The Comparison and Translation of Animal Words in Chinese and Western Culture修改版
The Comparison and Translation of Animal Words in Chinese
and Western Culture
Name: Zhuo Xiaoxue No.: 20115061111
English Major School of Foreign Languages
Supervisor: Li Xiaojing Title: Instructor
Abstract: Due to the particularity of human cultural evolution, there is a big difference of animal words in Chinese and Western culture. Therefore, it is necessary for us to grasp the difference and translate these words accurately. Besides the reasons for difference of animal words between English and Chinese, the paper mainly interprets different connotations and representations of animal words in these two languages. Then the paper explores how to translate some animal words with symbolic meanings.By illustration and comparison, we can feel the difference of animal words in Chinese and Western culture more clearly and make it easier to communicate with each other.
Key Words:animal words; cultural connotations; different representations; translation strategies
1. Introduction
As a form of living entities on the planet, animals add much vigor and vitality to our world, especially for our humans. Animals continuously keep close contact with us, and have profound influence on the development of the humanity. As we all know, language is the carrier of culture, animal words thus account for a great figure in the family of human language. In our daily communication, we use animal words both verbally and written forms. However, because of different history and culture, the connotations of animal words in one language do not parallel with those in another. With the deepening of intercultural communication between China and the Western world, it is necessary for us to grasp the difference and translate these words accurately.
This paper focuses on the different cultural connotations of animal words and different representations of animal’s sex, quantity, age and sound between English and Chinese. The paper is divided into four parts. The first part explains the reasons for different connotations and representations of animal words in Chinese and English. The
second part makes a detailed comparison of cultural connotations of animal words in these two languages. The following part compares different representations of animal’s sex, quantity, age and sound in Chinese and Western culture. Finally the paper provides us with some translation strategies for animal words.
2. The Reasons for Different Connotations and Representations of Animal Words in Chinese and English
Language is a mirror of culture, which reflects its specific cultural feature. Every nation has its special background which has close relationship with the words which are related to the viewpoint, religion, universal outlook and geographical environment.
2.1 The Influence of Aesthetic Appreciation
Aesthetic cannot bring people any material benefit. However, through aesthetic, we can achieve the return of human nature. The difference of animal words between Chinese and English reflects different aesthetics between Eastern and Western world, specifically, it reflects different viewpoints, religions and universal outlooks.
2.1.1 The Influence of Universal Outlook
On the overall understanding of the world, eastern attitude differs greatly from that of western. The Western model of the universe set existence as the fundamental, which is from existence to entity. The universal outlook of entity makes westerners express their thoughts with precise concepts. They think universe is being and water is the origin of the universe. To transform the world, we must understand the world, develop our own and pursue the truth. While in Chinese culture, the vast universal space as nothingness is filled with gases. The universal outlook of nothingness makes the Chinese feel their surroundings with blurred vision and describe the world with vague tone. Facing the cruelty and rage of the nature, they ramble around the universe of gases through surreal virtual and seek to conquer the world with divine power.
As we all know, “dragon”is a very familiar, favorable and respectable word in Chinese. It is one of the creatures from the legend, and it is so-called the “four spirits”together with phoenix, unicorn and tortoise. Besides its denotative meaning, it is considered the symbol of Chinese people, forming a Chinese cultural totem. Now Chinese
people are called the decedents of dragon ,and the nations of the eastern Asia is called the“四小龙”. From which, its influence on Chinese culture can be seen obviously. Another example is from “九五，飞龙在天，利见大人” which means during the days when the number nine meets with the number five, there will be dragon flying in the sky, during which there will be a great leader coming. The following emperors liked to be respectably called “九五之尊”, and considered themselves as “真命天子”. All the architectures, all the facilities and equipment used by the emperor should show respect to the number five and the number nine, showing that dragon is the says of the world.
