鼠年話說(shuō)漢英詞典中的“鼠”

肖福壽

“鼠，穴蟲(chóng)之總名也。”東漢經(jīng)學(xué)家許慎的《說(shuō)文解字》是這么解釋的。此蟲(chóng)有時(shí)似乎不受人歡迎，難怪有“老鼠過(guò)街，人人喊打”之說(shuō);有時(shí)則顯得可親可愛(ài)，于是乎有“鼠咬天開(kāi)”之說(shuō)，也有“老鼠娶親”這么一個(gè)浪漫的新春童話，卻是極其神往。

從民俗學(xué)和文化學(xué)的角度來(lái)看，鼠則是一個(gè)兼靈性、仁愛(ài)、生命力、精致、聰明和神秘于一身的小生靈。早在幾千年前，我國(guó)民間就流傳著“四大家”“五大門”的動(dòng)物原始崇拜，反映了古人對(duì)狐貍、黃鼠狼、刺猥、老鼠、蛇的敬畏心理。難怪乎，鼠已成為文學(xué)作品中的意味深長(zhǎng)的重要題材。在漢語(yǔ)中，與鼠有關(guān)的習(xí)語(yǔ)、俗語(yǔ)或歇后語(yǔ)可謂不勝枚舉，如“風(fēng)箱里的老鼠——盡受氣”“古董店里的老鼠——碰不得”“耗子進(jìn)老鼠夾——離死不遠(yuǎn)”“老鼠騎在貓身上——好大的膽子”“老鼠窩里的食物——全是偷來(lái)的”。

2020年，是中國(guó)農(nóng)歷庚子年，即民間生肖紀(jì)年的鼠年。在這鼠年來(lái)臨之際，讓我們重新檢閱一下漢英詞典中一些與鼠相關(guān)的習(xí)語(yǔ)或俗語(yǔ)，聊作一種新年之樂(lè)吧。

本文的語(yǔ)料主要選取陸谷孫教授主編的《中華漢英大詞典》，均為該詞典的編纂者自以為迻譯尚有特點(diǎn)的與鼠有關(guān)的表達(dá)法，其目的在于與廣大讀者共享并敦請(qǐng)廣大讀者質(zhì)疑與指謬。

1 抱頭鼠竄 （to cover the head and scurry away like a rat） to flee like a scared rat

2 城狐社鼠 （foxes in the city and rats in the temple of the village god） evildoers who are hard to remove for fear of damaging the structure

3 鴟張鼠伏 （like an owl spreading its wings and a mouse lying low） to run rampant now and act covertly then

4 癡鼠拖姜 （like a stupid rat dragging the ginger） to ask for trouble （of silly person）

5 蟲(chóng)臂鼠肝 （insects arms and rats livers） worthless trifles; petty things

6 膽小如鼠 as timid as a mouse; chicken-hearted

7 多鳴之貓，捕鼠必少 （cats which mew a lot catch few mice） people who talk a lot are usually “all talk and no action”

8 狗逮老鼠 （like a dog trying to catch mice） to be a busybody; to be meddlesome; to be nosy

9 狗盜鼠竊 （humble thief like a mouse or dog） petty unsuccessful rebel

10 孤雛腐鼠 （motherless young birds and decayed rats） things or people not worth mentioning; nonentities

11 過(guò)街老鼠 （like a rat crossing the street） target of universal detestation

12 稷蜂社鼠 （hornets in the temple of the grain god and rats in the temple of the village god） hard-to-remove evildoers with powerful connections or positions

13 老鼠過(guò)街，人人喊打 （when a rat crosses the street， everybody shouts and beats it） evil people are hated by everyone

14 老鼠再大也怕貓 （however big a rat is， it still fears a cat） there is always somebody bigger or stronger

15 羅雀掘鼠 （to net birds and dig for rats） 1. to scratch out a living; to eke out an existence 2. to do all one can to raise money

16 貓哭老鼠also貓哭耗子 （the cat crying for the rat） to shed crocodile tears

17 貓鼠同眠 （the cat and the mouse are asleep together） to be partners in crime; to collude in doing evil （eg， of corrupt officials and their underlings）

18 鼠標(biāo)土豆mouse potato [cyber worker who always holds a mouse in hand]

19鼠盜蜂起 peasant uprising， peasants revolt [a term used by the feudal ruling class]

20 鼠肚雞腸 （rats stomach and chickens intestines） to be narrow-minded see小肚雞腸

21 鼠腹蝸腸also鼠腹雞腸 （belly of a mole and bowels of a snail） petty-minded; narrow-minded; small-minded

22 鼠口不出象牙 （ivory does not grow from the mouth of a rat） one or you cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear

23 鼠目寸光 （the small eyes of the rat see only an inch of light） to be shortsighted

24 鼠憑社貴 （a mouse builds its nest underground within the temple housing the village god so that none dare dig it） bad people throw their weight about; bad people bully others on account of their powerful connections

25 鼠竊狗盜also鼠竊狗偷 （to pilfer like rat and steal like a dog） petty thefts; petty tricks： 無(wú)～之?dāng)_be free from petty thefts

26 鼠雀之輩 lowly and humble people

27 鼠頭鼠腦 （like a rats head） insidious; snaky; deceitful： ～的姿態(tài) an air of craftiness and sinisterness

28 鼠牙雀角also鼠雀之牙 （rats teeth and birds horns） 1. to file a lawsuit （due to brutal forces） 2. brutal forces： ～甚縱橫ferocious forces run rampant 3. trifle leading to a lawsuit： ～，便成訟端trifles can eventually end up in litigation 4. lawsuit; litigation

的確，漢語(yǔ)中與“鼠”有關(guān)的表達(dá)法實(shí)在太豐富了，諸如“鼠虎”“鼠璞”“鼠獄”“鼠牙筆”“奉頭鼠竄”“狗頭鼠腦”“狐奔鼠竄”“狐憑鼠伏”“蠖屈鼠伏”“進(jìn)退首鼠”“狼奔鼠竄”“狼奔鼠偷”“馬捉老鼠”“鼠肝蟲(chóng)臂”“出洞的老鼠——東張西望”“老鼠掉進(jìn)米缸里——因禍得福”“老鼠逗貓——沒(méi)事找事”“老鼠管倉(cāng)——越管越光”“老鼠看倉(cāng)，看得精光”“老鼠看天——小見(jiàn)識(shí)”“老鼠留不住隔夜糧”“老鼠咬象鼻——不識(shí)大體”“老鼠鉆書(shū)箱——咬文嚼字”“一只老鼠壞了一鍋湯”等表達(dá)法的英文翻譯，更待我們共同探索。