-
1.
明
喻
SIMILE
1
．
定义
英语的明喻是英语中最常用、
最简便的修辞格之一，
在文学作品中尤其如此。
它根据人
们的联想，利用不同
事物之间的相似点，借助比喻词
(
如
l
ike
，
as
等
)
起连接作用，清楚地说
明甲事物在某方面像乙事物
Rhetoric In
Practice
(
《英文实用修辞学》
)
一书这样来解释明喻：
“
A
simile
is
an
expressed
simplest
and
most
direct way
of
connoting
an
idea
with
something
else
is
by
means
of
using
similes
．
Simile
is
the
neuter
singular
of
the
Latin
adjective
?
similis
,?
meaning like.
”
Simile(
明喻
)
运用广泛，可借以状物、写景、抒情、喻理，使表达生动形象，明白易懂，
新鲜有趣
。
<
/p>
关于英语
Simile
，有两点须加以说
明：
一、
Simile(
明喻
)
通常由三部分构成，即本体
(tenor
或
subject)
、
喻
体
(vehicle
或
reference)
和
比
喻
词
(comparative
word
或
indicator
of
resemblance)
。可
图示如下：
Marriage
is
like
a
beleaguered
fortress:
those
who
are
without
want to get in,
↓
↓
↓
(tenor)
(comparative word)
(vehicle)
and those within
want to get out.
( P. M. Quitard)
二、
本体
与喻体一般为两个不同事物
(
如属同类也应具不同性质或特征<
/p>
)
，
比喻方可成立。
例如：
①
Peter is as tall as his father.
②
Peter is as
tall as a Maypole.
稍加分析可以看出，
例①不算明喻，
只是一个比较句，
因为
Peter
及其
father
同属人类；
而例②才是比喻句，因为
Peter
与
Maypole
分属人与物。
2.
引导明喻的比喻词
(comparative words)
( 1 )
介词
as
，
like
，
of
等。
As
Beauty is as summer fruits,
which are easy to corrupt and cannot
last
?
( Bacon: Of Studies )
美者犹如夏日蔬果，易腐难存?
Overhead the hollow stretch
of whitish cloud shutting out the sky was as a
tent which had the
who1e earth as its
floor
。
( Thomas Hardy )
头顶上
方，
夺据了天际上无尽空荡的白云，
宛如高悬的帐篷一般，
把整个荒原做了它的
地面。
Out
of
the
sleeves
came
strong
bony
wrists
and
hands
gnarled
knotted
and
hard
as
peach
branches.
( John Steinbeck )
从袖子里伸出一双瘦骨嶙峋的大手，像桃树枝一样，瘤节盘错，坚硬粗壮。
< br>
1
I wandered
lonely as a cloud.
( W.
Wordsworth: The Daffodils )
我像一朵浮云独自漫游。
They are as
like as two peas.
他们两个长得一模一样。
His young
daughter looks as red as a rose.
他的小女儿面庞红得象朵玫瑰花。
I passed and
repassed the house, and stopped and listened at
the door; all was dark and silent
as the grave.
(
B
．
Shaw)
我在那房子前面走了几趟，并在门口停下来听了听；一片漆黑
，沉寂得像座坟墓。
Love goes towards love, as
schoolboys from their books;
but love from
love, towards school with heavy
looks
．
( William
Shakespeare)
赴情人的约会，像学童抛开书一样；
和情人分别，像学童板着脸上学堂。
英语里
有不少含有明喻的成语，其结构为
as+
形容词
+as+
名词。例如：
as
firm as a rock
坚如磐石
as light as a
feather
轻如鸿毛
as
close as an oyster
守口如瓶
as
mute as a fish
噤若寒蝉
as strong as
horse
强壮如牛
as cool as a cucumber
泰然自若
as sober as a
judge
十分清醒
as sure as a gun
千真万确
Like
Paris is a morgue
without you; before I knew you, it was Paris, and
I thought it heavens;
but
now it is a vast desert of desolation
and loneliness. It is like the face of a clock,
bereft of its hands.
(
Sarah Bernhardt to V
ictorian Sardou )
没有你，巴黎成了一座陈尸所；我认识你之前，巴黎就是巴黎
。我把它看成天堂；然而
现在它变成了一片荒凉而寂寞的沙漠。它像一个没有时针、分针
和秒针的钟面。
All
that
I
had
to
show,
as
a
man
of
letters,
were
these
few
tales
and
essays,
which
had
blossomed
out
like
flowers
in
the calm
summer
of
my
heart
and
mind. (
Hawthoren:
The
Old
Manse )
作为一
个作家，
我所能贡献出来的只有这么几篇故事和散文，
它们像我
心头温和的夏天
灿烂开放的花朵。
He works 1ike a horse
／
beaver
／
Troj
an
／
black.
他辛辛苦苦地干活。
They spent
money like water.
他们挥金如土。
He talks
like a book.
他老是文绉绉地说话。
He eats like a horse.
他吃得很多。
He smokes 1ike a chimney.
他抽烟很厉害。
2
Living without an aim is
like sailing without a compass.
( John Ruskin )
生活没有目标犹如航行没有指南针。
He
was
like
a
cock
who
thought
the
sun
had
risen
from
him
to
crow.
(
George
Eliot )
他这人就像一只骄傲的公鸡，以为太阳升起是为了它的啼叫。
Records fell
like ripe apples on a windy day.
( E. B. White )
被打破的记录有如刮风天成熟的苹果纷纷坠落。
The staff
member folded like an accordian.
这个工作人员就像合拢起来的手风琴似地—不吭声了。
My
heart is like a singing bird
Whose nest is
on a watered shoot;
My heart is like an apple-
tree
Whose boughs are bent with thick-set
fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My
heart is gladder than all these
Because my love
is come to me.
( Rossetti )
我的心像只善歌的小鸟，
小巢建在轻拂水面的嫩枝上；
我的心像棵苹果树，
沉甸的果实把树梢压弯；
我的心像天边彩虹，
它轻拂着平静的海面；
我的心比这些更喜悦，
由于我爱人将来我身边。
Of
：
He has a heart
of
stone.
他有一副铁石心肠。
He has the heart
of
a1ion, but he does
everything in a down-to-earth way.
他有狮子般的勇气，他办事十分认真。
He is sometimes
bad-
tempered but really he?s got a
heart
of gold.
有时候他似乎脾气不好，但他的心眼可好了。
( 2 )
连词
as
(
犹如
)
，
what
(
犹如
)
，
as if,
as though, than,
and, the way
等。
His
heart shivered as a ship shivers at the
mountainous crash of the waters.
他的心颤动，好像一艘船在海浪搏击中震荡一样。
Air
is to man as
water is to
fish.
人离不开空气，犹如鱼离不开水。
Men
fear
death,
as
children
fear
to
go
in
the
dark:
and
as
that
natural
fear
in
children
is
increased with tales, so is the other.
( Francis Bacon
)
犹如儿童恐惧黑暗，人对于死亡的恐惧，也由于听信太多的鬼怪传说而增大。
Reading is to the mind what exercise is
to the body
.
（
Sir Richard Steel
）
读书对于思想，好比运动对于身体一样重要。
Parks are to the city what lungs are to
the body.
公园对于都市正如肺对于人的身体一样重要。
3
Judicious praise is to children what
the sun is to flowers
．
( Bovee )
明智的表扬对于孩子的作用，就像阳光对于花朵的作用。
I felt as if the ground were slipping
beneath my feet.
我感到好像大地在脚下滑动。
A
crowd of people were
around him, touching his body, feeling his legs,
and bidding for him
as if he had been a
horse.
一大堆人固在他身边，摸着他的身体和大腿，出价买他，好像他是一匹马
似的。
The first time I read an excellent
book, it is to me just as if I had gained a new
friend.
我头一回读到一本好书，对我来说我好像交了一位新朋友。
They stood upon
a bleak and desert moor, whose monstrous masses of
stone were cast about as
though it were
the burial place of giants.
他们站在荒无人烟的旷野
上，那里满地都是硕大无朋的岩石，宛如巨人的墓地。
He was a beautiful horse
that looked as though he had come out of a
painting by
V
elasques
．
( E.
Hemingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls )
这匹马真雄俊，看起来仿佛是从一幅维拉斯奎茨的油画里跑出来的一样。
Our village
is no less beautiful than this picture.
我们乡村同这幅图画一样美。
A
student can no
more obtain knowledge without studying than a
farmer can get harvest without
plowing.
学生不学习获不到知识，犹如农民不耕作就不能得到收获一样。
A whale is not a fish any more than a
horse is.
鲸不是鱼，正如马也不是鱼一样。
Love and cough can not be hid.
爱情像咳嗽一样是掩盖不了的。
A
world and a
stone let go cannot be recalled.
说出的话犹如抛出的石，是收不回的。
Truth and oil
are ever above.
真理跟油一样，总要升到上面来。
A
woman?s mind
and a glass are ever in danger.
