文化异同在习语翻译中的体现研究

rdquo; and “母” is “mother”. From this idiom， we notice there are some similarities between Chinese and English which made us translate the source language into the target language directly. Look at another example， “祸不单行”， “misfortunes never come singly ”. In this phrase， “祸” is misfortune， “单” is translated into singly. Then the whole phrase is translated misfortunes never come singly. There are some other examples like these. “丢脸”， “lose face”， “来得容易，去得快”， “easy come， easy go”， “以牙还牙”， “a tooth for a tooth”， “披着羊皮的狼”， “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”， “牛市”， “bull market”， “熊市”， “bear ，market”， “破釜沉舟”， “to turn one’s boat”， “火上浇油”， “pour oil on fire”， “水滴石穿”， “constant dropping wears the stone”. All these show the similarities between the two cultures. When do translating， we can translate directly.

　　2.2 Difference Between Chinese and Western Cultures

　　We all know that Chinese and English cultures are totally different. All these differences are embodied in the following aspects.

　　2.2.1 Different Living Environments

　　People have to survive and make production in natural environments， so there are lots of idioms related to the natural environment. For example， Britain， as an island country， has a history. Its culture relates to the sea. Once it was famous for its important status in navigation. So many English idioms are related to the sea life， “a sea of troubles”， “无穷的麻烦”， “at sea”， “不知所措”， “hoist your sail when the wind is fail”， “好风快扬帆”， “a kettle of fish”， “乱七八糟”. All these idioms have no relation with sea when they are translated into Chinese. However， China is a typical agricultural country and has a large population involved in agriculture. So there are many idioms about agriculture: “顺藤摸瓜”， “follow the vine to get the melon—hunt for somebody or something by following the traces”， “四体不勤，五谷不分”， “can neither toil with one’s four limbs nor tell the five cereals apart”. These examples sufficiently show the influence made by environment to a nation’s culture and further influence the expression of people.

　　2.2.2　　Different Social Customs

　　There are many differences in social customs between Chinese and English languages. The most obvious one is the attitudes towards dogs. Dogs in Chinese stand a lower and humble status. We can find the following idioms like: “狐朋狗党”， “gang of scoundrels ”， “狗眼看人低”， “act as a snob”， “狗嘴里吐不出象牙”， “ a filthy mouth cannot utter decent language”. In these idioms， the word “dog” points to bad things and it has the derogatory sense. We use these phrases to criticize somebody. But， in western culture like England， people always regard dogs as their loyal friends. In English idioms， the dog’s image is often used to indicate human characteristics: “luck dog”， “幸运儿”， “every dog has his day”， “凡人皆有得意时”， “love me， love my dog”， “爱屋及乌”， “big dog”， “大亨，要人”， “sick as a dog”， “病得厉害”. All these idioms don’t have the derogatory sense in Chinese. They are used when praise or glorify some one. Just the small word ‘dog’ has so many differences when translate. If we don’t know the differences and translate directly， we will make a joke. An