On Translation of Chinese Idioms

George.W.Bush · 发表于 2004-7-20 18:46:23

On Translation of Chinese Idioms
 
 Translation, a work of creation and art, is a complex process which we must handle with great strictness and care. It requires accuracy, intelligibility and a style appropriate to the occasion. Its task is to help the communication and promote mutual understanding between different peoples. During this process we must tackle many problems and contradictions. The translation of idioms is one such difficulty we must face, and they are known for the challenges they pose and painstaking efforts their translation requires.
 Our mother tongue, the Chinese language, is particularly rich in idioms which are, as we know, usually forcible, terse and vivid, although they mostly contain only four characters. The same meaning could often be set forth in some other ways, but usually with much less forcefulness and terseness.
 Chinese idioms, in another way of speaking, idiomatic terms of expression, are one part of precious heritage of our Chinese literature. They reflect the characteristics of a nation and its culture. Some of them are rather straightforward, while others are fairly polished and still others highly metaphysical. Many of them possess some of the following characteristics which add to their expressiveness and sense of beauty.
 1) Rhyme, e.g. 继往开来，凤毛麟角，所向披靡\r 2) Repetition, e.g.勤勤恳恳，马马虎虎，糊里糊涂，想入非非\r 3) Parallelism, e.g.狼吞虎咽，阳奉阴违，铜墙铁壁，低三下四\r Some of them have independent meanings which can not be rendered literally. For example,三心二意，雪中送炭，乱七八糟.
 All these characteristics make it all the more difficult to offer to the foreign readers a better sight of Chinese culture as embodied in Chinese idioms.
 Traditionally, there are two major orientations in translation practice, literal and free. The method of literal translation preserves the integrity of the source language text, but at the expense of the formal elements of the target language and even the intelligibility of the target language text. Those who favor free translation have usually chosen to sacrifice the form of the source language. Yet the differences in language structure, diversities of culture and distinct literary specializations are too acute to preserve. All we can manage is deal with different problems with different methods, sometimes literal, sometimes free, and the same idioms might require different renderings under different circumstances. All these raise a great problem of choice between the two methods. This is especially true for the translation of Chinese idioms.
 To solve this problem, Dr. Eugene A. Nida founded a new theory on translation: Dynamic Equivalence. That is to say, one translator must try to make the relationships between the target language receptors to target language text roughly equivalent to the relationship between the original language receptors to the original text, i.e. to arrive at an equivalence in the relationships of receptors to their respective languages.
 “To arrive at a satisfactory dynamic equivalent translation, one can not merely make compromises between literal and free renderings, nor can one succeed by merely simplifying the grammar and restricting the numbers of words in a vocabulary. One must:
 1) weigh all the factors involved in the communication;
 2) produce various alternative renderings especially of complex passages;
 3) test the acceptability and intelligibility of such renderings with receptors.” (From ON TRANSLATION by Jin Di, p. 90)
 Good translators are always thinking in terms of alternative ways of expressing the same thing.
 Choose the best or the better rendering from various alternatives. Some may be literal, some free, and some somewhat in between. What is important, however, is that the chosen rendering should serve essentially the same purpose or function in the target language as the original text served in the source language.
 “When aim is to produce a dynamic equivalence, determined primarily by a comparison of the impact and appeal in the texts of the source language and the target language, the basis for the choice of one or another alternative must depend upon:
 1) faithfulness to the context of the source language text;
 2) the respective functions of the literary genre in the source and target languages;
 3) the decoding capacity of receptors;
 4) how and in what circumstances the target language text is to be employed.” (From ON TRANSLATION by Jin Di, p. 91)
 Among all the requirements above, faithfulness is the most important factor. Mr. Lu Xun once said, “while translating, we must, firstly, try to make it easy to understand, secondly, of course, preserve the characteristics of the original one.” (“凡是翻译，必须兼顾两面，一当然力求其易解，一则保存着原作的丰姿。”自鲁迅《且介亭杂文》) For instance, when we meet the idiom“快刀斩乱麻”, we can not render it as “to cut the Gordian knot”, although the English idiom has the same meaning, it carries too strong nationality because of the origin of the story of “Gordian knot”. Thus, to eliminate its English nationality, we should rather render it as “to cut the knot”.
 Generally speaking, we must try to reach a dynamic equivalent translation and keep the translation faithful to the original text, therefore, we should adopt different methods under different situations, that is, to find specific ways to solve specific problems,---- if you allow me to use a Chinese idiom, we should 对症下药.
 The following is some commonly used methods of translating Chinese idioms, which are all further illustrated by a few examples.
 