女人易毁’
，玻璃易碎。
I should smell
it the way a cat smells a mouse.
我可以像猫嗅老鼠那样闻出它的气味来
o
The best work
is done the way ants do
things
—
by tiny, tireless and
regular additions.
最好的作品是像蚂蚁干活那样完成
的—通过点滴、不懈、经常不断的增补而成。
( 3 ) <
/p>
动词
seem
，
resemble
(
名词
resem
blance
)
，
treat
／
honour
／
re
gard
／
consider
／
respect as
，
compare
to
，
liken to
，
pass
(
胜过
)
，
remind
of
，
be similar
to
，
等。
Look at the moon. How strange the moon
seems: She is like a woman rising from a tomb.
She is like a dead woman. ( O Wilde )
瞧一瞧那轮明月。她看起来多奇怪：像从墓中起身的妇女，像死妇叫样惨白。
So she
shows she seems the budding rose.
Y
et sweeter far
than is earthly flower
?
( R. Greene: Pandosto )
当她出现，看来犹似含苞的玫瑰，但却远比尘世的花儿馥郁?
Her
face resembled a silver moon.
Her face bore the
resemblance of a moon.
4
她的脸长得像一轮银月。
He treats his
child as the apple in the eye.
他把他的孩子当成掌上明珠。
Samuel Johnson regarded a
dictionary as a watch.
塞缪尔·约翰逊把词典看成钟表。
Shakespeare compared the
world to a stage
．
( Wood )
莎士比亚把世界比作舞台。
Y
ou can 1iken your eye to a
camera.
( Neal )
你可以把你的眼睛比作照相机。
Thus fair Samela
Pass fair V
enus in her
bravest hue
?
( R. Greene: Samela )
因而美丽的，莎米娜
胜过衣着最华丽的维纳斯?
His
nose was particularly white and his large
nostrils, correspondingly dark, reminded me of
an oboe when they dilated.
他
鼻子特别白，而他那对发黑的大鼻孔在张大时使我想起双簧管。
His
strength is similar to a horse.
他强壮如牛。
( 4 )
词组
may
／
migh
t as
well
?（
as
）
(
做?就好像做?
)
，
no
more
／
less
?
than
／
not any more
?
< br>than
(
如同?一样
)
，
so
speak
／
as it were
(
可以说，可以比喻
地说
)
。
He never
listens
—
you might as well
talk to a brick (as talk to him).
他根本不听一同他讲话就好像同一堵墙讲话一样。
He woke them both up getting to
bed
，
but when they tried to
wake him up afterwards they
might as
well have tried to wake the dead.
他去睡觉的时候把他们两个都弄醒了，但是后来
他们想唤醒他时，简直就像唤死人一样。
Y
ou might as well except a
river to flow backward as hope to move me.
你不能动摇我的决心，正如你不能使河水倒流一样。
Our village is no less beautiful than
this picture.
我们的乡村同这幅图画一样美。
A
student
can
no
more
obtain
knowledge
without
studying
than
a
farmer
can
get
harvest
without plowing.
学生不学习获不到知识，犹如农民不耕作就不能得到收获一样。
A
whale is not a fish any
more than a horse is.
鲸不是鱼，正如马也不是鱼一样。
A
home without love is no
more than a body without a soul.
没有爱的家庭无异于一个没有灵魂的躯体。
The greatness of a people is no more
determined by their number than the greatness of a
man
is determined by his height.
( V
. Hugo )
一个民族的伟大并不取决于人口的
多少，
正如
一个人的伟大不能取决于他的身高一样。
He is, as it were, a walking
dictionary.
可以说，他是一本活词典．
The
traffic manager has in the hollow of his hand, so
to speak, the traffic of the whole system.
< br>在某种程度上，运输经理把整个系统的运输情况，全掌握在自己手心里。
5
2.
隐
喻
METAPHOR
1
定义
关于隐
喻，
Webster
?
s
New
World
Dictionary
说
“
a
figure
of speech
containing
an
implied
comparison
，
in
which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily
used of one thing is applied to
another
”
< br>。这个解释十分简明，意思是说，隐喻是一种隐含着比喻的修辞格，它的通常和基
本的用法是，
表述某一事物的词或者词组被用来比喻另外的一种事物。
< br>由于它的比喻是隐藏
着的，那么它的主体与喻体的关系就显得十分的紧密。关于这
一点，
《辞海》说得好：隐喻
是“比喻的一种。本体和喻体的关
系，比之明喻更为紧切。明喻在形式上只是相类的关系，
隐喻在形式上却是相合的关系。
本体和喻体两个成分之间一般要用‘是’
、
‘也’等比喻词。<
/p>
如：
‘
儿童是祖国的花朵’
。
”
基于此，
人们常称隐喻
为
“浓缩的明喻”
(a compressed or
condensed
simile)
。看来，隐喻与明喻的关
系确实十分紧密，就是说定义也常常把它们一起提起。譬如
A
Dictionary Of Literary
Terms
就说，
隐喻是
“
A
figure of
speech in which one thing is described
in terms of another. The basic figure
in poetry. A
comparison is usually
implicit; whereas in simile
it is expli
cit
.”
再次指出，隐喻的比喻是隐含着的，而明喻的比喻是
明显的。综上所述，我们
就可以得出这样一个概念，隐喻
(me
taphor)
是相对于明喻
(simile)
而言的，运用隐喻这一修辞
方法的人，
一般在句中不明
确告诉读者
A
像
B
或
B
像
A
，
而是简捷地说
A
是
< br>B
或
B
就是
A
。
2
比较
：隐喻与明喻
戈恩教授在他著的
Rhetoric in
Practice
一书中用对比手法将明喻与隐喻作了比较：
例：
Similes
Metaphors
1.
Life
is
like
an
isthmus
between
two
eternities.
1.
Life
is
an
isthmus
between
two
eternities.
生活像永恒的生死两端之间的峡道。
生活是永恒的生死两端之间的峡道。
2.
Happiness
is
like
sunshine:
it
is
made
up
of
2. The sunshine
of
life
is
made
up
of
very
little
very little beams.
beams.
幸福像阳光，它由非常细小的光束构成。
生活的阳光由非常细小的光束构成。
3.
Habit may be likened to a cable; every day
3.
Habit is a cable; every day we weave a
we
weave a thread, and soon we cannot break
thread, and soon we cannot break it.
it.
习惯像缆索，每天我们编上一条线，
习惯是缆索，每天我们编上一条线，
不久我们便扯不断了。
不久我们便扯不断了。
3
隐喻的表达形式
( 1 )
名词型
( noun metaphors )
All
the world?s
a stage, and all the men
and women merely players.
(
William Shakespeare )
整个世界是座舞台，男男女女，演员而已。
Education is the filling of a pail, but
the lighting of a fire.
( William B. Y
eats )
教育不是注满一桶水，而是点燃一把火。
Money is a bottomless sea, in which
honour, conscience, and truth may be
drowned
．
( Kozlay )
6
金钱是无底的海洋，荣誉、良心和真理都可以淹没在其中。
Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams
die,
Life is a
broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly.
( Langston Hughes )
紧紧抓住梦想吧，
如果梦想死亡，
生命就像折翼的鸟儿，
再也不能飞翔。
She
was a lady born, a jewel though probably she could
do no more than just read and write.
虽然她文化不高，她生来就是披金挂银的太太。
He
went west
by
a stagecoach
and
succumbed
to
the
epidemic
of
gold
and silver
fever
in
Navada?s Washoe
region.
他乘车西行，到了内华达州的瓦舒地区，卷入丁淘金热。
Time is money.
时间是金钱。
Beauty,
strength, youth, are flowers but fading seen;
Duty, faith, love are roots, and ever
green.
( George Peele )
美貌、体力、青春，就像花朵，终将衰尽；
义务、信念、爱情，就像树根，万古长青。
Marriage is a book of which the first
chapter is written in poetry and remaining
chapters in
prose.
( Beverley Nichols )
婚姻，是一本第一章以诗写成，其余各章则以散文写就的书。
A
silver plate (=The moon)
is rising up in the sky.
一个银盘在天边升起。
The
human tide was rolling westward.
(
Dickens )
人流向西涌去。
The web
of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill
together.
( Shakespeare )
我们的生活是吉凶交织而成的网。
He
is a walking
dictionary
／
encyclopedia.
他是一本活词典
(
< br>百科全书
)
。
Life is a journey.
人生是一次旅行。
He
is a bag of wind.
他只说不干。
‘
He is an old woman.
他是个婆婆妈妈的人。
Experience is the mother of wisdom.
经验是智慧之母。
He is an
al1-purpose basket.
他是一个多面手。
We had been singing all night in the
tavern. Next morning I had a frog in the throat.
我们在酒馆里唱了一整夜的歌，第二天早晨我的嗓子就嘶哑了。
7
He
1ives in a palace of a house.
