On Problems and Methods of English Animal Metaphor Translation

Introduction：“Animal metaphor is connected tightly with our life from various aspects.It plays an important role in language.It can produce pictorial language and appeal to the imagination to make language more vivid and accurate.”（张修国 2005：75） However，translators often make mistakes in animal metaphor translation for neglecting the cultural characteristic and metaphorical meaning of animal words，thats why the author chose this title for this thesis.

On the basis of research experiences of the above authors academic papers，this thesis mainly discusses translation of animal metaphors from English to Chinese.It is hoped to help people to decrease cross-cultural misunderstanding and understand animal metaphors more comprehensively.

Key words：problems；translation methods；English animal metaphors

1 Problems in Translation of Animal Metaphors

Because Englsih and Chinese have different cultural backgrounds，it makes the animal metaphor of these two languages get different metaphorical meanings.But translators often make mistakes in translation without analyzing the meaning of animal metaphors carefully.Before we analyze the metaphorical meanings between these two languages，we should take a look at the definition of metaphor and the typical problems in animal metaphor translation.

1.1 Definition of Metaphor

“The word ‘metaphor derives from the Greek word ‘metaphora，which means ‘transference，carrying over.It is a very common figure of speech in English.”（張修国 2005：210） Metaphor，whose basic constituents are tenor，vehicle and the meaning of the metaphor，uses words to indicate something different from their literal meaning-----one thing is described in terms of another so as to suggest a likeness or analogy between them.“The element being compared is called the tenor，while the comparing element is known as the vehicle.”（Li Fanfan 2007） Animal metaphors can involve either nominal forms such as leopard，lion，insect，or verb forms such as to claw，burrow or gnaw.A cunning person，for instance，is referred to as a fox.A woman may be called a cat，or a goose，etc.

1.2 Problems in Translation of English Animal Metaphors

1.2.1 Too Literal Interpreting

Originated in different cultural background，animal metaphors are often specifically culturally loaded.Very often literal translation would not convey their original meanings.For example，a typical case concerning different colorful implications is the translation of “a peacock in a turkeys pen” into “鹤立鸡群”.The literary translation of “a peacock in a turkeys pen” is “孔雀放在火鸡栏里”，which does not make much sense to Chinese minds.（涂沙丽 2004） The English idiom is used to refer to someone standing head and shoulders above others，emphasizing his outstanding status.Sometimes its absurd for us to translate some idioms literally.For example：“He takes a spear to kill a fly.” The literary translation of this sentence is “他拿只枪去打苍蝇”.According to the word components，Chinese can not know the implication of this idiom.In fact，the corresponding Chinese expression is “杀鸡用牛刀”.In western culture，the cunning fox specially likes eating the goose surreptitiously.If leaving the fox to look after the geese alone，wouldnt it mean looking for trouble？ We have no such knowledge in Chinese.Thereby，the English idiom “set a fox to keep ones geese”（让狐狸看鹅）would be quite baffling to the Chinese.（Liu Jinding 1995） But there is an identical idiom in Chinese ——“引狼入室” which means the same thing as “set a fox to keep ones geese”.（程同春 2005） Both of the two idioms are translated correspondingly and vividly.

1.2.2 Mechanical Copying of the Chinese Customary Sayings

After all，English and Chinese are two completely different languages.Many English animal metaphors always reflect national characteristic or local color.So when doing the translation，translators have to pay attention to remain the distinguishing features and avoid applying source metaphors which have distinctive national or local flavor to the target metaphors mechanically，in case that Chinese national features and local colors are imposed on the translated version，which would contradict to the context（see Katan，David 2004：145）.Take the second translation for example：although the two proverbs mean the same，whether the foreign people are familiar with the story of monkey in Chinese peoples mind is in doubt.For example：

（1） To shed crocodiles tears.

original translation：貓哭耗子假慈悲。

（2） When the cats away，the mice will play.

original translation：山中无老虎，猴子称大王。

In the above mentioned examples，the original translations impose the strong Chinese national colors on the translated version，which are incompatible with the original text.We should do some transformation like these：

（1） To shed crocodiles tears.

transformed translation：流鳄鱼的眼泪。

（2） When the cats away the mice will play.

transformed translation：猫儿不在，鼠儿作怪。（see尹小东2002：233）

After some transformations，not only the animal metaphors of source languages remain the original meanings but also avoid unnecessary conflicts and contradictions caused by different national cultures.