While in Western culture, people will probably feel sick of dragon. Dragon is applied in English to refer to some ferocious man. Because in the history of the Western culture, dragon was and is always being annoying and disgusting, and it is always associated with evil ever. It seems that dragon is the symbol of evil and it can spill fire any time. And in children’s book, whenever there is a princess who is locked in a castle, there must be a ferocious dragon to stop people in the way to save the lovely princess, and to scare away heroes of all kinds.
2.1.2 The Influence of Religion
Every nation has their religion. On the one hand, religion represents feelings, thoughts and beliefs within a period of time. On the other hand, it reflects political and cultural ideas during period of that time. However, we have the different understand for religion between Western countries and China.
Chinese religion propagates the canon that is “the harmony of human being and nature”. It means that people need obey and adore nature and the harmony of one. These thoughts inevitably lead to the tendency of collectivism and other interests. People would rather sacrifice individual profits to achieve “thoughts before other thoughts, and enjoy themselves after everyone else”, And doing some things are often limited themselves as well as help others after themselves. At the same time, they are unwilling to offend people when they are doing some things.
In the Western counties, Christianity is the dominant religion, which influences people’s life and thinking for several hundred years. Wresters recognize that human being and nature should be separated. That is so-called “the separation of human being and
nature”. It emphasizes which human being should have power to struggle the nature so that westerners extremely adore individualism and personal development and self-expression. Therefore, they realize if a person could not reach their own dreams at the end of working on some things, it was not destiny, but because of their own laziness or being lack of a spirit that is struggle with nature. That is why they need leave their parents to live individually when they are 18 years old in most western countries.
Those thoughts and ideas of religion impact westerns and Chinese. Of course, they are associated with their cultures as well as the understanding of the words. Because of those differences, it provided preconditions to mutual learning and progress together between Chinese and Western.
2.1.3The Influence of Viewpoint
The viewpoint that I refer to means the focus and perspective when you regard something. Owing to the different viewpoints between Eastern and Western world, we have different feelings when we face the same animal.
Let’s take the dog for example. The “dog” has a very close relation with people in both cultures. In China there are many dog-related idioms and the word “dog”in most phrases is associated with some derogatory connotation. Such as: “act like a snob(狗眼看人低)”, “mistake a good man for a bad one(狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心)”, “a filthy mouth cannot utter decent language.(狗嘴吐不出象牙) ”. That’s because eastern focus on dogs’negative traits and give them all the ugly speech relating to them. While in Western culture, dogs meet people’s need for friendship, honesty and loyalty, thereby bring people both physical and psychological thrill.So in most cases, the word “dog”is neutral or commendatory in its connotation in English language. It is all right to refer to certain people as big dog, top dog, lucky dog in English. “To help a lame dog over the stile”means “to help someone in difficulty”. “Every dog has its day” means “every person will someday succeed or become fortunate”.Such usage does not contain derogatory connotation. That is why the English proverb “you can’t teach old dog new tricks” should not be translated as “你教不会老狗新把戏”,as no Chinese will like to be called a “狗”, nor is it proper to translate “watch dog” into “看家狗”.
2.2 The Influence of Geographical Environment
The differences of geographical environments make many animals’images and cultural connotations different or even vacant. For example, beavers (河狸) mainly live in North America. They build their nests with high techniques and inflexible will. People of American countries are familiar with this kind of animal. So in English “beaver” means “the people who work hard”. As the geographical environments in China are quite different, the Chinese people hardly know this kind of animal and their special cultural connotations. They don’t know their “diligence”and what they really mean sometimes. Hence, if you translate beaver literally, sometimes you cannot make the original understood by the Chinese people, for example:
(1) They didn’t study hard at ordinary times. So when the examination came, they had to work like beavers.
由于平时不努力，考试来临时，他们就不得不日夜苦读了。
(2) We often beaver away at school.