 I. Literal Translation
 Literal translation is a translation method which requires us to put across the Chinese idioms word by word according to its literal meaning. But it is not allowed to violate the basic grammatical rules of the target language and thus cause misconception and wrong ideas. This method can help retain the metaphor, image and characteristics of the culture reflected in the original idioms.
 For example, when we describe a person who is very brave, we say:
 ……义胆包身,武艺出众,敢赴汤蹈火……\r We can render it as:
 “He has such a brave disposition, and such fine military training that he should not be afraid of jumping into hot water or walking through fire”\r We know 赴汤蹈火means that a person is brave enough to risk his own life, or shun no difficulty and danger. Yet, if we render it as “go through thick and thin” or“undaunted by danger”, it surely won’t be as impressive, vivid and faithful to the original as the one we have chosen is. And the receptors can easily imagine his bravery from such a rendering.
 Another example, when we say something is very easy to do, we always use易如反掌, which we can translate into “as easy as turning one’s hand over”, which is brief, terse and forcible.
 Here are some more examples:
 1. 这对她，真是喜从天降，是用世界上一切值钱的东西都无法恒量的宝物。——椹容《减去十岁》\r For her this heaven-sent stroke of luck was a boon not all the money in the world could buy. (from TEN YEARS OFF in Chinese Literature, Spring, 1987)
 2．特别是对他这样一个年近半百的中年知识分子，能追回十年光阴，真是天赐良机。\r Especially for him, a middle-aged intellectual approaching fifty, the recovery of ten years was a heaven-sent opportunity. (ibid)
 3. 然而她给学生讲高尔基的《海燕》，讲深的时候她常常热泪盈眶。（王蒙《轮下》）
 …though her eyes brimmed when she taught Gorky’s The Stormy Petrel. (from Chinese Literature, autumn, 1987, Under the Wheel)
 4. 嘴上还咯咯的笑着说：“这叫画饼充饥。”（梁斌《红旗谱》）
 Now he chuckled and commented: “that’s called ‘drawing a cake to satisfy your hunger’!”\r 5. 这个场面写得很生动，使人有身临其境之感。\r The scene is so vividly portrayed that the reader feels as if he is participating.
 6. 几乎在分到房子的同时，姐姐寄来了一笔钱，侨汇券，外汇券，人民币如虎添翼。（王蒙《高原的风》）
 And at the same time as he got the flats, she sent him money, which brought him foreign exchange certificates and overseas Chinese coupons. All this seemed to have given wings to a tiger.
 7. 实事求是 to seek truth from the facts
 声东击西 to make a faint to the east but attack in the west
 自力更生regenerate through one’s own efforts
 弄巧成拙in trying to be smart one makes himself look foolish
 混淆黑白to mix up black and white
 
