众所周知,谚语乃是一种语言的精华,寓意深刻,表达隽永。在考研写作中如能适当地引用一些谚语,可以为文章增辉添彩。一些同学在平时的学习中积累了一些谚语,但在写作时不知道该如何将它们恰当地引用到文章中去,本文拟根据近年来《纽约时报》引用谚语的情况,总结出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十种:
1) A proverb goes / says, ---
2) 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。”(August 14, 2000)
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。”(July 16, 2009)
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。”(April 24, 2000)
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。”(November 15, 1993)
3) As a / the proverb has it / puts it,
4) 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。”(July 26, 1992)
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。”(May 28, 1987)
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。(March 20, 2004)
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。”(March 26, 2006)
5) There is a proverb: ---
6) 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。”(August 19, 2009)
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。(December 31, 1995)
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。”(August 10, 2009)
7) ---, a / the proverb goes, ---
8) ---, 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。(September 24, 2008)
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。(September 22, 1985)
9) --- have a proverb that goes, ---
10) 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。”(November 27, 1983)
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.
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