他住在宫殿一般的房子里，
The boat disappeared in a mountain of a
wave.
船在一般如山高的大浪中消失了。
She
was an angel of a wife.
她是天仙般的妻子。
I?ve got
the
devil of a toothache.
我牙痛不堪。
( 2 )
动词型
( verb metaphors )
The
boy wolfed down the food the moment he grabbed it.
那男孩儿一抓到食物便狼吞虎咽般地吃了下去。
The case snowballed into one of the
most famous trials in U. S. history.
这个案子像滚雪球似地，最终成了美国历史上最著名的审判之
一。
He
could
not
get
rid
of
his stick
now.
His
shriek
sounded
faintly,
dulled
by
the
billowing
snow.
他
现在仍然丢不下拐仗，他的尖叫声听起来模糊，枚纷纷扬扬的大雪压低了。
Some
books
are
to
be
tasted,
others
to
be
swallowed,
and
some
few
to
be
chewed
and
digested.
有些书是要品尝的，有的是要吞吃的，还
有少数要细嚼慢咽，进行消化。
The boy is
shooting up fast.
这个小孩长得特快。
For eight months he
flirted
with the colossal wealth available to the lucky
and the persistent,
and was rebuffed.
(
Noel Grove )
蕴藏的巨大财富，只有那些幸运者和孜孜不倦的追求者才能
得到。而他八个月来蜻
蜒点水，一无所获，被拒之门外。
He that cannot forgive others breaks
the bridge
over which he must pass
himself for every
man has
need to be forgiven.
( Fuller )
不能原谅别人的人，
等于毁掉了他自
己必须经过的桥，
因为每个人都有需要别人原谅
的时候。
All
day
long,
whilst
the
women
were
praying
ten
miles
away,
the
lines
of
the
dauntless
English
infantry were
receiving and repelling the furious charges of the
French horsemen.
Guns
which
were
heard
at
Brussels
were
ploughing
up
their
ranks
，
and
comrades
falling,
and
the
resolute
survivors closing in.
( W
. H.
Thackeray: V
anity Fair )
整整一
天，当妇女们在
10
英里以外祈祷的时候，英勇的英国步兵队伍
一直在经受并且
击退法国骑兵的猛烈进攻。在布鲁塞尔都能听见的炮击，犁田般地打得英
军队伍人仰马翻；
弟兄们倒下了，活着的又坚强地集结起来。
Waves thundered against the rocks.
水浪猛烈地拍打着岩岸。
The
corridor was flooded with boys and girls.
走廊里挤满了男女小孩。
She
melted dissolved into tears.
她感动得流下眼泪。
Don
?
t monkey with
the new radio.
不要乱动新收音机。
8
Misfortune dogged him at every
turn
．
灾难老是折磨着他。
The
long faced hijacker barked his orders.
那个长脸的劫机者狂吠般地发号施令。
I have been wrestling with this problem
for half ah hour.
我钻研这个问题已经半小时了。
Everything was bathed in the golden
sunlight.
万物沐浴在金色的阳光下。
The
train steamed into the station.
火车吐着气开进了车站。
He tailed her into the cave.
他尾随着她走进洞穴。
He
needled his way through the crowd.
他穿过人群。
( 3
)
形容词型
( adjective metaphors )
It is a thorny problem
／
issue
／
subject.
这是个棘手的问题
(
题目
< br>)
。
The
girl is a dead shot.
这位姑娘是神枪手
!
He
loves a rosy cheek.
他喜欢玫瑰色面颊。
After the
failure of his last novel his reputation stands on
slippery grounds.
自从他的上部小说失败之后，他的名誉一落千丈。
His speech touched off a stormy
protest.
他的演讲引起了强烈的抗议。
We
regard it as a burning shame to have lagged
behind.
我们把落后看成是奇耻大辱。
He has a golden
opportunity.
他有着极好的机会。
She
has a photographic memory for detail.
她对细节有照相机般的记忆力。
I?ve got one of
my
Sahara thirsts on tonight.
(
O. Henry: The Clarion Call )
今天晚上我又发作了一次撒哈拉大沙漠式的口渴。
He
has the microwave smile that warms another person
without heat.
( Time, October
29
，
1979 )
他有一种微波微笑，能不加热而使别人温暖。
By
this
hour
the
volcanic
fires
of
his
nature
had
burnt
down,
and
having
drunk
no
great
quantity as yet he was
inclined to acquiesce.
( Thomas Hardy )
到这时候，
他天性中那种暴烈的火焰已经燃烧殆尽，
酒还喝得不多，
他就打算加以默认
了。
其他形容词作喻体的有：
the golden
age
黄金时代
stormy
applause
雷鸣般的掌声
iron
will
钢铁般的意志
a silver
tongue
流利的口才
a biting north
wind
刺骨的北风等。
9
注：
某些复合形容词也含有喻体，
例如：
d
og-tired (=very tired); pitch-
dark
／
black (=very
dark
／
black); coal-black
(=very black); snow-white (=very
white)
等。
( 4 )
副词型
(
adverbial metaphors )
He flatly refused
us.
他坚决拒绝我们。
They 1ived from hand to mouth.
他们收入仅够糊口。
He
was
almost
at
the
end
of
his
tether
(
牵绳
)
when
he
stumbled
on
the
solution
of
his
difficulty
．
他在山穷水尽之际找到了解决困难的办法。
People who 1ived in the glass house
should not throw stones.
处于脆弱地位的人不应攻击他人；正人先正已。
She was born with a silver spoon in her
mouth.
她生于富贵人家。
Time passed
at a nail?s
pace
.
时间过得很慢
o
They escaped
by a hair?s
breath.
他们死里逃生。
( 5 )
谚语型
(proverbs serving as
metaphors )
To many cooks spoil the
broth.
人多坏事。
Do
not put the cart before the horse.
勿将本末倒置。
Do
not wash yourdirty linen in public.
家丑不可外扬。
Give him
an inch and he will make a mile.
得寸进尺。
Look before
you leap.
三思而后行。
Strike the
iron while it is hot.
趁热打铁。
Y
ou can not make an omelet
without breaking eggs.
做事不可畏首畏尾。
Tomorrow is another (a new)
day
.
重振旗鼓，东山再起。
A
little pot is soon hot.
小人易怒，小锅易沸。
Fish sticks at the head.
上梁不正下梁歪。
A
new broom sweeps clean.
新官上任三把火。
A
bird in the hand is worth
two in the bush
／
wood.
双鸟在林，不如一鸟在手。
Every dog has
its
／
his day.
人人皆有得意时。
Still waters run deep.
水静流深，人静心深。
上述谚语都以
隐喻的手法，生动形象地表达了一些社会现象和真理，语言简明，喻义深刻，
值得学习、
借鉴和运用。
10
3.
借
代
METONYMY
1.
定义
关于英语的
metonymy,
Webster
?s
New International
Dictionary
是这样解释的：
“
A
figure
of speech that consists in using the
name of one thing for that of something else with
which it
is
asso
ciated.
”
这一段话大意是说，
metonymy
是这样的一个辞格，
即用一事物的名称来
代替另一事物，当然这一事物与另一事物是有关联的。
《韦氏大辞典
》这样的解释，与
metonymy
的希腊语原义
“
a change of
name
”
在主要意义上是一致的。
关于“用一事物的名称取代另一事物”这一层意思，汉语的《辞海》在定义借代时阐述
得更为清楚：
“修辞学上辞格之一，甲事物同乙事物不相类似，但有不
可分离的关系，利用
这种关系以乙事物的名称来代替甲事物的，叫借代。如‘熟读王叔和
，不如临症多’
(
《儒
林外史》第三十
一回
)
借王叔和代王叔和编著的医书。
”
2.
特点
<
/p>
综合上述英语与汉语两部辞典的两则定义以及
metonymy<
/p>
的希腊语原义，
笔者认为，
借代
(metonymy)
具有这样几个特点：
1)
甲事物与乙事物不相类似。
2)
甲事物与乙事物有不可分离的关系。
3)
以乙事物的名称来代替甲事物。
例：
The
Peaceful Shepherd
If heaven
were to do again,
And on the pasture
bars
I leaned to1ine the figures in
Between the doffed stars.
I
should be tempted to forget,
I fear,
the Crown of Rule,
The Scales of
Trade, the Cross of Faith
，
As hardly worth renewal.
For these have governed in our lives,
And see how men have
warred
．
The
Cross, the Crown, the Scales may all
As
well have been the Sword.