 II. Substitution
 Like the Chinese language, English possesses a rich store of idioms, too. They are delicate, concise, vivid and expressive. For example, “to kick down the ladder,” means “to treat with contempt those through whose assistance one has risen to a position of importance”, something like 过河拆桥in Chinese. Another example would be the idiom of “to put all one’s eggs in one basket”, which means “to risk everything one has in one single venture”. We sometimes could render it as 孤注一掷.
 In spite of the great discrepancy in their culture, history, living and geographic environment, traditions and national psychology, some idioms in the English and Chinese language do match with each other very perfectly. Therefore, we can almost replace one with the other under many circumstances. But one thing we must be warned against is that we can only adopt this method under the condition that it does not contradict with the context and most important of all, remain faithful to the meaning of the original text.
 A. When one English idiom is in coincidence with the Chinese idiom in both content and form, and they both have the same meaning or implication, and if it is required, the same or similar image and metaphor, we can put this English/Chinese directly into use.
 Take the idiom 破釜沉舟for example. We can render it as “to burn the boat” because these two idioms share not only similar meaning but also similar origins. The Chinese one comes from the story of Xiang Yu in which he led his army across the Hung he River and ordered the boats to be burnt down, showing his determination to fight the enemy till death. Julius Caesar used the same strategy in fighting a decisive battle with Pompey. Thus, we can almost say that these two idioms are equivalent both in form and in meaning.
 Another example is 趁热打铁which can be rendered as “strike the iron while it’s hot”. They both are equivalent in the metaphor they use, and meaning they express. Such a rendering can naturally be faithful to the original idiom.
 1．暴躁的火就从心头炎炎地向上直冒，而在这时候，吴为成又说了几句火上添油的话。（茅盾《子夜》）
 The smouldering fires of his resentment blazed into life one more, and Wei-cheng hose this moment to pour oil on the flames.
 2．我们哪有五百万算来还可以赚进十二三万，不过剩下的五百万就没有把握，谋事在人，成事在天。（茅盾《子夜》）
 “we’ll probably make a profit of about a hundred and twenty or thirty thousand dollars on the first five million, but it’s a job to say whether we’ll make anything on the other five million. Man proposes, God disposes.”\r 3．他对这个班的情况了如指掌。\r He knew everything about the class like the back of his hand.
 4．听到你被揪出来我立刻失魂落魄。（王蒙《轮下》）
 In 1957, I was scared out of my wits when I heard that you had been ferreted out. (From Chinese Literature, Autumn, 1987)
 5．他俩的水平半斤八两。\r Their abilities are six of one and half a dozen of the other.
 6．青天霹雳，a bolt from the blue
 隔墙有耳，walls have ears
 一帆风顺，plain sailing
 浑水摸鱼，to fish in troubled water
 一丝不挂，to have not a stitch on
 说曹操，曹操到 talk of the devil, and he’s sure to come
 心有余而力不足 the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, etc.
 B. When some Chinese idioms and their corresponding English ones are both superficial in meaning, easy to understand and with no risk of retaining any trace of their local flavor, do not hesitate to adopt them. Here are some examples:
 1. 办公室主任手足无措，姬文耀训斥道……（谌容《减去十岁》）
 seeing the man at a loss, he thundered…\r 2. 我们说的都是些一针见血的话。（《巴金全集》，第七卷第48页）
 When we did talk it was always to the point. (From Autumn in Spring, Panda Book)
 3. 我的心里乱七八糟的，不知干什么好。\r I’m all at sixes and sevens about what to do.
 4. 我现在是进退维谷。\r I’m quite in a dilemma now.
 5. 兴高采烈in high spirits

