从文化视角看歇后语之英译 94页

摘要语言既是信息的载体，又是文化的载体。语言承载着文化，反过来又受文化的影响，或者说语言既表现与反映文化，又受文化的限制。广义地说，语言是一个民族最直接和最具特色的代表：民族的历史渊源、文化背景、生活方式、处世态度和思维模式都包含其中。一种文化不同于另一种文化，每种文化都有其自身独一无二的特点，这种特点首先在语言中反映出来。这种语言和文化的差异，自然会使文化和文化之间的交际出现困难，其结果是不同文化之间的理解并不是那么容易的。英语习语和汉语习语是在两种差异很大的文化背景下形成的特色语言，如果对所涉及的两种文化没有足够的了解，无论是从英语到汉语还是从汉语到英语的翻译，总是不能令人满意的。翻译中最严重的错误，往往不是因为词语的缺乏，而是因为错误的文化遐想，所以翻译中的文化因素比单纯语言中的文化因素显得更为重要。近年来，“文化’’和“翻译”越来越多地被联系起来，也就是说文化翻译、翻译中的文化因素已引起越来越多的翻译研究者的关注。’作为一种翻译理论，许多世界著名的翻译理论家在他们的著作中对此有较深刻的研究。文化是一个民族的灵魂，像珍珠一样闪闪发光；而语言既是文化的载体之一，又是文化的～部分。因为文化不仅仅是个抽象的词，它必须用语言来表达、体现和代表。语言和翻译都离不开文化，而翻译既是一种语言和另一种语言的桥梁，也是一种文化和另 一种文化的桥梁。每一种语言都拥有大量的习语，习语是人们从长年的日常生活和工作中创造出的，丰富多彩，像镜子一样很好地反映着文化和文化的特色，是语言的精华。汉语和英语一样都拥有丰富的习语，表现着各自的文化特点和悠久历史，它们被广泛地用于各行各业，也广泛地用于日常生活当中。英语和汉语习语，因为它们各自的修辞方法和文化风味不同，通常使得非本民族的人们较难理解，要将其忠实地、富有意味地翻译成另一种语言则更难。歇后语是汉语习语的一个重要部分，是一种特别幽默的语言，是汉民族根据自己丰富的生活经历而创造出来的，它是表达汉民族文化特色的一种独有的形式。汉语歇后语幽默诙谐，有生动的比喻、丰富的联想，通常使用明喻、双关、谐音等修辞手法，以达到增强语言艺术魅力的效果。汉语歇后语有与众不同的形式和很具特色的内涵，其真实意义通常是隐含的，不仅在日常生活中广为应用，而且也经常用于文学作品中。歇后语是汉语中的无价之宝，它既是汉民族的，也是全世界的。对歇后语的翻译研究，不仅将有助于理解汉语，理解中国，有效地传播中国文化，也有利于增进中国与其他国家的文化交流。本论文旨在从文化视角探索歇后语英译的适当方法。整篇论文共分为以下六个部分：第一部分概括阐述了文化、语言和翻译，以及介绍了本文的框架。第二部分是第一章，就不同学者提出的文化翻译理论进行了文献综述，其中奈达提出的功能对等理论以及关于文化与翻译的论述是本 章重点。第三部分是第二章，重点介绍了歇后语的定义，特点，结构和分类。第四部分为第三章，是本论文的重点部分。习语特别是歇后语中反映出的中西方文化的对比，人们在不同文化习俗中形成不同的思维方式。在阐明语言与文化、翻译与文化的辨证关系的基础上，通过许多例子来证明文化和习语的可译性，探讨论了歇后语的文化内涵和翻译的基本原则。第五部分是第四章，介绍了一系列的歇后语英译方法，并讨论了歇后语对等翻译的意义。第六部分是结论部分，从本文的研究探讨中不难发现：译者在翻译汉语歇后语之前需要仔细思考其中的中英文化差异，然后灵活地选择翻译方法，才能翻译出好的译文。作者希望本文能为翻译研究特别是歇后语英译研究提供参考与借鉴。关键词：歇后语，文化，语言，翻译，习语 AbstractItisgenerallyacceptedthatlanguageisthecarrierofinformationandculture．Itplaysaveryimportantroleinculture．Ontheotherhand，languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture；itreflectsculture．Inabroadsense，languageisthemostsymbolicandspecialrepresentationofapeopleanditcomprisestheirhistoricalandculturalbackgroundsaswellastheirapproachtolifeandtheirwaysoflivingandthinking．Culturesdifferfromoneanother,SOitisonlynaturalthenthatwithdifferencesinculturesandlanguages，difficultiesoRenariseincommunicatingacrosscultures．Thusmutualunderstandingisnotalwayseasy．EnglishandChinesearelanguageswhichareformedandshapedundertwomarkedlydifferentcultures．Accordingtothetheorythatlanguageisapartofculture，translatingfromonelanguageintoanothercannotbedonesatisfactorilywithoutadequateknowledgeofthetwoculturesinvolved．Theostseriousshov"g。translatingareusuallydueverballhemoStserlousshortcomingsmtranslarenotusuallyduetoverbalinadequacy,butduetowrongculturalassumptions．Theculturalfactorsintranslatingaremoresignificantthanpurelylinguisticdifferences。Inrecentyears，“culture’’and‘"translation"’arecombinedandusedtogethermoreandmoreoRen．Inotherwords，culturaltranslationandculturalelementsintranslationhavedrawnmoreandmoreattentions fromscholarswhoarestudyingtranslation．Manyworld-famoustranslationtheoristshavemadeprqfounddiscoveriesontranslationtheoryintheirwork．Cultureisthesoulofanation，glitteringinthehumanworldlikeapead．Meanwhile，languageisthecarrierandanintegralpartofculture．Culturemustbeexpressed，embodiedandsymbolizedbylanguage，forcultureisnotanabstractword．Therefore，culturecanneverbeseparatedlanguage，ortranslationwhichisabridgebetweenlanguageandculture．Everylanguagehasalargenumberofidioms．Theyaresoplentifulandcolorfulbecause"peoplecreatethemdailylifeandworkoverhundredsofyears．Anidiom，whichistreatedasthequintessenceoflanguage，islikeamirrorthatreflectsculturethebest．BothEnglishandChinesearerichinculture—specificidioms，whicharewidelyusedinallkindsofwork，aswellasindailylife．Becauseidiomsbearvariousfiguresofrhetoricaldevicesandstrongculturalflavors，itisoftenverydifficultfornon—nativespeakerstounderstandthem．Furthermore，itismuchhardertotranslatethemfaithfullyandexpressivelyintoanotherlanguage．TheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesareanimportantpartofChineseidioms．ItisakindofthespecialhumorouslanguageandapartofChinesehumor,whichWascreatedbytheChinesepeopleinaccordancewiththeirrichexperienceoflife．ItisauniquewaytoexpressV theChinesenationalculture．Theidiomscanstrengthenartisticappealoflanguagewiththeirvividsimiles，richassociationandhumorousandwittystylebyusingfiguresofspeechsuchassimile，punandeuphony．Theyhaveunusualformsandcharacterizedconnotations，theirexactmeaningsareoftenimplied，whicharecommonlyappliedindailylifeandliteraryworks．TheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesarepricelesstreasuresofChina，whichsimultaneouslybelongtowholeworld．ThestudyoftranslationofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesdohelpEnglishreaderstoappreciateChineseandChina,andhelptoconveyChinesecultureeffectively,speedingupculturalcommunicationsbetweenChinaandforeignnations．ThisthesisisaimedatfmdingoutsuitablemethodsoftranslatingChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesfromaculturalperspective．Thethesisisdividedintosixparts：Part1isageneralintroductiontocultureandidiomsandisalsoanoutlineofthesis．Part2consistsofChapter1，whichpresentsaliteraryreviewofculturaltranslationtheoriesputforwardbyvariousscholars，amongwhichNida’Sviewsonfunctionalequivalenceandrelationbetweencultureandtranslationiskey．Part3consistsofChapter2，whichdealswithdefinitions，characteristics，formationsandclassificationofChineseEnigmatic FolkSimiles．Part4consistsofChapter3，whichisthemainpartofthisthesis．TheauthorcomparesChineseandWesternculture，whicharereflectedinidioms，especiallyintheChineseEnigmaticSimiles，anddifferentwaysofthinkingofpeopleindifferentcultures。PrinciplesoftranslationandtheculturalconnotationsoftheChineseEnigmaticSimilesarealsodiscussed．Basedontheanalysisoftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture，andbetweentranslationandculture，itcanbeeasilyfoundthatcultureandidiomsarebothtranslatable．Part5consistsofChapter4，whichintroducesasetofEnglishtranslationmethodsfortheChineseEnigmaticSimiles．Inthischapter,thesignificanceofequivalenttranslationofChineseEnigmaticSimilesiSdiscussed．Part6，theConclusion，summarizesthemainpointsofthisthesisandconcludesthatbeforerenderingtheChineseEnigmaticSimiles，atranslatorneedstocontemplatetheculturaldiscrepanciesbetweenChineseandEnglish，andthenflexiblymakeUSeoftranslationmethodsSOastoprovideagoodEnglishtranslation。Keywords：TheChineseEnigmaticSimiles，culture，language，translation,idioms 原创性声明本人声明，所呈交的学位论文是本人在导师指导下进行的研究工作及取得的研究成果。尽我所知，除了论文中特别加以标注和致谢的地方外，论文中不包含其他人已经发表或撰写过的研究成果，也不包含为获得中南大学或其他单位的学位或证书而使用过的材料。与我共同工作的同志对本研究所作的贡献均已在论文中作了明确的说明。作者虢秘吼呼年上月卫日关于学位论文使用授权说明本人了解中南大学有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，即：学校有权保留学位论文，允许学位论文被查阅和借阅：学校可以公布学位论文的全部或部分内容，可以采用复印、缩印或其它手段保存学位论文；学校可根据国家或湖南省有关部门规定送交学位论文。储躲单曲师硌纽嗍号勉月卫日 IntroductionAsapartofculture，languageisusedtoserveandreflectculturalneeds．Throughlanguage，wecallgetaglimpseoftheculturalformsofthatnationsuchascustoms，art，history,religionandliterature．Languageisnotonlythecarrierofinformationbutalsothecarrierofculture．Languageplaysaveryimportantroleinculture．Somesocialscientistsconsideritthekeystoneofculture．，nleymaintainthatculturewouldnotcomeintoexistencewithoutlanguage．Ontheotherhand，languagereflectscultureandisalsoinfluencedandshapedbyculture．Inthebroadestsense，languageisthesymbolicrepresentationofapeople，anditcomprisestheirhistoricalandculturalbackgroundsaswellastheirapproachtolifeandtheirwaysoflivingandthinking．Culturesdifferfromoneanother．Asculturesarediverse，languagesarediverse．Itisonlynaturalthenthatwithdifferencesinculturesanddifferencesinlanguages，difficultiesoftenariseincommunicatingacrosscultures．Thus，mutualunderstandingisnotalwayseasy．TheEnglishandChineseidiomsarelanguagesundertwomarkedlydifferentcultures．TheAmericantranslationtheoristEugeneA．Nida"sviewonlanguageandculturehasinfluencedhisattitudetowardtranslation．BasedonNida’Sview,theparadoxesintranslationarebasicallytheparadoxesoflanguageand Introductionculture(Nida,1993：7)．Languageisapartofcultureandthereforetranslatingfromonelanguageintoanothercannotbedonesatisfactorilywithoutadequateknowledgeofthetwoculturesinvolved．Theculturalfactorsintranslatingaremoresignificantthanthepurelylinguisticdifferences．Themostseriousmistakesintranslatingareusuallycausedbywrongculturalassumptionsratherthanverbalinadequacy(Nida,1998：29)．Asatranslationtheory,culturaltranslationisdrawingmoreandmoreattentionfromscholarswhoaremakingastudyoftranslation．Inamostgeneralway,cultureistheendproductoflearningknowledge．Nomatterwhatpeoplemaysayanddo，theirsocialarrangementsandeventsareproductsorby-productsoftheircultureastheyapplyittothetaskofperceivinganddealingwiththeircircumstances．Cultureisthesoulofanation，glitteringinthehumanworldlikeapearl，butitistooinclusivetodefine．Inhistory,irmumerousscholarshavegiventheirdefinitionstoculture，whetherlongorshort，detailedorsuccinct．Sincetranslationisusedforcommunicationbetweencultures，BatesandBlogtermculture‘‘asystemofsharedbeliefs，values，customs，behaviors，andartifactsthatthemembersofasocietyusetocopewiththeirworldandwithoneanotherandthataretransmittedfromgenerationtogenerationthroughlearning"’(Samovar,2000：36)．Inbrief,cultureis‘"thetotalityofbeliefsandpracticesofasociety"(Nida，2001：78)．2 M．AThesisHowever,cultureisonlyanabstractword．Ithastobeexpressed，embodiedandsymbolizedbylanguage，aSKramsch(2000：3)haspointedout．Therefore，culturecarlneverbeseparatedfromlanguageorfromtranslation，whichisabridgebetweenlanguageandculture．Inrecentyears，“culture"’and‘‘translation’’arebeingincreasinglylinkedtogether．In1990，SusanBassnettandAndreLefevereformallypresentedthepropositionof‘‘culturaltum”intranslationstudiesforthefirsttime．Fromthenon，translatorsandtranslationtheoristshavepaidmoreandmoreattentiontotheculturalfactorsintranslation．Manyworld—renownedtranslationtheorists，includingEugeneA．Nida,SusanBassnett，DanielShaw,LarryA．SamovarandSOon，havehadadiscussionindepthabouttherelationsbetweencultureandtranslationintheirworks．Althoughculturaltranslationhasnotenteredthemainstreamamongtranslationtheorists，itiscomingwithastrongmomentum，justasSusanBassnetthaspredicted．Everylanguagehasalargequantityofidioms．Theyaresorichandcolorfulbecausepeoplecreatethemfromtheirdailylivesandworkoverhundredsofyears．Theidiomislikeamirrorthatreflectsculturethebest．AccordingtoWebster’SNewWorldDictionaryoftheAmericanLanguage(Secondcollegeedition，1972)，“anidiom"’means“anacceptedphrase，construction，orexpressioncontrarytotheusualpatternsofthe3 M．AThesisIntroductionlanguageorhavingameaningdifferentfromtheliteral"．BothEnglishandChinesearefullofcolorfulculture—specificidioms，andtheyarewidelyusedinallkindsofworksaswellasinourdailylife．Becausetheybearvariousfiguresofspeechandstrongculturalinfluences，itisoftenverydifficultfornon—nativespeakerstounderstandthem，letalonetranslatethemfaithfullyandexpressivelyintoanotherlanguage．TheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesareanimportantpartofChineseidioms．TheywerecreatedorallybytheChinesepeople，belongingtothefieldofcommonsayings．Theycallincreasetheartisticappealoflanguagewiththeirvividsimiles，richassociationandhumorousandwi蚵stylebyusingfiguresofspeechsuchassimile，punandeuphony．Theyhavedistinctiveimagesandnovelconceptionsandtheirmeaningsareoftenimplied．