我们常在学校里用功读书。
As we know, Britain is a typical island country. The navigable industry and marine products of Britain are developed. So some animal words, idioms, proverbs about ocean and marine aquatics are plentiful and popular. But the living environments of the Chinese nation have been restricted mainly to the mainland. Comparatively speaking, the Chinese animal words about ocean and marine aquatics are fewer than Britain’s. Sometimes, they might even make cultural vacancy in translation. For example, in English “fish” has rich cultural connotations while in Chinese it doesn’t.
(1) a pretty kettle of fish. 一团糟
(2) to fish in the air 水中捞月
(3) to have other fish to fry 有别的事要干
Also, in English “fish” can be used to refer to “person”.
(1) an odd fish 怪人
(2) a loose fish 放荡不羁的人
(3) a poor fish 可怜虫或倒霉的家伙
(4) a fish wife 没教养的女人
(5) a cold fish 冷酷无情的人
(6) a big fish 大人物
3. The Comparison of Cultural Connotations of Animal Words in Chinese and English
In order to make cultural comparison between English animal words and Chinese ones in detail, this part classifies animal words into five types through the methods of illustration and comparison.
3.1 The Same Animal Words with Similar Cultural Connotations
Thanks to the similar ecological environment, animal has marked characteristics whether Chinese or English speaking people have something in common on the attitude towards them and even use them in comparison to describe the special properties of people or things. There are similar saying in the two languages such as “as fat as a pig”“肥的像头猪”, “as happy as a lark”“像百灵鸟一样快乐”, “make a monkey out of somebody” is like the Chinese saying “拿某人当猴耍”. People in China explain “He is as cunning as a fox” as “他这个人像狐狸一样狡猾”.
English speaking people use bug to refer to someone who is partial to somebody or something, such as “a camera bug”(摄影迷), “a football bug”(足球迷), “a bug at sports”(体育迷).In China, bug has a similar usage, for example, “懒虫” means a lazy person; “糊涂虫”refers to an unwise person; “蛀虫”refers to someone who embezzle national or others’ properties.
To most people, there are some similarities in the national environment and their living conditions. So many animal words possess the same connotation, even in two different cultures. There are many other examples to show the some animal having the same cultural connotation in both languages, such as:
Cock: vigilance and arrant insolence (公鸡象征警觉和傲慢无理)
Hog: impurity (猪象征不洁)
Lamb: innocence and self-sacrifice (小羊象征无辜和祭品)
Ox: patience and strength (牛象征耐心和力量)
Tiger: ferocity (虎象征凶猛)
Crocodile: hypocrisy (鳄鱼象征虚伪)
Horse: speed and grace (马象征速度和优美)
Lion: nobleness and courage (狮象征高尚和勇气)
Swan: grace (天鹅象征优雅)
Wolf: cruelty and ferocity (狼象征残忍和凶猛)
Ass: stupidity (驴象征愚蠢)
Bat: blindness (蝙蝠象征盲目)
Bee: industry (蜜蜂象征勤劳)
Dove: innocence and harmlessness (鸽象征天真和和平)
Monkey: trickery (猴象征诡计)
Rabbit: fecundity (家兔象征多产)
3.2 The Same Animal Words with Different Cultural Connotations
In most cases, the referential meanings of an animal are the same but their cultural connotations are obviously different, conflicted even opposite in two cultures. The common phenomenon in language is worth attention. Different cultural environments provide Chinese and English speaking people with different imaginations on animals and offer richer cultural connotations to animal words .In the following paragraphs, the author presents the differences of cultural connotation of animal words in English and Chinese from two aspects: different conventional cultures and different aesthetic appreciations. (1)Different conventional cultures
Phoenix is an unusual kind of animal, which is the king of all the birds in Chinese legendary. It is believed that phoenix is the symbol of peacefulness and it brings people good luck. In ancient times, it was used to compare to a person with virtue. “凤毛麟角”refers to rare, precious persons or things. “山窝里飞出了个金凤凰”means that a person with special ability comes from a remote village. However, In English, it is said that phoenix lived in Sahara for about 500 years. It would build a nest covered with spice before burning itself into ashes from which a new phoenix was born. Therefore, phoenix, in English, stands for regeneration.