George.W.Bush · 发表于 2004-7-20 18:47:20

垂头丧气in low spirits
 一心一意heart and soul
 犹豫不决to shilly and shally
 既往不咎to let bygones be bygones
 疑神疑鬼to be afraid of one’s own shadow
 If a certain metaphor is used in the corresponding English idiom but not in the Chinese one, and the English one possesses no strong characteristics which reveals the sharp differences between the two cultures, we can adopt it accordingly to express the idea embedded in the original Chinese idioms. For example, 少年老成contains no metaphor, we can render it with an English idiom“to have an old head on young shoulders”. But if we render 因小失大as “penny wise, pound foolish”, it would not be faithful to the Chinese text because the “penny” and “pound” are all British currencies. Similarly, we can render 忍气吞声 as “to eat humble pie”, 本末倒置as to put the cart before the horse, 防微杜渐as to nip in the bud, 自作自受as to lie in the bed one has made.
 1．这些日子为年龄过线，必然退下来的事,搞得他愁眉苦脸。（谌容《减去十岁》）
 He’s been so down in the dumps, about reaching retirement age…\r 2．直言不讳 call a spade a spade
 厚颜无耻as bold as brass
 祸不单行it never rains but it pours
 大惊小怪to make a fuss (of)
 C. If the metaphors used in a Chinese idiom and its corresponding one are quite different, we can usually deal with it with the method of literal translation. But if its literal translation turns out to be too long, tedious and ineffective, and may cause misunderstanding, we can express it with an alternative English idiom with the similar meaning as long as it fits perfectly in the general context. For example, we can translate集腋成裘into “many drops make an ocean/shower”, which has same meaning, though with different metaphors. If we translate it literally into the bits of fur from the axillae of many foxes taken together will make a robe, it will be too wordy and awkward to read, therefore making it hard for us to catch its general meaning, and consequently lose the characteristics of conciseness and terseness of average idioms and produce nothing but satisfactory result.
 Of course, nothing is absolute. If the literal rendering is required by its context, or the English idiom has too strong national characteristics, we must adopt the method of literal translation instead.
 1. 探春坐下，便问：“刚才谁在这里说话，倒象拌嘴?”迎春笑道：“没什么，左不过他们小题大做罢了，何必问他？”（《红楼梦》第七十三回）\r Tan-chun sat down and asked, “who were talking in here just now? it sounds like a quarrel.” “not really,” Ying-chun told her, “they were making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s nothing to worry about.” (Translated by the Yangs)
 2. 她在第一次算术测试时得了一百分，但这只是昙花一现，后来算术考试她却没有及格。\r She got 100 in the first test in arithmetic but it was just a flash in the pan because she failed in the arithmetic exam later on.
 3. 我倒有一个一箭双雕的办法。\r I have got a way out which can kill two birds with one stone.
 4. 他们个个摩拳擦掌，准备入场进行球赛。\r Every one of them rolled up his sleeves to go into the field for the match.
 5. 有话不分明说，许你们这样鬼鬼祟祟的干什么故事？（《红楼梦》第九回）\r But why not talk openly instead of in this hole-and-corner fashion?(Translated by Yangs)
 6. 热锅上的蚂蚁a cat on hot bricks
 一针见血to hit the nail right on the head
 一丘之貉birds of one feather
 掌上明珠the apple of one’ eye
 非驴非马neither fish nor fowl
 别有用心have an axe to grind
 落井下石kick somebody when he is down, etc.
 
 D. Some of the Chinese idioms originated in some historic story or classical worlds yet they are so often used that their origins are long forgotten and their meanings become fixed. Facing these idioms, we can either use the corresponding English idioms or translate it in accordance with the meanings they generally implicate. It is unnecessary for us to revive the historic stories again. For example, “得陇望蜀”, it is an idiom which roughly means “贪得无厌”—insatiably greedy. It refers to the Emperor Liu Xiu in the East Han Dynasty who ordered one of his general to invade Sichuan after he conquered Gansu. He said“即平陇,复望蜀”. To repeat this origin is definitely like to gild the lily(画蛇添足)which is very unnecessary, i.e., if we render it literally as “to look forwards to Sichuan after getting Gansu”. The foreign readers would not be able to make head and tails of it unless we add some detailed explanation. A better way of putting it would be to simply use an English idiom with somewhat similar meaning: “to give him an inch and he’ll take an ell/ a mile”, or some other ways around.
 Some more examples are:
 退避三舍Keep sb. at an arm’s length
 班门弄斧To teach one’s grandmother how to suck eggs
 塞翁失马,安知祸福Misfortune might be a blessing in disguise
 五十步笑百步The pot calls the kettle black
 朝三暮四To blow hot and cold, etc.
 