( Robert Frost
)
和平的牧师
假如老天准备把天下重新安排，
我就斜靠着牧场酒吧的柜台
设计新的人间的图案，
星光点点在我头上放射光彩。
我可能会欣然忘掉，
11
君王的律条，
生意场上的天平秤与十字架的虔诚，
这些几乎都值得重新推敲。
这些东西驾驭着我们的生活，
而且看着人们如何为它们争夺。
十字架，王冠，天平秤统统是刀剑。
这首诗中，
Cross
，
Crown<
/p>
，
Scales
就是借代。
是借用典型的实物来代替特定的概念。
在诗中，
cr
oss
是十字架，
crown
是皇冠，
scales
是天平，这些东西与它们分别所代替的教会，王权
与
商业贸易都是不相类似的东西，
但
c
ross(
十字架
)
与教会，
crown(
皇冠
)
与
王权，
scales(
天平秤
)
与商业贸易又都各自有着不可分离的关系，
而借代辞格正是利用它们之
间的这种紧密的关系
而用
cross
代
替教会，
crown
代替王权，
sca
les
代替商业贸易。
英语<
/p>
Metonymy
为一种常用修辞格，其主要作用是使表达简练、
具体、生动、有趣。根
据本体与代体之间的关系，
Metony
my
的运用大致可分十类。
3.
借代类型
( 1 )
以事物的特征代替事物、人本身。
The blue eyes walked into the office.
篮眼睛走进了办公室。
She
studied in Blue Grass for four years.
她在蓝草学习了四年。
Blue
Grass
指美国肯塔基州的
Lexington (
莱克星顿
)
。
She said
coldly, “I asked
how much.”
The piggy eyes
blinked. “Ten thousand
dollars.”
她冷冰冰地回敬说：
“我问的是要多少！
”
猪眼睛眨
眨眼说：
“一万美元。
”
The piggy
eyes
指
the man with pig-like
eyes.
A
thousand mustaches
can live together, but not four breasts.
( A
Proverb )
千条汉子能共处，两个婆娘难相容。
Have I in conquest stretch?d my arms so
far
To be afraid to tell
graybeards the truth?
( William
Shakespeare: Julius Caesar )
难道我
南征北战，攻下了这许多地方，却不敢对一班白须老头子们讲真话吗
?
Soapy stood still with his hands in his
pockets and smiled at the sight of brass buttons.
( O, Henry: The Police and
the Anthem ))
苏比不声不响地站着，
两手插在口袋里，
一见到警察就露出微笑。
*
铜纽扣是美国警察
制服的一个特征，此处借以代指警察。
No cross, no crown.
( A
proverb )
没有苦就没有甜。
另外，
一些禁忌语既属于委婉语范畴，
也属于借代范畴，
例如：
美英对厕所一词创
造了不少代用词：
Women,
men, retiring
room, washroom,
ladies,
gents,
public comfort
station
等。对女厕所的名称更多：
powder
room, rest room, dressing room, cloak room,
lavatory
等。
( 2 )
以工具代替动作或行为者
His
pen would prove mightier than his pickax.
他的笔将证明比他的镐头力量大。
pen
指写作能力、文才，
picka
x
指淘金的体力。
马克·吐愠年轻时在内华达淘过金，但失败
了，后来开始写作，成功了。这两个词生动形象
地写出了他的不同经历。
He was raised to the bench.
他被任命为法官。这里，
bench
指代法
官。
His pen sways over half
of the civilized world.
12
他的作品影响着半个文明世界。
As
it is clear from the City?s
Guide
-Book, Chester still has many
survivals of its past, both in
the form
of picturesque tradition and equally picturesque
bricks and stones. (
大学英语第一册
)
从《城市指南》可以清楚看出，彻斯特仍然有许多遗迹，表现
出优美的传统和美丽如
画的砖石建筑。
“
Well, Mr.
Weller
,”
says the
gentle
?m
n
,
“
you
?
re a very
good whip, and can do what you like
with your houses, we
know
.”
( Charles
Dickens )
“是呀，韦勒先生，
”那位绅士说，
“你是出色的鞭杆子，能够任意指挥你的马，我们是
知道的。<
/p>
”
But in spite of
himself, he became deeply interested in this
Polish girl with the intense gray
eyes
and delicate features, who was as keen on test
tubes as himself.
他不由自主、深深地恋上了这位有着热情的灰色
眼睛和清秀面容，跟他一样热衷于化
学实验的波兰姑娘。
*
句中写居里如何爱上了居里夫人，因为他们有共同的事业
,
都喜欢
test
tubes.
(test
tubes=chemical experiments)
( 3 )
以特征代人或物
There is much of the schoolboy in him.
他身上还有许多小学生的气质。
The
wolf and the pig mingled together in his face.
凶残与贪婪交织在一起，浮现在他的脸上。
I was up early and down late, set my
own hand to everything, took dangers as they came,
and
for once in my life played the man
throughout.
( Robert L. Stevenson: The
Wrecker )
我早起
晚睡，
亲手处理一切事情，
承担一切危险。
在我毕生中，
这一次才不愧为堂堂
男子。
< br>
the British lion
英国人
boiled lobster
英国海军步兵队的兵
the
Bear
俄罗斯
They
ticked
nothing,
of course,
for
their
giggling
and
shouting
scared
every
spotted
thing
away.
他们什么也没有抓着，
那是当然的，
因为他
们的咯咯的笑声与喊叫声把所有的鳗鱼都
吓跑了。
上面的例子中，
“狮’
’代英国，
“煮熟的龙虾”代英国士兵，因为英国士兵常穿红衣，
“熊’
< br>’指俄罗斯，
“有斑点的东西”指鳗鱼，因鳗鱼浑身有斑点，这些借代辞格都是借
特征
代人或物。
( 4 )
以事物活动的场所代替事物或活动者
Downing Street
(
唐宁街
)
→
the British
government or cabinet
The White House
(
白宫
)
→
the President or Executive branch of
the US government
The Kremlin
(
克里姆林宫
)
→
the government
of the Soviet Union
Wall Street
(
华尔街
)
→
U. S. Financial
circles
Capitol Hill
(
国会山
)
→
the legislative
branch of the U. S. government
Hollywood (
好莱坞
)
→
American film-
making industry
The Pentagon
(
五角大楼
)
→
the U.S.
military establishment
Fleet Street
(
舰队街
)
→
the British
press
Foggy Bottom
(
雾谷
)
→
the U.S. State Department
13
Madison
A
venue (
麦迪逊大街
)
→
American
advertising industry
Whitehall
(
白厅
)
→
the British government
Westminster
(
威斯敏斯特
)
→
the British
Parliament or government
例如：
Business lobbyists on Capital Hill are
keeping close tabs on what is known as the Family
and
Medical Leave Act.
( Paul Hoffmon )
国会议员门正在密切注意所谓的“家庭与病假法案”
。
Cap
ital
Hill
是美国首都华盛顿
(Washington
D.C.)
的美国国会大厦，这里以建筑物代美国国会。
A
Beli
or
a
Bailly
may
gain
greater
glory
than
the
Brahmins,
but
he?ll
never
equal
their
entré
e into
White House.
(
Paul Hoffmon )
不论是伯利或贝利都可能比
布拉敏家族获得更大的光荣，但是他永远没有条件进入
白宫。
Scotland Y
ard was called in
by the Xuereb family soon after the couple
disappeared and 120
officers
with
80
vehicles
were
put
on
the
case
under
the
command
of
Commander
William
Hucklesby, head of the anti-terrorist
squad.
这对夫
妇失踪后不久，
苏格兰场就接到了舒埃雷布家的报警。
在刑警队
长兼反恐怖行
动组组长威廉·哈克尔斯比的命令下，
120
名警官分乘
80
辆警车投入了该案的侦破。
*Scotland
Y
ard
指伦敦警察厅刑侦部，原为英国伦敦“市警察厅”总部旧址名，后泛
指
伦敦刑警和侦缉人员，现总部的正式名称为
New Scotland
Yard
，但人们仍习惯沿用旧称。
( 5 )
以某物的产地代替该物
He was behind the arras.
他在挂毯后面。
法国小镇
Arras
以产挂毯闻名于世，后来人们逐渐用
a
rras
来指代挂
毯。
Would you care for a cup of Longjing?
你喝杯龙井好吧
?
这里以产地代产品茶叶。
O
knight,
thou
lackest
a cup
of
canary, when
did I
see
you
so
put
down?
(
Shakespeare:
Twelfth Night)
·
啊，骑士
!
汝需一杯加那利酒，什么时候我看到你这么沉默
?
*
加那利白葡萄酒原产于加那利群岛。
I?m fond of china.
我喜欢瓷器。
瓷器原产于中国，所以
用了
china
产地指产品。不
少产品
以产地命名，如
champagne
（香槟酒）原产于法国香槟
省，
Maotai (
茅台
)
，产于中国
贵州的茅台，
Scotch wis
ky
（苏格兰威土忌）
，
hami
melon (
哈密瓜
)
，
Chinese cabbage (
大白菜
)<
/p>
，
Lima bean
(
利马豆
)
，
Dutch clover (
白三
叶草
)
，
Italian
millet (
意大利黍
)
，
Japanese banana (
芭
蕉<
/p>
)
，
Japanese
flowering cherry (
日本樱花
)
，
Russian olive (
沙枣
)
等等。
( 6 )
以作者或生产者代替作品或产品
Joanne burned Player after Player in
her nervousness at his
father
?
s eccentric and
preoccupied
driving.