2 Translation Methods of Animal Metaphors

One metaphor contains three elements，which are tenor，vehicle and the meaning of the metaphor.During the process of translating，the most important and difficult thing is how to deal with the vehicles in English and Chinese.In light of the cultural characteristics between the two languages and Yanfus translation criteria，namely “faithfulness，expressiveness and elegance”，this chapter puts forward the corresponding translation methods of animal metaphors，namely，replacing the original vehicles，adding new vehicles，giving up the animal vehicles and retaining the original vehilces with explanation.

2.1 Retaining the Original Vehicles

As sharing the living environment----the earth，all human beings would have something in common.Therefore，there would be similarities among the culture of different countries，that is，equivalent expressions would exist among the languages.（Nida，Eugene 1998） On condition that the tenor and the vehicle，the construction of metaphor in source language have the same usage in the target language，retaining the original vehicles is the best way to keep the vivid image and the effect of source metaphor，as can be seen in the following examples.

（1） paper tiger（纸老虎）

（2） to head a wolf into the house（引狼入室）

（3） crocodiles tears（鱷鱼的眼泪）（Zheng Dongbian 2006）

Sometimes translators should keep the original vehicles in order to make the metaphor more vivid and preserve the original meanings.For instances，its better to translate “Better to reign in hell，than serve in heaven（from Paradise Lost）” into “宁愿在地狱里为王，也不肯在天堂里为臣”，instead of translating into Chinese proverb “宁为鸡首，不为牛后”.If the original vehicle of this English metaphor has been changed，the translator will lose the style the author created，because the Paradise Lost was written with serious religious color.（陈志立 2005）

Literal translation as above examples can convey the vivid image with the special culture of source language，and at the same time，vocabulary and new expression of the target language would be explored.

2.2 Replacing the Original Vehicles

When encountering the animal metaphors that cannot be translated with the equivalent vehicles，but can be translated with corresponding vehicles，the translators could replace the original vehicles.That is to say，using the animal images the reader is familiar with to replace the original vehicles.The advantage of this replacement is that we can get the equivalent result as the original vehicles.The advantage of this replacement is that the translator can get the equivalent result as the original text，while making up for the loss of replacing the original vehicles.For instance，“Beat the dog before the lion” means “杀鸡儆猴” and “a drowned rat” indicates “落汤鸡”.Another example is the translation of the sentence “One should not twist the lions tail”.Its better to translate it into “老虎屁股摸不得” instead of “狮子尾巴摸不得”（see冯翠华 2003：249）.As “虎” the tiger is considered the “king of animals” and thus stands for dignity in Chinese，in a sense it has the image of the lion in English.This can also be seen in a sentence even like “He was married and had a lioness at home”.The Chinese translation should be “他结婚了，太太是个母老虎。”（see包惠南 2001：118）

In English，the “horse” is also used often to refer to a person，such as a “willing horse”.Loud harsh laugh is called “horse laugh”；rough and noisy play is called “horse play”；and plain good sense is referred to as “horse sense”.In the Chinese language，there is no such allusion，but “牛” is often used to refer a person：a hardworking person is called a “老黄牛”.Lu Xuns saying of “俯首甘为孺子牛” is known to almost everybody in China.This is because the Chinese have been using “牛” in farming for thousands of years while the horse has been used to do most farming work in Britain.（于建平 2000） Thus，the translators are required to put “horse” into “牛” during the process of translating phrases like “talk horse”.