 III. Free Translation
 That is to say, to translate the Chinese idioms according to what they mean and what fits in the context. The renderings can be so free that the same idiom may be rendered differently in different context. Therefore, this method is called free translation.
 When both of the methods mentioned above are not available or do not suit perfectly in the context, we must sacrifice the style of the original idiom and translate it in such a way that the rendering is in full agreement with its context and able to retain the totality of text it is in.
 A. Some of the idioms originate in some historic or classical fables, they are so often used their origins are forgotten, and they are only used as a symbol of certain fixed meanings. It is unnecessary for us reiterate the origins and if no appropriate English idioms with the same meanings are available, we have to resort to this method. But, we must remember, our renderings must fit their contexts naturally and perfectly. For example:
 他向来是惯叫农民来钻他得圈套的，真不料这回演了一套“请君入瓮”的把戏。（茅盾《子夜》）
 He had become so used to setting traps for peasants all these years that it came as rather a shock to him to find he had walked into a snare himself.
 B. Some of other idioms have lost their image while being used and can be used as a linguistic unit which represent a certain meaning without even a hint of their metaphors. We can deal with them with the method of free translation.
 Let’s take “粗枝大叶”for instance. This idiom, retaining no hint of any “branch” or “leaves”, simply means “to do sth. in broad stroke or rough outline/ in a crude and careless way”.
 1. 听到妻子的脚步声，他腾地扭过头来，两眼方放出炯炯的光芒，斩钉截铁地说……（谌容《减去十岁》）
 Hearing his wife come in he turned his head, his eyes flashing, and said incisively…(from Chinese Literature, Spring, 1987, Ten Years off)
 2. 你说出国以后最怀念的十国内的政治学习讨论会，一屋子人吸着烟，泡着茶，谈论举国形势的大好，风气的干不正，既可以发泄牢骚，又可以表忠心，既可以引经据典，又可以海阔天空……（王蒙《轮下》）
 it was political study session at home you missed most since leaving, you said, brewing tea in smoke filled rooms as you chatted about how excellent things were or how dreadful the social mood, letting off stream or pledging loyalty at will with learned quote or flight of fancy, American would never in a lifetime enjoy such a good time. (From Chinese Literature, Autumn, 1987, Under the wheel)
 3. 是她打开了我爱的园门，我得和她走到山穷水尽。（《老舍全集》）
 She had opened the garden of love to me, and I must stay by her till the end of time.
 4. 然而真奇怪，向来是气魄非凡，动辄大刀阔斧的吴孙莆此时却沉着脸儿沉吟了。（茅盾《子夜》）
 But strange to say, Wu Sun-pu, who was known for his drive and ability to make sharp determination now hesitated and looked worried.
 5. 拐弯抹角 in a roundabout way
 鸡毛蒜皮trifle
 吹毛求疵pick on sth, to find faults with
 木已成舟 what is done is done
 单刀直入in a straightforward way
 
 C. Some of the idioms are literally illegible or unexplainable, e.g.南来北往, 乱七八糟 . Naturally we cannot render then literally, and thus we have to resort to the method of free translation.
 1. （她）三心二意，举棋不定。（同上）\r She couldn’t make her mind.（ibid B1）\r 2. 刘雨生回到乡政府，把老谢的话，一五一十，告诉了邓秀梅和李月辉。（周立波《乡村巨变》）
 When Liu Yu-sheng got back to the township government, he recounted everything Lao Hsieh had said in detail, to Teng Hsiu-mei and Li Yueh-hui.
 3. 冯永祥思索地搔搔头皮，装出一肚子原则和标准的神情，慢条斯理地说……（周而复《上海的早晨》）
 Feng Yung-hsiang began slowly, scratching his head in thought and putting on an expression that suggested that he was in a position to talk for hours on guiding principles and standards.

