Talking about "rat" in the year of the Rat

2020 is the year of gengzi in the lunar calendar，commonly known asthe year of rat.What is rat？Xu Shen of the Eastern Han dynasty recordedin Shuowen Jiezi："rat，the total name of acupoint insect."It means thatthe animals that can make holes are called rats.In China，rat is the first ofthe 12 zodiac animals.There are many idioms，legends and stories aboutrat.In the west，there are also many idioms，idioms and proverbs aboutmice.Both China and the West have endowed the mouse with multiplecultural meanings.This paper aims to explore the relevant "rat culture"between China and the west，and introduce the expression of mouse inChinese and English.

一、The legend of the year of rat

The rat is the first in the zodiac.The origin of the zodiac，rat is saidthat，long ago，the zodiac was in the charge of the four kings of heaven.Whatever the surname of the deacon was，the person who was born thatyear would be.Later，after the four heavenly kings returned to the Tian-gongto guard the South Tianmen，the Jade Emperor decided to choosetwelve animals to represent the human zodiac，and granted them as gods.In order to embody the principle of fairness，the Jade Emperor orderedthat all the human animals could come to the Tiangong to be elected onthe specified day，and took the order of the animals’arrival at the Tian-gong as the ranking order，only taking the first twelve.

At that time，mice and cats were a pair of good friends.They agreedto go to Tiangong together to fight for the zodiac，and agreed that micewould call cats to set out together.However，the clever mouse thought thatmany animals in the world are more beautiful than themselves，and theyare also useful to human beings.He should think of a way to win the zo-diac.So，in the early morning of the day when he was appointed to theTiangong，the little mouse got up quietly and didn’tcall for a cat.He se-cretly jumped into the horns of the old ox and hid it.The most resilientand diligent ox took him to the Tiangong.The old ox was the first one toarrive at the gate of the Tiangong.

At daybreak，the four heavenly kings just opened the gate of thepalace.Before thecattle could carry their hooves，the little mouse jumpeddown from the horn of the ox and went straight to the palace.Although theJade Emperor didn’t want to seal this little mouse as a zodiac.However，the king said nothing，and the rules he had set could not be changed.TheJade Emperor had to declare the rat the head of the zodiac.The cat waitedat home for a long time，but could not see the shadow of the mouse，so hehad to rush to the heaven Palace by himself.Because of the delay ofwaiting for the mouse，when the cat arrived at the heaven palace，thequota of the twelve zodiac signs was full，and there was no cat'sshare.From then on，the cat hated the mouse.When he saw it，he rushedto bite it to vent his anger.As for the mouse，he also felt sorry for his catfriend and ran away when he saw the cat.Until today，the cat and themouse are still dead rivals.People also think that the first animal of therat is not very aboveboard，and they lose their favor with the mouse.Otheranimals also alienate it.

二、The idioms and proverbs about rats in Chinese

胆小如鼠as timid as a mouse;投鼠忌器to hold back from takingaction against an evildoer for fear of involving good people;猫鼠同眠thieves and police work together，as the cat and the rat sleep together;首鼠两端waver in determination;鼠目寸光a mouse can see only an inch;老鼠过街人人喊打rat crossing the street is chased by all;贼眉鼠眼shifty-eyed;抱头鼠窜cover one’s head and scurry away like a rat to itshole;猫哭耗子假慈悲the cat weeping over the dead mouse一shedcrocodile tears;狗拿耗子多管闲事dogs are nosy with mice;In Chinese，the word-of-mouth of mice is not good，and almost all idioms and prov-erbs about mice are derogatory.

三、The idioms and proverbs about rats in English

as poor as a church mouse一贫如洗，赤贫的;as quiet as a mouse不声不响，非常安静;as timid as a mouse胆小如鼠;to play（a gameof）cat and mouse（with somebody）玩猫戏老鼠的把戏，欲擒故纵;mickev-mouse无关紧要的，微小的;to look like a drowned rat（湿的）像落汤鸡，浑身湿透;smell a rat感觉不对劲，感到可疑;a rat race卑鄙、激烈的竞争（尤其为保住职位或地位）;rat-arsed酩配大醉的，烂醉的;a pack rat囤积狂，收集一大堆自己不需要的东西的人;like arat in a hole瓮中之鳖，陷于绝境;to die like a rat被毒死;a rat fink卑鄙之人，下贱之人（尤指告密者）。

四、Some differences between mouse and rat in English

From the above idioms，we can see that the metaphorical meaningsof the two are also quite different.People often use mouse to describetimid and shy people，while rat to describe unbelievable，embarrassedpeople，have obvious derogatory color.Compared with the meaning rep-resented by the mouse in Chinese，there are some commonalities，all ofwhich are derogatory，cowardly and embarrassed.However，there aregreat differences between the two languages.In Chinese，the mouse canbe used to describe people’s shortsightedness and indecision.In English，the rat can be used to describe people’s despicableness.The differencesbetween the two also reflect that in Chinese differences in western culture.

五、The appearance of Mickey Mouse changed people’sview of mice

Mickey Mouse，Disney’s representative image，is a small mousewith a big round head，big round ears，pear shaped body as soft as a rub-her hose，no obvious joints，and free stretching four limbs as if there

were no bones.

His easygoing，optimistic，active and imaginative character is popu-lar with audiences all over the world.He’s always whistling，humming，bouncing，full of energy.Although he is an adult character，he retains thecuriosity，happiness and a little naughty of children.He is not always verypolite or polite.Occasionally he is playful，a little lazy，impatient，impul-sive and impatient.He has a hot temper，even some arrogant and some-times hurtful words，but later he regrets and tries his best to make up forit.He has a strong sense of justice and is good at fighting against injus-tice.He often falls into trouble because of this.However，he can alwaysget rid of trouble and solve problems successfully with wisdom.

In a word，"rat" has rich cultural connotations in both Chinese andWestern cultures.We must not separate cultural background to under-stand and translate.

作者簡介

梁晏菲（1971.5.19-）女，汉族，硕士研究生学历，中学高级教师，研究方向为初中英语。