The translator should replace the vehicle in the sentence “ Dont teach a pig to play on a flute” with “不要赶鸭子上架” instead of using the original vehicle，the meaning will be clearer for the Chinese to understand.（陈志立 2005）

In China，dragon stands for power and emperor；people worship it and regard it as lucky object and power，so Chinese people say “龙楼凤阁” for “imperial palace”.But in England，dragon stands for evil and pagan.It is used to describe ferocious woman，for example：“The woman in charge of the accounts department is an absolute dragon.” Replacing the “dragon” with “母夜叉” can express the disapproving connotation of the source text.So it is better to translate the sentence into “会计部的那个女科长是个十足的母夜叉”（see 尹小东 2002：82）.

2.3 Giving up the Animal Images

The translator might give up the animal image for the great diversity between English and Chinese cultures.Giving up the animal vehicles and adopting the method of liberal translation might make the target language easier to be understood.“A horse stumbles that has four legs”（see郭建中 2000：319） comes from English proverbs.Then translators use “人非圣賢，孰能无过” to translate this phrase，which points out the meaning of the animal metaphor directly and makes the readers understand at the first sight.English people use “ it rains cats and dogs” to describe the heavy rain，but its literal translation “下猫下狗” would sound ridiculous to Chinese people.“One swallow does not make a summer.” The original meaning of the proverb is “only finding one swallow cannot show the coming of summer enough”（郭著章 2003：79）.There is no completely equivalent proverb in Chinese.But in Chinese there are “一花不是春” and “一木不成林” whose meanings are similar to it，only the images and styles are slightly different.

Other examples are：“He who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl.”（近朱者赤，近墨者黑），“Put the cart before the horse”（本末倒置），“Fine feathers make fine birds”（佛要金装，人要衣装），”money makes the mare go”（有钱能使鬼推磨），”the sauce is better than the fish”（喧宾夺主） and “There are plenty of fish in the sea”（天涯何处无芳草）（see 梅德明 2005：433）.

2.4 Retaining the Original Vehicles with Explanation

It is difficult for the Chinese readers to thoroughly understand the implied meaning when some English animal metaphors are translated too literally.Yet if they are translated freely，their original images and styles cannot be preserved.To adopt the method of retaining the original vehicles with explanation，not only can the readers see its original meaning，images and styles，but also their implied meaning.Though the translation will be somewhat wordy，it could demonstrate the original natural colors.“This method is often applied to dictionary compiling.”（Liu Jinding 1995） For example，

1） An old dog will learn no new tricks（you cannot teach old dogs new tricks） 老狗学不出新把戏。（老顽固不能学新事物。）

2） A good dog deserves a good bone.好狗应该得好骨头。（有功者受奖。）（Liu Jinding 1995）

Strictly speaking，the translation with explanation is not a good method in translating a piece of works.But in a dictionary of animal metaphor，it is necessary to dig out the sources of some animal metaphors.This is one of the differences between animal metaphor translation in dictionary and in context.（Liu Jinding 1995）

Now，the general ways of translating animal metaphors between English and Chinese has been discussed.And its also worth noticing that different methods should be employed according to the different situations during the process of translation.Besides this，the impact that different cultures put on the ways of translation also should be paid attention to.

3 Conclusion

The thesis has made a discussion beginning with the problem in animal metaphor translation，and ending with the study of the methods of animal metaphor translation from English to Chinese.Actually，what have been introduced above are the primary methods of translation of animal metaphor from English to Chinese.And the general ways of translation only can be the guide for us to deal with different situations.So besides the general methods mentioned in the thesis，translators still have to find more ways to translate the animal metaphors.Due to the limited time for thesis-writing，inadequate reference materials and the authors limited academic research level，there must be many improper places and immature views in this thesis.The author sincerely wishes for individual readers criticism and correction.And translation of animal metaphors is still a subject to be further explored.The author will continue to search relevant reference materials and make further study on this subject in the future.

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作者简介

张杨（1986- ），男，湖南娄底人，娄底职业技术学院文化传播学院讲师，研究方向为高职英语、高职英语专业教学和高职ESP。

（作者单位：娄底职业技术学院）