George.W.Bush · 发表于 2004-7-20 18:47:56

4. 范进……被胡屠夫一口啐在脸上，骂了一个狗血喷头……\r Butcher Hu spat in his face, and poured out a torrent of abuse.
 D. Some idioms are literally logical and clearly meant and sometimes with easy metaphors, but they still can’t be translated literally, because, once rendered literally, the translations will be:
 a. too long, wordy and tedious without any effect
 b. not expressive
 c. not in agreement with the whole text and may cause misconception on the part of the foreign readers.
 When we come across such idioms, and find no proper English idioms available, we can render it with the method of free translation.
 For example,风声鹤唳,草木皆兵. This idiom has a historic origin and logically clear----with literally clear meaning or an easy metaphor, if we rendered it as: “to be scared by the whistle of the wind and the cry of the cranes, fearing ambush at every tree and tuft of grass,” it would be too wordy and not quite effective in addition. If we take a whole view of the content and render it accordingly as “to be seized with imaginary fears”, it would seem much clearer in meaning and expressive in grasping the gist of the original idiom.
 1. “我的身体很好，”这一问，石明华跃跃欲试，确实觉得自己身体很好。(同上，B1)
 “My health is fine, ” in her eagerness to get back to work, she really felt fit.(ibid, B1)
 2. 眼瞅着已近而立之年，还是光棍一条，饥不择食。（同上）\r A bachelor nearing thirty couldn’t be choosy.
 3. 减去十岁，振奋得月娟心花怒放，想入非非。（同上）\r The thought of ten years off had thrown Yue juan into raptures and fired her imagination.
 4. 在你强烈由衷的反应面前别人的一切反应都黯然失色。（同II，A4）\r All other reactions paled beside the heartfelt vigour of yours.
 5. 但就在与J结婚的那天晚上，你就已经意识到你正酿就一个大错误，你后悔莫及。（同上）\r …but that you had realized on the wedding night that it was a recipe for disaster and were consumed with regret.
 6. 你激烈地抨击那些一到美国就马上用“白华”的口气把中国没头没脸地骂一通，并以此来讨好，邀功领赏的家伙们。（同上）\r You lashed out at the fellows who berated China in White Chinese terms the minute they arrived in America, to carry favor and take credit.
 7. L 已经完全变成一个婆婆妈妈，胆小如鼠的庸人。（同上）\r He had turned into a total a mouse of man, a milksop and a mediocrity.
 8. 只要我拿起笔来，就万事亨通，我不怕在多忙乱之后，也能安心写作。（老舍《一天》）
 With a pen in my hand, I feel like everything is going my way; no matter how much excitement I’ve been through, I can always sit down and get to work.
 9. “呕！”他确是吓了以一跳，好象坐车不带行李是大逆不道似的。（老舍《马裤先生》）
 “Oh!” That came as a real surprise to him, as if it were a gross impropriety to travel by train without luggage.
 10. ……直到不约而同的垂下头去，又不约而同的抬起来，又那么看。（《老舍全集》）With one accord, we hung our heads, with one accord raised them again to exchange long glances. (Panda Book, Crescent Moon)
 
 
 IV. Combination of Literal Translation and Free Translation
 
 In order to express the original meaning more accurately and effectively and without causing any puzzlement and misunderstanding, we sometimes can use these two methods at the same time. For instance, 事后诸葛亮. If we render it literally as “to be CheGeh Liang after the event”, the translation will puzzle the foreign readers for they don’t know who and what he is. On the other hand, if we combine both the methods above and render it as “to be wise after the event”, which seems much better and more proper.
 Here are more examples:
 斩草除根Pluck up the evil by the roots
 风餐露宿Brave the wind and dew
 拭目以待To wait and see
 闭门造车Work behind closed doors
 1. 我是问心无愧，我是视死如归。（郭沫若《屈原》）
 I have nothing to be ashamed of. I can look on death without flinching.
 2. 王冕一路风餐露宿，九十里大站，六十里小站，一径来到山东济南府地方。（吴敬梓《儒林外史》）
 Braving the wind and dew, Wang Mian traveled day after day past large posing stations and small, till he came to the city of Tsinan.
 3. “对牛弹琴”，当然引不起小孩们的兴趣。（李六如《六十年的变迁》）
 Just like music played before an ox, the book naturally failed to interest the boys.(对牛is not translated literally as “to play the harp”, while弹琴 is rendered literally as “before an ox”)
 4. 唇亡齿寒的故事他在中学里就知道了。（周1复《上海的早晨》）
 Even as a middle school student he had learned the classical story of how when lips are gone, the teeth will be exposed to danger.
 
 V. Temporary Conversion of the Corresponding English Idioms
 In order to render a Chinese idiom, sometimes it is necessary for us to change the form of a certain English idioms to fit the meaning of the Chinese one. For example, 换汤不换药. Its literal translation surely can’t be very effective and expressive. And if we resort to free translation, i.e. simply put the general meaning across, it will become too plain and lose the vividness of the original idiom. Yet, here, we have an English idiom “new wine in old bottles”. If we change it into “old wine in new bottles”, it can fit the Chinese idiom perfectly. Instantly, the work of translation becomes a very interesting creation rather than a boring and tedious task that we are obliged to fulfill.
 Another example is 物伤其类. “Like mourns over the death of like” is a temporary conversion of the English idioms with “like … like”, such as “like begets like”, “like cures like”, “like draws to like”, etc.
 守株待兔originates from a Chinese classical fable about a man in the State of Song during the Warring States Period who, having seen a hare run into a tree trunk and die with its neck broken, then waited every day at the foot of the tree for another hare to come. Now we use this idiom to describe the ones who longs for gains without making any effort. If we adopt the English idiom “no pains, no gains”, and render this Chinese idiom as “to wait for gains without pains”, it would be able to express the original conception clearly and somewhat retain the characteristics of the Chinese idiom to some extent.
 Similarly, we can using an English idiom “to turn in one’s grave” and render死不瞑目as “cannot rest in one’s grave”.
 
