英语修辞.docx

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1、1、生动形象的Simile （明喻） 英语辞格simile （明喻）是一种最简单、最常用的修辞方法，也是运用最为广泛的一种修辞手段。在文学作品中尤其如此。文学词汇词典（A Dictionary of Literary Terms）对明喻是这样定义的：A figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another, in such a way as to clarify and enhance an image. It is explicit comparison (as opposed to the metaphor where comp

2、arison is implicit) recognizable by the use of words “like” or “as”.这个定义对明喻的界定既有权威性又有普遍性，许多论述英语修辞的书籍或文章在讲到明喻时，其叙述都没有超出这个概念。根据定义，明喻是一种表现一事物像另一事物的修辞格。说得通俗点，也就是打比方，即把要描述的事物本体（A）用比喻词与另一种具有鲜明的同一特征的事物喻体（B）联系起来。常用的比喻词有 as（如）， like（像）， seem（似乎）， as if（好像）， as though（好像）， such as（像一样）等。其基本格式是“A is like B”或“A

3、 is asas B”。 Simile在英语中应用得很广泛，用以状物、写景、抒情、喻理，可收到生动形象，简单明了，新鲜有趣的修辞效果。先看引自大学英语精读（笔者按：系指董亚芬总主编的大学英语系列教材(College English)中的精读（Intensive Reading 1-6册）修订本，上海外语教育出版社，1997。下同）中的几个例子。The cheque fluttered to the floor like a bird with a broken wing. （Book 1, Unit 3）支票像只断了翅膀的小鸟似的飘落在地板上。一位孤苦伶仃的老人在生日那天，满心欢喜地期待她的女

4、儿来给她祝寿，至少给她寄一份生日礼物，最终等到的却是一张冷冰冰的支票。此句形象地描述了老人收到支票后的心情她多么失望，就让那张令她伤心的支票随它去吧！这个明喻的比喻词是like。Praise is like sunlight to the human spirit we cannot flower and grow without it. (Book 2, Unit 10)对于人的精神来说，赞扬就像阳光一样：没有它我们便不能开花生长。作者借助明喻形象地说明了赞扬的作用，赞扬对于人的精神如阳光对于生命一样重要，对于我们来说是不可或缺的。此句的比喻词也是like。He looked at me w

5、ith an air of surprised disappointed, as a colonel might look at a private whose bootlace were undone. (Book 2, Unit 4)他带着一种吃惊的，不以为然的神态看着我，就像一位上校看着一名没系好靴带的列兵一样。这句话传神地刻画出校长对于“我”这位求职者傲慢自大，不屑一顾的神气。这句用的比喻词是as。英语中有许多谚语包含着美妙的明喻，闪烁着语言艺术的光彩。这些谚语多数以like和 as作比喻词。例如：Wit without learning is like a tree without

6、fruit. 有天资而无学识，好比树木不结果实。Choose an author as you choose a friend. 择书如择友。Credit lost is like a Venice-glass broke. 信誉丧失，犹如破镜难圆。Use a book as a bee does flowers. 读书如蜜蜂采花。明喻通常表示本体和喻体之间的相似性，从而道出两种事物之间的关联。由于这个原因明喻常用于广告语言中，能使我们了解商品，给我们具体、形象的概念，读来颇感亲切，易于为大众所接受。如下面这则衣服广告：Light as a breeze, soft as a cloud.轻盈

7、如微风，柔软似白云。这则广告中两个明喻的运用，把衣服的质地感和穿着的舒适感体现出来了，使广告的魅力倍增，谁会不为之慷慨解囊呢？Cool as a mountain streamcool fresh Consulate. 凉爽如山间清泉清凉甘爽的Consulate香烟。这是Consulate 牌香烟的广告。广告将该香烟比作山间溪流，言下之意是，Consulate 牌香烟犹如山间溪流那样清新、甘爽、提神、醒脑通过比喻把该烟的特点表现的淋漓尽致，使人难以忘怀。另外，值得注意的是英语中有许多成语含有明喻，其结构为as + 形容词+ as +名词（第一个as可省略）。例如：(as) blind as a