( John Updike: Home )
‘
乔安娜
在她父亲古怪地全神贯注地开车的当儿神经质地一根接一根抽烟。
如果有人问你：
“红塔山还是中华？”你立刻会知道这人问的是，你
想要抽哪一种牌子
的香烟。
“红塔山”与“中华”都是商标名，
但此处都实际指商品。诚如上面这句例句里所
描写的，用香烟商标名
Player
指代香烟。
But
you have not seen my Corots yet. They are in the
music room.
( Oscar Wilde )
可是你还没有看见我收藏的柯罗的风景画。它们挂在我的音乐
室里了。
*Corot
(1796-1875)
，著名法国画家，擅长风景画。
Our Sony worked well.
我们的索尼很
好。
Sony
指索尼牌收录机。
14
Ford
company
now
offers
buyers
of
its
Continental
Mark
Vs
an
option
called
“miles
to
empty”.
< br>福特公司现在向用户提供大陆牌
Vs
型轿车，
也叫
“里程油量计”
。
C
ontinental
Mark
商标名，
< br>Vs
指型号，两者代指美国福特汽车公司生产的一种新型轿车。
< br>
But
after that the
police will know they?re looking for a
Jaguar.
但是之后警察会知
道，他们在寻找美洲豹。
Jaguar
是英国产一种轿车商标。
The captain had fallen in
possession of a complete Shakespeare.
( Jack London )
船长得到了一整套的莎士比亚作品。
Anton Rubinstein was renowned for his
rendition of Tchaikovsky.
鲁宾斯坦以演奏柴可夫斯基的作品而著名。
We drove a Ford to Hyde Park.
我们驾驶一辆福特到海德公园去。
(
7 )
以容器代替其中内容
He
has undoubtedly the best stable in the country.
(
用马棚表示马
)
无疑他拥有全国最好的马匹。
He
is fond of the bottle.
他喜欢喝酒。
Sliced
peaches and cream is my favorite dish.
奶油桃子片是我爱吃的一道莱。
What dishes would you like?
您要什么莱
?
The kettle is boiling.
壶
(
水
)
开了。
We discussed the matter over a bottle.
我们边饮酒边讨论此事。
He
set the room roaring with laughter.
他使全屋子爆发出笑声。
The
whole village rejoiced at news.
全村的人听到这个消息很高兴。
He
is in his cups again.
他又喝醉了。
The coat would be beyond his miserable
pocket.
他的钱少得可怜，买不起那件大衣。
Whenever my husband has a bad day at
the office, he hits the bottle.
每当我丈夫在办公室不顺心，他就喝得酩酊大醉。
He keeps a good table and one gets
plenty to eat and drink in his house.
他总是备有佳肴美酒，人们在他家可以吃喝个痛快。
By Jove, sir
, I?ve
pawned my own watch in order to get her
anything she fancied; and she
—
she
?
s been making a purse
for herself all the time, and grudged me a hundred
pound to get out of
quod.
(
William M. Thackeray: V
anity Fair )
老天在上
!
她看中了什么玩意儿，我当了自己的表都要给她买回来。而她呢，一直瞒着
我藏私房钱，
甚至于求她拿
100
镑赎我出狱都不肯。
( 8 )
以人体器官代替其功能
I have
come to pick your
brains.
Y
ou?re a metallurgist, and
I?ve been asked this qu
estion
about steel.
15
我
是来向您讨教知识的。
您是冶金专家，
有人向我提出了有关炼钢
的问题。
句中
brains
指
special knowledge
。
由于人
脑是思维活动的器官，
通常用它指代：
“人才
< br>
”
、
“思想
”
、
“知
识”
等，现在有些政府部门或公司专门设置了“人脑办公室
”
(office for brains)
< br>和“外脑引
进办公室”
(office for
importing brains)
，这些办公室不是指研究人脑结构的机构，而是指
人
才办公室。
Mark Twain honed and experimented with
his new writing muscles.
(
Noel Grove )
马克·吐温磨练他的新的写作能力。
muscles
在此借指
ability.
To get to know the heart that beat
within Marx the scholar, you have to see him
When he
had closed his books
and was surrounded by his family.
( Paul Lafargue )
要了解马克思这位学者
的心，你必须在他不读书，和家里人在一起地时候去看他。
这里用
heart (
心脏
)
代指马克思业
余时间所表现出的聪明才智、心里活动和思想感情。
The practiced ear can
recognize a classic favour.
有音乐修养的人能够听出古典音乐的韵味。
She has the eye for the fair and the
beautiful.
她有审美眼光。
I have an
opinion of you, sir, to which it is not easy to
give the mouth.
( Charles
Dickens: Our Mutual Friend )
我对你有一个意见，先生，不过很难用话语表达出来。
She was, to be sure, a girl who excited
the emotions,
but 1 was not one to let
my heart rule
my head.
(
Max Shulman )
她确实是一个使人动情的姑娘，不
过我不是一个让感情支配理智的人。
She has a
ready tongue.
她口齿伶俐。
( 8 )
以具体事物代替抽象事物
In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till
thou return unto the ground.
( Holy Bible )
你必汗流满面才得糊口，直到你归了土。
*
这句话为上帝在将亚当和夏娃逐出伊甸园前对他们所说，
in the sweat of thy face=with
the help of your hard work.
Soap and education are not as sudden as
a massacre, but they are made deadly
in
the
long
run
．
( Mark Twain )
讲卫生与上学读书并不像大屠杀般突如其来，但结果是更要命的。
*
肥皂借指勤沐浴、讲卫生，此话出自汤姆·索亚和哈克贝利·费恩
等顽童之口。
The rather arresting
spectacle of little old Japan adrift amid beige
concrete
skyscrapers is
the very symbol of the
incessant struggle between the kimono and the
miniskirt.
( Jacques Danvoir )
在那米黄色混凝土摩天大楼丛中，漂浮着小巧玲珑古香古色的
日本水上之家。这情景
颇有点引人注目，恰好象征着和服与超短裙之间持续不断的斗争。
*
句中借和服和超短裙分别指代日本
传统文化和西方现代文化，用法新颖，形象鲜明。
He
lives by the pen. (=writing).
他以写作为生。
He is too fond of the bottle
(=drinking).
他太贪杯了。
I found the
patriot (=patriotism)in him.
我从他身上看到了爱国之心。
16
Don
?
t
act
／
play the fool.
不要装疯卖傻。
We make
pigs of ourselves on her cakes.
我们拼命地吃她的蛋糕。
Play the man!
拿出男子汉气概来！
( 9 )
以抽象事物代替具体事物
It
was
not
only
writers,
you
know,
it
was
a
thoroughly
representative
gathering
—
science,
politics,
business, art, the world.
你知道，那不仅仅是作家，而是各
界人士应有尽有的聚会—科学界、政界、商界、艺术
界，以及其他各界人士全都来了。<
/p>
He has done me kindnesses.
他为我做了很多好事。
See, from his hands, his head, his
side, sorrow and love flow mingled down.
( Issac Watt )
瞧，从他的双手，他的头，他的腰，流下交织着哀和爱的血。
*
指耶稣被钉在十字架上殉难的情形。
In the present instance, it was
sickness and poverty together that she came to
visit.
( Jane Austen )
在目前这种情况下，她一并前来探望的是病人和穷人。
It is a pity that there is more
ignorance than knowledge in the country.
该国未受教育的人多于受过教育的人，真是遗憾。
Keelboats, flatboats and large rafts
carried the first major commerce.
( Noel Grove: Mark. Twain:
Mirror of America )
龙骨船、平底船、大木筏运送着最重要的商品。
To solve the dispute, labour put
forward three proposals.
为了解决争端，劳工们提出了三条建议。
The proposals were expected to be
unacceptable to capital.
不能希望资方就能接受这些建议。
(
10 )
以“颜色词
+
名词”构成的
名词来替代意义上与之有关的名词
He is the
black sheep in the family.
他是他家的害群之马。
He has
a yellow streak.
他有着怯懦的性格。
He
might be the dark horse in the swimming contest.
他在游泳赛中会意外取胜。
This
prize is the blue ribbon in mathematical research.
这奖品是数学研究的最高奖。
*( blue
ribbon
系竞赛中第一名所得的蓝色绶带。
)
She didn
?
t want
to be looked upon as a blue stocking.
她不想被人看成是女才子。
17
4.
拟
人
PERSONIFICATION
1.
定义
拟人辞格顾名思义就是把物拟成人。
Webster
?
s New World Dictionary
定义
< br>personification
为
:
“
a figure of speech in which
a thing, quality, or idea is represented as a
person.