 VI. Omission
 
 A. In Chinese language, we sometimes use the idioms of similar meaning at the same time to beautify the rhyme, form and put some emphasis on the content. When we come to render it into English, it’s unnecessary for us to copy the same method of expressing the same idea. All we have to do is pick one of them and put it into English. For example, in Chinese, we always utter取之不尽together with用之不竭. One English word “inexhaustible” or “abundant” would be fairly enough for us.
 More examples are:
 风声鹤唳，草木皆兵To fear ambush at every tree and tuft of grass
 塞翁失马，安知祸福Who can know whether it is a blessing in disguise
 B. In some four-character idioms, the first two characters are parallel to the latter two and symmetric both in form and meaning. Yet in English language, they do not use such kind of forms. Therefore, all we should do is to render only one half of the idiom and discard the other half. For example, in贪官污吏, 贪官almost means exactly the same as 污吏. Thus, “corrupt officials” is enough for its translation. Similarly, in 铜墙铁壁, 铜墙 (bronze wall) and 铁壁(iron wall) metaphorically refers to the same thing, we can therefore render it as “wall of bronze”.
 Here are some more examples:
 长吁短叹Sign deeply, 无影无踪without a trace
 断子绝孙To die sonless, 评头论足carping
 千真万确Quite true, 清规戒律taboos
 油嘴滑舌glib tongue, 惊心动魄soul-stirring, etc.
 
 C. Some of the Chinese idioms are the repetition of the same two characters, e.g. 糊里糊涂are repetitions of 糊涂, 慌慌张张and of慌张. So we can translate them according to the meaning of the original shorter expression. Let’s see:
 鬼鬼祟祟stealthily，吞吞吐吐stumble
 唯唯诺诺a yes-man，战战兢兢shake
 郁郁葱葱green and luxuriant
 D. When the context has made everything clear, we can omit some part of the idiom which can be easily imagined or is of no help to the understanding of the text.
 1. ……三十岁在某个领域里遥遥领先。（同II B1）\r …then go on to head his field while in his thirties.
 Here, 遥遥（far ahead） is omitted.
 2. 小林昂首挺胸，目不侧视，步履轻快……（同上）\r Throwing out her chest, glancing neither to right nor left, she hurried with a light step.
 Here 昂首is cancelled.
 3. 小弟虽然发了财，却没忘恩负义。（陆文夫《清高》）
 Though Number Three was rich now, he hadn’t forgotten his debt to Number One. (Other-worldly)
 4. “你大哥人很好，只是太清高，比较起来还是我们志趣相投，有共同语言。”（同上）\r “He’s fine, but a bit other-worldy. By comparison the two of us have the taste in common.”\r 
 VII. Amplification
 
