英语与汉语动物谚语对比(3)

Nature of animals is something that is endowed with, thus the same animal in English and Chinese may have similar meaning.

Fox is a wild animal of the dog family, with reddish brown fur, a pointed face and a bushy tail. It is cunning and liable. English people have the expression “When the fox says he is a vegetarian, it’s time for the hen to look out. (狐狸说它吃素的时候，母鸡就得注意)”[4]21As we know, a fox is a meat-eaten animal. Obviously, when he says his is a vegetarian, he is telling a lie, like the following examples: “The fox may grow grey, but never good. (狐狸毛色可变灰，但是本性难移)” [4]22and “ When the fox preaches, then take care of your geese. (每当狐狸说教，当心鹅群被盗)”[8]149The fox also give the same impression to Chinese people. We know the story of fox and tiger: the cunning fox cheat the poor tiger that he is the king of the forest and would like to prove it by walking ahead of the tiger. As the result, the other animals in the forest run as soon as they see the tiger walking after the fox. Finally, the fox escape from being eaten by the tiger. “狐假虎威”comes into being in Chinese.

Other examples like:

（1）不入虎穴焉得虎子 If you don’t enter a tiger’s den, you can’t get his cubs.[10]14

（2）燕雀安知鸿鹄之志 Swallow and sparrows can’t understand the ambitions of swans.[10]13

As we know, tiger is very ferocious and dangerous, so it is hard for some other

本论文以动物谚语为中心展开研究,通过搜集不同英汉谚语的资料,对谚语的定义及动物谚语重要地位进行了分析,对英汉动物谚语的比较研究有一定的现实意义和理论价值。本文首先简单介绍了文化背景以及本文研究的重要性,其次对英语动物谚语和汉语动物谚语进行了简单的概述;然后从不同的角度分别研究了中英文动物谚语的异同,并对造成这些区别的原因进行分析;

animals do harmful to its cubs. Then people use this expression to describe that if do not experience the woods, you will not be able to be successful. Swallow and sparrow, their ambitions are different with swan, because swan can fly higher, which stands for someone has lofty aspirations.

3.1.2By the character of animals

Similar character but different animals convey similar thing in the two cultures. Just like the following examples:

The similar hunting habit of fox and hare: it is well-known that hare is a fast-running mammal that lives in fields, like a rabbit but larger, with long ears and a divided upper lip. It feeds on grass and some crops. Generally speaking, it digs hole to make its home with thick grass around. When it takes food, it never eats the grass around its hole. They would not expose themselves to their enemies by eating up the grass around their holes. Fox has the similar habit in hunting. So, we get “The fox preys farthest from his hole.”[7]37 in English and “兔子不吃窝边草”[8]47 in Chinese.

The two pairs of natural enemy: cats and mice and tiger and monkey. The peace will never befall between cats and mice. When cats are around, the mice dare not steal things. But when cats are out, it is the holiday of the mice family. They will do whatever they want to. While in the forest, the similar situation happens between tiger, the forest king, and monkey, the naughty guy. “When the cats are away, the mice will play.” The corresponding proverb in Chinese is “山中无老虎，猴子称霸王”.

3.1.3By the living experience

People of all the nations develop their cultures, basing on their living experiences. People also grope the truth from their experiences.

The “stubborn” leopard and the dog: The experience of human beings tells people that the nature of something is hard to change than anything else. The leopard tries its best to camouflage when it preys. Their quarries can figure out them if they pay attention, because the spots of the leopards can never fade. In English, the

[3]12proverb “The leopard cannot change its spots” equals to “狗改不了吃屎”. The

Chinese version is more negative than the English one.

The willing horse and the hardworking cow: In the ancient times, people in

本论文以动物谚语为中心展开研究,通过搜集不同英汉谚语的资料,对谚语的定义及动物谚语重要地位进行了分析,对英汉动物谚语的比较研究有一定的现实意义和理论价值。本文首先简单介绍了文化背景以及本文研究的重要性,其次对英语动物谚语和汉语动物谚语进行了简单的概述;然后从不同的角度分别研究了中英文动物谚语的异同,并对造成这些区别的原因进行分析;

English-speaking country make horse plough their farmland. Horse was the animal working on the farm, rushing on the battle and racing on the field. People relied on them badly. Chinese culture is said to be originated from Yellow River. Chinese people make cow plough the soil and carry things while the horses were just for battle and riding. Based on the above reason, horse in English equals to cow in Chinese. When they refer to someone who is competent and laborious, they use “All lay loads on a willing horse.（能者多劳）”[7]28. However, in Chinese, the willing cow is the object to be complimented:“初生牛犊不怕虎”

3. 2The differences between Chinese and English animal proverbs

A lot of animal proverbs are described for the same or similar culture, a cultural phenomenon of head coincidence, which called cultural overlap. However, this animal, after all, only a small number of them are, but the most is no correlation. So there exists cultural slash or cultural gap.

For the different of the specific environment Chinese and English live, together with ecology, social background, religion and culture, so people contact to animals from a different point of view and form a unique perspective and understanding to the animals, which may lead different connotations from the English and Chinese Language of animals. This difference can be divided into two cases. One is cultural gap, which means some words of animal endowed with certain connotation in one country, but not included in another. Take “松鹤延年” for exam …… 此处隐藏：5663字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……