8、 bat 目光如豆(as) cool as cucumber 泰然自若(as) cold as a marble 冷若冰霜(as) busy as a bee 像蜜蜂一样忙(as) firm as a rock 坚如磐石(as) light as a feather 轻如鸿毛(as) mute as an oyster 噤若寒蝉(as) strong as horse 健壮如牛用些含明喻的成语用like构成。例如：like a duck to water 如鱼得水like a hen on a hot griddle 像热锅上的蚂蚁like a cat in a hole 瓮中之鳖以上是明喻最

9、典型的体现格式：A is like B. 和A is asas B.英语中的明喻可以多种格式体现，其他的格式或句型还有：1、虚拟句型 最常见的是用as if或as though作比喻词，另外还有其他一些形式。例如：My handwriting looks as if a swarm of ants, escaping from an ink bottle, had walked over a sheet of paper without wiping their legs. (Sydney Smith )我的笔迹，看来就像一大群蚂蚁从墨水里逃出来，没有把脚抹干净就在纸上四散奔跑过似的。笔迹像蚂

10、蚁爬的痕迹，比喻得恰如其分。and the fattest woman I have ever seen in my life dozing in a straight-backed chair. It was as if a sack of grain was supported by a matchbox. 还有一位我生平所未曾见过最胖的女人坐在一把直背椅子上打瞌睡，那简直就像一口袋粮食放在一个火柴盒上一样。“一口袋粮食放在一个火柴盒上”比喻（含夸张）得多么生动。The dogs were in full cry, their noses down, their tails up, so

11、close together that they might have been one great yellow and white moving carpet. 那群狗吠叫着追猎，低着头，翘着尾巴，一条挨着一条，看上去就像一块黄白交织的活动的大地毯。本句也是虚拟句型的明喻，词组sothat起比喻词的作用，连接本体和喻体。She looked both young and aging, as if she had just emerged from an illness of some crisis.(Isacca Bashevis Singer: The Briefcase)她看上去既老又

12、年轻，好像是新病初愈或是刚遭了一场灾难的样子。He was a beautiful horse that looked as though he had come out of a painting by Velasquez.(Ernest Hemingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls)那匹马很漂亮，像是维拉斯凯兹油画上的马变活了。2、what型 常见的句式有两种：A is to B what C is to D和 What C is to D, A is to B。例如：Carlos Lehder was to cocaine transportation what

13、Henry Ford was to cars. 卡洛斯雷德与可卡因的贩运的关系，正如亨利福特与汽车的关系。卡洛斯雷德是著名的哥伦比亚毒枭（Colombian drug lord），亨利福特是美国汽车大王，本句通过喻体（福特）说明本体（雷德）。此明喻起说明的作用。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。The pen is to a writer what the gun is to a fighter. 作家的笔犹如战士的枪。Intellect is

14、to the mind what sight is to the body. 智力对思想犹如视力对于身体一样重要。在这个明喻句式中，系动词可以改用实义动词do，介词to改为 for，而成为 A does for B what C does for D 。这里what引导的是一个宾语从句。例如： Marx did for the development of society what Darwin did for the development of the biology. 马克思对社会发展的贡献和达尔文对生物学发展的贡献一样。第二个句式是把what从句提到句首而形成的。例如： What th

15、e blueprint is to the builder the outline is to the writer. 提纲对于作家犹如蓝图对于建筑师一样重要。What blood vessels are to a mans body, that railways are to the country. 铁路对于一个国家的作用正如血管对于人体的作用。What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul. 教育之于心灵，犹如雕刻之于大理石。What salt is to food, that wit and humour