(2) Different aesthetic appreciations
Aesthetic appreciation is related with people’s preference or detestation towards
animals. The corresponding animal word will have favorable meaning if the animal is appreciated, on the contrary, it will have negative meaning if the animal is disgusted.
In Greek and Roman mythology, owl always stays by the goddess of witness. It is invited to make a verdict on arguments between animals, especially on emergent occasions. Therefore, in English, owl is a bird standing for witness. Such as “as wise as an owl”Owlish refers to clever, shrewd. For example, Patrick peered owlishly at us through his glasses. However, in Chinese, owl is thought as a symbol of omen because it always flies around graveyard at night, sending out sad voice. In the old legend, it is said that someone would die if the owl rest on his house. Owl is related to bad luck, death .There are many expressions showing people’s view towards owl, such as “夜猫子进宅,无事不来”, “夜猫子抖翅,大小有点事”, “夜猫子进屋,全家都哭”,etc.
Whale is a huge animal, so in English it is a symbol of valuable things. The following examples proves it—a whale of a chance(一个极好的机会), whale on skating (滑冰高手), a whale at tennis(善打网球的人).However, in China, people pay little attention to its value but to its huge appetite. “蚕食鲸吞”means that a small country is embezzled like a silkworm eating little by little or like a whale swallowing.
3.3 Different Animal Words with the Same Cultural Connotations
In English and Chinese, some animal words have different referential meanings but they have similar or same cultural connotation, two different animal words from the two cultures respectively take on the same connotation. These words show that people in different cultures understand the objects by the same means and the phenomenon is related to their history to some extent. Some examples are presented as following:
In English, horse is also used often to refer to a person, such as a “willing horse”. Plain good sense is referred to as “horse sense”. In the Chinese language, there is no such allusions ,but “牛”is often used to refer to a person .A hardworking person is called a “老黄牛”. Lu Xun’s saying of “俯首甘为孺子牛”is known to almost everybody in china. Because Chinese people have been using 牛in farming for thousands of years while horse has been used to do most farming work in Britain . Similarly, people of the two languages always use different animal words to express the same thought, especially in idioms as
following:
落汤鸡 a drowned rat
鸡皮疙瘩goose flesh
杀鸡取卵kill the goose that lays the golden egg
瓮中之鳖rat in a hole
胆小如鼠chicken-hearted
蠢得象头猪as stupid as a goose
象蜜蜂一样勤劳as industrious as an ant
热锅上的蚂蚁 a cat on a hot tin roof
老虎的尾巴摸不得one should not twist the lion’s tail
拦路虎 a lion in the way
深如虎穴beard the lion in his den
狐假虎威donkey in a lion’s hide
非驴非马neither fish nor fowl
吹牛talk horse
牛饮drink like a fish
公鸭嗓as hoarse as a crow
过着牛马般的生活lead a dog’s life
In English and Chinese, some animal words have similar or the same cultural connotation which respectively take on the same connotation. These words show that people indifferent to their history to some extent. When describing a strong person, the English choose “as strong as a horse”, while in Chinese it is “强壮如牛”“As mute as fish”has the same meaning as “噤若寒蝉”.If one expresses the idea of anxiety and uneasiness, he says “somebody is like a cat on hot bricks”or “象热锅上的蚂蚁”.If something is slippery we say it is “as slippery as an eel,”which mean “滑的象鳝鱼”. “牛”and “stubborn as a mule” have the same connotation. In Chinese we have猪(pig)、熊(bear)、驴(ass) to suggest someone who is “stupid or apt to do foolishly”. Animals having the meaning of “timidity”are chickens, pigeons, and rabbits in English and鼠(mouse)、龟(turtle)、兔(rabbit) in Chinese respectively.