Theyarenotonlythepopularlanguageformindailylifebutalsousedinmanyliteraryworks．TherearenosimilarwaystoexpresstheminEnglish，and血eystemfromtheChinesenationalcultureandhavestrongculture·specifictraits．TodiscussthetranslationofthesesimileswillcontributetobeaerunderstandingbetweenChinaandothercountriesandincreaseinterculturalexchange．TheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesembodyculturalcharacteristicsofthelanguage．SuchalargenumberoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesarenotonlythepeculiarityoftheChineselanguagebutalsoconveytheChinesecultureeffectively．TheycanbesaidtobepricelesstreasuresoftheChinese4 M．AThesisIntroductionpeople，SOhowtointroducetheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileswithculturalidentitytoforeignersshouldbestudiedcarefully．ThisthesisisaimedatfindingoutsuitablemethodstotranslatetheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesfromaculturalperspective．Thewholethesisisdividedintosixparts．Part1isageneralintroductiontocultureandidioms．ItiSalSOanoutlineofthisthesis．Part2consistsofChapter1，whichpresentsaliteraryreviewonculturaltranslationtheoriesputforwardbyvariousscholars，amongwhichNida’Sviewsonfunctionalequivalenceandtherelationbetweencultureandtranslationisthekey．ThencomesPart3，namelyChapter2，whichdealswiththedefinitions，characteristics，formations，andclassificationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．Part4，i．e．Chapter3，isthemainpartofthisthesis．TheauthorcomparestheChineseandWesterncultures，whicharereflectedinidioms，especiallyintheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．Peopleformdifferentwaysofthinkingindifferentcultures．Throughlotsofexamples，itcanbeprovedthatcultureandidiomsalebothtranslatable．TheprinciplesofthetranslationandtheculturalconnotationsoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesalealsodiscussed．Part5consistsofChapter4，whichintroducesasetofEnglishtranslationmethodsoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．Inthischapter,thesignificanceofequivalenttranslationofChinese-EnigmaticFolkSimilesisdiscussed． M．AThesisPart6，theConclusion，summarizesthemainpointsofthisthesisandconcludesthatbeforerenderingtheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，atranslatorneedstocontemplateitsculturaldiscrepanciesbetweenChineseandEnglish，andthenflexiblymakeuseoftranslationmethodsSOastoprovidegoodEnglishtranslations．6 Chapter1LiteraryReviewofCulture·relatedTranslationTheoriesFormanyyears，researchershavebeendwellingontherelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture．Translatorsandtranslationtheoristshavebeenpayingmoreandmoreattentiontotheculturalfactorsintranslation．Manyscholarsbelievethataqualifiedtranslatorshouldbenotonlybilingual，butalsobi—cultural，andonlyinthiswayCanheorsheproduceagoodtranslation．Nida，anauthoritativetranslationtheoristandpractitioner,isfamousforhisemphasisonfunctionalequivalenceinlexemes，syntaxanddiscourse，furthermorehealsoattachesmuchimportancetoculturaleffectontranslation．Judgingfromappearances，thesetwoaspectsareunconnected，evencontradictory,butinfact，tlleyarecloselylinkedtoandsupporteachother．1．1AboutCultureOndiscussingculture，itisundeniableitisahugetheme．Basically，thedefinitionandfeaturesofcultureshouldbestated，functioningaSthetheoreticalbaseofthisthesis．7 1．1．1DefinitionofCultureTheterm“culture’’stemsfromtheGermanword‘"Kulture”，whichreferstothereclamationoflandandthecultivationoftheplants．Lateron，itsmeaningwasbroadened；ittookonthemeaningofthetrainingofpeople’Sbodyandspirit，particularlythetrainingoftheabilityofartsandmorals．TwonormalregistersofcultureintheEnglishworldhavebeenobtained．TheyareHighCultureandAnthropologicalCulture．ConcemingHighCulture，intellectualandartisticachievementsarewhatitisfocusedon．Forexample，tonameaspecificperiodinhistory,liketheSongDynasty(960—1279A．D)，itisviewedtohavetheHighCultureinagreatnumberofci·poetsofthattimewhosewordsarestillrevered．In1871，E．BTylor,aBritishscholar,gaveadefinitionofAnthropologicalCulture．HebelievedthatcultureWasacomplexintegrity,encompassingknowledge，belief,art,moralandanyotherabilityandhabitwhichpeopleobtain雒thememberofthesociety．Sincethen，manyscholarsproposedhundredsofdef"mitionsofAnthropologicalCulture．Itisafactthatanthropologistscontributemuchtothedefinitionsofculture．Untilnow,itisgenerallyheldthatcultureconsistsofpatterns，explicitandimplicit，ofandforthebehaviorsacquiredandtransmittedbysymbols，constitutingthedistinctiveachievementsofhumangroupsand8 containingtheirembodimentsinartifacts．TheessentialCOreofcultureconsistsoftraditionalideasandespeciallytheirattachedvalues．Culturemaythenformasystem，whichselvesastheproducts，conditionsandelementsoffurtheraction．Thisconceptofcultureisbroadenoughtoholdmostofthemajorfieldsofculture：values，religion，hierarchies，custom，andmaterialobjectsandSOon．InWebster"sNewWorldDictionary，cultureisdefinedas‘"theidea,customs，skills，arts，etc．ofapeopleorgroup．’’Accordingtotheabovestatementofculture，culturecallbecategorizedintothesethreeaspects：1．MaterialcultureItmainlyreferstothematerialthingsthatcharacterizeagroupofpeople，suchasclothes，food，housesandtransportation．2．SocialcultureItincludestheactivitiesofacommunityandtherelativesocialinstitutions，politicalandeconomicalsystems，laws，maBnersandhabits．3．IntellectualaspectsofcultureThisbranchconcernstheknowledge，whichprovidesnourishmentforthemindandcanbesharedbyallthepeopleintheworldundercertaincircumstances．Values，modesofthinking，religiousbeliefs，morals，artandeducationarethemainelementsofcultureinthisaspect．9 1．1．2FeaturesofCultureplaysallessentialroleintheeffectivetransferbetweenlanguages．Thesameorsimilarcultureformspossessthesameorsimilarchannelwhiledifferentcultureformswilldefinitelygiverisetoculturaldifferencesandobstacleswhichimpedetheeffectivenessandsmoothnessofthemessagechannel。Therefore，theculturalfactorsarebasicandan·negligibleinthefundamentalstructureofbilingualtransfer．Consequently,itisnecessarytodiscussthefeaturesofculture．1．InfiltrationofCultureAllformsofculturehavegonethroughalonghistoryofdevelopment，thoughthehumanculturesexpressthemselvesindifferentforms．Thehistoryofdevelopmenthasgoneintotwodimensionsofchronologicalandconcurrentorder．Theinfiltrationandinteractionofculturesconstitutetheconcurrentfactors．ThemodernizationprocessofdifferentnationalitiesinEuropeoccurredanddevelopedalmostsimultaneously．Varietiesofculturalinfiltrationarenumerous，whicharemainlyexpressedwithlanguagesymbolsandreflectedinlanguages．ThreekeymethodsofculturalinfiltrationCanbeexpressedasfollows：(1)．Tochangethelanguagesymbolbymakinguseoftheidentityofwhatmaterialobjectcounterpartsreferto．Inthisway,itispossibletorealizethebilingualtransferofmillionsofthingsormaterialobjects．10 (2)．Tochangethelanguagesymbolbymakinguseoftheidentityofwhatthefunctionalorpragmaticequivalencereferto．Forexample，theformofaddressingandgreetingindifferentlanguagesisvirtuallyorcompletelydifferent，andthenitisnecessarytoachievethefunctionalequivalencebychangingtheidentityofsocialfunction．(3)．Totransplanttheforeignlanguagetonativelanguagebyusingtransliteration．Forinstance，丝originatesfromsilkinChinesewhile拷贝isfrom“copy"’inEnglish．2．ComparabilityofCulturesofvariedkindsalecompatiblewithoneanotheranddevelopsimultaneously．Thisaspectfacilitatesthebasisofpossibilityofbilingualtransfer．Withinthehistoryofhumandevelopment，itCallbeseenthatdifferentculturalformsCandevelopsimultaneouslyandenrichcompatibly．Themoreadvancedthehumansocietyis，themoredevelopedthecompatibilityofculturewillbe．Presently，allkindsofreligionsnotonlycoexistbutalsosupportandcomplementeachother．Largequantitiesoffascinatingworksofliteratureandartareconsideredthesharedwealthofallhumanbeings．ManyChinesecharactersareborrowedfromforeignlanguagesandviceversa．FrenchborrowingisheavyduringMiddleEnglish(1100—1450A．D)andModemEnglishperiods．Thiswasthefar—reachinghistoricaloriginoftheconvenientinter-transferbetweenEnglishandFrench． 1．2Nida’SViewonFunctionalEquivalenceFromNida’Spointofvi‘ew,translationshouldbedoneaccordingtotheprincipleof“functionalequivalence"’。Sowhatisfunctionalequivalence?Itsminimal，realisticdef"mitionis"ThereadersofatranslatedtextshouldbeabletocomprehendittothepID蕊thattheyCanconceiveofhowtheoriginalreadersofthetextmusthaveunderstoodandappreciatedit"’(Nida，2001：87)．Anditsmaximal，idealdefinitionis‘"Thereadersofatranslatedtextshouldbeabletounderstandandappreciateitinessentiallythesamemanner舔theoriginalreadersdid"’(Nida,2001：87)．Inf-a吒themaximaldefinitionisjustideal，andtheminimallevelisrealistic。Somescholarsandstudentsmayputforwardthreebasicquestionsaboutit．Firstly,howCanatranslatedtextreallybecompletelyequivalenttotheoriginalone?Theansweristhatnotranslationisevercompletelyequivalent．“Equivalencecannotbeunderstoodinitsmathematicalmeaningofidentity,butonlyintermsofproximity,i．e．onthebasisofdegreesofclosenesstofunctionalidentity"’(Nida，2001i87)。Thatmeansgoodtranslationalwaysliessomewherebetweenthetwolevelsmentionedabove，anditisaflexibleconcept谢也differentdegreesofadequacy． Secondly,howcanthesourcelanguagereadersandthetargetlanguagereadershavenearlythesameresponsestothesametext?It"scertainthatdifferentpeoplemayhavedifferentresponsesordifferentviewsonthesamepieceofwork，evenamongthosepeopleofthesamelanguageandnationality．Buthumansliveinthesamematerialworld：wecanseethesamenaturalphenomena,e．g．sunsetandsunrise，storm，wind，rain，thunder,lightning，etc；wedealwiⅡlnearlythesamematter,e．g．water,觚，trees，toolsforproduction，dailynecessities，etc；wehavethesamerequirements，e．g．foods，clothes，work，entertainment,etc；wealsohavecommonemotions，e．g．happiness，rage，fear,sadness，etc；andhumanbeingshaveexperiencedalmostthesameperiodsofdevelopment．Therefore，thesecommongroundscanenablepeopleofanyculturetohavesufficientimaginationandexperiencetounderstandhowthepeopleofanotherculturemaydifferintheirbehaviorandvalues。Undoubtedly,thoseunderstandinghassomelimitations．AccordingtoNida，theadequacyoffunctionalequivalenceisuptomanydifferentfactors：thereliabilityofthetext,thediscoursetype，theintendedaudience，themannerinwhichthetranslatedtextistobeused，andthepurposeoftranslation．Sothemeasuringoffunctionalequivalencecan"tbeaspreciseaSdoingmathematics，butwecanstillmakeuseofsomemethodstotrytoreachourgoal．Thencomesthethirdquestion：howcanweproducefunctional13 equivalence?Ifaliteraltranslationisfunctionallyequivalentinbothdesignativemeaningandassociativemeaning，thetranslatorCanuseitdirectlywithoutanydoubt．Butifitisnotthecase，thefollowingprinciplespresentedbyNidamaybeveryhelpful．First，ifaclose，formaltranslationresultsinthemisunderstandingoftheoriginaldesignativemeaning，changesmustbeintroducedintothetranslatedtext．Theseareusuallyculture-relatedphrases，suchas‘"tomakeagoodfistofsomething”(把某事做得很成功、出色)，“妙手空空"(cleveratmanipulatingmoney)．Second，ifaclose，formaltranslationmakesnonsense，changesmustbemadeintothetextunlesstheoriginaltextispurposelyobscure，suchas“Itrainscatsanddogs”(下倾盆大雨)，“一五一十"(ingoodorderandwithnothingmissing)．Third，ifaclose，formaltranslationisdifficultfortheaveragereaderstounderstandinsentencestructureandmeaningtotheextentthatt11eymaygiveupreading，certainchangesarepermitted．