,鸟窝在一枝浇了水的嫩枝上;我的心像一棵苹果树,树枝上果实累累……)诗人克里斯蒂娜·乔治娜用like a singing bird和like an apple tree形象地说明了她内心的欢乐与充实。再比如,I see also the dull, drilled, docile, brutish masses of the Hun solidery poldding on like a swarm of crawling locusts. 我还看到,一大队愚蠢的、受过训练的、驯服、野蛮的德国大兵像一群群爬行着的蝗虫。“Here Churchill uses a simile, comparing the German soliders to locusts because they have one thing in common—the spreading of destruction.” [梅仁毅 王立禮著:Advanced English (Teachers book IP83)]。明喻一般都可采用直译。明喻的类型众多,常见的形式有以下几种。
1) 介词like型
But relief soon spread through Nome like the golden rays of the dawn itself.(Heroes of the North, SEFC 3, P.53)但是人们变得轻松的感觉就像黎明时的金色阳光一样迅速传遍了诺姆镇。
He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen for him to crow. 他就像一只骄傲的公鸡,以为太阳的升起是为了他的啼叫。把人比喻作公鸡,借助这一比喻,委婉地批评人骄傲自大的行径,既形象又生动,使人物形象栩栩如生。
Marriage is like a beleaguered fortress; those who are without want to get in, and those within want to get out. 婚姻像是一个被包围的堡垒;外面的人想要进去, 里面的人想要出来。
So now Dellas long, beautiful hair fell about her shoulders like a cascade of brown waters. (A sacrifice for love, SEFC 3, P.85)她解开头发让它披散下来。这美丽的长发像褐色的小瀑布。以上的四个例句中,完全不同的人或物被放在一起进行比较:钱财和生命、感觉和金色阳光、长发和瀑布。但是每个例句都有一个鲜明的特点,正是因为前后两者比较的事物有显著的差别,他们的相似点才会显得非常鲜明。
2) 连词as型
As the lion is the king of beasts, so is the eagle king of birds. 鹰是鸟中之王,犹如狮是兽中之王。本句主要突出了鹰的不同之处,它翱翔于天际之遥,犹如雄狮屹立于荒原,它俯视着大地,目光炯然,它穿梭于云端,凌空展翅,让人遐想。
As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. 有好消息自远方来,犹如以凉水供口渴者享用。该句把好消息比作炎炎盛夏的甘泉,刻画了人的渴望心理,其比喻新颖生动, 令人咂舌。
My money and goods are as dear to me as life itself. (The Merchant of Venice, SEFC 2B, P.71)我的钱财对我来说就像生命一样宝贵。
Love goes towards love, as schoolboys from their books; But love from love, towards school with heavy looks. (Shakespeare) 赴情人的约会,像学童抛开书一样,和情人分别,像学童板着脸上学堂。
另外在英语的明喻中还常用as...as连接某个事物来达到其明喻的效果,但要特别注意其内涵的意义。因为有些喻体与汉语有相似之处,而有一些则不相对应。
as strong as a horse 强壮如牛
as sure as a gun 千真万确
as white as snow 雪一样白 as cool as cucumber 泰然自若
as merry as a lark 快乐得像只云雀
as brave as a lion 狮子一般勇敢
as busy as a bee 忙得像只蜜蜂
as timid as a mouse 胆小如鼠
as sly as a fox 狡诈如狐狸
as black as a crow 黑如乌鸦
但有些明喻在直译成汉语时要做些调整,才符合汉语的表达习惯。
as bitter as wormwood 苦似黄连
as happy as a cow 快乐得像只百灵鸟
as bold as brass 脸皮厚得像城墙
as stupid as goose 笨得像猪
3) 动词seem, remind of, compare... to, treat... to, regard....as, as if型
My handwriting looks as if a swarm of ants, escaping from an ink bottle, had walked over a sheet of paper without wiping their legs. 我的书写看起来就好像一群蚂蚁从墨水瓶里逃出来,没把脚抹干净就在纸上行走似的。
