古老非洲谚语
1.有哪些非洲谚语
“如果那是一只下蛋的鸡,它的主人还会卖它吗?”
“耳朵可以穿透黑暗,而不是眼睛。”
“雨和谁都不是朋友,谁在外面淋谁。”
“别跟疯子吵架,否则旁人会把你也看成是疯子的。”
“不睡觉,没有梦。”
“如果头顶上的水罐裂了,那就趁机洗个澡吧。”
“找我的麻烦总比忘记我强”。
“医生总不能替病人喝药”,
“在牛排端上来之前,先吃蚂蚱头。”
“不要抱怨上帝创造了吃人的猛虎。相反,我们应该感谢上帝没有给老虎插上翅膀。”
2.如何引入谚语
众所周知,谚语乃是一种语言的精华,寓意深刻,表达隽永。
在英语写作中如能适当地引用一些英语谚语,可以为文章增辉添彩。在写作时如何把平时积累的谚语恰当地引用到文章中去呢?以下总结了英语中常见的引用谚语的地道表达法,供同学们写作时模仿使用。
谚语在英语中叫proverb,引用时经常会在其前面酌情加上old, Chinese, English, Russian之类的形容词;动词一般用go, say, state, has it, put it等,在这些动词后面用逗号或冒号皆可。谚语可加双引号(这时谚语的第一个字母要大写),也可不加双引号(这时第一个字母一般不大写)。
引用谚语的表达方式常见的有如下几种: (1) A proverb goes / says, …… As a / the proverb goes / says, …… A Yiddish proverb goes, “Better to lose with a wise man than win with a fool.” 有一句依地语谚语说得好,“宁输智者,不赢傻子。” A proverb says, “Medicine cures the man who is fated not to die.” 有一句谚语说,“命不该死有药救。”
As a Chinese proverb goes, “Don't climb a tree to look for fish.” 正如中国的一句谚语所说,“不要缘木求鱼。” As the old Chinese proverb says, “If you do not enter a tiger's den, you cannot get her cubs.” 正如中国的一句谚语所说,“不入虎穴,焉得虎子。”
(2) As a / the proverb has it / puts it,…… A proverb has it that …… As a Spanish proverb has it, “Flies don't enter a closed mouth.” 正如一句西班牙谚语所说,“祸从口入。” As a Navajo proverb puts it, “What comes around goes around.” 正如纳瓦霍族的一句谚语所说,“一报还一报。”
As a local proverb here in Chad puts it: A woman who is pregnant has one foot in the grave. 正如乍得当地的一句谚语所说:女人怀宝宝,鬼门关上走一遭。An old proverb has it that “if the thorn doesn't scratch when it first emerge, it will never scratch.” 有一句古老的谚语说,“如果荆棘刚长出时不扎手,那么它就永远不扎手。”
(3) There is a proverb: …… There is a / the proverb that goes / states, …… There's an African proverb: “Educate a boy, and educate an individual. Educate a girl, and you educate a community.” 有一句非洲的谚语说:“教育好一个男孩,仅教育好一人。教育好一个女孩,则教育好一群人。”
There's a Russian proverb that goes: you must support the most talented people because untalented people will support themselves. 有一句俄罗斯谚语说,你须拥戴贤人,庸者仅会自顾。 There is an old Jewish proverb that states: “A Shekel is always better in my pocket than in yours.” 有一句古老的犹太谚语说:“金币在我口袋里总比在你口袋里强。”
(4) ……, a / the proverb goes, …… ……, goes a / the proverb, …… “A river is deep,” an old African proverb goes, “because of its source.” 有一句古老的非洲谚语说,河有源泉水才深。 To kill a snake, goes an old African proverb, you must first crush the head. 有一句古老的非洲谚语说,打蛇先打头。
(5) …… have a proverb that goes, …… There exists a proverb. It goes, …… The Arabs have a proverb that goes, “When the sultan's dog died, everyone marched in his funeral. But when the sultan himself died, no one marched at all.”阿拉伯人有一句谚语是这样说的,“当苏丹的狗死了,人人都为之送葬。而当苏丹死了,却无人为之送葬。”
谚语作为群众集体智慧的结晶,多具有鲜明的民族性和地域特色。由于中西文化的差异,一些在汉语中人们耳熟能详的谚语却未必为西方人所理解。
所以在引用汉语谚语时,如果中国特色过于浓厚,则可舍其形而取其意,写成英语中与之意思对等的西方谚语。例如,有的同学想表达这个意思:本性难移,于是写道:As a Chinese proverb goes, a dog cannot change its habit of eating shit. 这样写不但失之粗鄙,还会让爱犬的西方人大惑不解。
所以,这个意思宜写成A leopard cannot change its spots. 或者A fox may grow gray, but never good.。