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[Abstract]Numbers,asaspecialpartinthescienceoflinguistics,arewordsoriginallyusedtoexpressquantityorsequence.NumbersservethesamecalculatingfunctioninbothChineseandEnglish.Butbecauseoftheculturaldiversityfoundinthenationalpsychology,religiousbeliefandmythology,numbersareendowedwithabundantculturalconnotationsandassociations.AndbothChineseandEnglishpeopleshowdifferentcults,taboosandconnotationstowardsthedifferentoridenticalnumberssoastogeneratetheirownnumeralcultures.Therefore,intheprocessoftranslatingnumbers,especiallyonesinthefolklanguageandliteraryworks,translatorsshouldmakearelativelythoroughstudyofthelanguageandculturebothinChineseandEnglish,andconsiderthediscrepancyinthevaguenessofnumbersrespectivelybeforerenderingsatisfactorytranslations.

[KeyWords]numbers;Chinese;English;comparison;translation

【摘要】數(shù)字是語(yǔ)言科學(xué)中的一個(gè)特殊領(lǐng)域，是表示數(shù)量或順序的詞類(lèi)。在漢英兩種語(yǔ)言中，數(shù)字作為計(jì)算功能的意義是一致的。但由于受民族心理、宗教信仰、神話(huà)傳說(shuō)等文化差異的影響，數(shù)字被賦予了豐富的文化內(nèi)涵。對(duì)不同或相同的數(shù)字，漢英有著不同的崇尚或禁忌習(xí)俗，以及不同的聯(lián)想和意義，并由此而孕育出各自獨(dú)特的數(shù)字文化。因此，在翻譯數(shù)字，尤其在民間語(yǔ)言和文學(xué)作品中，要對(duì)漢英兩種語(yǔ)言與文化有較全面的了解,并充分考慮到英漢數(shù)字的模糊語(yǔ)義的差異，靈活運(yùn)用不同的翻譯方法，才能譯出形神兼?zhèn)涞淖髌贰?/p>

【關(guān)鍵詞】數(shù)字；漢語(yǔ)；英語(yǔ)；對(duì)比；翻譯

1.Introduction:

1.1Language,cultureandnumbers

1.1.1Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture

Culture,acontroversialandpuzzlingquestion,hasbeenconceptualizedfromdiverseperspectivesbygenerationsoflinguistsandanthropologists.Ithasnocompletelystandarddefinitions,however,“culture,inabroadsense,meansthetotalwayoflifeofapeopleincludingthepatternsofbelief,customs,objects,institutions,techniques,andlanguagethatcharacterizesthelifeofthehumancommunity”[1].Ascultureissoinclusive,itpermeatesvirtuallyeveryaspectofhumanlifeandinfluencespredominantlypeople’sbehavior,includinglinguisticbehavior.Andlanguage,“thecarrierandcontainerofculturalinformation”[2],iscommonlyviewedasameansofcommunications,meansofexpressingideasandemotionsofhumanbeings.Language,asareflectionofthecultureandamirrorofthesociety,isstronglyinfluencedandshapedbyculture.Andcultureisinfluencedbymanyfactors,suchaslanguage,beliefs,customs,socialhabitsandsoon.Thus,languageandculture,intrinsicallydependentoneachother,cannotexistwithouteachother.Thecloserelationshipbetweenlanguageandcultureisreadilyshownbythefactthatcultureistransmittedfromonegenerationtothenextthroughlanguage.

1.1.2Thedefinitionofnumbers

Asfarastherelationshipbetweenelementsoflanguageandcultureisconcerned,thewordsrelatemosttightlytotheculture.Andnumbers,asanimportantpartinlanguageworld,haveaninformativefunction.Butwhatisnumber?AsOxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionarydefines,“Anumberisawordorsymbolthatrepresentsanamountoraquantity”[3].Numbersareusedwidelyineveryaspectoflife.Withoutnumbers,nothingcangetalongwellintheworld.Asweknow,numbersaregrammaticallydividedintocardinalnumbers,ordinalnumbers,multiples,fractionsandapproximatenumbersinChineseandEnglishlanguage.