16、 are to conversation and literature. 妙语与幽默之于会话与文学，恰似盐对于食物一样。以上两例中what置于句首，后面的主句一般由that连接，但也可以省去。3、than型 Lear: that she may feelHow sharper than a serpents tooth it isTo have a thankless child! Away, away! ( William Shakespeare: King Lear ) 李尔：让她也感觉到一个负心的孩子比毒蛇的牙齿还要多么使人痛入骨髓！去，去！A fool can no more see

17、his own folly than he can see his ears. (William M. Thackeray)愚人之不知其愚，犹如其不能自视其耳。We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it. (Bernard Shaw)我们不创造幸福便无权享受幸福，正如不创造财富也就无权享用财富一样。Man cannot help craving for expression any more than birds can h

18、elp singing. 人之不能不舒其胸襟，犹鸟之不能不啭其歌喉。So she shows she seems the budding rose,Yet sweeter far than is earthly flower(Robert Burns: A Red, Red Rose)当她出现，看来犹如含苞的玫瑰，但却远比尘世的花儿馥郁4、And 型 这是一种特殊的明喻句，常见于英语谚语。其中and的作用相当于like，不可把它理解为“和”、“与”等义。例如：A word and a stone let go cannot be recalled. 说出的话犹如抛出的石，是收不回来的。Love

19、 and cough can not be hid. 恋爱如同咳嗽，难逃他人耳目。Words and feather are tossed by the wind. 语言如羽毛，风刮到处飘。Truth and roses have thorns about them. 真理如玫瑰，全身都带刺。Kings and bears often worry their keepers. 国王和熊一样，总使照料的人坐立不安。5、动词型I compare his genius to a lightning flash. 我将他的天才比作闪电。He treats his daughter as the app

20、le in the eye. 他把女儿当作掌上明珠。Samuel Johnson regarded a dictionary as a watch. 塞缪尔约翰逊把词典看作钟表。Passions are likend best to floods and streams;The shallow murmur, but the deep are dumb激情最像洪水与溪流：水面喧声淙淙，水底无语无声Sitting still, he might have been taken for a very pretty girl masquerading in male attire, but when

21、 he moved, his little agility suggested a tame panther without the claws. (Ethel Lilian Voynich: The Gadfly) 要是静静地坐在那儿，人家准会当他是一个女扮男装的很美的姑娘；可是一行动起来，他那柔软而敏捷的姿态，就要使人联想到一只驯服的没有利爪的豹子了。Clan in his nightshirt, his neck poked forward, his back rounded, he resembled some long white bird. (John Galsworthy: Th

22、e Man of Property)他穿了一身睡衣，脖子向前伸出来，伛着背，那样子活像一只长身白鸟。可引导明喻的动词还有to be similar to, consideras, serveas, honouras, respectas等。与英语simile相对应的汉语修辞格是“明喻”。汉语“明喻” 是比喻（包括明喻、隐喻和借喻）中的一种，也是最平易的一种。基本格式和英语simile完全相同，即“甲事物像乙事物”。需要加以描写刻画的事物（本体），用以比喻的事物（喻体）和比喻词都出现，明白地表示出本体和喻体的比喻关系，所以称“明喻”。常用的比喻词有：像、好像、如、犹如、仿佛。例如：还似旧时游上苑

23、，车如流水马如龙。 （李煜：忆江南）客有吹萧者，倚歌而和之。其声呜呜然，如怨，如慕，如泣，如诉，余音袅袅，不绝如缕，舞幽壑之蛟龙，泣孤舟之嫠妇。（苏轼：前赤壁赋）我们容易伤风和妒忌，我们烦腻，心薄得像嘴唇，而嘴唇又薄又阔，像一张拍卖行长开的旧唱片。 （王佐良：诗）于是夜晚的松花江，像一条嵌花的闪光的银链，静静地垂挂在这一片浩瀚的沙滩裸露的胸前。 （张抗抗：夏）看了卡拉玛姐妹的舞蹈，使人深深地体会到印度的优美悠久的文化艺术：舞蹈、音乐、雕刻、图画都如同一条条的大榕树上的树枝，枝枝下垂，入地生根。（冰心：观舞记）饮食店里的职工们当然不知女经理的这番挫折，只见她第二天早晨起来眼睛肿得和水蜜桃一样，看