在修辞学上，
拟人法是指把非人的东西
(
如动物、植物、物体、抽象概念等
)
当作人来描写，并赋予它们以
人的特性、
外表
及活动方式等。
在拟人法中，
把那些只适用于描写人的动词、<
/p>
形容词、
名词、
人称代词等用来描写非人
的东西，
使之具有人的属性。
在寓言、
童话、
谚语、
诗歌等文体中，
拟人法常
用来抒发感情，增强文章的感染力。
2
．表达方式
1
）把自然现象或物拟人化
The current
lingers along gently. It comes flowing softly
through the midmost privacy and
deepest
heart of a wood which whispers it to be quiet;
while the stream whispers back again from
its sedgy borders, as if the river and
wood were hushing one another to sleep.
Y
es, the river sleeps
along
its course and dreams of the sky and of
the clustering foliage, amid which fall showers of
broken sunlight, imparting specks of
vivid cheerfulness.
河水轻轻地游荡。
它从密林最深处无人知晓的地方静悄悄流出，
树木对它低声耳语，
叫它静一点；
溪流从芦苇边界也低声回话，
好像小河溪和树木
在彼此催促入睡。
是啊，
小河
溪在它流
过的地方睡着了，
它梦见了瓦蓝的天空和一簇簇的树叶，
透过树
叶撒下了断裂的一
绺绺阳光，形成于生动快活的斑点。
*
文中把河溪和树木等自然现象拟人化了，
写得生动形象，
富有情趣，
似乎把人带进了仙境。
The rain to the wind said
“
Y
ou
push and I
?
ll
pelt,
”
They so smote the garden bed
That the flowers actually
knelt
And lay
lodged
—
though not dead
I know how the flowers
felt.
( Robert Frost
)
雨对风说：
“你来狂吹，我来猛落。
”
他们俩就这样在花圃上施暴虐
于是花儿们便七歪八倒叶残瓣破
最后终于倒下了—尽管还奄奄一息活着
我知道花儿们此时心中感受如何。
*
风和雨都变成了人，变成了冷酷、残暴、以施虐为乐的人，风和雨狂吹猛落直把花儿摧<
/p>
18
残得奄奄一息。
This was the sign meteorologists had
been waiting for. Not only does the sharp fall in
ocean
temperatures
signal
the
breakup
of
the
giant
pool
of
warm
water
in
the
tropical
Pacific
that
triggered
one
of
the century
?
s
greatest
EL
Nino
?
s
unruly
twin
sister,
the climatological
reversal
that scientists
call La Nina (
“
the
girl
”
).
这是气
象学家们一直在等候的征兆。
海洋温度的急剧下降不仅表明了触发本世纪最严重
厄尔尼诺现象之一的热带太平洋大片暖水面的消散，
而且也可能标志厄尔
尼诺桀骜不驯的孪
生妹—气候反常逆转—的生成，科学家们称之为拉尼娜
(
女孩
)
。
(
徐苹译，见《大学英语》
1998
年第
11
期
)
*
厄尔尼诺与拉尼娜本来都是气候现象，科学家为了让听话者
(
阅读者
)
能形象化
地理解
它们，便把它们拟人化，称它们为孪生兄妹。
A
tree whose hungry mouth is
prest
Against the
earth
?
s sweet flowing
breast;
A
tree that
looks at God all day,
And lifts her
leafy arms to pray;
( Joyce Kilmer )
树那饥渴的嘴唇紧紧贴住
大地乳汁甘美的胸脯；
它整天仰望着上帝，
举起枝叶繁茂的手臂祈祷；
Once we were settled in
America, Siberia, Australia, where
there is nothing but a steady
pact
between climate and the calendar, we should regret
her very naughtiness, her willful pranks,
her gusts of rage, and sudden tears.
(
John B. Priestly: First Snow )
假如我们一旦定居于美洲、西伯利亚或澳大利亚—而那里气候与年历之间早已有约在
先，我们即使仅仅因为失去她的调皮，她的胡闹，她的狂忿盛怒与涕泣涟涟也会深感遗憾。
*
作者在句中加以人格化的，是因变幻莫测而成为英国人常谈话题的英国气
候。
Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way
, and that, she
peers, and sees
Silver fruit upon silver tr
ees
．
．
．
(
Walter de la Mare: Silver ))
现在，月儿穿着一双银鞋
慢慢地、静静地走进了夜；
她向这儿看看，那里望望，
望见银果子悬挂在银树上。
But
nature
does
not
manage
it
so.
She
puts
it
(gold)
in
little
fissures
in
the
earth,
nobody
knows where
?
(
John Ruskin )
然而大自然并没这样做，她把金子放在地球的小小裂缝里
，谁也不知道在什么地方?
2
）把机器与用具拟人化
With
a
wild
rattle
and
clatter,
and
an
inhuman
abandonment
of
consideration
not
easily
understood
in
these
days,
the
carriage
dashed
through
streets
and
swept
round
corners,
with
women screaming before it, and men
clutching each other and clutching children out of
its way
. At
last, swooping
at a street corner by a fountain, one of its
wheels came to a sickening little jolt, and
there was a loud cry from a number of
voices.
( Charles Dickens )
19
忽然一阵激烈的咔嚓声，马车从大街上疾驰而过，横扫各个街口，毫不顾及人的安危，
妇女吓得惊叫，
男人吓得相互抱在一起，
抱在
一起的孩子被冲散，在经过井旁的街角处，
一
只车轮终于病似地
停了下来，随后是一声残叫。
*
作者
把横冲直撞的马车进行了拟人化的描写，加上对人的描写，两者交织在一起，造成
一种恐
怖气氛，读起来使人似乎身临其境，毛骨悚然。
The
clock on the wall ticked
loudly and
lazily, as if it had time to
spare.
Outside the rattling
windows there was
a restless, whispering wind. The room grew light
and dark, and wondrous light
again, as
the moon played hide-and-seek through the clouds.
挂钟瀨洋洋地嘀嗒嘀嗒地响，
声音那么大好像时间很充裕。
窗户咯咯作响，
外边不停地
刮着风，像在低
声耳语。月亮在云层中玩抓迷藏时，房间里忽明忽暗，不时出现奇光。
*
本段中把挂钟、风、窗和月亮进行了拟人化的描写，加上拟声词，把夜间的情
景写得
栩栩如生。
Besides,
the kettle was
aggravating and
obstinate
. It wouldn?t
hear
of accommodating itself
kindly to the
knobs of coal; it would lean forward with a
drunken air, and dribble, a very idiot of a
kettle.
( Charles Dickens )
此外那把水壶十分固执，令人气愤。它不爱听它应和煤球很好配合的话；它会向前俯
着身子，像喝醉了酒似的，淌着口水，是个十足的白痴。
*
作者把
kettle
当成人来描写，
赋予了人的性格特征，使文章情趣盎然。
Liquor talks mighty loud when it gets
loose from the jug.
( Joel C. Harris )
酒一从酒壶里溜出来就会大言不惭。
*
指人醉酒后多言。
Money
talks;
money
prints;
money
broadcasts;
money reigns;
and
kings
and
1abor
leaders
alike have to
register its decrees, and even, by a staggering
paradox, to finance its enterprises and
guarantee its profits.
(
G
. Bernard Shaw: The Apple Cart,
Preface )
说话的是钱，
印书出版的是钱，
在无线电广播的是钱，
统治着国家的是钱，
而国王们和
工党领袖们同样必须听命于钱，
而且最为矛盾，
叫人目瞪口呆的是：
他们还必须出钱去维持
富人们所办的企业，保证他们的利益。
There happy masks that kiss
fair ladies?
brows.
Being black, put us in mind they hide
the fair
?
( Shakespeare: Romeo and
Juliet )
那些假面具多么幸福能吻着美人的娇面，
它们掩盖着让我们想像着个个美如天仙。
The stubborn
door won?t
open.
这难开的门打不开。
When
guns speak it is too late to argue.
等到大炮说话，争论已经太迟了。
3
）把动物、植物拟人化
The
baby crocodile thought hard. Then he had a good
idea.
小鳄鱼使劲地想啊想啊，终于想出了个好主意。
It
may
be well
for
these
timid,
lowland
trees
to
tremble
with
all
their
leaves,
or
turn
their
paleness to the sky, if a rush of rain
passes by them; or to let fall their leaves at
last, sick and sere.
But we pines must
live amidst the wrath of clouds. We
only wave our branches to and fro when
the storm pleads with us, as men toss
their arms in a dream.
20
如果有阵雨经过，那些低洼地上胆小如鼠的树木就会吓得周身
的叶子发抖，脸色苍白，
对着天空；阵雨会把那些病人膏盲的叶予打落在地。但是我们松
树必须在风云怒涛中生活。
暴风雨袭来时，我们只是用我们的枝条来回招手致意就像人在
睡梦中动着双臂。
The next morning when the
little tree was awake, it had its needle once
more. It was so glad to
have them again
that
it
laughed, and all the
trees of the forest
laughed with it.
And always after
that the little tree
was contented.
