四、表示具有类似狮子品质的人等 1、指“a person felt to resemble a lion, especially in courage, ferocity, dignity or dominance.”(令人觉得象狮子的人,尤指在勇敢、凶暴、尊严或威力方面。)如,He that trusts to you ,where he should find you lions, finds you hares.(相信你们的人认为你们是狮子,结果发现你们是兔子)---莎士比亚。 They tame the lions in the Army, not appease them.(在军队中,他们对凶暴如狮的人是驯服他们而不是姑息他们)---吉姆斯.约翰斯 2、“lion-hearted”表示“very brave”,其来源于12世纪后期的英王Richard I(理查一世),他因勇敢大胆而被称为“狮心理查”,“Lion heart” 表示“勇士”。{15}雨果在《悲惨世界》中则称呼拿破仑为“天才”、“怪杰”、“狮子”。 五、表示“社会名流”、“名人”、“红人”、等,指“a person who is a center of attraction, or an object of admiration, interest, or curiosity” {16}如:They were fountains of interesting gossip, and thelions of the meal. (他们是有趣的闲话的取之不尽的源泉,是席上的红人) One must certainly have the lions of the moment atone’s parties. (招待贵宾时必须邀请当时社会上的名流出席) 再如:lion-hunter巴结社会名流的人;lion-huntress巴结社会名流的女人;lionize把---视作名人;lionhood:名人地位 六、表示“困难”、“危险”“强权” 1、“Lion’s provider” 指“走狗,爪牙”,据传,狮子在捕捉其它野兽时,豺自愿为狮子把猫狗等许多动物赶出来,并大声嗥叫让狮子去捕捉。因为狮子吃剩的东西,豺可以去享用。后来“狮子的帮手”常被用来表示“走狗,爪牙”。{17} 2、“a lion in the way”或“a lion in the path”是许多人所熟悉的,可译为“拦路虎”(尤指臆想的危难){18}。此语出自《圣经》中的《旧约.箴言》第26章:Why doesn’t the lazy man ever get out of the house ? What is he afraid of? Lions ? The slothful man said,“There is a lion in the way. A lion is in the street.”懒惰的人说:“道上有猛狮,街上有壮狮。”{19}例句,Theindecisive man always sees a lion in the way.(打不定主意的人总是前怕狼后怕虎){20} 3、“beard the lion in his den”指“太岁头上动土”、“虎口拔牙”等。英国小说家兼诗人Sir Water Scott(斯科特爵士1771-1832)在长诗Marmion(《玛米思》)中曾使用这个成语。他写道: And dar’st thou then, 你怎么敢 To beard the lion in his den, 太岁头上动土? The Douglas in his hall? 登门冒犯道格拉斯? 又如,I’m going to beard the lion in his den tomorrow asking my boss why he has not increased mysalary. (明天我要到太岁头上动土,我要直率地质问我的上司为什么还不给我增加薪水) 4、“throw (feed) to thelions”表示“把—送入狮口,(遇危难时)丢下---不管”如: He felt that his boss would throw him to the lions if anything went wrong.(他觉得一旦出了什么岔子,自己就会被老板甩掉不管) 5、文艺复兴时期意大利伟大诗人Dante Alighieri(但丁,1265-1321)在《神曲》的《序曲》中,自叙他在人生中途(35岁)时,迷路于一片黑暗的森林中。当他正想攀登一座秀美的山峰时,突然面前出现了三只野兽—豹、狮、狼,拦住去路。诗中写道:“---可是并不,我却因看到||一头出现在我面前的“狮子”而惊惧。||他直挺着头,带着剧烈的饿火,||似乎要向我身上扑来;||甚至空气也似乎因此而震惊;---”诗人用这三只野兽来反映当时意大利的社会矛盾,谴责教皇和僧侣的贪婪专横。其中豹象征着淫欲,狼象征着贪婪,狮子象征着强权与傲慢。 至于说英语中的“lion dance”(狮子舞),象“paper tiger”(纸老虎)一样,本来就是地地道道的中国货。 经过以上的比较分析,我们是否可以得出这样的结论:一方面,汉语中有限的“狮子语言”多用于贬义,英语中则多倾向用于褒义,且数目繁多、使用灵活;另一方面,由于在表示“尊贵”、“威严”、“权威”等方面具有趋同性,当运用“狮子”这一动物形象来表情达意时,其“形”与“义”在两种语言之间基本吻合,故易于彼此之间顺利转换。因此,也就不需要象把“亚洲四小龙”翻译成“Asian Four Tigers”那样进行“文化转义”。 Abstract: Contrasting the lion language between the two from the angle of cultural diversity I conclude that the limited lion language within Chinese contains dominantly derogatory connotation whereas much of that in English is employed flexibly and positively on the one hand, both are easily transformable in communication owing to the basic identification of the connotation and denotation in terms of respect, nobility, authority on the other hand. 作者:李联明,南京大学同等学力在读硕士生,连云港职业技术学院外语系教师,222006 {1}辞海,上海辞书出版社,1989,925 {2}Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press,1986,516 {3}湖北日报,2000,1,5 {4}檀明山,象征学全书,北京,台湾出版社,2001,537 {5}同{1},1026 {6}教育学,北京,高等教育出版社,1999,252 {7}王国荣等,世界成语典故词典,北京,文匪出版社,1989,375 {8}同{2},881 {9}同{2},516 {10}Essential English Dictionary,1990,457 {11}王同亿,英汉辞海,北京,国防工业出版社,1990,3037 {12}同{7},363 {13}陆谷逊,英汉大词典,1995,1036 {14}同{12},197 {15}邓炎昌等,语言与文化,北京,外语教学与研究出版社,1994,201 {16}同{10} {17}同{7},362 {18}新英汉词典(增补本),上海,上海译文出版社,1988,742 {19}新 旧约全书,南京,中国基督教协会,1989,616 {20}同{10} (责任编辑:admin) |