24、什么都不顺眼，看见馒头、花卷、包子、面条都有气。（古华：芙蓉镇）值得注意的是，有些句子中虽然有“像”，“好像”这类比喻词，但这个句子不一定是明喻。例如：人总是有感情的，不爱别人就是因为太爱自己，要我像他那样只爱自己，对旁人都没有感情，我会僵了，活不成了。（莫应丰：将军吟）这个句子中的“我像他”不是明喻，因为“我”和“他”系同类，不能设喻。构成明喻必须要有本体、喻体和比喻词，并且本体和喻体之间是“相类”的关系，在本质上是不同的事物。2、含而不露的Metaphor（隐喻） Metaphor（汉译名为“隐喻”或“暗喻”），也是一种比喻，它不用比喻词，直接把甲事物（喻体）当作乙事物（本体）来描述，其比

25、喻关系隐含在句意中，从而更生动、更深刻地说明事理，增强语言的表现力。Websters New World Dictionary的解释是：“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”这个解释的意思是说，隐喻是一种隐含着比喻的修辞格，他通常的基本用法是，表述某一事物的词或短语被用来表述另外的一种事物。由于比喻是隐含的，决定了它的本体与喻体的关系必然十分紧密

26、。与simile相比较，不但不需要as, like之类的比喻词，有时甚至可以连本体也不出现。基于这种情况，有些词典或著作常常对metaphor和simile同时论述，称之为“浓缩的明喻（a compressed or condensed simile）”。如A Dictionary of Literary Terms对Metaphor的定义就是如此，“Metaphor: A figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another. The basic figure in poetry. A comparison

27、is usually implicit; whereas in simile it is explicit.” 下面用实例对这两种修辞格做一比较：1a. Life is like an isthmus between two eternities. (simile)生活像永恒的生死两端之间的峡道。 （明喻）1b. Life is an isthmus between two eternities. (metaphor)生活是永恒的生死两端之间的峡道。（隐喻）2a. Happiness is like sunshine: it is made up of very little beams. (

28、simile)幸福像阳光，它由非常细小的光速构成。（明喻）2b. The sunshine of life is made up of very little beams. (metaphor)幸福的阳光由非常细小的光速构成。（隐喻）Metaphor在英语里运用极为广泛、频繁。请看下面几例：Police work on inner city streets is a domestic Vietnam, a dangerous no-win struggle fought by confused, misdirected and unappreciated troops. ( Gordon Wi

29、tkin )市中心贫民区的治安工作是一场国内的越南战争，有一支思想混乱、指挥失灵、无人赏识的部队进行的一场危险的，只输不赢的斗争。这是一例典型的隐喻。人们对警方的工作（本体）可能了解不深，但在美国人们对越南战争（喻体）则是体会的既具体又痛切。本体，喻体同时出现，通过三个相似点（confused, misdirected，unappreciated），痛陈警察的不平和苦衷，可望引起公众对警察的同情和理解。文中Vietnam指the Vietnam War。For years her cries of “fish for sale” were in vain. She had no home, n

30、o family, no friends and her life was a basket of unsold fish. ( Humphrey Hawksley )多年来，她“卖鱼啦”的叫喊声全然白费。她无家可归，无夫无子，无亲无友她的生活就是一篮没卖出去的鱼。把卖鱼妇的生活比喻成一篮没有卖出的鱼，激起人们对卖鱼妇的无限同情。This centuryman has started to look into the working of that other universe which is inside himself the human brain. (Isaac Asimov: Wh

31、at Is Intelligence, Anyway) 本世纪人类已经开始研究自身内部的的另外一个宇宙的活动了，这另外一个宇宙就是人脑。作者用隐喻向读者表明：“人脑”就是一个“宇宙”，它奥秘无穷，有待人类进一步研究探索。While most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold wind of criticism, we are somewhat reluctant to give our fellow the warm sunshine of praise. （Janet Grham: The Profits of Prai

