Translation of Idioms.doc

Unit 16 Translation of IdiomsBoth English and Chinese Languages have a large quantity of idioms.Idioms in broad sense may include: 1.set phrases 2.proverbs 3.sayings 4.epigrams 5.slang expressions 6.colloquialism 7.quotationTechniques for translating English idioms 、Literal translation1. Be armed to the teeth .2. Break the record.3. A gentlemans agreement.4. Shuttle diplomacy.5. The open-door policy.6. Talk black into white.7. Add fuel (oil) to the fire (flame)8. Love at the first sight.9. Ups and downs.10. Lose ones face.11. Rack ones brains.12. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.13. New wine in old bottles.14. No fire without smoke.15. Blood is thicker than water.16. Where there is a will, there is a way .17. Time is money.18. Time and tide waits for no man.19. Practice makes perfect.20. Strike while the iron is hot.21. Great minds think alike.22. Like father, like son.23. Seeing is believing.24. A good example is the best sermon.25. Knowledge is power.26. Wisdom is better than strength.27. Barking dogs do not bite.28. Walls have ears.29. Easier said than done.30. Fish in trouble water.II. Literal translation with connotation and association1. A broken reed.2. The last straw.3. Between the devil and the deep sea.4. Bark at the moon.5. Wash ones hands.6. Entertain an angel unawares.7. Much cry and little wool.8. A lost sheep.9. Everyone for himself and the devil takes the hindmost.10. Love is blind.11. No rose without a thorn .12. An old dog will learn no new tricks.13. A good dog deserves a good bone.14. It never rains but it pours.15. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.16. Count ones chicken before they are hatched.17. Constant dropping wears the stone.18. Let sleeping dog lie.19. Whats done is done.20. More hands make light work.21. Its a long lane that has no turning.22. He who laughs at crooked men should need walk very straight.23. The best fish swim near the bottom.III. Free translation changing original image or with no image in TL (target language)1.A lion in the way.2.The apple of ones eyes.3.A dead dog.4.Dog-eat-dog.5.Keep the wolf from the door.6.Make ones blood freeze.7.Neither fish nor flesh.8.Kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.9.A wet blanket.10.Drive ones pig to market.11.Once in the blue moon.12.Blow hot and cold.13.Look for a needle in a haystack.14.Have ants in ones pants.15.Have an axe to grind.16.Escape by the skin of ones teeth.17.A fly in the ointment.18.Separate the sheep from the goats.19.Spend money like water.20.One boy is a boy, two boys half a boy, three boys no boy.21.Out of sight, out of mind.22.Dont cross the bridge till you get to it.23.Look before you leap.24.She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.25.Its no use crying over the spilt milk.26.While the grass grows, the horse starves.Translation with amplification and balanced structure1.A word spoken is past recalling.2.The leopard cant change its spots.3.One swallow doesnt make a summer.4.A rolling stone gathers no moss.5.A good conscience is a soft pillow.6.Among the blind the one-eyed man is king.7.Fine feathers make fine birds.8.Empty vessels make the most noise.9.Too many cooks spoil the broth.10.Ill news comes apace.11.A burnt child dreads the fire.12.Great men are not always wise.13.Some prefer turnips and other pears.14.Hard words break no bones.15.Lookers-on see more than players.16.He who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl.17.Every flow has its ebb.18.Diamond cut Diamond.19.He cries wine and sells vinegar.20.Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion.21.When Greek meets, then comes a tug of war.22.Birds of a feather flock together.23.A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.24.When the cats away, the mice will play.25.A young man idle, and old man needy.26.Mole hill every minute is a mountain in the year.27.Grasp all, lose all.28.The higher up, the greater the fall.29.Bad workmen often blame their tools.1. His weariness and the increasing heat determined him to sit down in the first convenient shade.他疲惫不堪，天气越来越热，他决定到就近的阴凉处坐下来休息。2. Fear suddenly shook her into tears of impotence.她感到害怕，觉得自己无能为力，突然哭了起来。突然的恐惧感使她留下了无助的眼泪。3. The usually mirrored surface of the river was blurred by an infinity of raindrops; the whole landscape had a completely water-soaked appearance, conveying the impression that the earth was wet through like sponge.河面通常波平如镜，但雨不停地下，使之显得模糊不堪了。周围的景物全被雨水所浸，大地似乎成了一块吸满水的海绵。4. Fear suddenly shook her into tears of impotence.她感到害怕，觉得自己无能为力，突然哭了起来。5. Life is in a sense a battle. The man who thinks to get on by mere smartness and by idling meets failure at last. 从某种意义上来说，生活是一场战斗。凭借小聪明、游手好闲就想获得进步（出人头地）的人最终会惨遭失败。Perseverance is the master impulse of the firmest souls, and holds the key to those treasure-houses of knowledge from which the world has drawn its wealth both of wisdom and of moral worth. 