Forexample，whensomehighlytechnicalarticlesaretranslatedforthehighschoolstudents，asimplifiedversionisneeded．Fourth，ifaclose，formaltranslationislikelytoleadtoaseriousmisunderstandingoftheassociativemeaningorstylisticvaluesofthesourcelanguagetext,adjustmentswillbenecessary,suchas‘‘anoldseadog”(老水手)，“望子成龙"(10ngtoseeone’Ssonachievegreat14 SUCCESSinlife)，because“tosaythatsomebodyislikeadog"’maycausetheChinesepeopletothinkthatyouarecursingthatpersonand“tosaysomeonehasbecomeadragon’’willcertainlyfrightentheforeignerswhobelievethatadragonislikeadevil．Fifth，whenthewayinwhichatranslationistobeusedwillseriouslyinfluenceitseffect，adjustmentsaretobemade．Forinstance，atranslationforapublicspeechshouldbedifferentfromthatforpersonalreading．Sixth，inordertotranslatesuchspecialformsoftextsassongs，poems，operas，etc，changesareunavoidable．1．3Nida’SViewonTranslationandCultureTranslatingfromonelanguageintoanothercannotbedonesatisfactorilywithoutadequateknowledgeofthetwoculturesinvolvedbecauselanguageisapartofculture．Intheresearchoftranslation，Nidahasbecomeawareofthegreatimportanceofculturalfactorsintranslating．Hebelievesthattheculturalfactorsintranslatingaremoresignificantthanthepurelylinguisticdifferences；themostseriousmistakesintranslatingareusuallymadenotbecauseofverbalinadequacy,butbecauseofwrongculturalassumptions．Forexample，thesourcelanguageidiomsareottenfoundtobelivelyinthesourcelanguage15 culture，buthardlyunderstandable，iftranslatedliterally,becausethetargetlanguagereaders‘culturalbackground，whichdiffersbyvaryingdegreesfromthatofthesourcelanguagereaders，oftenbecomesamisleadingfactor．Therefore，“fortrulysuccessfultranslating，biculturalismisevenmoreimportantthanbilingualism，sincewordsonlyhavemeaningsintermsoftheculturesinwhichtheyfunction"(Nida，2001：82)．Thetranslatorsorinterpreterscannotunderstandthesourcelanguagetextenoughtoprovideitsexactmeaningwithoutcarefi羹⋯一considerationofitsculturalbackground．That。Swhymostprogramsforthetrainingofinterpretersandtranslatorsrequirethatstudentsspendatleasthalfayearinthecountrieswheretheacquiredlanguagesarespoken．”OnlybybeinginthecountriesinwhichaforeignlanguageisspokenCanoneacquirethenecessarysensitivitytomanyspecialmeaningsofwordsandphrases辩Oqida,2001：82)．Culturaldifferenceshavebroughtmanydifficultiestotranslation，andonlythroughculturaladjustmentsandmodificationsCanwesuccessfullyreachthegoalof¨functionalequivalence辩，orgoneartoitsrequirements．Thatisalsothecloseconnectionbetweenthetwoimportantaspects·---functionalequivalenceandculturalfactorsinNida"sviewsontranslation．AccordingtoNida,differencesofculturemaybeareasonforhavingmarginalnotesinatranslatedtext．Thatistosay,sometimesit’Svery difficultforpeopletofmdaproperwordorsentencetotransferthemeaning．Inthiscase，peoplehavetoaddallannotation．Forexample，inWesterncountries，thereareno“阴’’and“阳”，whicharetwooldtraditionalChinesetermsregardingcosmicforcesandtheuniverse，SOwetranslatetheminto“yin’’and“yang"，withanannotationtoexplainthattheyaretwoforcesthroughwhoseessences，accordingtoTaoistcosmology,theuniversewasproducedandthroughwhichcosmicharmonyismaintained．Y／nisdark,femaleandnegative，whiley锄gislight，maleandpositive．Societiesareincreasinglybecomingheterogeneousratherthanhomogeneous．Peopleareaccustomedtotheirownwaysofexpressionsshapedbytheirownhistoriesandcultures．Manywordshavedifferentpragmaticimplicationsindifferentcountries．Inacertaincontext，somedesignativemeaningsaredifferentfromtheirdeepermeanings．Forinstance，thesentence‘"JohnCanbereliedon．Heeatsnofishandplaysthegame”Can’tbetranslatedinto“约翰为人可靠。他不吃鱼，还玩游戏。”(translatedbyZhangPeiji)(张培基，1978：50)InEnglishhistory,theconflictsbetweenoldChristianreligionandProtestantismwerevehement．Theoldreligionstipulatedthatinfeastdays，peoplecouldonlyeatfish，butProtestantsrefusedtoeatfishinfeastdaystoshowtheirdecisionofconveningtoProtestantism．So“toeatnofish’’means‘"tobeloyal’’．‘‘Toplaythegame’’means‘‘totakepartinamatchbyobserving therules"’，anditistransferredtomean"beinguprightandhonest张．Therefore，thissentenceshouldbetranslatedinto“约翰为人可靠。他既忠诚又正直。’’(translatedbyZhangPeiji)．Differentpeoplesmayalsohavedifferencesintheirnationalpsychology,whichreferstocharacter,emotion，valueandreligiousbeliefofanation，formedinitslongprocessofevolutionanddevelopment．Althoughthesedifferencescan"tbeseenfromappearance，meyCanbringobstaclestocross—culturalcommunicationandtranslation．InADreamofRedMansions，YangXianyitranslates“谋事在人，成事在天”into“Manproposes，Heavendisposes”，whileDavidHawkestranslatesitinto“Manproposes，Goddisposes．’’YangtriestobefaithfultooriginalworkandkeepsorientalBuddhistflavor，whileHawkesconsidersthattargetreadersareChristiansandtriestocatert0Westernnationalpsychology．Eachversionhasitsstrongpoints，butreadersmayhavedifferentresponsestothemduetotheirnationalpsychology．1．4OtherViewsOilTranslationandCultureIntranslationstudies，manyotherscholarshavealsorealizedimportanceofcultureintranslation．Theyhavepresentedtheirownideaaboutthistopicintheirworks。LarryA。Samovarbelievesthat‘"translatorsmustgrapplenotonly18 withstructuraldifferencesbetweenlanguagesbutalsoculturaldifferences，whichrequiresprecisionandtheabilitytoconveythespeaker"sorauthor"sapproachorattitude．Moreimportantly,thetranslatorneedstoconsidersharedexperiences．’’(Samovar,2000：133)Thatistosay,themeaningsofwordsalebasedonsharedexperienceandtheabilityofawordtoconveymeaningdependsontheculturallyinformedperceptionsofboththeoriginalandthetargetreaders．Whenwelackculturalequivalents，welackthewordsinourvocabularytorepresentthoseexperiences．Inaddition,translationsoftenproducemisunderstandingorineomprehensionbecauseofculturalorientations，suchastensesandotherlanguagecustoms．Forexample，theChinesevisualizethepastasbeinginfrontofapersonbecauseitcanbeseen，andtheyvisualizethefutureasbeingbehindonebecauseitcannotbeseen．ButtheAmericansspeakofthepastbeingbehindthemandthefuturebeingahead．Ifthisdiscrepancywerenotknownorignored，translationsabouttimewouldbeincomprehensible．DavidKatanpointsoutthat‘‘abasicpresuppositionisthattheorganizationofexperienceisnot‘reality’，butisasimplificationanddistortionwhichchangesfromculturetoculture．Eachcultureactsasaframewithinwhichexternalsignsor‘reality’isinterpreted．’’Ⅸatan，1999：1)Peopleunderstandtheirexperienceindifferentway’sandbelievethatthiswayleadstothetruth，SOcultureisactuallytheunique interpretationofpeopletocertainexperiences．Therefore，Katan纳Mlescultureandregardstranslatorsandinterpretersasmediators．SomeofSusanBassnett’SviewsaresimilartothoseofNida’S．Sheemphasizesculturalfunctionalequivalence．Whentwocultureshavesomecommongroundsandthereisnodifficultyinunderstandingthedirectlytransferredculturalimages，literaltranslationCanbeused．Ifitisnotthecase，translatorsshouldusesomeskillstosmartlytransferthefunctionoftheoriginaltextintothetargetlanguagefromtheperspectiveofreaders’responseSOastoreachfunctionalequivalence．Besides，shethinksthattranslationshouldbedonewithculture嬲itsunit．Translationisnotasimpleprocessofdecodingandrecoding，butanactofcommunication．Differentprinciplesandcriteriaoftranslationindifferentperiodsoftimearetosatisfytherequirementsofcultureandofdifferentgroupsofpeopleinacertainculture．Sheformallyputsforwardtheconceptofculturaltranslationforthefirsttime，whichmarksthattranslationstudyhascomeintoanewphaSe．Shealsopaysmuchattentiontotherelationsbetweentranslationandotherdisciplinesorfields．Inbrief,shehaSconductedamacro—studyontranslation．LikeNida，DanielShawalsostudiesthetranslationofTheBible，buthistheoryCanalsobeappliedtogeneraltranslations．Heisnotonlyatranslator,butalsoananthropologist，SOhestudiescross—culturaltranslationfromananthropologicalperspective．Hebelievesthata translatorshouldunderstandtherealityfromanation"sviewontheworld．Themoretheexperienceofthesourcecultureandthetargetcultureoverlaps，themorethetargetreaderscanunderstandthesourceinformation．Varioustypesofcultureshavebeenformedonthebasisoftheireconomy,andthemodesofproductionreallydecidepeople’Sculturaltypesandlifestyles．AstodealingwitIltheculturalfactorsintranslation，inhisopinion，translatorsshouldfirstunderstandthesourcecultureandthenthetargetculture，andfinallybuildabridgebetweenthetwocultures．Thetranslatedtextshouldnotbeconsideredasatranslation，butanoriginaltext，andatthesametimeitshouldfaithfullytransmittheoriginalinformation．Atranslatingprocessshouldbefirsttoidentifythemeaningofthesourceinformation，andthentotransferthemeaningoftheoriginaltextmeaningintothetargetculturebyusingvariousmeansoftranslation．BecauseShawmainlystudiesthetranslationofTheBible，headvocatesadaptationintranslation．Inhistheory,togetthereaderstounderstandthetranslationwithoutalotofdifficultiesismoreimportantthantointroduceforeignculturestothem。Undercertaincircumstances，itistrue，butitisstilluptothepurposeoftranslation，thetexttype，theauthor"sintentionandthereaders’academiclevelsandrequirements．2I Chapter2DefinitionsandClassificationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesTheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesareakindofthespecialhumorouslanguage，whichwascreated姆theChinesepeopleaccordingtotheirrichexperienceoflifeandisabranchofChinesehumor．ItisauniquewayofselfexpressionwhichbelongstotheChinesenationalculture．InthischapterdefinitionsandclassificationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileswillbeintroduced，andtheirformationsandcharacteristicswillbefurtheranalyzed．2．1Origins，DefinitionsandFlexibleStructureoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesTheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesarefamiliartoChinese．However，itisnotthecaseforforeigners．TheChineseEnigmaticFolk Similesareuniqueinorigins，structuresandotherelements，whichshouldbemadeclearinthisthesis．2．1．1OriginsTheChineseEnigmaticFolkiscalledXiehouyu(歇后语)inChinese。NocertainagreementoftheoriginoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkhasbeenachieveduptonOW．However,itdoesnotmeanthattheorigincannotbetraced．Ingeneral，severalmainrepresentativeopinionsconcerningthispointhavecomeintoexistence。OneopinionisthattheChineseEnigmaticFolkareakindofChineseProverbs．HuangbelievesthattheChineseEnigmaticFolkareaspecialdevelopedformoftheChineseProverbs，justdifferingfromthosenormalonesinsomeaspects．TheChineseEnigmaticFolkhavebeenconsideredasabranchofChineseProverbsbeforetheygainedtheirownindependentnRmeandstatus。Onlyinthisviewpointcarl盘eybeclassifiedinto“aspeciallydevelopedformofChineseProverbs．"(黄华节，见温端政，2000：132—135)OtherscholarsclaimedthattheChineseEnigmaticFolkaretheevolvementoftheSO—called‘‘original’’or“standard"’ChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，amongwhomMaoDunstandsoutastherepresentative．HedividesthedevelopmentoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkintothreestages．Firstly,the‘‘original’’and‘‘standard’’ones turnout，referringtothoseoriginatingfromidiomsorsentencesofpoemsorotherwell—knownphrasesinclassicalworksbyhidingoromittingoneormoreChinesecharacters．Forinstance，“牛头马(面)"，“牛头马’’means“面"．ThustheprimitiveChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesobtainthenamebyomittingthelatterparts。Secondly,therecomesthecomparativelycomplicatedroundabouttheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，suchas“外甥打灯笼——照舅(旧)"．Lastly,thereappearsthemostcomplicatedChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，itmeansthemostdifficultinunderstanding，forexample，“泥菩萨过河——自身难保。’’ChenWangdao(温端政，1985：23)agreedwithMaoDunabouttheorigin，buthereclassifiedandredenominatedtheclassificationproposedbyMaoDun．Henamedthe‘"original’’or“standard"’ChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles‘"XiehouCangciYu"(歇后藏词语)，whichareobsoletepresently．Asfarasthelattertwotypesareconcerned，hemergedthemintoonetype，andcalledit‘"thenewChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles"’orallegorical—explanationsayings(譬解语)．Allegorical·explanationsayingsarewhatalecalledtheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilestoday．2。1．2De蠡nitionsXiehouyu(歇后语)isakindofidiomthatisthesameascolloquialism，motto，proverbandslang．InChinese—EnglishDictionaries， itreferstoa铆。巾artallegoricalsaying，ofwhichthefirstpartisafigureofspeech，regardedasavehicle，whilethesecondpartistheexplanationofthefirstpart，regardedasthecomparativewordorreference．ThetechnicaltermofXiehouyucallbeliterallyinterpretedinto“rest-endingsayings；post-pauseexpressions’’(JinHuikang，2004：455)．Accordingtoitsstructure，sometranslateinto‘"example·explanationsayings’’．However,thenamingofXiehouyushowednoagreement．Sometranslateinto“quiz—cracks”，whichdoesnottranslatecomprehensively．AndsomethoughtXiehouyu，likeerhu(二胡)，Chinesekungfu(中国功夫)，belongstotheuniquenationalculture，SOthatwecaninterpretdirectlyinto“XiehouyuinChinese”．Althoughthetranslationof‘"XiehouyuinChinese"’couldcontributetocarryingforwardtheChineseculture，itwon’tbethebestone．Backtoitsearlierhistory,Xiehouyu，thegamesamongthelearnedpersons，wascalled“wisecrack"’，SOthereisanothersayingofXiehouyu—Chinesefou(wisecracks(HanQingguo，2002)，while，Mr．JoIHlS．Rohsenow,associateprofessorofEnglishintheUniversityofIllinois，Chicago，translatedXiehouyuinto‘‘ChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles’’inhisAChinese-EnglishDictionaryofChineseEnigmaticFolk＆miles(Rohsenow,1991)．Simile：Xiehouyuisgenerallycomposedoftwoparts，anditsrhetoricmethodadoptsthestructureofargot；folk：itindicatesthat Xiehouyustemsfromthefolklore，anditisespeciallyusedinthedailyspokenlanguage．Enigmatic：itpointsoutthatthisexpressionhasthenatureandthecharacteristicsoffiddles．Xiehouyucallalsobecalledafiddlecomposedoftwoparts‘hintforansweringariddle’(signifier)+‘solutiontoafiddle’(signified)．Asaresult，ChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesbasicallyreflectthepeculiarstructureandintrin"§icquality．缸enigmaticfolksimileisakindofexpressionthathasartisticglamour,whichishumorousandvivid．Byusingitinworks，wecanmakelanguagelivelyandgraceful，popularandcomprehensive，andprofoundinallusionaswell．Itcallalsoexpresstheemotionofsatire．Afterall，itis雒artisticlanguagethatisuniqueinstructureandstyle，withstrongnativecolors．2。1．3FlexibleStructureThestructureoftheChineseEnigmatic&墩Similesisflexible．WenDuanzheng(温端政，1985：17)definedthefirstpart“introduction"’andthesecondpart“explanation"’respectively．1．TheSame“Introduction”，Different“Explanations”Usually,one‘‘introduction"’ofaChineseEnigmaticFolkSimile matchesone‘‘explanation’’．Insomecases，however,one‘‘introduction"’maymatchseveral“explanations"，andviceversa。ItisinthissensethatthestructureofaChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileisviewedasbeingflexible．Inthisway,which“explanation"’shouldbechosenisuptotheindependentcontext，orputtingitanotherway,itiscontext-dependent．Andtheobjectinthe“introduction"’mayhavedifferentattributes，SOtheselectionof‘‘explanation"’isalsocontingentonwhichattributehasbeengivenbytheaddresser．Thefollowingaresomeexamples：(1)编辑部主任呵呵笑道：“人们都说他是张飞穿针——粗中有细哩!’’(彭新云，1999：332)(2)几句话，把个马连福说得张飞穿针——大眼瞪小眼，后脊背苏苏地冒凉气。(浩然，1974：162)(3)但是潜水员上不着水，下不着地，中间无依靠，全凭浮力，～使劲就东晃西摇，弄{|譬李锬象张飞穿针——有劲无处使。(沈顺根，1974=48)Inthethreeabove—citedexamples，therearethreeChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．Thesame“introduction"’‘‘张飞穿针"(ZhangFeithreadinganeedle)Canmatchthreedifferent“explanations”．Whyisitthecase?Itisbecausethewriterhighlightsandingeniouslyassociatesdifferentfeaturesof“张飞”andthebehavior“穿针"．InExample(1)，theChinese EnigmaticFolkSimileistranslatedinto‘"ZhangFeithreadinganeedle-一二-beingcrudeinmostmattersbutsubtleinsome．"Theprudentaspectofthewell-knowncrudemanaswellaspatient-demandingofthreadinganeedlearehighlighted．InExample(2)，theEnglishversionis“ZhangFeithreadinganeedle一—-bigeyesstaringatsmalleyes．’’ItemphasesthebigeyesofZhangFeiandthesmalleyeofaneedle．Inthecontext，itimpliesthegloweringofMaLianfuwiththevividnessoftheChineseFolkSimile．InExample(3)，theEnglishversionis“ZhangFeithreadinganeedlr——1lotknowinghowtoexerthisstrength．’’ItstressesZhangFei’Sgreatstrengthanddexterityrequiredforthreadinganeedle，whichdescribestheembarrassmentofthediverinwater．ItCanbethusprovedthatthecontextplaysanimportantroleinthechoiceofdifferent“explanations"．2．Different“Introductions"，theSame“Explanation’’Thisiscontrarytotheabove—mentionedtopic；one“explanation"’maymatchseveral“introductions"，whichfeaturesanotherfactoftheflexiblestructureoftheChineseFolkSimiles．TheChineseFolkSimilesofthiskindbearmuchChineseculture．Peoplefromthesamecommunityhavesimilarbasicexperienceoftheworldandsharelotsofnon—linguisticbackground．Incontrary,peoplefromdifferentcommunitieshavediversedialectstoexpresssimilarconcepts．Asaresult， thesame“explanation"’callbeimpliedbymany“introductions’’，whichgivesvarietytofieldsofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesandincreasesdifficultyintranslatingatsametime．Forinstance，“三月的蚕豆——黑了心”，“花椒熟了——黑了心”and“吃了木炭——黑了心”．“黑了心”means“dark．minded"or“dark．hearted"，whereas，ithasthreedifferent“introductions’’．2．2FormationsandClassificationofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesTheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesareusuallycomposedoftwoparts．Fromrhetoricperspective，thefirstpartisusuallyafigureofspeech，itCanbecalled‘"vehicle’’or‘‘comparison"’，andsecondpartshowstruemeaningorexplanationofsimileinfirstpart，itcanbecalled“comparativeword"or“reference"(蒋磊，2000：217)．Ifsecondpartisexplanationofrealintention，itCanalsobecalled“tenor"’．ThenChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesCanbeclassifiedintotwotypesbyconsideringcontents．2．2．1MetaphoricTypeMostChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesbelongtothistype(金惠康， 2003：457)，ofwhichthefirstpartisasimileandthesecondpartistherealintention．TherelationshipbetweenthetwopartsCallbeseenclearly．Thefollowingaresomeexamples：(4)Adogtryingtobiteahedgehog-—nowaytomakeanapproach．(狗咬刺猬——无从下口)(蒋磊，2001：67)(5)Thetailofarabbit--can’tbelong，orwon’tlastlong．(兔子尾巴长不了)(蒋磊，2001：68)(6)LikethedogthatbitLuTung—Pm_yOUbitethehandthatfeedsyou．(狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心)(李传芳，徐振忠，2004：70)Thesemetaphorictypesofexplanationaredifferentinthewaysofexplanation．InExamples(4)and(5)，thesecondpartsofthesentencesaredirect，whileinExample(6)，itissomethinglikeacomment．2．2．2ChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileswithPunsandHomophonesThistypeoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesexpressestheirmeaningsthroughassociatingone’Smindwiththecontextbyusingapunorhomophone．Usuallythedescriptioninthefirstparthaslittleconnectionwiththelatterpart．Sothenumberofsimilesofthistypeis smallandtheiruseisnotcommon，e．g．(7)EatinglilyrootwithonlyonechopsticI【．．pickingitupbytheholes．(Pun)(一根筷子吃藕，挑眼)(蒋磊，2001：67)(8)Amid-winterturnip(inthethirdperiodofninedaysaiderthewintersolstice)theheartisfrozen(affectedinheart)．(Homophone)(三九的萝卜，冻了心(动了心))(蒋磊，2001：67) Chapter3TranslatabilityoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesFromtheforegoingchaptersweknowthattranslationisactuallytranslatingculture．Therefore，wemustanalyzetherelationbetweenlanguageandculturefurther．Inthischapterwewilldiscussthecloserelationsamongidiom，language，andculture。Thetranslatability,principlesandculturalconnotationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileswillalsobediscussed．3．1Language，CultureandTranslationWhenthetranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesismentioned，itisinevitabletodiscusslanguage，culture，translationandtherelationsbetweeneachtwoofthem．ThereasonliesinthefactthattheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesarerealizedinthelanguageofChinesewithmuchprofoundChineseculturewhichshouldbeinvolvedintheprocessoftranslating． 3．1．1RelationshipBetweenLanguageandCultureSincelanguageisapartofculture，itisnotonlyaformoftheexpressionbutalsoaculturalphenomenonofsociety．Asamatteroffact，thelinguisticcommunicationamongpeopleofdifferentnationsisthatoftheirnationalcultures．Duringthecommunicatingperiod，weshouldknowwhetherthepeopleofdifferentnationscallcontacteachother,itwilldependonourunderstandingoftheculturalconnotationcarriedbylanguageratherthanlanguageitself．Languageisanintrinsicpartofculture，especiallyifcultureisdef"medasa‘"totalityofknowledge，proficiency,andperception"’(ChristianeNord，2001：23)．Therefore，manytranslatorsholdthatthetranslationshouldbedoneundertheconditionofculture．Languageisasetofverbalsymbols，primarilyauditoryandsecondarilywritten。SomepeoplehavethoughtthateachlanguageisSOdistinctthatthereisnovalidwayinwhichthediscoursesofonelanguageCanbetranslatedintoanother．Butatleastninetypercentofthefundamentalstructuresofalllanguagesarequitesimilar,andlanguagecommonalitiesoutweighthedivergences．Alllanguagesemployfigurativeexpressions，aremadeintopoetryandsong，andhaveagreatnumberofliteraryformsorgenres—fromgenealogiestoprayers．Onelanguage-culturemayemphasizethedevelopmentandtheuseof33 particulargenres，whileanotherlanguage—culturemayseldomemployandmaystronglyrejectthem．Butthepeopleofanylanguage—culture一一一一havesufficientimaginationandexperiencetounderstandhowthepeopleofanotherlanguage-culturemayrightlydifferintheirbehaviorsandvalues，sincethebehaviordifferenceswithinasinglecultureareusuallygreaterthanthosethatexistbetweencultures。Onthewhole，foronething,languageisanimportantpartoftheorganiccomponentofculture。Everylanguageis，toacertaindegree，peculiartothecommunitythatUSeSthelanguage．Itembodiesthepaaernsofthoughtandwayoflifeofacertainculture．Thatistosay,itisthedistillationofaculture．Thedisseminationofanation’Spastculturedependsuponit；thepropellingofanation’Sfutureculturedependsonittoo．Somesocialscientistsinsistthatculturecouldnotexistwithoutlanguage。Forothers，languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture。Nolanguagecalloperateinisolationfromculture。Themeaningsoflanguagemustberestrictedintheculturalcontexts．Inotherwords，culturedeterminesthemeaningsofwords，expressions，themostsensitive，andthemostessentialcomponentsofalanguage．Languageisthecarrierandcontainerofculture；cultureisthesoilinwhichlanguageisnurtured．neyarecloselyrelatedandinterdependent．Lotman(1978：211，232)oncecommented，‘"Nolanguagecanexistunlessitissteepedinthecontextofculture；andnocultureCanexistwhichdoes nothaveatitscenter,thestructureofnaturallanguage．’’3．1．2RelationshipBetweenTranslationandCulturesCulturecoexistswithlanguage．Translationisanessentialtooltobridgethegapscausedbydifferentlanguages．