32、se） 我们大多数人动不动就对别人刮起批评的寒风，不知为什么却不愿意把表扬的温暖阳光给予我们的同伴。 此句把太多的批评比喻为“冷风”，把表扬比喻为“温暖的阳光”，本体和喻体的关系由of含蓄表达，都是喻体在前，本体在后。Benedick: Would you buy her, that you inquire after her?Claudio: Can the world buy such a jewel?(William Shakespeare: Much Ado about Nothing)培尼狄克：您这样问起她，是不是要把她买下来？克劳狄奥：全世界所有的财富，可以买得到这样一块美玉吗？这

33、个例子中本体和比喻词都没有，直接由喻体jewel代替本体her（Beatrice）。Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested （Francisco Bacon：Of Study）一些书浅尝即可，另一些书却要囫囵吞下，只有少数的书才值得咀嚼和消化。此句的本体是book，喻体无疑应当是food，因为只有食物才能被“浅尝”，“吞下”，或者被“咀嚼”，“消化”。但是作喻体的food一词却没有出现，喻体之意则折射隐含在有关进食的几个动词之中。Iago: How po

34、or are they that have not patient! What would did ever heal but by degrees?（William Shakespeare: Othello）伊阿古：没有耐性的人多么可怜！什么伤口不是慢慢地平复起来的？Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship. ( Benjamin Franklin )当心小笔的费用。小漏不堵也会沉大船。以上两例不是用词或短语而是用句子进行比喻，前一句为本体，后一句为喻体。1、Metaphor的结构 英语Metaphor的运用

35、格式灵活多样，它可体现在任何句子成分上，如主语、谓语、表语、定语或状语。在表达上它可以是一个单词、一个词组、一个句子，甚至是一个段落。常见的有以下几种结构：1）用to be 连接本体（the tenor）和喻体（the vehicle），喻体一般体现在句子的表语部分。这是metaphor最基本的结构形式。To me the pageant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama.(Helen Keller: Three Day to See)对我来说, 四季的奇丽变幼犹如一出动人心弦永无完结的戏剧。在这个句子中pageant 是本体, dram

36、a 是喻体, 用is 将二者连接起来 。 其结构的核心就是The pageant is a drama. 下面的例句也是如此：Macbeth： Out, out, brief candle！Life is but a walking shadow, ( William Shakespeare: Macbeth )麦克白：熄灭了吧，熄灭了吧，短促的烛光！人生不过是一个行走的影子，All the worlds a stage, And all the men and women merely players. 大千世界是个舞台，所有男男女女不外是个角色。Money is a bottomless

37、sea, in which honour, conscience, and truth may be drowned. 金钱是无底的海洋，荣誉、良心和真理都可以淹没在其中。Habit is a cable; every day we weave thread, and soon we cannot break it. 习惯是缆索，每天我们都编上一条线，不久我们便扯不断了。2）用of连接喻体和本体, 这是metaphor 另一结构, 其中的介词of 表示同位关系。 I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed! 我落入生活的荆棘中, 我淌血!His eyes c

38、ame out of his head like a prawns, and once more his moustache foamed up against his breakwater of a nose. （G. H. Vallins: Best English）他的眼睛像对虾一样鼓出来，胡子再一次泡沫似地向上翘起，抵住他那防波堤般的鼻子。The Dutchman was six-foot, a great red-faced, hot-tempered treckox of a man.(Doris Lessing: In Pursuit of the English)那荷兰人身高六

39、尺，大块头，红脸膛, 急脾气，简直是一条拉车的公牛。句中的of 连接喻体treck-ox 和本体a man。这个metaphor 的实质就是A man is a treckox.下列例句也是如此。He nodded toward the corner to where the giant stood, his thick arms crossed on his hogshead of a chest. （Richard Connell: The Most Dangerous Game）他朝那彪形大汉站着的墙点了点头 。 大汉那粗壮的胳膊交叉在他那大桶似的胸前。 3）用动词或形容词表示比喻。no