坚忍不拔（毅力）是一个坚定灵魂的主要推动力，也是掌控着世人获取财富和智慧宝库的钥匙。 Great men never wait for opportunities; they make them. They seize upon what ever is at hand, work out their problem, and master the situation. 伟大的人从不等待机会，他们创造机会，利用手中的一切，解决问题，控制形势。The greatest thing a man can do in this world is to make the most possible out of the stuff that has been given to him. This is success. 世上，一个人能做的最伟大的事，就是让赋予他的所有一切发挥最大的效用，这即是成功。 One of the important lessons of life is to learn how to get victory out of defeat. 人生当中，一个最重要的课题就是，要学会如何从失败中取得成功。It takes courage and stamina, when mortified（抑制、克制）by humiliating disaster, to seek in the ruins the elements of future conquest. 克服了蒙羞的灾难后，需要莫大的勇气和毅力在溃败的废墟中搜寻未来成功的因素。Yet this measures the difference between those who succeed and those who fail. We cannot measure a man by his failures. We must know what use he makes of them. The man who has not fought his way upward and does not bear the scar of desperate conflict does not know the highest meaning of success.然而，这就是衡量成功者与失败者的差异所在。我们不能以失败来评判某人，而是要看他如何利用（面对）失败。一个不力争上游，不能忍受惨败伤痛的人，是无从体会成功的伟大意义。6. 简奥斯丁的小说写的都是三五户人家居家度日，婚恋嫁娶的小事，因此不少中国读者不理解她何以在西方享有那么高的声誉。Novels by Jane Austin are all concerned with such unimportant things of several families about their home life, love affairs and marriages. Therefore，quite a number of Chinese readers dont understand why she enjoys so great a reputation in the West.但一部小说开掘得深不深，艺术和思想是否有过人之处，的确不在题材大小。But whether a novel explores its theme profoundly or not and whether it is artistically and thematically superior or not do not lie in the size of its subject matter.有人把奥斯丁的作品比作越嚼越有味的橄榄。Some people compare her novels to Chinese olives which taste increasingly delicious if you chew it slowly.这不仅因为她的语言精彩，并曾对小说的发展有创造性贡献，也因为她的轻快活泼的叙述实际上并不那么浅白，那么透明。This can be attributed not only to her use of brilliant language, which has made a creative contribution to the development of art in fiction, but also to her lively and vivid narration, which is in fact not superficial or transparent at all.史密斯夫人说过，女作家常常试图修正现存的价值秩序，改变人们对“重要”和“不重要”的看法。Mrs. Smith once remarked that women writers attempt to revise the existing order of the value system of “what is important” and “what is unimportant”.也许奥斯丁的小说能教我们学会转换眼光和角度，明察到“小事”的叙述涉及的那些不小的问题。Perhaps Austins novels can teach us how to shift our angles and perspectives so as to more sharply perceive those major issues touched upon by her narration of “trivial things”. Jane Austins novels are mostly about the bagatelle such as common peoples daily life, love affairs or marriages. Therefore, many Chinese readers cannot understand why she was spoke so highly in the Western countries. However, whether a novel is deep or not, and whether a novel has something special in its artistic quality and thought, is not decided by the breadth of its theme. Some considered Austins works as olives which tasting more and more delicious. It is not only because of her beautiful words and her creative contributions to the development of novels, but also because of her delightful descriptions which are neither so blank nor blur. Mrs. Smith once said, female writers often tried to modify the present value rules and change peoples view on “important” and “not important”. Maybe Austins novels can teach us to change our sights and perspectives to notice the big problems in the small things.1. The crowd erupted in thunderous shouts.人们爆发出雷鸣般的喊叫声。2. A feeling of stillness creeps into my consciousness.我的心感到一阵平静。（一种平静的感觉悄然袭上我的心头）3. The storm was felt severely on the coast.沿海地区遭到暴风雨的肆虐。4. The trees are plump with leafy splendor.树木枝繁叶茂，蔚为壮观。5. Bright warm days follow clear cool nights.白天明媚温暖，夜晚清澈凉爽。（艳阳天后是清凉夜）6. There came a group of girls. Some had beautiful eyes, others a beautiful nose, others a beautiful mouth and figure; few, if any, but all.来了一群姑娘。她们有的长着漂亮的眼睛，有的生着俏丽的鼻子，有的有着妩媚的嘴唇、婀娜的身段；但什么都美的，却寥寥无几，虽然不能说一个都没有。7. Miss Sedley was a charming young lady, who deserved all that the head-mistress had written in her praise. She has such a kind, generous heart, that she won the love of everyone who near her, and she had half the school as her particular friends. Her face blushed with rosy health, and her lips had the freshest of smiles, and her eyes sparkled with bright good-natured.赛特丽是一位迷人的姑娘，校长写给她的所有赞誉之辞她受之无愧。她心地善良，落落大方，深受同事们的爱戴，学校有一半老师都是她的挚友。她的脸色红润健康，嘴角常露出灿烂的笑容，眼睛晶莹明亮，且透出一丝善意。8.新潮稻草人A Newwave ScarecrowFarmer An has a few paddy-fields, which are often attacked by chickens and ducks from the neighborhood. Therefore he makes a scarecrow, which poses as if to drive away the attackers with a whip in the left hand and a club in the other. Who would have thought that the attacks go on as before. His son makes another one. The new scarecrow is the perfect image of a cadre on an inspection tour to the countryside, with a cigarette between his lips, holding