Therefore，thetranslatorsinevitablyencountertheissueoftransmittingcultureinthetranslatingpractice．Translationtransfersamessagefromthesourcelanguagetothetargetlanguagewithlanguageasthevehicle．Translation，asPeterNewmarknamedit，isacraftconsistingoftheattempttoreplaceawrittenmessageand／orstatementinonelanguagebythesamemessageinanother．Whetheritisaprocessoracraft，translationisperformedtotransferthemessage．Thereisalwaysmorethanonemessagetobetransferred．Aculturalmessageembeddedinlanguageisactuallyoneoftheobjectsfortransference．ComparedwiththeChineselanguage，English，whichfallsintotheIndo-Europeanlanguagefamily,provestobemoresymbolic，streamlined，logicalandrational，whileChineseismorepictographic，intuitive，comprehensiveandethical．Itistheconflictofdiverseculturesthatgreatlymakestranslationproblematic．Culturemeanstoomuchandis35 closelyattachedtothecommunitythatusesaparticularlanguageasitsmeansofexpression．Culturalfactorscomplicatethetranslationprocess．Itisobviousthattranslationproblemsareduetotheculturalgapbetweenthesourceandtargetlanguages，whichare，inthemselves，conditionedbytheirrespectivesocial-culturalbackgrounds．Withintheculturalgap，thetranslationproblemscanbedividedintothreelinguisticforms：(1)culturespecificexpressions；(2)imageryconfrontations，and(3)discoursepatterns．(LiYunXin92000，)Itispossibletocarryoninter-lingualandinterculturalcommunicationbecausepeopleofanylanguage-culturehavesufficientimaginationandexpressionstounderstandhowpeopleofanotherlanguage-culturemaydifferintheirbehaviorandvalues．Thoughman’sthoughtandfeelingsarepredeterminedbythevariousculturestheyareborninto，theystillhavecommonthoughtandfeelings，whicharethebasisforthetranslatingactivity．3．2TheTranslatabilityofCultureoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesOurpredecessorsoncesaid，‘"Languageisthedirectrealityofthought．’’‘"Nomatterwhatthoughtwillcomeintobeing，theycanproduceandexistonlyuponthebasisoflanguagematerials，technical termsandwordsandphrases”(杨自俭，2002：348)．Theyhavepointedouttherelationshipbetweenlanguage，thoughtandreality．Nomatterhowdifferentlythelanguagesareusedbypeople，theyalwaysreflectarealisticlife．Webelievethatthereisgeneralcharacterinhumanbeings．Althougheverycountryhasitsownlanguageinpronunciation，writing，grammarandSOon,theystillhavealotofthingsincommon，forexample，theessentialformationoflanguage，theformationofsentenceandthefundamentalkindsoflexicon(金惠康，2003：467)．Therefore，therecallbethetranslatabilityoflanguage．Thatistosay,thecontentsexpressedbyonelanguagecanbeexpressedbyanother．ThisisthebasisfortranslatabilityofChineseandEnglishabouttheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．Thoughtheyarecolloquialismorslanginlanguage，theChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesareapartoflanguage，alsothefixed，expressedlanguageelements，SOtheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesarenotdifferentintheirfunctionsfromthecommonlanguage．Theyaresimilarlytranslatable．Allthelanguageshavetheirowndevelopmentinhistory．AllthelanguageswithalonghistorycontainrichChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．DenyingthetranslatabilityofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesisequaltodenyingthetranslatabilityoflanguages．Inaword，thetranslatabilityofthetwo-partsayingsisindubitable．Whentranslating，weshouldnottransmitindividualelementsofacomposition，butintroduceitasanartisticwhole．Thoughtsandcontents37 shouldbetheprerequisiteforthetranslatabilityoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．Iftranslatorsattendtoeveryaspectoftranslation，itisofcourseideal．Ift11eycannot，itdoesnotmaReqbecausethisdoesnotinfluencetheideologicalcontentandartisticqualityoftheoriginal(陈文伯，1982：335)．Those，whothinkChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesareusuallyuntranslatable，havemadeaformalisticmistake．TheyignorethoughtsandcontentswhenmeetingsomeChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesfullofdistinctivefolkfeatures，butemphasizesomeindividualelements，whichexistinChinese，butnotinEnglish，SOtheycannotleapoverthisstep．Thesimilarityofhumancultureandlanguagehaslaidthefoundationforthemutualtranslationoflanguages．Sincecultureisdefmedsuccinctlyas“thetotalityofbeliefsandpracticesofasociety”(李延林，2003：2)，nothingisofgreaterstrategicimportancethanthelanguagethroughwhichitsbeliefsareexpressedandtransmittedandbywhichmostinteractionofitsmemberstakesplace．EnglishandChinesebelongtodifferentlinguisticsystemsSOthattherearevariousdifferencesthatresultfromdifferentculturalbackgrounds．Asaresult，wecannotfmdexactcorrespondingidiomsintranslation．Thatistosay,thereareuntranslatablefactorsinourtranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．Nevertheless，withChina’SfrequentculturalexchangewithWesterncountries，thedifferencesbetweenChineseandWesterncultures havegreatlybeenreduced，whichprovidesnewopportunitiesforthetranslatabilityoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．So，whenonetranslatesChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，oneshouldtakeculturalconnotationintoconsiderationfirstlyandadoptpropermethodsoftranslationbystudyingtherelationshipbetweenthetwolanguages．3．3TheTranslationPrinciplesfortheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesAccordingtotheShorterOxfordEnglishDictionary,translationistheactionorprocessofexpressingthesenseofaword，passage，ere．，inadifferentlanguage．Butinpracticalsociety,differentpeopledifferentopinions．ThefamousEnglishlinguistGeoffreyLeechthoughtinhisbookSemanticsthattranslationistofindawaytoexpressthesenseofawordinanotherlanguage．AndNidabelievesthatthetranslationwecallinthetargetlanguagereferstotheinformationreproducingtheoriginaltextbyusingtheclosestandthemostnaturalequivalencefromsemantemetostyle．(李延林，2003：20)Fromwhatismentionedabove，translation，asaprocess，isagivendirection“from’’thesourcelanguage“into’’thetargetlanguage．Theaimoftranslationistorealizethereplacementoftextualmaterialinanotherlanguage．Thesubstanceoftranslationisloyaltotheauthorand39 accountabletothereadersingeneral，whichreferstofaithfulnessthatmeanspreciseconveyanceofthecontentoftheoriginal．Byfaithfulnesstothecontentandstyleoftheoriginalwecanmanagetobeloyaltothesourcelanguage，andkeepthestyleofwritinginharmonywiththefeaturesoftheoriginalinordertomakethenewversion硒smoothandexpressiveastheoriginal．Butweneedtogiveupsomecertainindividualfactorsinformandretaintheideologicalcontentandartisticqualityoftheoriginalonthewhole，whichenablesthenewversiontobemorevividandtouching．TheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesconcentrateonreflectinganation’Soraculture’Sfeature．Itisaspecialrhetoricmethod；itisakindofmetaphorthatisproperwithvividimageanditalsogivesrisetopeople’Sassociation．Havingfoundoutthelanguages’featuresofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileswhenwetranslatethemintoEnglish，wehavetonotonlytryourbesttoshowtheirpopularandvividenchantmentS，butalsopermeatetheprofoundargumentsrevealedintranslation，literaltranslation(certainlynotcopymechanically)，whichisconducivetokeepingtheimportanceoftheoriginal．However,iftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesareinterpretedintocommonphrases，wewillhavetoavoidword-for-wordtranslation．Inmanytranslations，weoftenneedtohandlethemflexiblyandtranslateapartorthewholeaccordingtotheirimplications． 3．4CulturalConnotationsAsweallknow,thewords’meaningsCanbeclassifiedintodenotativemeaningandconnotativemeaning．Thedenotativemeaningisthebasicmeaningincommunicationanditwon’trelatetotheobjectsandthephenomenaintheobjectivesociety(伍谦光，1988：136)．Thedenotativemeaningisthemeaninginterpretedaccordingtothecultureorthepersonalpointofview．Thatistosay,thedenotativemeaningcallbeequaltotheculturalconnotation．We’11analyzethetranslatabilityoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesfromtheChineseandEnglishculturalconnotations．3．4．1TheSameCulturalConnotationThesentencemeaningreferstotheusualthingsandtheculturalconnotationisalmostthesamebothinChineseandEnglish，SOisthemetaphoricmeaning．SomeChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesaresimilartoEnglishonesnotonlyinmeaningbutalsointheimagetheypresent．TheyhavethesameculturalconnotationandCanthereforebetranslatedequivalently．BoththeChineseandtheEnglishwillunderstandwhattheidiomsexpress．Thefollowingareafewexamples．41 (9)聋子的耳朵——摆设。Adeafperson’Se叫ustforshow．(Itexplainsitsmetaphoricalmeaningwithhuman．Someonehasallone’Sgoodsinthewindowbutithasnouseata11．)=Someoneorsomethingthathasafineappearancebutnosubstantialcontentmerelyforshowandwithoutpragmaticvalue．ThepieceofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesisusedtoridiculethethingsofnouse．(陈军，2001：77)(10)老鼠过街——人人喊打。Aratrunsacrossthesueet--everyonejoinsthehueandcry．(Itisusedtocomparesomethingthatisevil．)=Allhateanevil．doer．(陈军，2001：77)3．4．2Dif-ferentCulturalConnotationsThecontainedculturalconnotationsaredifferent，yetthemetaphoricmeaningisthesame．Aiderall，EnglishandChinesebelongtodifferentbranchesoflanguageandtheyhavetheirownculturalbackgrounds．ThereareafewcorrespondingChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileswithmetaphoricmeaninginculturalconnotations．CharacteristicsofagreatnumberofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesbearasimilaritywiththeirculturalconnotations．Hereisanexample： (11)猫哭老鼠——假慈悲。Acatcryingoveramouse’Smisfortune---shammercy(陈军，2001：78)Here‘‘cat"’referstopersonswhoarecruelatheartbutpretendtobekind．Generallyspeaking，“cat"’inEnglishdoesnothavesuchabadreputation．Itisalovelypetthatpeoplelikeverymuch．Sothecorrespondingversionshouldbe‘"toshedcrocodiletears”．(12)山中无老虎——猴子称大王。Whenthetigerisawayfromthemountain，themonkeycallshimselftheking．(陈军，2001：78)ThereisanEnglishidiom：Inthekingdomoftheblind，theone-eyedisking．(盲人国里，独眼为王)，whichalmostbearsthesamemeaning．However"theirculturalconnotationsarenotequated，becauseintheeyesoftheWestemers，thelionisthekingofallanimals．Besides，foreignmonkeysarenotthoughttobeascleverastheChinesemonkeys．(13)亡羊补牢——未为迟也。43 ItiSnottoolatetomendthefoldevenaftersomeofthesheephavebeenlost．(陈军，2001：78)HeretheculturalconnotationdeliveredinthisversioncarlmatchtheEnglishidiom“beUerlatethannever’but“亡羊补牢”containsthemeaningofextractinglessonsfrommistakes，whichCanneverbeshownin“betterlatethannever’’．3．4．3DifferentCulturalBaekgroundsMakingtheExpressionsWidelyDifferentCulturetraitsoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilescanbetracedtorichandcolorfulsources．TheuniqueChinesegeographicenvironment，religiousbeliefs，livinghabits，socialcustoms，historicalallusions，waysofthinking，andmoralstandardshaveresultedinChineseexpressionsofmanycharacteristics．LotsoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesarethereflectionofthetypicalChineseculture．Herewecanseetherearetwokinds：nlefirstisthatthesentencemeaningreferstothecommonthings，yetbecauseofthedifferentwaysofthinkingandvarioushabitsofthedifferentcountries，theculturalconnotationandassociationaredifferent． (14)兔子的尾巴——长不了Thetailofarabbit-itcan’tgrowanylonger(1it)；won’tlastlong(fig)．(蒋磊，2001：68)Everyoneknowsthatthetailofarabbitisnotlong；thesemanticassociationofsentenceinmindistheuniquecharacteristicsoftheChinesepeople．