( Story of the
Little Pine Tree )
次日晨，
小树醒来时发现，
它又有了针叶。
它高兴得大笑起来，
林中其他的树也跟着笑
起来。从那以后，这棵小树十分满足。
It is useless for the sheep to pass
resolutions in favour of vegetarianism while the
wolf remains
of a different opinion.
( W
. R. Inge )
当狼依然持有不同意见之时，群羊要通过赞成素食主义的决议
案也是无济于事的。
*
作者将
动物写成人，反过来又借它们讽喻人。
Mosquitoes
were using my ankles for filling stations.
蚊子们把我的脚脖子当作加油站。
Flowers smiled at him.
鲜花向他微笑。
Flowers
peeped out from amongst the leaves.
( Charlotte Bronte )
花儿从树叶中露出来。
The
bear said
,
“
Don
?
t trust
those who leave their friends the moment they get
into difficulty
.”
熊说：
“
不要信任那些在困难时刻背弃朋友的人。
”
*
在拟人
法中，常用人称代词
she
，
he
等代替非人的东西。如：
用
she
，
her
代替
moon
，
nature
，
country
，
ship
，
earth
，
v
irtue (
美德
)
，
religion
，
pity
，
peace
，
charity (
博爱
)
，
li
berty
，
morning
，
venus (
金星
)
，
等；
用
he
，
his
，
him
< br>代替
sun
，
god
，
time
，
ocean
，
war
，
a
nger
，
pine
，
death
，
love
，
Cupid (
丘比特，爱神
)
，
neptune (
海王星
)
，等。
5
．把抽象的事物或概念拟人化
Bitterness fed on the man who had made
the world laugh.
痛苦抚养了这位使全世界人民发出阵阵笑声的伟人。
* Bitterness fed
on
把抽象的概念形象化。
Does not wisdom
cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
智慧没有喊叫
?
理解没有吱声？
Love, free as air, at sight of human
ties, spreads its light wings, and in a moment
flies.
像空气那样自由的爱情，
一见到人们相连的纽带
，
便展开了它轻盈的翅膀，
立即飞翔起
起来。
Time is like a fashionable host, that
slightly shakes his passing guest
by
th? hand and
with his
arms
stretched, as he would fly, grasps in the comer.
The welcomes ever
smile, and farewell
goes
out sighing.
( William Shakespeare )
时间正像一个趋炎附势的主人，
对于一个临去的客人不过和他略微握
一握手，
对于一个
新来的客人，
却伸开
了双臂，
飞也似地过去抱住他。
欢迎是永远含笑的，
告别总是带着叹息。
A
lie can travel half way around the world while the
truth is putting on its shoes.
( Mark Twain )
当真理刚刚穿上鞋子，谎言就可能已经走了半个世界。
Charles
Ⅱ
, to
intimate the citizens of London, caused the
patriot Lord Russell to be drawn in
an
open
coach through
the
principal
streets
of
the
city
on
his
way
to
the
scaffo1d
.
“
But
,”
his
biographer
says
, “
the multitude
imagined they saw liberty and virtue sitting
by his side.”
21
英王查
理二世为了要杀一儆百，在爱国志士罗素勋爵上法场之前，先叫他坐了敞篷马
车在伦敦大
街上周游一番。于是据替他写传记的人说：
“道旁的群众看见自由和正义就坐在
他的身旁。
”
Life has cheated her.
生活已经欺骗了她。
Rest,
Good Cheer, and Moderate Diet are the three best
doctors.
休息、愉快和节食是三大良医。
Justice has long arms.
(
谚
)
天网恢恢，疏而不漏。
Walls have long ears.
隔墙有耳。
Love is blind.
(
谚
)
情人眼里出西施。
Necessity is the mother of
invention.
需要是发明之母。
Time is the best physician
/ healer.
时间是妙手神医。
Procrastination is the
thief of time.
拖延就是浪费时间。
Power is the arbiter.
(
Jack London )
权力决定一切。
Boldness be my friend.
( Shakespeare )
但愿勇敢与我为友。
Lies have short 1egs.
(
谚
)
谎言站不住脚。
22
5.
拟
声
ONOMA
TOPOEIA
1.
定义
Onomatopoeia:
The formation of words in imitation of natural
sounds; the name of a thing or
action
by a more or less exact reproduction of the sound
associated with it. ( WED )
Onomatopoeia
是指模仿人、动物或事物的声响，或模仿
与某动作或某运动有关的声响，
借以达到语言生动形象、
渲染气
氛、
感动读者的修辞格。
凡是模仿事物或动作的声音而构成
的词称为拟声词
(imitative words)
。拟声词可以作名词、副词、动词、形容词用。大多数拟声
词不仅指声音，而
且指产生声音的动作。拟声词可以使语言生动、形象，情景逼真，从而使
读者产生如闻其
声、
如临其境的感觉。
拟声法不仅是一种重要的修辞方法，
而且是一种构词
方法，
对丰富英语词库起了
一定的作用。
由于它的表现力和感染力很强，
故在诗歌、
小说等
文学作品中应用很广，在论文、随笔、新闻中也屡见不鲜。
2
．表达方式
1
）模仿人的声音
例如：
Mm
嗯、
sh
嘘、
hey
嘿、
oh
< br>哦呀；
ha
哈、
giggle<
/p>
格格（笑）
、
grumble
闷声闷气地
说，喃喃地说
(
表示抱怨牢骚
)
、
grunt
哼嗤
(
表示恼怒、轻蔑
)
、
mumble
咕哝地说
(
言语不清
)
、
chuckle
轻笑，嘿嘿自笑、
whimp
er
啜泣，呜咽、
whisper
耳语
等。这些词模仿人的不同说话
声、笑声和哭泣声，表达出人的不同感情和语义。表示人发
出的不同的动作声音有：
clap
拍
手
声、
patter
急促的脚步声、
ba
n
碰碰敲击声、
clatter
嘡嘡脚
步声等。
Johnhie
had
seen
him
too
and
ran
to
the
gate.
Then
clatter,
clatter
up
the
stairs,
Johnnie
knocked at the door.
(
《大学英语》第一册
)
约翰尼也看到了他
<
邮递员
)
，
就向大门口跑去。
然后约翰尼嚓
拉嚓拉地走上楼来，
敲着
她的门。
<
/p>
*
句子中的两个
clatter
生动形象地描写出了
Johnnie
上楼的脚步
声，读者仿佛也在楼上，
具有同样的感受。
Presently Ben Rogers came in sight. He
was eating an apple, giving a long, melodious
whoop
at intervals, followed by a deep-
toned ding-dong-dong, ding-dong-dong, for he was
personating a
steamboat.
(
Mark Twain: The Glorious Whitewasher )
忽然
Ben
Rogers
从远处走来，他一边啃着大苹果，一边不时地发出阵阵悦耳的嘟嘟声
,
接着他模仿着轮船低沉的笛声，叮当当，叮当当走了过来。
*
文中三处拟声词生动逼真地刻画出了
Ben
Roger
的天真、括泼、可爱的形象。
There she sat listening to the chatter
and comment about her.
( Carrie Sister )
她坐在那儿，听他们对她评头评足；呱拉呱拉地咬舌头。
“
What be ye looking
at?
”
asked a man who had not
observed the incident.
“
Ho-ho-
ho!
”
laughed dark Car.
23
“
Hee-hee-hee!
”
laughed
the
tippling
bride,
as
she
steadied
herself
on
the
arm
of
her
fond
husband.
“
Heu-heu-heu!
”
laughed
dark
Car
?
s
mother,
stroking
her
moustache
as
she
explained
laconically
. “
Out
of the frying-pan into the
fire
.”
( Thomas Hardy: Tess of the
D
?
urbervilles )
“你们在看什么呀
?
”有一个男人注意
到了这个动作。
“嗬嗬嗬<
/p>
!
”黝黑的卡尔笑了。
“嘻嘻嘻
!
< br>”歪歪倒倒的新娘子也笑了，一把抓住她深情的丈夫的手臂稳住自己。
“咻咻咻
!
< br>”
卡尔的母亲也笑了，
一面抹着上唇的胡髭，
一面简明扼要地下了注脚，
“才
出了煎锅，又掉进
大火
!
”
*
该例引自哈代小说
《德伯维尔家的苔丝》
：
苔丝与乡亲去镇上娱乐，
深夜回家途中不慎
得罪了几个酗酒放荡的女人，
遭到她们的嘲笑与欺负，
只得接受别有用心的富家公子德伯维
尔的帮助，骑上马随他离群而去。作者用三个拟声
词描写三个不同女人的嘻笑，绘声绘色，
妙不可言。
I
chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and
trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the
pebbles.