3.4 Animal Words with Chinese Connotations but without English Connotations
Chinese people like to use the mandarin duck as the symbol for love because a mandarin couple always lives together in the water at ease. In a newly-married couple's room, there are many things with pictures about mandarin duck such as “鸳鸯帐”, “鸳鸯被”,”鸳鸯枕”.But the image of the mandarin duck in the phrase have to be translated into “love birds” as the mandarin duck is a kind of duck, which has no symbolic meaning at all in English.
The English speaking people feel puzzled when they meet”你真熊”, “他太牛了”, “那个家伙简直象条泥鳅”.Because in English, bear has no symbolic meaning of stupid or incompetence, neither cattle refers to stubbornness. There is no loach in most English speaking countries. People do not regard it as a kind of fish, let alone a cunning animal. Of course they cannot understand the connotative meaning of “滑”as sly, tricky, diplomatic and so on..
Silkworm comes from china and the silk fabrics are very popular in foreign countries. Silk culture of china is known in the whole world as “丝绸之路”leads to western countries. Silkworm is spoken highly in the poem for its dedication .So cultural connotations of silkworm are endowed to Chinese whereas to most English speaking people, silkworm is, at most, a kind of small animal. Generally speaking, it is obvious to see the great influences of different cultures on animal words.
3.5 Animal Words with English Connotations but without Chinese Connotations
It is difficult for Chinese people to understand some animal words because they have special meaning in English .For example, “as merry as a cricket”, “as cunning as a dead pig”, “as blind as a bat”, “as dumb as an oyster” and “as happy as a crow”, and so on.
“White elephant”refers to an animal with huge body, big ears long nose and sharp teeth in Chinese, however, in English it refers to huge but clumsy and useless things.
In English, beaver is hard-working by nature and is known for building Den with branches of trees, stones and mud. “Ranger beaver”refers to a person who is diligent. “Goat” in English refers to a person who always does unusual harassment towards women. “Duck” can to be used to a lovely person apart from the denotative meaning. “Cow” is a symbol of hardy and filthy. “A unicorn”, looking like horse but having only one horn,
exists in the western legend. This refers to something existing in name only. In Chinese, there is no animal word with such images, let alone corresponding cultural connotations.
Words vacancy is the evidence of national peculiarity of cultures in languages. Some animal words are endowed special cultural connotations in Chinese but none in English, or vice versa. This phenomenon will make people from two languages confused to some extent.
4. Different Representations of Animal Sex, Quantity, Age and Sound in Chinese and English
The sex, quantity, age and sound mentioned here actually refer to the sex, quantity, age and sound of animal words in grammar. From this part we can find that there is a big difference in the representation of those words between English and Chinese.
4.1 Different Representations of Animal’s Sex
When we Chinese talk of animals, we only need to put “雌” or “雄” , “公” or “母”before animal words to indicate a creature is male or female. But in English, the representation of animal’s sex is more complicated. For instance, they use bull to refer to male ox, cow to refer to female ox. As to sheep, ram suggests male sheep and ewe suggests female sheep. Generally speaking, bull and cow are placed before elephant, seal, whale to suggest male or female; dog and bitch are placed before ape, fox, wolf to suggest male or female; buck and doe before hare, rabbit and deer; he and she before quadruped mammals;
4.2 Different Representations of Animal’s Quantity and Age
In Chinese, we add attributes in front of an animal word to show its quantity and age. While in English, they often use different single words to show the quantity and age of animal words. Let’s take the ox for example. Bullock means a little bull, calf a little ox, cattle a herd of cattle, heifer a nulliparous little cow, ox one single ox, oxen a herd of bulls and steer a bull no more than 4 years old. In addition, stag refers to a grown male deer and hind refers to a female deer no less than 3 years old; cockerel a cock no more than one year old and puller a hen no more than one year old.