InRussia，thereisasimilaridiombuttheyusedifferentvehicle---frog，becausetheRussiansthoughtaboutitfromanotherperspective．Fromthisexamplewecanseethatdifferentperspectivemakesdifferentwaysofthinkingandunderstanding．ThesecondkindisthattheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileshavestrongflavorofnationalculture．TheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesoRenrefertohistoricalculture，legend，classicworksandevenfeudalsuperstitions．e．g．(15)泥菩萨过河一自身难保。AclayBuddhacrossingafiver--hardlyabletosaveitself．(陈军，2001：78)45 Here“泥菩萨"isofstrongflavorofChineseculture．Andthephrasedoesnotrefertoacommonthing．SoitishardfortheWesternreaderstounderstandit．(16)八月十五的月亮盆子来，一盆子去。Mooncakes(traditionallygiventoallone’SfriendsandrelativesattheMid．AutumnFestival)onthe15血ofthe8mlunarmonth--(1it)oneplatefulbeingbroughtinandonebeingtakenout；(fig)comingandgoing．(郭建中，1996：15) Chapter4TranslationMethodsandtheSignificanceofEquivalentTranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesInthischapter,thedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishidiomswillbecomparedbrieflyNext，howtotranslatecultureandhowtoshowthespecialtyofcultureareproblemstobetackledintranslation．Afterthat，thedifficultiesintranslationalsowillbeanalyzed．Thenthemethodsforsolvingtheproblemofculturaltransferinpracticaltranslationconcemingtherelatedtranslationprinciplesbeingintroducedarediscussed．Translationisthetransmissionoflanguages，andmoreoveritisthetransmissionofcultures．DifferentculturalbackgroundsmakethetranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesmoredifficultthanotheridioms．TheformerU．S．SecretaryofStateKissingerhassaid，“TheorientalthinkinghabitofChineseisseekingcommonsindifferences，whiletheWestemersareseekingdifferencesincommons”(陈军，2001：77)．AccordingtotheimplicationsoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，47 theyshowmoreimportanceinconnotativemeaning，affectivemeaningandassociativemeaning．Infact，becauseof“common"，ChineseCanbetranslatedintoEnglishandviceversa．Andbecauseof“differences"，translationskillscanbeproduced．“Seekingcommons’’means‘"tobefaithfultotheoriginal’’and‘‘seekingdifferences’’incarnatestheemotionalappealofforeigncountries．Asaresult，thetranslationofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesCannotbefocuseduponthelanguages’transmissionalone，buthastogothroughthesurfaceoflanguagetocomprehendtheirculturalconnotations．SolongastheculturalconnotationofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesiscarefullyanalyzedbycomparingculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish，thetranslationofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesCanreachthestateof“faithfulness，expressivenessandelegance”．Thetranslatoroughttoanalyzetheexactmeaningofthewordsbyunderstandingtheoriginaltextclearlyaccordingtothespecificconditions．ThenheCanfmdtheproperphraseorsentencetoke印theoriginalstyleandcharacteristics．Inotherwords，weshouldtryourbesttoavoidloosingfidelity．ThemainprinciplesoftheabovetranslationarewhatweshouldsticktointhetranslationofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．SomebasicwaysofthetranslationforChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileswillberespectivelyanalyzedhere． 4。1Literal!hnslationLiteraltranslationisthemostordinarymethodthatfollowstheformofthesourcelanguageclosely．InresponsetotheChinesetargetlanguagegrammar,minimumadjustmentsofwordorder,additionandomissionofwordsandalsothedisregardingoftheco-textdiscourseareadoptedinthetranslation．UndertheconditionofabidingbythelanguagecriterionoftheChinesetargetlanguageforliteraltranslation，weshallkeepthetargetlanguageinharmonywithnotonlynational，butalsohistoricalandlocalcolorsoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．ByusingthismethodoftranslationforChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，wecanoftenenrichthecontentofthetargetlanguageandintroducetheChineseculturetotheEnglish—speakingcountries．ThiskindofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesisalwaysgeneralinfigurativemeaning，andtheexplanationofthesecondpartiscoincidentwimthemetaphorofthefirstpart,notincludingpunandpartialtone．Wecanseesomeexamplesgivenbelow：(17)竹篮打水场空。Todrawwaterinabamboobasket--allinvain。(陈宗玉李安兴，1997：102)(18)狗咬耗子——多管闲事尊Adogcatchingmicemeddlesincat’Sbusiness--topoke49 one’Snoseintootherpeople’Sbusiness．(陈军，2001：79)(19)我们有的同志喜欢写长文章，但是没有内容，真是“懒婆娘的裹脚，又长又臭’’尊(《毛泽东选集》)Somecomradeslovetowritelongarticles，butsucharticlesareexactlylikethefoot—bandagesofaslut，longandsmelly．(韩庆果，2002：43)(20)看你，隔着门缝瞧人，把人看扁了·(袁静等：《新儿女英雄传》)Hump!Ifyoupeer采apersonthroughacrack，helooksflat!Don’tbeSOprejudiced!(韩庆果，2002：43)(21)“咱俩的事，一条绳拴着俩蚂蚱，谁也跑不了!’’(老舍：《骆驼祥子》)‘‘Weareliketwograsshopperstiedtoonecord：neitherCallgetaway．"(蒋磊，2001：67)Literaltranslationisthebestwaytoexpresstheoriginalmeaningandtoreservetheoriginalcharacteristics．Byusingliteraltranslation，wenotonlyretaintheChinesestyleoftheoriginalbutalsopromoteculturalexchangeamongnations．TheEnglishreadersmaygetthewholemeaningsofboth‘‘introductions’’and“explanations’’．Themethodof literaltranslationisemployedhereonconditionthattheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilessharerelativelylittleChineseculture．ThiscasehardlybringsanydifficultytotheEnglishreadersincomprehension．4。2FreeTI陵nslationFreetranslationisveryimportantintranslatingthesecondpartoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．Thatistosay,Wecanusefreetranslationtotranslatethesolutiontotheriddle．Freetranslationtakesonestepfurtherthancommunicativetranslation；wecarldelete，replace，condense，summarize，andexplaintherelevantthingsatwillinexchangefortheunderstandingofthereaders．Itdoesn’tadherestrictlytotheformorwordorderoftheoriginalwhenthereexistdissimilaritiesbetweenEnglishandChineseinsequenceofvocabulary,grammaticalstructure，andartdevice．IfsomeChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesCannotbetranslatedliterallyandhavenosynonymousmatchesinEnglishidioms，freetranslationwouldbeemployed．Althoughthetranslationwillbedifferentfromtheoriginal，itcallstillbeliketheoriginalinspirigandthetranslationwillmaketheEnglishreadersunderstandmoreeasily．We’11analyzethethreedifferentsituationsoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesthathavestrongcharacteristicsintheChineselanguage，or51 conveypunsandhomophonesrespectivelyfromtheexamplesgivenbelow．4．2．1TheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileswithStrongChineseCharaeteristicsThissortoftheChineseEnigmaticFoLkSimilescontainstrongChinesecharacteristicsinlanguagewhichcannotbefoundintheEnglishexpressions．Inthissituation，weottenadoptfreetranslationaccordingtothecontextbyabandoningsomecertainfeaturesinforms．(22)三十晚上贴“福"字——倒着贴。Pastingupthecharacter“ill"’ontheNewYear’S嚣炉pastedupsidedown．(陈宗玉李安兴，1997"103)ThisreferstothecustomofpastingtheChinesecharacter‘‘fu’’(blessing)upsidedowntoelicittheremark“你的福到了’’，whichmeansyourgoodluckhasarrived．InChinese，“到”(“arrive")and“倒"C‘upsidedown"’)arehomophones。(23)日后，我再慢慢地教他知道我身子不方便了。他必问我， 丛；△!：h曼§致．．．￡h垒驻lg=璺：!t§鲢!熬iQ礁叁4l适bQ幽堑通曼ig旦i题￡g坠g曼Q￡量g丛i!堑l垫1]0j缴墨!匹iQ壁QfChineseEnigmaticFoIkSimiles．我给他个‘‘徐庶入曹营——一言不发’’。(老舍：《骆驼祥子》)Lateron，I"llgraduallylethimknowthatIdon’tfeelSOwell。He’ssuretoaskquestions，butI"llholdmytonguetobeginwith．(韩庆果，2002"43)Herethephrase“徐庶入曹营’’intheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesWasastoryfromaChineseclassicliterarywork．Asamatteroffact，itisawell-receivedallusioninthetimesoftheThreeKingdoms(220—265A．D)．XuShuagainsthisownwillwenttoworkinhisenemyCaoCao’SarmyforhismotherWascapturedbyCaoCao．XukepthispromisetoworkforCaoCao，buthehadtheopportunitytokeepsilent，notgivingCaoanygoodadvice。Itistooculturally-loadedtoconveytheprofoundmeaningsthoroughly．WecouldnotfindproperwordsinEnglish，SOwecallonlytranslatetheexplainingpartbyabandoningthefirstpart．Andthemeaningofthephraseiscompleteanddoesnotchange．(24)你在会上说的那番话让我觉得“丈二和尚——摸不着头脑努。Whatyousaidatthemeetingmademecompletelyatloss．(陈军，2001：79)53 TheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimile“丈二和尚”isaChineseappellationaboutamonkinEnglish．“丈二"referstothestatureofthemonk．Weneedn’tinterpretitsliteralmeaningbutuse‘‘mademecompletelyatloss"toindicatethemeaningofknowingnothing．4．2．2ChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileswithPunssometimesappearinthesecondpartofsomeChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．Themeaningofthefirstpartisonthesurfacebuttheactualmeaningistoexpresscompletelydifferentcontextualimplicationinthewholeoriginal．ThepunwithawordthathastwomeaningsCan’tbetranslateddirectly．Astheactualmeaningismoreimportantthanthesurfacemeaning，wecallonlytranslatetheactualmeaningandabandonthesuperficialmeaningandtherelatedmetaphorinthefirstpart(JiangLei，2000：224)．Let’Slookatthespecificexamples：(25)棺材板上画老虎——吓死人!Paintingatigeronacoffin—lit)frightenthedead；(apun)(c01)wantingtofrightensomebodytodeath．(蒋磊，2001；68) Thesurfacemeaning“吓死人"i11theoriginisapun．If“死人”istreatedaSonephrase，thenitmeans‘"thedead．’’Inthissense，themeaningoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileisthatthetigerpaintedonacoffinistofrightenthedead．However，if“吓死’’isconsideredtobeonephrase，thenitmeans‘‘befrightenedtodeath"’．Sotheactualmeaningisaccordingly‘"tofrightensomebodytodeath”．Andifthephraseisinthecontext，wecanonlytranslateitsactualmeaningwhichisclearandSUCCinct．(26)磨房的驴子——笼住口了。Adonkeyinamill—-hismouthmuzzled．(金惠康，2003：63)word‘‘muzzle’’istopreventhimfromturninghisheadandeatingthegrainfromthelowermill-stone．Thephraseis。usedwhenanoisybrawlingfellowissuddenlyhushedup．(27)耗子进书房——咬文嚼字。AratenteringalibraryNgnawingcharacters．(陈宗玉李安兴，1997：103)55 Thephrase“咬文嚼字”ofpun(“gnawingsentencesandchewingcharacters”)isappliedtoonewholaysgreatstressonexternalsinstudy,apedant．Thementionof‘‘aratinastudy"’isintendedtosuggestthismeaning．Originally,itindicatestheratbitesbooks，theChinesecharactersofbooksarcchewedthen．(28)可是谭招弟心里却想：骑着毛驴看剧本——走着瞧，看究竟是啥原因。(周而复：《上海的早晨》)ButTanZhaodiWasstillthinkingtoherself,‘"Let’Swaitandseewhatthereasonforitturnsouttobeintheend．’’(蒋磊，2000：70)“走着瞧”meansthatthedonkeyiswalkingwhilethepersononthedonkeyislookingaround，butactuallyitshows“towaitandseewhat’sgoingon"’．(29)“生活的海里起过小小的波浪，如今似乎又平静下去，一切跟平常一样，一切似乎是外甥打灯笼，照舅(旧)。”(周立波《暴风骤雨》第十三章)eventenoroftheirlifehasbeendisturbed，butthings seemedtobesettlingdownagain．Thevillagersfeltthemselvesbackintheoldrut．Thereisapuninthe‘"explanation"’intheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimile“外甥打灯笼——照舅(旧)"．TheChinesecharacters“舅’’([jifi]，uncleofthemother’sside)and“旧”([jifq，theold)arehomophones．“照舅’’means‘"tolighttheuncleofthemother’Sside"’，whichisthesurfacemeaning；while“照旧’’refersto“beingthesameastheold"’，or‘"tobestillwhatitlookedlike’’，whichistheexactdeepmeaning．Thedoublepartshavenothingto面诵也eachotherinmeanings，makingitdifficultintranslatingthe‘‘introduction"’and‘‘explanation"’simultaneously．Undersuchacircumstance，freetranslationisemployedwiththeimageof“introduction"’beingdropped．Thereafter,itisrenderedinto‘‘backintheoldmr"’．TheimplicationsofthephrasesmakethetranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesdifficult,andonlybymasteringtheactualmeaningassociatedwiththecontextcallweobtainproperandbettertranslations．ThetechniqueoffreetranslationispropitioustotheunderstandingoftheEnglishreaders，butitisdisadvantageousintransferringtheprofoundChineseculture．57 4．2．3TheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileswithHomophonesThemostinterestingChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesarethosewithhomophones，whichaddgreatdifficultytotheirtranslation．Thesesimilesincludehomophonesorthewordswithpartialtoneinwhichthesecondextendthemeaningneededinthefirst．ForthissortofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，wehavetogooverthematthebeginning，andthenrealizetheiractualmeaningsattheend，suchas：打破砂锅——纹(问)到底breakinganearthenwarepo叫lit)crackedtothebottom；(Pun)interrogatesthoroughly；gettothebottomofamatter．ThisChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesUSeSapunonthehomophones“ask(问)"and“wrinkle(纹)"；咸菜烧豆腐——有盐(言)在先saltedvegetableswithbeancu州lit)thereissaltatthebeginning，(pun)therearewordsbeforehand．ForsuchtypeofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，wecantranslatethemwith‘‘literaltranslation+freetranslation’’；namely,wetranslatetheirsuperficialmeaningatfirstandthenshowtheactualmeaning．However，ingeneral，weoftenabandonthefirstpartandonlytranslatetheactualmeaningofthesecondpart．HerearesomespecificexamplesoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles：(30)和尚打伞——无法(发)无天。Amonkunderanumbrella--WufaWutian(withouthair, withoutheaven卜_defyinglaws，humananddivine．(韩庆果，2002：42)Itisadoublepun．Amonkhasashavedhead，hencehehasnohair．Amonkunderanumbrellaiscutofffromthesky,hencenoheaven．But‘‘fa"’alsomeanslaw,and‘"tian’’alsomeansheaveninthesenseofsupremerulingpower．ThusamonkunderanumbrellaisamanlaworlimitmrebellikeMonkeyKing(whoaccompaniedestablishedrules，institutionsorconventions，whetherearthlyordivine)(JinHuikang，2003：457)．FromthisexplanationwecanseeitisnoteasytotranslatetheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileswell，andweshouldpaymoreattentiontoit．(31)“我哪里管得上这些事来!见识又浅，嘴又笨，心又直，人家给个棒槌，我就拿着认真(针)了。"(曹雪芹：《红楼梦》，第十六回)“I"mincapableofrunningthings．I"mtooignorant，bluntandtactless，alwaysgettingholdofthewrongendofthestick．，，(杨宪益，1999：253)(32)我校篮球队近年来可是“孔夫子搬家—争是输(书)"。Ourschoolbasketballteamhaskeptlosingintherecent years．(陈军，2001：79)(33)这个地区的空气污染仍然是外甥打灯笼——照旧(舅)。Theairpollutioninthisregionisstillunchanged．(陈军，2001：79)TheExamples(31)，(32)and(33)haveabandonedthefirstpartandonlytranslatetheactualmeanings．Thatmeansthatwhendoingtranslations，oneshouldkeephistranslatingflexibleaccordingtodifferentsituations．ThebasicdifferenceinthelinguisticlevelofChineseandEnglishisalmostuntranslatable．ThehomophonesoftheChineselanguageareseldomtranslatedintoEnglishwithequivalencebothliteralandimpliedmeanmgs．4．3LoanTranslationLoantranslationreferstoaformwhichiSborrowedfromonelanguagetoanotherwherebythesemanticcomponentsofagiventermareliterallytranslatedintotheirequivalentsintheborrowinglanguage．EventhoughsomeoftheoriginalChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesarevivid，asthedifferencesbetweentheChinesecharactersandtheEnglish wordsexistincultureandlanguage，wehavetochangetheoriginalimageandutilizeagroupofmetaphorswithwhichreadersarefamiliar．Thatiswhatloantranslationis．Thetargetlanguageandthesourcelanguageadoptdifferentmetaphorsrespectivelyandcreateimages，buttransmitthesamemeaningultimately,suchas“冰冻三尺——非一日之寒(Romewasnotbuiltinaday)’’，and“脱裤子放屁——多此一举(TocarrycoalstoNewcastle)"．Itcanbesaidthatmeyaredifferentinapproachbutequallysatisfactoryinresultorreachthesamegoalbydifferentroutes．Pleaselookattheexamplesgivenbelowandpayattentiontothesameeffectemergingfromdifferentmetaphors．(34)姨奶奶犯不着来骂我，我又不是姨奶奶家买来的。“梅香拜把子——都是奴才”罢咧!这是何苦来呢!(曹雪芹：《红楼梦》，第六十回)Youhavenorighttoswearatme，madam．Youdidn’tbuyme．Weareallbirdsofafeatherwallslaveshere．Whycomeatme?(蒋磊，2001)‘‘Madam"’isactuallythenameformaidservantintheoldtimes．Laterittakestheplaceofmaidservants．SwearingbrotherhoodmeansthefactthatdifferentfamilymembersareonlyabletoSWearbrotherhood61 withmaidservants．Thetargetlanguagehastochangeitsimage，whichis“weareallbirdsofafeame卜—-allslaveshere．”(35)“你可倒好，肉包子打狗《骆驼祥子》)去不回头啊!”(老舍：“Well，youarecertainlyaguy!Adoggivenabonedoesn’tcomebackformore．"(韩庆果，2002：178)‘‘Adoggnawingabonewillengorgeit"’．Thisimagequiteconformstothemeaningof“neverreturn"．(36)日本曹长心里像有十五只吊桶打水，七上八下地不宁。(冯志：《敌后武工队》)ItwasasiftheswordofDamocleshungovertheJapanesesergeant．(蒋磊，2001：68)ThisChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilewillfailtoexpressitsconnotationifitistranslatedliterally,butloantranslationenablesthetargetlanguagereaderstohaveasenseofdramaticimages．ItissaidthatKingDionysiusIhadanofficialcalledDamocleswhoadmiresthehappinessoftheroyalfamilyfanatically．Heoftensaysthattheemperor alwaysenjoysgoodfortune．However,the飚ngUSeSahairtohangaswordandorderDamoclestositunderthesword．TheKingtriestoshowthatthekingalsoaccompanieswithmanyhiddendangers．Afterwards，herecomes“theswordofDamocles"Cameintobeing．Thisidiomalludestocomingdangers，whichmakespeoplefeeluneasy．4．4TranslationwithNotesIftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilescontainmoreobviousnationalandlocalcolors，includingantiqueChinesenames，namesofplacesandallusions，t11eyinvolvethetranslationofuniqueChinesecustoms．Considerthefollowingexamples．(37)周瑜打黄盖个愿打，一个愿挨．AboxontheearwasskillfullygivenbyChouYuandgladlytakenbyaHuangKai．(AfourteenthcenturynovelbasedoneventswhichtookplaceinthethirdcenturyA．D．ChouYuoftheWuKingdomhadHuangKai，anotherWugeneral，cruellybeaten，andthensenthimtotheenemycampinordertodeceivetheenemy．)(韩庆果，2002．52) (38)刘备卖草鞋——(1)本行(2)有货LiuBeisellingstrawshoes一(1)hisoriginalprofessionorcalling；(2)(1it)havingthegoods；(coil)havingsomespecialknowledgeonacertainsubject；learned；competent(LiuBei，oneofthethreerulersintheRomanceoftheThreeKingdoms，wasoriginallyapeddlerofstrawshoes)．(郭建中，1996：15)(39)宋襄公失败的教训——对敌人不能讲仁慈。ThelessonlearnedbyDukeXiangofSongfromhisdefeat---oneshouldn’tbebenevolenttotheenemy．(陈宗玉，李安兴，1997：103)DukeXiangofSongwasoneofthefeudallordsintheSpringandAutumnPeriodofChina．Onceheallowedtheenemytocrossariverratherthanattackthemintheriver．Asaresult，theenemydefeatedhimandheWaswounded．Inshort，tohandlethetranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，weneedtodoourbesttomaketheversionsuccinctandfluent．MuchattentionshouldbepaidtomoredetailsintranslatingtheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．ForthesameChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles， thetranslationcailnotbeinvariable。Theycallbehandledneatlyaccordingtocontent；wecarlretainstyleoforiginalintranslatedversion．IfChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesarearchaic，也eyshouldbetranslatedwithclassicelegance；ifChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesareinformalandusedinoralspeaking，theyshouldbetranslatedlivelyandcolloquially；whentranslatingChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，itisnecessarytodistinguishcommendatorysensefromderogatorysenseandgettoknowwhichcallonlybeusedincommendatorysenseandwhichCanbeusedinderogatorysense；thecomprehensionofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesmustbeunquestionable．AtranslatorneedstocontemplateitsculturaldiscrepanciesbetweenChineseandEnglish，andthenflexiblymakeuseoftranslationmethodsSOastoprovidegoodEnglishtranslations。4。5CombinationofLiteral骶凌nslationandFreeTranslationSomefigurativemeaningsofChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesarecomparativelyintelligible．MostEnglishreaderscanobtainfigurativemeaningsfromfigurativeimageorcontextinwhichsaidChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileisarranged。Undersuchcircumstances，translatingmethodisusuallytocombineLiteralTranslationwithFree Translation．Generally,the“introduction"’istranslatedliterally,andthe“explanation"isdonebyfreetranslation．Hereisanexampletoillustratethispoint．(40)“⋯⋯可是你舅母姨娘两三个亲戚都管着，怎不和他们要的，倒和我来要。这可是‘仓老鼠和老鸦借粮——守着的没有，飞着的有。’’’(《红楼梦》61回)‘‘···Youaskoneofyouroldauntiesifyouwantsomefruit，myboy,it’Snogoodaskingme．Youaskingmeforfruitislikethegranaryrataskingthecrowforcorn：HaveaskingHave-not．"(杨宪益，1999：842)IntheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimile，the“introduction"⋯仓老鼠和老鸦借粮"isliterallyrenderedinto‘"thegranaryrataskingthecrowfortom’’withoutanychangeinthesurfacemeaning；Inthe“explanation"’，“守着的”refersto“granaryrat"’whichisshortofcorn，and“飞着的"meansthe“crow"’whichhasmuchtom．The“explanation’’isfreelytranslatedinto‘"HaveaskingHave—not"’．Theimagesofgranaryratandcrowareomitted． 4．6TheSignificanceofEquivalentTranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesTheadequacyoftranslationshastraditionallybeenjudgedonthebasisofcorrespondenceinlexiconandgrammarbetweenthesourcelanguageandthetargetlanguage。Thecorrespondencehasfrequentlybeenstatedintermsof‘"equivalence”，eventhoughtheterm“equivalence"’isnotoftenused．WolframWilss(2001：134)pointsoutthattheconceptoftranslationequivalencehasbeenanessentialissuenotonlyintranslationtheoryoverthelasttwothousandyears，butalsoinmodemtranslationstudies．Thereis，however’aseriousproblemwhichinvolveddiscussingtheadequacyofatranslatedtextprimarilyintermsoflexicalandgrammaticalfeatures，orevenintermsofdiscoursestructures．Translatingmeanscommunicating，andthisprocessdependsonwhatisperceivedbypersonsthroughhearingorreadingatranslation。Judgingthevalidityofatranslationcannotstaywithinacomparisonofcorrespondinglexicalmeaning，grammaticalclasses，andrhetoricaldevices．Whatisimportantistheextenttowhichtheaudiencecorrectlyunderstandsandappreciatesthetranslatedtext．Accordingly,itisessentialthatfunctionalequivalencebestatedprimarilyintermsofacomparisonofthewayinwhichtheoriginalaudiencesunderstoodandappreciatedthetextandthewayinwhichaudiencesofthetranslatedtextunderstand67 andappreciatethetranslatedtext．Duetotheirstronghistoricalbackground，manyoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesdonotshareaforeignlanguageequivalenttheyareinevitablygivinglimitationstothetranslationoftheChineseculture．So，fromliteralmeaningimagerymeaningtoprofoundconnotationculturaltrait，thetranslatabilityoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimileshasbeenrestrictedindifferentrespects．Chen(陈军，2001：78)indicatesthatasuccessfulmethodofthetranslationfortheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesoughttoachievetwopurposes．Thefirstis‘semanticequivalence’．Themeaningofthetargetlanguagethatofthesourcelanguagereachequivalence．Thesecondis‘‘cultureborrowing"．Theculturaltraitofthetargetlanguagethesourcelanguagehastobereflectedinthetranslation．TheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesaleuniquephenomenaofChineseculture．MostoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesaresemi—correspondingorevennon-correspondinginEnglish．Accordingtothetheoryof‘Functionalequivalence’or‘Dynamicequivalence’offeredbyAmericantranslatorEugeneA．Nida(1981)，thetranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesshouldbefaithfultotheoriginal，incarnatingliteralmeaning，imagerymeaning，andimplicativemeaningoftheoriginal．