英語中的明

喻漫談 崔希蘭

摘要英語中的明喻常借以狀物、寫景、抒情、喻理,使表達形象生動、明白易懂、新鮮有趣、委婉幽默、印象深刻等。本文著重探討了simile的基本特征、常用的喻詞和表達式及需要說明的幾個問題。

關(guān)鍵詞明喻喻詞喻體

中圖分類號:H315文獻標識碼:A

明喻是英語中使用最廣泛的修辭格之一。它可借以狀物、寫景、抒情、喻理,使表達形象生動、明白易懂、新鮮有趣、委婉幽默、印象深刻。本文試從以下幾個方面對其進行探討。

1 明喻的基本特征

明喻的基本特征主要有三個:明喻的本體(或主體)與喻體不屬于不同性質(zhì)或特征的人或事物,并同時出現(xiàn)在句子中;本體(primary term或tenor)與喻體(secondary term或vehicle)必須有一點相似之處(如:形態(tài)、性質(zhì)、習性、原理、功能、動作、聲音、顏色等);明喻中要使用喻詞(又稱聯(lián)結(jié)詞或引導詞)。如:

(1)He smokes like a chimney. 他煙癮很大。 (分屬不同性質(zhì)的人和物,其相似之處是“抽煙”的習性和功能。)

(2)My heart is like a singing bird.我的心像一只歡唱的小鳥。 (本句中的my heart與bird分屬不同性質(zhì)的物,其相似點是“心跳”與“歡唱”的動作。)

2明喻中常用的喻詞和表達式

2.1 用“本體+like/ as+喻體”

如:(1)Public money is like holy water, everyone helps himself to it. 公款如圣水,人人都想嘗一嘴。

(2)Love goes towards love, as school boys from their books; but love from love,towards school with heavy books.赴情人的約會,像學童拋開書一樣(興奮);和情人分別,像學同板著臉上學堂(一樣不情愿)。

2.2 用“本體+as if/though+喻體”

如:(1)This woman …made him fetch and carry just as if he was a great Newfoundland dog. 這個女人……叫他拿這做那,簡直把他當做紐芬蘭大狗。

(2)The stood upon a bleak and desert moor, whose monstrous masses of stone were cost about, as though it were the burial-place of giants.他們站在荒蕪人煙的曠野上,哪兒滿地都是碩大無朋的巖石,宛如巨人的墓地。

2.3 用“本體+as …as+喻體”結(jié)構(gòu)

如:(1)The police made up their minds to make the criminal case as clear as crystal. 警方?jīng)Q心把這個刑事案件徹底查清。

(2)The musles of his brawny arms are as strong as iron bands.他強壯的手臂上的肌肉像鐵鑄的帶條一樣。

2.4 用“本體A…to+本體B+what/as+ 喻體X…to+ 喻體Y”句式

意為“A 對于B,猶/正如X對于Y一樣”。如:(1)Regulation is to a school as the law is to a nation. 學校離不開校規(guī),猶如國家離不開法律。

(2)To the Portuguese, the dry salted cod is what pasta is to the Italians. 對葡萄牙人來說,咸鱈魚干就像面食對意大利人一樣不可缺。

2.5 用“(just)as+ 喻體X…喻體Y…,so+本體A…本體B”句式

意為“正如X對于Y, A 對于B 一樣”。前句中的just有時可省略;后句有時還可采用倒裝結(jié)構(gòu)。如:(1)Just as dark clouds cant long hide the sun, so no lies can cover up the fact. 正如烏云不能久蔽太陽,謊言是掩蓋不住事實的。

(2)As a man lives, so he dies. 有生就有死。

(3)As the lion is called the monarch of all beasts, so is the eagle king of birds. 正像獅子稱為獸中之王一樣,鷹稱為鳥中之王。

2.6 用“what+ 喻體X…to +喻體Y,(that)本體A…to+本體B“句式

意為“A 對于B,猶/正如X對于Y 一樣”。如:(1)What blood vessel is to a mans body, that railway is to a nation.鐵路對于國家,好比血脈對于人體一樣。

(2)What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul.教育之于心靈,猶如雕刻之于大理石。后句有時還可采用倒裝結(jié)構(gòu)。

(3)What the nest is to the bird, that to the man is the house. 房屋對于人類正如巢對于鳥一樣。

2.7 用“no more/less+本體+ than+喻體”或“not +本體+any more than+喻體”

意為“如同……一樣(不)”。如:A fool can no more see his own folly than he can see his ears. 愚人之不能自知其愚,猶如其不能自見其耳。

(1)Our hometown is no less beautiful than this picture is. 我們家鄉(xiāng)像/同這幅畫一樣美麗。