4.3 Different Representations of Animal’s Sound
In Chinese ,we use “叫” to represent animal’s sound at most times, but there are lots of words to describe cries of animals in English. Some common representations of cries of animals are as followings:
Apes gibber 猿啼
Bears growl 熊叫
Beetles drone 甲虫(嗡嗡，哼哼)叫
Blackbirds and thrushes whistle 黑鸟和鸫叫(啭鸣)
Calves bleat 小牛(哞哞)叫
Asses bray 驴叫
Bees hum 蜜蜂(嗡嗡，哼哼)叫
Bitterns boom 麻鹭叫
Bulls bellow 公牛(哞哞)叫
Cats mew (purr, swear and caterwaul) 猫(咪咪或喵喵)叫
Cocks crow 公鸡(喔喔或啼，鸣)叫
Crows caw 乌鸦(哇哇)叫
Deer bell 鹿叫
Wolves howl 狼(嚎，嗷)叫
Doves coo 鸽(鸪鸪叫)
Besides, we can also use sing to describe the cries of most birds. Meanwhile, the cries of some animals can be represented in several different ways. For example, mew is
used to describe the sound of cats normally; purr describes the sound when a cat feels content; caterwaul describes the cry of an oestrous cat; swear is hardly used.
5. Translation Strategies for Some Animal Words with Symbolic Meanings
Since there are some similarities and dissimilarities regarding animal words in Chinese and English, we should strive to know the cultural connotations carried by animal words in these two languages rather than translate the animal words directly. We should replace the symbolic images carried by some animal words in these two languages if necessary. Some sayings involving animal words in the two languages are the same, such as “as stupid as an ass”蠢得像驴, “as fat as a pig”肥得像猪. But some are not so simple as they seem to be. Sometimes you have to consider carefully their cultural connotations before you can translate these animal words properly. Some methods are suggested in the following parts for your animal words translation in the future.
5.1 Literal Translation
In Chinese and English, some animal words are the same or similar both in literal meanings and cultural connotations. In this case, we can use the method of literal translation to translate them, such as:
(1) Barking dogs don’t bite. 吠犬不咬人
(2) as ugly as a toad 像癞蛤蟆一样丑陋
(3) a wolf in sheep’s clothing 披着羊皮的狼
(4) make a monkey out of somebody 拿人当猴耍
(5) A rat crossing the street is chased by all. 过街老鼠，人人喊打
Literal translation can make the translation vivid, keep the feature and style of the original and it is beneficial for the cultural exchange between the two nations.
Some idioms and expressions that are connected with animals exist just in English or Chinese, but their literal meanings and cultural connotations can be understood by the people of the other nation if they are translated literally. In order to keep the image and style of the original, we can use literal translation for them.
(1) When the fox preaches, then be aware of your geese. 狐狸说教时，要当心你的鹅
(2) Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched. 小鸡未孵出，不要急着数鸡数
(3) set the wolf to keep the sheep 让狼看守羊
(4) Every bird likes its own nest. 每只鸟都喜欢自己的窝
(5) A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 双鸟在林，不如一鸟在手
English is the widest used language in the world. The culture of English-speaking countries, their science and technology are also dominant in the world. With regard to some English animal words, we generally translate them using literal translation. These animal words and phrases have their fixed meanings. We use literal translation to translate these animal words directly, because they have been accepted by the Chinese readers, and we can understand their cultural connotations without explanation, for example:
(1) a dark horse 黑马
(2) a hot dog 热狗
(3) a cowboy 牛仔
(4) a net worm 网虫
5.2 Substitution
Both China and Britain have their long-standing languages, and the animal words in these two languages reflect the features of their own national cultures and histories. That will make some vacancies of animal words in the other language. Sometimes what exits in English cannot be found in Chinese, and vice versa. We cannot always find the exactly equal animal words to correspond in the target language, but the cultural connotations carried by some other animal words in the target language are basically the same as or similar to the original cultural connotations carried by the animal words in the source language. When this happens, we can use the equivalents in the target language to substitute or replace the animal images in the source language. We called this method substitution.