Becauseofculturaldifferences，asfarasliteralmeaningorimplicativemeaningis concerned，whenthetranslationiscontradictivewiththeimplicativemeaning，literalmeaningorimagerymeaningshouldmakewayfortheimplicativemeaning．Thatis，theimagerymeaningoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesmaynotfinditscorrespondenceinthetargetlanguage．Nowthemostimportantthingistothinkabouttheexacttransmi："of。tsimplicativemeantg．Infact，aslongaDSmlSSlOnOtitstmplicativemeanonRaswemasterth‘e．1principleof‘"takecontentasprerequisite，andthentakestyleintoconsideration"’，wecanpresentanadequatetranslationwithanaccuratecomprehensionofthemeaningandimplicationofthegivenChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，andonthissoundbasis，wedoOurbesttoretainthevividnessoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesinthelanguagetobetranslated．Theprinciplesofadjustmentandtheirpracticalimplicationsarenotsimplemattersofprosandconsforeasypigeonholingofexamplesofformalandsemanticadjustment．Ineachcaseatranslatorisfacedwithacontinuum，andwhetheronsuchacontinuumtheadjustmentisjustifieddependsuponahostoffactors．Sometranslationtheoristsattempttosetupdesignedformulastothestandardsoftranslationbuttherearetoomanydifferenttypesofsituations，toomanydifferentgenres，toomanydifferentkindsofaudienceandtoomanypurposesfortranslatingandcommunicating．Whatareneededisnotelaborateformulasortheories， buttranslatorswithunusualsensitivitytothesourcelanguage，theimportanceofculture，andtheartoftranslating．4．7ASummaryFromtheperspectiveofdialecticalmaterialism，itisacknowledgedthatmatterdeterminesconsciousness，theformerisprimaryandthelatterissecondary．Itcarlbefoundthatconsciousnessorideascomefrommatter,andreflectsmaterialexistence．Certainsimilaritiesamongdifferentlanguagesdoexist，forthefactthathumanbeingsfacethesamematerialworldwhilelanguagesserveasthecrustofthinkingandreasoningandasthemeanstodescribematter．Theuniversalreasoningandfeelingofmankindmaketranslationpossible．Thepossibilityoftranslationdoesn’tmeanoneCanberenderedthoroughlyandcompletely．Ahundredpercent‘‘faithfulness’’intranslationisonlyanunattainableideal．Fromtheabovediscussionandexamples，itisundeniablethatthereisnoonehundredpercent‘‘Faithfulness’’totheoriginalinrenderingChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．Conveyingthedenotativeandassociativemeaningfaithfullyisnotaneasytask，letalonethetranslationofartisticimagery．InthetranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolk Similes，thedegreeof‘"Faithfulness"’isavaguematterwhichshouldbemeasuredbylikenessorapproximationinsteadofexactness．Asthispoint，QianZhongshu(钱钟书，1983：125)，afamousChinesescholarwhowaseruditeinsinologyandtheWesternliterature，oncesummedupas：‘‘Thediscrepancieswillinevitablyexistbetweenlanguages，betweenthetranslator’Scomprehension，styleandtheoriginalcontent，form，andevenbetweenthetranslator’Scomprehensionandhisownexpression。’’AsfarasthetranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilestranslationisconcerned，culturaldifference，socialconventions，andcognitiveabilityofdifferentcountriesstandoutasthemainbarriers。Forthesakeofthereader，thetranslatormustuseacoupleofskillsormethodstorenderthelinguisticmeaningorimagery．Althoughflexiblewaysoftranslatingareemployed，barrierscannotbesmoothedawaycompletely．FromtheviewpointoftheEnglishreaders，theyCanhardlygetthesameenjoymentfromtheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesasthenativereadersdo。ForthetranslatoroftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，onevitalfactorintranslatingprocessisuptohisownsubjectivity．First，strictlyspeaking，thetranslatorasareadermightonlypartlycomprehendorevenmisunderstandthemeaningoftheoriginal。Andwhat’Smore，duetothedifferenceinmentality,thetranslatormightnotrecallthesame7l associationofimageryinhismind．Inotherwords，thecomprehensionoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesbythetranslatormightdeviatefromtheoriginalmeaning．Second，thetranslators’languagelevelanddepthofhisstudyoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesmightnotmakethementitledtoreproducewhattheyhavecomprehendedsuccessfullyandsmoothly．Thesetwomisunderstandingsofthetranslatorarefatal．AnydeflectionofunderstandingoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesandinadequaciesofEnglishandtheexpressiveabilityCallleadtoagreatlossofinformationandflavorofimagery．Therefore，the“meanings’’oftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesistranslatablewhilelimitationsdoexist，objectivelyandsubjectively．ThemeaningandimageryoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesaretranslated嬲equivalentlyaspossiblewiththeemploymentofvariousskills．Undoubtedly,thoroughequivalenceCallnotbereachedata11．Lookingatdifferenttranslatingtechniques，nleyCanbesaidtobelongtotwocategoriesintheculture—orientatedperspective，namelyDomesticationandForeignization．Determiningwhetheratranslationprojectisdomesticatingorforeignizingclearlydependsonadetailedreconstructionoftheculturalformationinwhichthetranslationisproducedandreceived．Bearinginmindthatthe‘‘author"’isgenerallyfromtheChinesecultureandthe “read&’fromtheEnglishculture，itCallbedefmeddomesticationandforeignizationasfollows：Domestication：atranslationstrategyormethodaimingtoconformtothevaluesthatdominatetheEnglishculture．Foreignization：atranslationstrategyormethodaimingtopreservethevaluesoftheChineseculture．MoredetailedexplanationsofthesetwotermsCallbemade：domesticationreferstotheEnglish-·culture··orientedtranslationinwhichexpressionsacceptableinthetargetlanguagecultureareexploitedinordertomakethetranslatedtextsintelligibleandsuitablefortheEnglishreaders．ForeignizationistheChinese-culture—orientedtranslation，whichstrivestopreserveasmuchaSpossibletheoriginalflavorinordertoretaintheforeignnessoftheChineseculture．InthetranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，translatingmethodsofLoanTranslation，partsofFreeTranslationandCombinationofLiteraltranslationandFreeTranslationbelongtotheDomesticationmethod．Thismethodtendstobringoutthecommunicativeaspectoflanguageandtranslation．TheideologicalviewpointisthateverylanguageCanequallyexpresseverything；thegreatestpossibleeffortismadeforthereaders，whomustnotbeputoffbyatextperceivedinanywayas‘‘foreign’’．Theresultisagreaterorlessdegreeof‘‘normalization"’， wheretheentiretracesspecificintheChineseculturedisappear．ThetranslatingmethodsofLiteralTranslation，TranslationwithNotes，andpartsofFreeTranslationbelongtoForeignization．Foreignizingtranslation，incontrasttoDomestication，designatesthetypeoftranslationthatresistscontemporarycultural，stylisticandidiomaticnorms；itdeliberatelybreaksEnglishconventionsbyretainingsomethingoftheforeignnessoftheoriginal．ItsstressisconcentratedoncertainChineseculture-relatedelements，whicharefoundtobefundamentaltotheessentialmessagebeingconveyedbyatext．74 ConclusionCulturalTranslationTheoryhasbecomeaheatedtopicinthefieldoftranslation．Nidaandmanyotherscholarshaveexpressedsimilarviewsonthistopicintheirworks。Intheauthor"sopinion,Nida"stranslationtheory,especiallyhisviewonfunctionalequivalenceandculturaltranslation，isthemostpracticalandclearone，SOintheliteraryreviewofthisthesis，theauthorlaidstressonit．TobetterexpoundthetranslationmethodsoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，theauthoralsocomparedandcontrastedtheChineseandtheWesterncultures，whicharereflectedinidiomswhichshowthehistoricalbackground，religiousbeliefs，socialsystems，naturalenvironmentandlivingconditionsoftheirsourcecultures．FromthoseChineseandWestemculturaldiscrepancies，wecanunderstandwhyandhowtheChineseandtheWesternpeoplesthinkindifferentwaysandhavecreateddifferentidioms．Weshouldtaketheseintoconsiderationwhenrenderingthem．TheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，animportantpartoftheChineselanguage，arenotSOsolemn,elegantanddeepastheChinesefour-characterexpressionsbutitsuniquestyleandstrongnativeflavor75 makeitpopularamongpeople．T11eyarewidelyusedinbothspokenlanguageandliteraryworks，especiallyintheworksreflectinglifeinthecountryside．ThereforeweshouldhaveagoodmasteryoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．However,astheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesbelongtoparticularlanguage，itishardtogeneralizethem；butiftheyalwaysappearinspeaking，thetranslationwillultimatelydoharmtosuccessfulcommunication．InorderthatmoreEnglishreadersgettoknowthespiritoftheChinesecultureandwidentheirhorizonsanddecreasethereader’Sconfusioninthecourseofreadingthetranslatedworks，weshouldfirstlyanalyzetheconnotativemeaningoftheexpressionSOthatwecangettherealmeaning．Asfarasthedenotativemeaningorliteralmeaningisconcerned，whentranslationiscontradictivewiththeimplicativemeaningortheconnotativemeaning，literalmeaningordenotativemeaningshouldwayfortheconnotativemeaning．ThereforewecansuccessfullyovercometheculturalobstaclewhentranslatingtheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．AsNida(Nida，1981)said，“Translatingconsistsinreproducinginthereceptorlanguagetheclosestnaturalequivalentofthesourcelanguagemessage,firstintermsofmeaning,andsecondlyintermsofstyle．”76 AccordingtoYanFu，thestandardoftranslationreferstofaithfulness，smoothnessandelegance．Andfaithfulnessistheprimarypointweshouldbeconcemedwith．OnlybytakingfaithfulnessasoneofourimportantstandardsCanwetranslatetheconnotativemeaningsoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles．AsforthetranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，weshouldnotonlyconcentrateonthetransmissionofthelanguagesbutalsopromotethetransmissionofcultures．Theauthorsuggestsemployingtheabove-mentionedeffectiveskillstohandletherenderingoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimiles，butthesearestillnotenough．Tobeagoodtranslator,oneshouldworkhardatthetwolanguagesandculturesconcemedandpracticeconstantlyinordertorealizethetranslationsoffaithfulness，smoothnessandelegance．It’Scertainthattheclassificationandexplanationoftranslationmethodsintroducedinthisthesisarenotthemostclearandcomplete．SomespecialconditionsinEnglishtranslationoftheChineseEnigmaticFolkSimilesarestilldifficulttobeexplainedbythissystem．Theauthorjusthopesthatthispaperwillmakeitsduecontributiontothestudyoftranslationfromaculturalperspectiveandbringaboutmoreresearchesinthisaspectoftranslationstudy． 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AcknowledgementsIaidverymuchobligedtoalltheteacherswhotaughtmeduringtheMAcourses，mostespeciallytoProfessorZhangYingxian，ProfessorPengJinding，ProfessorHuangJianren，ProfessorZhangShaoxiong，ProfessorWuLingying，ProfessorLiLansheng，ProfessorZhangChengping，ProfessorLiBaiqing，ProfessorXiaoJian’all，ProfessorLiYanlin，eta1．ThanksalsogototheSchoolofForeignLanguages，CentralSouthUniversityofChina．IespeciallywanttoexpressmyheartfeltthanksandappreciationtoProfessorLiYanlin，mysupervisor,forhisgeneroushelpandinsightfulcriticismandsuggestions．Hissincereadviceandcarefulinstructionhavegivenmegreathelponwritingthispaper．Ithasbeenagreatprivilegeandjoytoworkunderhisguidanceandwithhisencouragement．Finally,Ideeplyappreciatethecontributionstomythesismadeinvariouswaysbymyfamily,1jriendsandcolleagues．85 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