AndtheconceptofnumbersstemsfromtheNature,fromhumanbeings’observationandexplorationtotheobjectiveworld,fromtherealizationandgeneralizationtothephysicalworld[4].Anumberistheabstractconceptthatcanbeconsiderednotonlyasthewordbutalsoasthesymbol.

1.2Thepurposeofthispaper

Numbersarecreatedfromtheinteractionofhumans’socialandculturalbehaviorwiththeirabilitytoconceptualizetheiroutsideworld.Sonumbersarenotmerelymathematicaltools,butextendedasmetaphorsintheidiomaticusageswithaseriesofconnotations.ChinesepeopleandEnglishpeopleshowdifferentappetitestowardsthenumbers.SothereexistdifferentculturalconnotationsandextensionsbetweenChineseandEnglishnumbers.Thispaper,fromdiverseculturalbackgroundsofnumbersinChineseandEnglish,discussesthediscrepancyinthenationalpsychology,religiousbelief,mythologyandsoon,andgeneralizesseveralmethodsoftranslationinnumbers,especiallyinliteraryworks,soastofacilitateinterculturalorcross-culturalcommunication.

2.TheculturaldiversitybetweenChineseandEnglishnumbers

Allhumanbeingsusenumberssothatthecultureofnumbershascomeintobeing.Numberspenetrateintoeveryaspectofhumanlife[5].Yet,numbers,whichreflectthescalesofthematerialworld,havebeenendowedwithrichculturalconnotationsduetothedifferentculturalbackgrounds.AsfarasChinesecultureisconcerned,itbearssomesimilaritiestotheworldculture,butithasbeenlayingmorestressontheusagesofidioms.TherearenumerousChineseidiomsandidiomaticusageswithnumbers,suchas:說(shuō)一不二，五湖四海，三教九流，一日不見(jiàn)，如隔三秋，三十六計(jì)走為上計(jì)，三句話(huà)不離本行，八九不離十，百戰(zhàn)不殆，七零八落，九霄云外，九九歸一，十萬(wàn)火急andsoforth.

InEnglish-relatedculture,therearealsoalargequantityofidiomsoridiomaticusageswithnumbers,suchasthreesheetsinthewind,theupperten,secondtonone,two-by-four,four-letterman,catch-22,two-leftfeet,andsoon.Besides,oddnumbersexcept13,arefavoredandadornedbywesternpeople.Forinstance,number“seven”withmarkedreligiouscolourisusedfrequentlyintheScripturestosignifycompleteness.Similarly,multiplesofsevenarealsousedinasimilarsenseofcompleteness[6].ButinChinese,itisontheotherwayaround.Althoughthediscrepancyinthesocialtraditionandthediversityinthenumericalcultureareuniversal,thereexistsageneralcultofnumbersinbothChineseandEnglish.Thefollowingpartwillfocusontheculturalsourcesofnumbercultorworshipfromthreeaspects,thatis,nationalpsychology,religion,andmythology.