For example, tiger(虎) refers to “勇猛, 庄严, 尊贵, 权威” in Chinese. We have so many examples of Chinese idioms that are connected with tiger: “虎虎生威”, “龙腾虎跃”，“虎踞龙盘”and so on. But the equal animal in English is “lion”, which often symbolizes “courage, dignity, royalty”, such as the British lion (大英帝国); a literary
lion(文学界名人); the lion’s share (最大的部分,最好的部分) and so on. We usually substitute the “lion” of English with the “tiger” of Chinese in the process of translation, for instance:
(1) a lion in the way 拦路虎
(2) to place oneself in the lion’s mouth 置身虎穴
(3) a donkey in a lion’s hide 狐假虎威
5.3 Liberal Translation
Liberal translation is also called free translation, which does not adhere strictly either to the literal meaning or the word order of the original. Sometimes the animal image just exists in the source language or in the target language, and does not exist in the target language or the source language at all. Then you cannot find the equivalent, even the basic equivalent in the two languages. In this case, you can just translate the meaning of the original, either with an animal image or without, because the first purpose of translation is to convey the meaning, not the form of the original.
(1) Once bitten, twice shy. 一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳。
(2) go for wool and come back shorn 偷鸡不成，倒蚀一把米
(3) put the cart before the horse 本末倒置
(4) Birds of a feather flock together. 物以类聚，人以群分
(5) It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest 家丑不可外扬
(6) wake a sleeping dog 惹是生非
(7) as poor as church mouse 一贫如洗
China has been reforming and opening up to the outside world since 1980. During this period, many new animal words have turned up in China. These animal words usually have their special meanings, and we had better make sure of their special meanings and adopt the method of liberal translation to translate them.
(1) 炒鱿鱼dismiss or sack somebody
(2) 黄牛an illegal dealer in train tickets
(3) 蛇头the head of a criminal group, which move people to foreign countries by illegal means
Liberal translation loses the literal meanings, but keeps the cultural connotations. It
serves the first purpose of translation and helps us understand the real meaning of the text. It is a method that I like and it is a method that is commonly used in translation. We cannot say which method is better and we cannot say which method can be used for all occasions, for each of them has its own characters and applications. No matter what method you may use, the prerequisite is that you should be good at both China and English, and follow the principles of faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance. The aim of translation is that the translator conveys both the meaning and the style of the original from the source language into the target language, so that readers can understand correctly and appreciate them properly. For this purpose, we can choose an appropriate method or combine several methods flexibly.
5.4 Explanation
Vast and profound Chinese culture has a long history which has many historical allusions that are not familiar to foreigners. In this situation, explanation is necessary.
F ollowing is the explanation of idioms: “叶公好龙” and “守株待兔”.
“Lord Sheh’s love of dragon—Lord Sheh was so fond of dragons that he adorned his whole palace with drawings and carvings of them. But when a real dragon heard of his information and paid him a visit, he was frightened out of wits.
Watching the stump and waiting for the hare—from a story of a peasant who seeing a hare run headlong against a tree-stump and breaks its neck, abandoned plough and waited by the stump in the hope that another hare would do the same thing.(Bao Huinan,2001) Looking in the terms of contexts, it is appropriate to deal with in this way. However, it should be noted that too many explanations will affect the fluency of works. It should be cautious to adopt this means.
6. Conclusion
In a word, animal words play an important role in our daily communication. Owing to the difference of viewpoint, religion, universal outlook, geographical environment and so on, Chinese and English animal words differ greatly from each other in connotation and representation. Faced with the inconvenience and misunderstanding caused by that, we must analyze the difference of animal words in these two languages carefully and thereby
translate them into the closest equivalents. It is sincerely hoped that this paper can provide a novel and comprehensive perspective in comparing and translating these animal words in English and Chinese.
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