2011年考研英語寫作中如何引用諺語

　眾所周知，諺語乃是一種語言的精華，寓意深刻，表達雋永。在考研寫作中如能適當地引用一些諺語，可以為文章增輝添彩。一些同學在平時的學習中積累了一些諺語，但在寫作時不知道該如何將它們恰當地引用到文章中去，本文擬根據近年來《紐約時報》引用諺語的情況，總結出英語中常見的引用諺語的地道表達法，供同學們寫作時模仿使用。

　　諺語在英語中叫proverb，引用時經常會在其前面酌情加上old, Chinese, English, Russian之類的形容詞;動詞一般用go, say, state, has it, put it等，在這些動詞后面用逗號或冒號皆可。諺語可加雙引號(這時諺語的第一個字母要大寫)，也可不加雙引號(這時第一個字母一般不大寫)。引用諺語的表達方式常見的有如下十種：

　　1) A proverb goes / says, ---

　　2) As a / the proverb goes / says, ---

　　A Yiddish proverb goes, “Better to lose with a wise man than win with a fool.”

　　有一句依地語諺語說得好，“寧輸智者，不贏傻子。”(August 14, 2000)

　　A proverb says, “Medicine cures the man who is fated not to die.

　　有一句諺語說，“命不該死有藥救。”(July 16, 2009)

　　As a Chinese proverb goes, “Don’t climb a tree to look for fish.”

　　正如中國的一句諺語所說，“不要緣木求魚。”(April 24, 2000)

　　As the old Chinese proverb says, “If you do not enter a tiger’s den, you cannot get her cubs.”

　　正如中國的一句諺語所說，“不入虎穴，焉得虎子。”(November 15, 1993)

　　3) As a / the proverb has it / puts it,

　　4) A proverb has it that ---

　　As a Spanish proverb has it, “Flies don’t enter a closed mouth.”

　　正如一句西班牙諺語所說，“禍從口入。”(July 26, 1992)

　　As a Navajo proverb puts it, “What comes around goes around.”

　　正如納瓦霍族的一句諺語所說，“一報還一報。”(May 28, 1987)

　　As a local proverb here in Chad puts it: A woman who is pregnant has one foot in the grave.

　　正如乍得當地的一句諺語所說：女人懷寶寶，鬼門關上走一遭。(March 20, 2004)

　　An old proverb has it that “if the thorn doesn’t scratch when it first emerge, it will never scratch.”

　　有一句古老的諺語說，“如果荊棘剛長出時不扎手，那么它就永遠不扎手。”(March 26, 2006)

　　5) There is a proverb: ---

　　6) There is a / the proverb that goes / states, ---

　　There’s an African proverb: “Educate a boy, and educate an individual. Educate a girl, and you educate a community.”

　　有一句非洲的諺語說：“教育好一個男孩，僅教育好一人。教育好一個女孩，則教育好一群人。”(August 19, 2009)

　　There’s a Russian proverb that goes: you must support the most talented people because untalented people will support themselves.

　　有一句俄羅斯諺語說，你須擁戴賢人，庸者僅會自顧。(December 31, 1995)

　　There is an old Jewish proverb that states: “A Shekel is always better in my pocket than in yours. “

　　有一句古老的猶太諺語說：“金幣在我口袋里總比在你口袋里強。”(August 10, 2009)

　　7) ---, a / the proverb goes, ---

　　8) ---, goes a / the proverb, ---

　　“A river is deep,” an old African proverb goes, “because of its source.”

　　有一句古老的非洲諺語說，河有源泉水才深。(September 24, 2008)

　　To kill a snake, goes an old African proverb, you must first crush the head.

　　有一句古老的非洲諺語說，打蛇先打頭。(September 22, 1985)

　　9) --- have a proverb that goes, ---

　　10) There exists a proverb. It goes, ---

　　The Arabs have a proverb that goes, “When the sultan’s dog died, everyone marched in his funeral. But when the sultan himself died, no one marched at all. “

　　阿拉伯人有一句諺語是這樣說的，“當蘇丹的狗死了，人人都為之送葬。而當蘇丹死了，卻無人為之送葬。”(November 27, 1983)

　　諺語作為群眾集體智慧的結晶，多具有鮮明的民族性和地域特色。由于中西文化的差異，一些在漢語中人們耳熟能詳的諺語卻未必為西方人所理解。所以在引用漢語諺語時，如果中國特色過于濃厚，則可舍其形而取其意，寫成英語中與之意思對等的西方諺語。例如，有的同學想表達這個意思：本性難移，于是寫道：As a Chinese proverb goes, a dog cannot change its habit of eating shit. 這樣寫不但失之粗鄙，還會讓愛犬的西方人大惑不解。所以，這個意思宜寫成A leopard cannot change its spots. 或者A fox may grow gray, but never good.