I saw the master looking about him as if he wishes to impress upon his mind everything in the room. 我看教师在环顾四周,仿佛要把教室里的每件东西牢牢记在心里。
Samuel John regarded a dictionary as a watch. 塞缪尔·约翰逊把词典看作钟表。毫不相关的事物被巧妙地加以联系,起到了独特的效果。不看鐘表,无法掌握时间,而不查词典难以获取知识,两者的关系就这样串在一起,深刻地阐明了某个道理。
2. 暗喻 (Metaphor)
暗喻,又称隐喻,它结构不同于明喻,不需要as,like之类的比喻词,而是直接把比喻对象和比喻形象(即本体和喻体)联系起来,即“甲是乙”这种基本形式。暗喻是英语中最普通,最基本,也是最重要的修辞格,其含义含而不露,其含义需要想象,其产生的语言效果较之明喻也更为强烈,更加深刻,其译法有两种:一为直译,以保持与原文的形似与神似;二为意译,既保证符合汉语表达习惯,又使译文能保持原文的神似,即“貌离”而“神合”。
His friend has become a thorn in his side. 他的朋友已变成他的眼中钉肉中刺。
You are your mothers glass. 你是你母亲的翻版。
暗喻的主要构成是本体和喻体,本体和喻体在形式上是相结合的关系,没有借用比喻词。直接明了说明事物、解释道理,语言生动更具表现力。
She felt that she must not yield, she must go on leading her straitened, humdrum life. This was her punishment for having made a mistake. She has made her bed, and she must lie on it. 她觉得她不能屈服,她必须继续她的贫困潦倒的生活。这是对她所犯下的过错的惩罚。她已经犯下过错,她必须承受。
在这个句子中,本体是mistake,喻体是her bed。通过把犯下的错比喻成床,她不得不面对现实接受惩罚(躺上去)。作者运用了暗喻,形象生动地帮助读者明白女主人公的内心独白,虽心有不甘,但错已铸成只能自已咽下苦果。表达生动,不言而喻。
暗喻的类型也有很多。主要包括博喻(sustained metaphor)和延喻(extended metaphor)。
一般而言,连续使用多个喻体去比喻主体的方法就叫做博喻。
There again came out the second flash, with the spring of a serpent and the shout of a fiend, looked green as an emerald, and the reverberation was stunning. 爆发了第二次闪电,她像蛇一样蜿蜒,如魔鬼般嘶叫,像翠玉般碧绿,轰隆隆震耳欲聋。这个例子中对闪电的比喻就用了三个喻体,spring of a serpent(动态),shout of a fiend(声音),green as an emerald(颜色)。它们从不同角度绘声绘色地把闪电呈现在读者面前。由此可见,多喻体的使用其优势是单一喻体所无法比拟的。它可以多角度、多侧面、多层次、多结构地表现主体。
Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good. A shining gloss that vadeth suddently; A flower that dies when first it begins to bud; A brittle glass thats broken presently ... 美貌只不过是变幻莫测的浮影,华彩耀目却会突然失去光明;花儿刚刚绽放转瞬即已枯萎;玻璃一经敲碎眼前顾失晶莹(摘自莎士比亚《爱的礼赞》)。这句话连用三个喻体a shining gloss, a flower, a brittle glass来比喻美貌短暂而虚无缥缈,从而来阐述自己心中对真正的爱的理解。 3. 习语 (Idioms)
新版英语教材的内容涵盖了西方社会的历史、地理、文化、民俗、风情等多方面的知识,只有对西方文化背景知识有一定的了解,学生才能更快更准确地把握英语的语言本质和思想内涵。英语成语是英语词汇的重要组成部分(part and parcel)。当代英语中最常用的成语有4000余条。许多常用的英语成语来自《圣经》(Bible)、莎士比亚(Shakespeare)及其他文学名著。英语成语主要是口语,而汉语成语主要是书面语;English idiom 字数不固定,而汉语成语多为四字词组。下面简要介绍一下英语成语及其汉译方法。
一、英语成语的构成
从文体学来说,广义的英语成语(idiom)包括谚语(proverb)、俚语(slang)、俗语(colloquial)、成对词(twin words)、三词词组(trinomials)、熟语(catchphrase, lexical phrase)和习惯搭配(habitual collocation, restricted collocation)等。
1) 谚语、格言 (proverb),警句(sentence idiom)英语谚语常有缩写形式,类似汉语的歇后语。
Proverbs are children of experience. 谚语是经验的产物。
It s no use crying over spilt milk. 倒翻牛奶,哭也没用。缩写形式:Cry over spilt milk. 覆水难收。
2) 俚语(slang)