E g: a。 Beard the lion in his den (refers to those who are strong)
b。 Kill the goose that lays the golden egg (refers to a person who is in the interests of the present without considering the long terms interests)
China is a multicultural and multi-religious country, and Buddhism plays an important role in Chinese people’s life。 Thus there are great differences between Chinese and English for different faiths。 For instance, dragon is regard as devil in Bible and on behalf of evil, and the rude woman is called “dragon in daily life”。 On the contrary, dragon is a rainmaker, a symbol of good luck and imperial power。 In feudal society, dragon represented the king。
2。4 Custom
All kinds of nations have similar sentiment and life experience in the world, and people will use different metaphors to express the same meaning because of different customs。
E g: a。 Birds of a feather (describe the opposite)论文网
b。 Black sheep (a person who endangers the society or the collective)
Owl is on behalf of wisdom in English culture, “as wise as an owl” (very clever), “as solemn as an owl” (refers to a person’s serious attitude), but in china, it symbolizes the sense of death and unknown for strange cry。
III。Characteristics of English Animal Idioms
Generally speaking, English idioms have six characteristics including universality, stability, integrity, persity, unity and rhetorical。
3。1 Universality
English idioms are related to all sectors of the community, so a wide range of sources can be reflected in English idioms。 For example:
⑴ Habits of life on the sea。 a。 A big fish 大人物
b。 Like a goose out of water 离水之鱼
⑵ Famous quotations and classics。 a。 An ugly ducking 丑小鸭
b。Give a taste of one’s quality 显示自己的本领
⑶ Foreign language。 a。 Kill two birds with one stone 一箭双雕 (from French)
b。 A white elephant 无常而累赘的东西 (form Burmese) 文献综述
⑷ A living dog is better than a dead lion。 活着的狗比死了的狮子强， 即好死不如赖活着。（from the ninth chapter of the Old Testament the Ministry of preaching the fourth chapter）。
⑸ The camel going to seek horns lost his ears。 骆驼想要角，结果连耳朵都失掉。
From “Aesop’s Fables” story that camels are envious of cattle angle, then went to the front of Zeus, the chief god pray give angle, so Zeus angry very much to remove its ear length。 It is used to satirize those who suffer but greedy and dissatisfied。
⑹ The swan sings before his death。 鸟之将死，其鸣也哀。（from Romen’s eloquent, political and philosopher Cicero）。
⑺ Both of your birds are of self-same feather。 你和你的国王是一丘之貉。（from Shakespeare “Henry VI” the third act of third）
Except the above idioms, there are other special kind of animal idioms in relation to weather and farming。 This type of idioms are vivid and easy to be remembered and also apply to farming to guide the practice and improve the yield。
E g: a。 If the cock crows on going to bed, he’s sure to rise with a watery head。 公鸡进窝啼不停，早期大鱼头上淋。 英语动物习语的特点及汉译策略(3):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_99418.html