he was born with a silver spoon in her mouth; she thinks she can do what
she likes.
她生长在富贵之家，认为凡事都可以随心所欲。 (Zhang, 1980: 163)
(My back translation: She was born in a wealthy family....)
Example 13
He who keeps company wtih the wolf will learn to howl"
近朱者赤，近墨者黑。 (Guo, 1996: 183)
(My back translation: He who touches vermillion will be reddened, and he
who deals with
ink will be blackened.)
Example 14
Great men are not always wise.
人有失手日，马有失蹄时。(Guo, 1996: 182-3)
(My back translation: Men will make mistakes, horses all stumble.)
4.2 Analysis
The analysis is based on the following five common translation methods:
(1) Literal translation (retaining the same image in the target language);
(2) Replacing the SL image with a standard TL image; (3) Literal translation
plus sense and explanation; (4) Converting the metaphor to meaning; (5)
Using Chinese couplets to replace the English metaphor.
Metaphors in examples 1, 2, 3 and 6 are translated literally. The aim of
literal translation is to retain the national or local colour, the original
images as well as the foreign expressions so as to enrich the target language
. (Zhang, 1980: 161). "To his ancestors" (Example 1) "去见祖先" , is a
euphemism for "to die". This expression is vivid and easy for the ordinary
Chinese reader to understand. "Armed to the teeth" (Example 2) "武装到牙齿"
soundsa bit exaggerating but very impressive. T无忧论文 【http://www.uklunwen.com】he image of a person armed
to the teeth is so picturesque that it is hard for the target language
reader to forget. This literal translation has been widely accepted since
New China was established.
"A more common procedure for translating metaphors is to replace the SL
image with another established TL image, if one exists that is equally
frequent within the register" (Newmark, 1988: 109). The proverbs in examples
4,5, and 7, are all adapted into Chinese versions, replacing the SL images
with TL images which are familiar to the Chinese reader. These Chinese
images are widely different from but similar in sense to the original ones
. Perhaps it is all right to render the proverb in example 4 "among the
blind the one-eyed man is king" literally into "盲人之中单眼汉为王", because
the meaning as well as the image is clear. But the proverb "One boy is
a boy, two boys half a boy, three boys no boy" is a concept rather than
an image, if it is translated literally, it would be wordy and may not
be able to impress the Chinese reader as strongly as the converted version.
There has been some arguments about the translation of the metaphorical
saying "Talking of the devil, and he will appear". Some (Zhang, 1980; Lu,
1993) believe that it is acceptable to convert it into "说到曹操，曹操就到"
because this figurative expression is known to all, while others (Guo,
1996; Li, 1995) think that Caocao is a national figure in the Chinese history |
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论文题目：
To Foreignize or To Domesticate 