(2)A student can not obtain knowledge without studying any more than a farmer can get harvest without plowing. 學生不學習不能得到知識,猶如農(nóng)民不耕種不能收獲一樣。

2.8 用“might as well +動詞原形+喻體+as +動詞原形+本體”句式

意為 “做…… 就像/正如做……一樣”,“正如不能……,也不能……一樣”。如:(1)One might as well throw moneyinto the sea as lend it William. 把錢借給威廉,就好象把錢扔到海里一樣。

(2)You might as well expect a river to flow backward as hope to move me. 你不能動搖我的心,正如不能使河水倒流一樣。這種結(jié)構(gòu)有時可省略后面as所引導的本體部分。如:

(3)He never listens——you might as well talks to a brick. 他根本不聽——同他談話就好象同一堵墻講話一樣。

2.9 用“本體名詞+of+喻體名詞”或“喻體名詞+of+本體名詞”

意為“象/如…一般”。如:(1)An electric current of agony surged through him. 一種痛苦像電流一般灼過他的心頭。They crowded around the two strangers and the flood of questions came.他們圍住兩個陌生人,問題如潮水般涌來。

(2)Who is to blame but her tyrant of a father.怪誰呢?只有怪她那暴君般的父親。

2.10 用“本體+and+喻體”

意為“……像一樣……”如:(1)A word and a stone let go cannot be recalled.(=A word let go cannot be recalled just asa stone let go cannot be recalled./A word like a stone let go cannot be recalled.)

說出去的話,仍出去的石。/一言既出,駟馬難追。

(2)Love and cough cannot be hid. 愛情像咳嗽一樣是掩蓋不了的。

2.11 用 “compare/ liken+本體+to+喻體”

意為“把 ……比作/喻為……”如:(1)Shakespeare compared the world to a stage.莎士比亞把人世比作舞臺。

(2)One witness likened the enormous ball of fire to a nuclear explosion.有一位目擊者把這個巨大的火球比作一核爆炸。

這種句式也可用被動。如:

(3)The parks of the city are often compared to the lungs of the human body.城市的公園常被比作人體的肺。

2.12 用“comparison of+本體+to+喻體”

意為“把 ……比作/喻為……”如:(1)I find the comparison of life to a voyage quite proper. 我覺得把人生喻為航海十分貼切。

(2)The teachers a comparison of the heart to a pump helped the students understand explanation. 老師把心臟比作泵來幫助學生理解。

3 需要說明的幾個問題

3.1 本體或喻體可以是一個句子

如:(1)Residents rush to buy provisions as if the city were under siege. 居民們紛紛跑去搶購食品,好像城市被圍困一樣。

(2)The childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day. (J. Milton) 一個人的童年就好比一天的早晨。

3.2 有時一個比喻句中會出現(xiàn)多重本喻體

一般來說,一個比喻句只有一個本體和喻體。但有時我們發(fā)現(xiàn)句子中本體和喻體不止一個。如:(1)He wants it all with a horrible intensity, as the faun wants the nymph. 他非常強烈地渴望著這一切,像農(nóng)牧之神渴望著林間的仙女一樣。(此句含有雙重本題與喻體:本體He與喻體faun;本體it與喻體nymph。)

(2)A doctor must have the heart of a lion and the hand of a lady.當一個醫(yī)生必須有獅子般的膽量和仙女般的巧手。(此句含有雙重主體與喻體:本體heart與喻體lion;本體hand與喻體lady。)

3.3 有些習慣表達中包含明喻

如:(1)The solidarity between the nationalities of country is as firm as a rock. 我國各民族之間的團結(jié)堅如磐石。

(2)She was like a cat on a hot tin roof/on hot bricks before her examination. 考前她如坐針氈

(3)Death may be as heavy as Mount Tai or as light as a feather. 死或重于泰山,或輕于鴻毛。

(4)Their family has been as poor as a church mouse since his parents were out of work. 自從他的父母下崗之后,他家一貧如洗。

(5)He was dragged home after he was as drunk as a lord at the wedding reception. 在結(jié)婚宴會上他喝得爛醉如泥,被人架了回去。

4 比喻與比較之異同

比喻與比較結(jié)構(gòu)相似,作用不同。比喻多用于不同類,用以突出相似的地方,引起人們的聯(lián)想;比較用于同類事物之間的相比,用以顯示其相同、相似或相異。如:

(1)She looks like her mother.(she與her mother同類;顯示其相似點,屬比較)

She sings like a nightingale.(she與 nightingale不同類;突出聲音相似,屬比喻)

(2)He is as sly as Brown. (He 與Brown同類;顯示其“狡猾” 這一相同點,屬比較)

He is as sly as a fox. (He 與fox不同類;突出 “狡猾”這一相似點,屬比喻)