40、 one, least of all I, anticipated that my case would snowball into one of the most famous trials in U. S. history. ( John Scopes: The Trial That Rocked the World)谁也没有料想到, 尤其是我, 更没有想到我的案子会越搞越大, 以至成了美国历史上最闻名的审判之一。 The street around the three-storey red brick law court sprouted with rickety stands sell

41、ing hot dogs. (Ibid.)在红砖砌成的三层楼法院周围的街道上，突然摆满东倒西歪的摊位，出售热狗。He thundered in his sonorous organ tones. (Ibid.)他大发雷霆地怒吼。 以上都是动词型的隐喻。would snowball (滚雪球) 是把“案件”比喻为“雪球”；sprouted (萌发出) 是把“法庭周围的街道”比喻成“树木”；thundered (怒吼)是把人的“声音”当作“雷鸣”来描写。 再例如：A modern Japanese woman, they say, instead of trying to enrich her i

42、nner self, is in a mad scramble to ape anything that is new and foreign fashions, cosmetics, hairdos, rock-and-roll. ( Peiko Hatsumi: Japanese Women )他们说，现代日本妇女，不是努力丰富自我的精神，而是拼命模仿新的洋的事物时装，化妆品，发式，摇摆舞。下面3例都是形容词型的隐喻：He has the microwave smile that warms another person without heat. ( Time, October 29,

43、1979)他又一种微波式的微笑，能不加热就能使别人温暖。I have got one of my Sahara thirsts on tonight. (O. Henry: The Clarion Call)今晚我又觉得像撒哈拉沙漠那样干渴。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

44、就打算加以默认了。形容词型的隐喻，喻体和本体的关系表现为修饰语和中心词的关系。microwave smile是用微波来喻微笑，表示既温暖又不灼热。其它也是如此。2、Metaphor的设喻方法 每一巧妙而令人难忘的比喻都来自生活的实践和作者丰富的想象。尽管metaphor 有千千万万, 但在本体和喻体的关系方面, 也就是metaphor的设喻方法, 归纳起来大致有以下三种。 1) 以一种形象具体的事物去比喻另一形象具体的事物。 “Now what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts alone are wa

45、nted in life.”.The speaker, and the school master, and the third grown person presents, all backed a little, and swept with their eyes the inclined plane of little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to gave imperial gallons of facts poured into until they well full to the brim. (Charles

46、 Dickens: Hard Times)“我说, 我所要的就是事实。对这些男学生和女学生只教给他们事实。事实才是生活中所需要的唯一的东西。”那位讲话的人, 校长和在场的第三位成年人都稍稍向后退了一步,用眼睛扫视当时当地按高矮整齐排列的小瓶小罐, 也就是对这些小瓶小罐, 他们准备用许多皇家标准加仑的事实加以灌注, 直到灌满为止。 此例以“小瓶小罐”(vessels) 喻男女学生。The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its nat

47、ural manure. (Thomas Jefferson)自由之树常以爱国志士和暴君的血来浇灌, 这些鲜血是自由之树的天然肥料。 此例以“肥料”(manure) 喻革命志士与暴君之血。Books are the ever-burning lamps and accumulated wisdom. (Stephen Butler Leacock )好书乃积累智慧的长明灯。 此例把书籍喻为“长明灯”。2) 用形象具体的事物, 比喻抽象的事物或概念 。Its the same with Negro in America. That shoe . the white mans system . has pinched and rubbed and squeezed his soul until it has almost destroyed him.美国黑人的情况也是这样。白人制度这只鞋夹紧了他的灵魂，使之受磨难, 几乎要把他毁掉了。用夹紧黑人的灵魂的一只“鞋子”来比喻美国的白人制度, 这是典型的以具体事物比喻抽象事物 。History is all these thingswaves, tides and currents and like the sea, no mat