 Amplification, as what it means literally, is the opposite of the method of omission. But remember that all we’ve added must add no extra meaning to the original, but help the understanding of the foreign readers.
 We adopt this method when the original idiom means more than what is signified in the metaphor it uses and we cannot possibly express it clearly unless we add something explanatory to help and to make it fit meaning of the context. For example, 借花献佛. If we render it literally as “to present Buddha with borrowed flowers” has the meaning behind, the foreign reader cannot understand what “borrowed flowers” and to “present to Buddha” are and what they actually mean. We must, therefore, add something to show its implication of selfishness. Thus, we could, on some occasions, put it into something like: “to present Buddha with borrowed flowers for one’s own sake”. Another example is that when we say someone is doing画饼充饥, we have to add something like“he is good at self-delusion” to the literal rendering “he can satisfy his hunger on a crayoned cake” in some context.
 Some other examples are:
 三头六臂Three-headed monster with six arms
 螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole lurking behind itself
 惊弓之鸟A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string
 唇枪舌剑Lips are as sharp as a spear, tongue as sword
 Of course, we have another method available here, that is, annotation. For example:
 “难道这也是个痴丫头，又象颦儿来葬花不成？” 因自笑道：“若真也葬花，可谓‘东施效颦’了。不但不为新奇，而且更加可厌。”（《红楼梦》）
 “Can this be another absurd maid come to bury flowers like Taiyu?” he wondered in some amusement. “If so, she’s ‘Tung Shih imitating Hsi Shih’, which isn’t original but rather tiresome.”\r ※His shih was famous beauty in the ancient kingdom of Yueh. Tung Shih was an ugly girl who tried to imitate her ways. (Translated by the Yangs)
 But another translator uses the method of amplification, retelling the story in the idiom, yet fitting content very well:
 “Can this be some silly maid come here to bury flowers like Frowner?” he wondered. He was reminded of the Zhuangzi’s story of the beautiful Xi-shi’s ugly neighbour, who endeavors to imitate the little frown that made Xi-shi captivating producing an aspect so hideous that people ran from her in terror. The recollection of it made him smile. “This is imitating the Frowner with a vengeance,” he thought, “if that is recently what she is doing. Not merely unoriginal, but downright disgusting!” (Translated by David Hawkes)
 
 VIII. Annotation
 Some of the Chinese idiom can only be rendered clearly when its historic background and origin are revealed. While translating them, amplification is a possible way out. Yet if it still does not work well, we have to resort to the method of annotation.
 Annotation is to add notes besides the textual translation to further illustrate the idiom so that the foreign readers may have a thorough understanding of it. We have seen the usefulness of this method in the last example.
 Annotation is a necessary method, but too many and too long notes may spoil the cleanness of the text and reduce the effectiveness of the translation because the TL reader would have to stop to read the note and consequently would fail to be able to finish the sentence at one glance. Heavily captioned films are naturally not very effective and thus less attractive to any viewer. Annotation is the last choice we have to turn to.
 Of course, some of this kind of Chinese idioms can find their corresponding English idioms. While translating, we have to take the context into consideration and decide which of the two methods is more suitable for the occasion and turn out more effective. For example, there is one sentence in the novel Ni Huan-zhi (《倪焕之》)by Ye Shengtao:
 这样，他采取“守株待兔”的态度，还是当他的乡董。\r The English translation is:
 Accordingly, having adopted this attitude of “watching the stump and waiting for a hare”, he continued with his councillorship. (Translated by A. C. Barnes)
 Note: the story of a peasant who, seeing a hare run heading against a tree-stump and waited by the stump in the hope that another hare would do the same thing.
 We can see, adding a note is a proper way out here. But in the play Comrade, You Take A Wrong Road(《同志，你走错了路》), we cannot do the same because the method of annotation is quite useless when it is to be acted on stage. Therefore, we can render it as “waiting for gains without pains”, with a temporary conversion of an English idiom:
 否则，袖手旁观，守株待兔，就变成了长期不抗不战了。\r Otherwise, standing by with folded arms and waiting for gains without pains will prove to be nothing but long-term non-resistance. (Translated by A. M. Condron)
 
 IX. Use of Figures of Speech
 Many Chinese idioms are decorated with various kinds of figures of speech, such as parallelism, rhyme, alliteration, repetition, etc. We can use some of these figures of speech when we render some of these Chinese idioms into English on the condition that we would not hurt the content of the idiom in the SL text in trying to do so.
 Here are some translations guided by this method:
 魑魅魍魉Demons and devils (alliteration)
 吃一堑长一智A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit. (parallelism and rhyme)
 自吹自擂Brag and boast (alliteration)
 
 X. Classical Literary Style
 As we know, many Chinese idioms are known for their long history. They are in classical Chinese themselves. If we render them in old English language, the foreign reader will be able to fully appreciate the beauty in the style of the original Chinese idiom. For example:
 1. 己所不欲勿施于人do not unto others what you would not be done by.
 2. 祸兮福所倚，福兮祸所伏Good fortune lieth within bad, bad fortune lurketh within good.
 3. 言者无罪，闻者足戒Blame not the speaker but be warned by his word.
 4. 合抱之木，生于毫末Great oaks from little acme grow.
 
 
 THE END

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On Translation of Chinese Idioms

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