( Alfred Tennyson: The Brook )
我在石路上潺潺而谈，
唱出高音串串，
我注入湾里的涡旋，
弹响卵石的琴弦。
*
诗人采取拟声与拟人并用的修辞手法，使诗句生动形象，妙趣横生。
2
）模仿动物的声音
这类动词或名词较多，常见的有狗叫声
yap,
bark,
howl;
马的嘶鸣声
neigh,
whinnies;
母
牛的哞叫声<
/p>
moo
，
boo;
公牛的吼叫声
bellow;
狮子的吼声
roar;
虎啸声
growl;
驴叫声
bray;
猪叫声
grunt;
猫叫声
mew;
鸭子呱呱叫
quack;
喜鹊的喳喳声
chatter;
鸽子的咕咕声
Coo;
布
谷鸟的布谷声
cuckoo;
青蛙的蛙叫声
croak;
蜜蜂的飞鸣声
hum;
蛇的嘶嘶声<
/p>
hiss
等。
Apes gibber.
猿吱吱声。
Asses bray (heehaw).
驴叫。
Cocks crow
(cock-a-doodle-doo).
雄鸡喔喔啼。
Chickens cheep.
小鸡叽叽叫。
Elephants trumpet.
象吼叫。
Wolves howl.
狼嗥叫。
All was quiet again in Han Mansion
except for some people snoring, the horse chewing
mash,
and the geese crackling at
intervals.
《暴风骤雨》
韩家大院的屋里屋外都
静悄悄的。光听见人的鼾息和马嚼草料的声音，此外还有几
声鹅叫声。
< br>
The moment the hawker rushed in,
the white geese set up an excited
quacking, to be joined
by
hens chucking, dog barking.
《暴风骤雨》
叫卖的小贩一跑进去，
鹅都嘎嘎地高声大叫起来，随着鸡也叫，狗也叫。
*
句子中一连用了
hawker,
quacking, chucking
和
barking
四个拟声词，
勾画出了人、
禽和
狗齐鸣的热闹场面。
The moan of
doves in immemorial elms,
24
And murmuring
of innumerable bees.
鸽子在古老的榆林中呻吟，
成群的蜜蜂在低声飞鸣。
Bow-
wow, says the dog,
Mew, mew, says the
cat,
Grunt, grunt says the hag,
And squeak goes the bat.
Tu-
whu, says the owl,
Caw, caw, says the
crow,
Quack, quack, says the duck,
And what cuckoos says you know.
狗儿汪汪咬，猫儿咪咪叫，猪凡呼噜噜，
蝙蝠唧唧叫。嗬嗬猫头鹰；哇哇鸟雅鸣，
嘎嘎鸭子声，你知道布谷鸟啥叫声。
*
这首儿歌把各种动物的叫声描写得生动形象，
朗朗上口。
英语中的拟声词有些比较逼真，
有些不够逼真，而汉语中的拟声词都十分逼
真形象。
3
）模仿金属器械等发出的声音的拟声词
bang
(
枪等
)
砰声；
boom (
大炮等的
)
轰隆声；
pop (
枪等
)
砰声；
rattle (
窗等的
)
嘎嘎声；
r
umble
(
风、雷、炮、车辆等的
)
轰隆声；
clink (
金属、玻璃
等的
)
叮当声；
clank (
铁链、刀枪等的
)
叮
当声；
clack (
刀叉、碗碟、机器等的
< br>)
铿锵声；
click (
剪刀
、门、按钮等的
)
咔嚓声；
tinkl
e (
铃
等的
)
叮当声；
ding-
dong
丁当声；
toot (
火车、
汽车、轮船等汽笛声
)
嘟嘟声；
tic
ktack (
钟、表
等发出的
)
滴嗒声；
ticktock(
有摆锤的大钟
的
)
滴嗒声；
clash
(
刀、剑、钹撞击时的
)
铿锵声；
clang (
敲金属时的
)
当啷声；等。
As
you approach it, a tinkling and banging and
clashing begins to impringe on your ear.
你一走近这里，
叮叮当当、
乒乒乓乓、
噹噹啷啷的敲打声和铜器的撞击声就开始传进
你的耳鼓。
*
文中三个拟声词把铜匠的工作勾画得淋漓尽致，简练而又生动
形象。
Ancient
girders
creak
and
groan, with
the
squeaking
and
rumbling
of
the
grinding
wheels,
and the occasional grunts,
and sight of the camels.
<
/p>
古老的大梁发出吱吱嘎嘎声，还有磨轮的轧轧咕噜声，骆驼偶尔发出的呼噜叹息声，
响成一片。
*
廖廖
数语，用了几个拟声词就把原始的榨油作坊的榨油景象写得栩栩如生。
The
night
shift
had
already
begun
and
the
air
was
vibrating
with
the
hum
and
clatter
of
machinery.
夜班已经上工，空中荡漾着机器开动的嘈杂响声。
While Miss Martha was reaching for
bread there was a great tooting and clanging, and
a fire
engine came rumbling.
Martha
小姐去拿面包时，突然
听到一声巨大的嘟嘟声和噹噹声，接着就听到一辆救
火车隆隆地开过来。
The ticking of the clock
was the only sound that greeted him, for not a
soul remained.
( Thomas
Hardy:
—
The Return of the
Native )
迎接他的只有滴答的钟声，因为再也没有一个人留下了。
4
）模拟自然界的各种声音
自然界
从春到冬，
气象万千，
变化多端，
人们
可以听到淙淙的流水声
babble, murmur;
波
25
浪的汩汩声
swish;
微风的沙沙声
whisper;
强风的嗖嗖声
whirl;
暴风的怒吼声
roar;
下雨的
滴嗒声
spatter;
震耳欲聋的雷鸣声
crack
，
rumble
等。模仿水等液体声音的拟声词有：
splash
水的溅泼声；
bubble
发出的气泡声；
hiss
沸水发出的嘶嘶声；
sizzle (
油炸食物时
)
发出的丝丝
声；
drip-
drip
滴滴嗒嗒声等。
The
ice was here, the ice was there,
The
ice was all around:
It cracked and
growled, and roared and howled,
Like
noises in a swound!
( Samuel T. Coleridge: The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner )
这里是冰，那里是冰，
到处是冰墙重重。
崩裂、咆哮、吼呜、嚎啸，
真个是震耳欲聋。
*
诗人连用四个拟声词模仿冰裂的响
声，逼真地再现了大海上冰山崩裂，波涛汹涌，
惊天动地的奇特景象。
< br>
My souls, how the wind did scream
along! And every second or two
there
?
d come a glare
that lit up the white-caps for a half a
mile around, and you
?
d see
the islands looking dusty through
the
rain, and the trees thrashing around in the wind,
then comes a
h-wack! -burn! bum!
bumble-
umble-
um-bum-bum
bum
and
the
thunder would
go
rumbling
and
grumbling
away,
and
quit
—
and then rip
comes another flash and another sockdolager.
( Mark Twain:
The Adventures of Hucklekerry Finn )
天哪，大风尘叫着一阵吹过去，那
股劲儿可真够瞧的
!
每过一两秒钟，就会有一股闪
电的光，
把前后左右半英里以内的一片白浪照得透亮，
这时候你就会透过那大雨瞧见那些小
岛上好像尘土满处飞似的，那些树也让大风刮得东
歪西倒；跟着就是哗的一声，轰隆
!
轰隆
!
轰隆隆、轰隆隆、轰隆、轰隆、轰隆、轰隆隆—雷就这么呼隆隆、扑通通越响越远，
后来就
不响了，一会儿又是挺亮的一闪，跟着又是一阵响得要命的劈雷。
*
作者借
助拟声词模仿不同的雷声，
惟妙惟肖地描绘了一场惊心动魄的暴风雨。
< br>如果不
用这些拟声词，描写将大为失色。
The only sounds were wind outside the
window, the spatter of snow on the ground.
只有窗外的风声和雪花飘落的声音。
The waters of the Wangpoo
splashed and gurgled around the laughing, wine-
flushed party on
deck.
拔拉拨拉的黄浦江水怒吼着，甲板
上那儿几位半酒醉的老板们都仰起了脸哈哈大笑。
*
这是《子夜
》中的一句话，
splash
是波浪与水击的声音，
gurgle
表示悲伤流泪的声音，
这里作者勾画
出了半封建半殖民地的旧上海买办资产阶级的花天酒地和劳苦大众的痛
苦与愤怒。
5
）声音象征词
(Sound
symbolism)
这类词也被语言学家看成是一种拟声词。如：字母
S
< br>象征着风的嘘嘘声、水的沙沙声、
蛇的嘶嘶声；
M
象征着低沉的声音，如海啸、昆虫的营营声，鸽子的嘟哝声等；
R
象征着
刺耳的声音或凶兆，
B
、
P
的发音象征着水的激动声；等。正因为如此，文
学家在自己的作
品中往往使用这些字母开头的词
(
即声音象征词
)
来表达某种概念、意境或气氛，使读
者引起
联想。
如在河流的景物描写中多采用
boil, bubble, drip, drop, 1ap, plop, ripple
< p>等一类词来加强
表达效果。
最后谈
一下英语拟声词的构成。王力先生在谈到汉语拟声词的结构时说：
“单字拟声法，
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