The culture difference between English and Chinese in translation

沈燕鈴

Translation is language or culture to another language or culture. Translation is also language activity which express the meaning of one language correctly with another language again； it is a main medium that connecting the thoughts of all nations. English and Chinese represent the western and eastern culture respectively， they have great difference in pronunciation ， grammar and vocabulary. To a certain extent， the cultural difference is more complex and extensive in the course of translation. When the west meet the east， we always meet with many idioms that reflect the peculiar features of the nations culture. The similar experience and ideology of the two nations make some idioms put up many similar culture features， but large quantities of idioms put up utterly differently.

Generally speaking， relying on their own characteristics， English and Chinese idioms can be divided into three kinds： correspondence， semi- correspondence， and non- correspondence.

I correspondence

1，an eye for an eye ， a tooth for a tooth 以眼還眼，以牙還牙

2，A bird in the hand is worth than two in the bush 一鳥在手勝過兩鳥在林

3，A cat has 9 lives 貓有9條命

4，A candle lights others and consumes itself 點燃自己，照亮別人

5，A constant guest is never welcome 常客招人厭

6，Actions speak louder than words 事實勝過雄辯

7，A faithful friend is hard to find 知心難求

8，A friend is easier lost than found 得朋友難，失朋友易

9，A friend is never known till a man has need 需要之時方見友

10， A friend in need is a friend indeed 患難見真情

11，A snow year， a rich year 瑞雪兆豐年

12，kill two birds with one stone 一石兩鳥

13，Where there is smoke， there is fire 無風不起浪

14， The onlookers sees most of the game 旁觀者清

15，，out of sight ， out of mind 眼不見，心不煩

16，East or west ，home is best 金窩，銀窩，不如自己的狗窩

17，Good indeeds would not be known outside ones house. While， bad news travels fast. 好事不出門 壞事傳千里

18，Good luck would never come in pairs 福無雙至

19，Misfortunes seldom comes single 禍不單行

20，He laughs best who laughs last 笑到最后笑得最好

21，look before you leap 三思后行

22，Cut your coat according to your cloth 量體裁衣

23，Follow the river and you will get to the sea 沿河匯海

24，Walls have ears 隔墻有耳

II semi- correspondence

1，with ones heart in ones mouth 提心吊膽

2，diamond cut diamond 棋逢對手

3，birds of feather 一丘之貉

4，buy ones head in the sand 掩耳盜鈴

5，chicken-hearted 膽小如鼠

6， fish in the air 水中撈月

7， lead a dogs life 過著牛馬生活

8，sink or swim 不進則退

9， A close mouth catches no flies 病從口入

10，New brooms sweep clean 新官上任三把火

11，A fox may grow gray， but never good 江山易改，本性難移

12，A fair death honors the whole life 死得其所，流芳百世

13， A bully is always a coward 色厲內荏

14，The foremost dog catches the hare 捷足先登

15，Great thieves hang little ones 大魚吃小魚

16，The more things change， the more they are same 萬變不離其宗

17，Spoil the ship for a half penny worth tar 因小失大

18，It happens in an hour that happens not in seven years 機不可失

19， Talk of the devil and devil is sure to come 說曹操，曹操到

20，Small gifts keep friendship alive 千里送鵝毛，禮輕情意重

21，Set a fox to keep ones geese 引狼入室

III， non- correspondence

1，love me， love my dog 愛屋及烏

2，touch and go 一觸即發

3，move heaven and earth 翻天覆地

4，like father like son 有其父必有其子

5，to the bitter end 奮斗到底

6，beween the devil and the sea 進退維谷

7，take the world easy 玩世不恭

8，burn your bridge 破釜沉舟

9，sow the wind and reap the whirlwind 種瓜得瓜，種豆得豆

10， as drunk as a mouse 爛醉如泥

11，get straight to the point 開門見山

12，take oneself out of the line of fire 不趟渾水

13，land on my head 厄運當頭

14，Nothing succeeds like success 靠山吃山靠水吃水

15，A bad thing never dies 遺臭萬年

16，A bad workman always blames his tools 不回撐船怪河彎

17，A burden of ones choice is not felt 情人眼里出西施

18， A cat may look at a king 人人平等

19，Adversity leads to prosperity 窮則思變

20，A miss is as good as a mile 失之毫厘差以千里

21，An old age barks not in vain 不聽老人言，吃虧在眼前

22，In instruction， there is no separation into categories 有教無類

23，Every arm shall bear his own burden 一人做事一人當

24，When the fox approached， be care your geese 黃鼠狼給雞拜年

25， Coming events cast their shadows before them 山雨欲來風滿樓

26，Time to be a hero 英雄救美

27， Ship that pass in the night 萍水相逢

28， When ones ship comes home 發財的時代

29，Good to the last drop 滴滴香濃，意猶未盡

30，A home from home with our cordial service 賓至如歸，熱誠服務

To sum up， translation needs a translators solid foundation of using both source language target language and his rich imagination and strong ability to understand and appreciate languages. As a translator， we should recognize the difference between different language cultures and deal with them. By doing so， we can leap over the gap of two languages， get the original meaning， lay a bridge between west and east culture.