2.1Numbersandpsychologyofnationalculture

InChineseculture,heavenandearthproduceeverythingbytheinteractionoftwoexistentialandpowerfulforcesoftheuniverse,yinandyang.“Sincenumberswereconsideredamysticalpartoftheuniverse,theancientChineseregardedoddnumbersasyangormasculineandevennumbersasyinorfamine”[7].“Nine”,asthelargestsingledigit,tookonthemeaningof“ultimatemasculinity”andimpliedtheloftiestreverenceforheaven.Therefore,thenumber“nine”symbolizedthesupremesovereigntyoftheemperorwhowastheSonofHeaven.Andthenumber“nine”(oritsmultiples)isoftenemployedintheChineseancientarchitecture,particularlyimperialbuildings.Ancientpalaceswereusuallydesignedasnine-sectionarchitecturalcomplexesrelatedtothenumber“nine”inthenumberorsize.TaketheForbiddenCity,locatedinthecenterofBeijingforexample.Ithasatotalof9,999bays,andtheGateTowerofTian’anmenhasninebyninebays.Thusnumber“nine”oritsmultipleisubiquitousinthearchitectureofthesacrificialtemple.AndtheNineDragonScreennearBeihaiParkhasalsobeenconnectedwithnumbernine.TheChinesepeopleshowpreferencetonumber“nine”,notonlyontheconstructionofthebuilding,butalsoinotherfields,suchas:AnnualfestivalfeastsfortheroyalcourtoftheQingconsistedof99kindsoffoods.Andadivisionofancientfeudalgovernmentofficialswas“ninelevel”.Besides,tocelebrateanemperor’sbirthday,therewere81formsofentertainmentcalledthe“nine-ninebigcelebration”towishtheemperorgoodluckandlongevity[8].Byandby,thenumber“nine”becameexclusivelyreservedandadornedbyChinesepeople,eventoday.

Generallyspeaking,inChineseculture,evennumbersareregardedtobeluckyandpropitioussymbols,whichcanbringpeoplegoodluckandfortune,whileoddnumbersareincomplete.ButasfarasEnglishpeopleareconcerned,thisphenomenonisontheotherwayaround.Theypreferoddnumberstoevenones,suchas“three”,“seven”,ofcourseexcludingnumber“thirteen”,asisknowntonearlymostEnglish-speakingpeople.Whencelebratingorsendingflowerstofriendsorrelatives,peopleshouldtakeone,three,five,orevenmore(excluding13),whereas,peoplesendtwoorfour,sixflowersoritsmultiplewhencondolingwithdeceasedpersons.

Buteverythinghasitsbothsides.Forinstance,number“four”inChinesehasabadandunluckyassociationandconnotation,thoughitisanevennumber.Thus,anotherelementthatrendersnumbersgoodorbadinChineseisthehomophonyandpunninginamany-toneword.Number“four”hasasimilarsoundwiththeChinesecharacter“死”,representing“death”.Soalargenumberofpeopletryeveryefforttoavoidit.ThepossibleomensassociatedwithnumbersandsoundsofnumbersbytheChineseareinexhaustible.Incontrast,thenumber“eight”isfortunatebecauseitsoundslike“發(fā)”，namely,makingafortune.Whenitcomestothecasesliketelephonenumbers,vehiclelicensenumbers,doornumbers,peopleshowspecialpreferencetonumber“eight”orsomethingassociatedwithnumber“eight”,suchas168(tomakeafortunealltheway)(一路發(fā))，518(Iwanttomakeafortune)（我要發(fā)）andsoforth[9].Numberninealsohassuchluckyassociationduetoitssoundandpunning“eternity”(久).Thereforepeoplefavortochoosethedaterelatedtonumber“nine”astheweddingday.The21stCenturyoncereportedthaton9th,September1999,165pairsofpeopleweremarried,inthehopeofhavingeverlastingloveforeachother[10].

Butincontrast,Englishpeopleworshipnumber“four”,whichisthesymbolofjustice,righteousness,power,thefountainofcreation,andthekeyofeverythingintheworld[11].Forinstance,totheearlypeople,thecosmosismadefourelements:earth,air,water,andfire.

2.2Numbersandreligionorphilosophy

Religion,consideredtobethekernelsourceofaculture,withoutdoubtinfluencespeople’sconceptionofculture,becauseofitsdominantroleinmostcountries.ForancientChinese,“three”standsforthethreepartsoftheuniverse:heaven,earth,andman.Anditissaidthattherearethreecreatorsoftheuniverse,governingtheearthandthefairyland.Chinesetraditionalculturehasbeencloselyconnectedwiththereligions,dominatedmainlybyphilosophicalConfucianismforover2000years.AndConfucianismhasintertwinedtightlywithTaoismandBuddhism,whosethoughtsbringaprofoundinfluenceonthecultureofChinesenumbers.In“Laotzu”（《老子》）,Laoziexpressedthatoneproducestwo,twoproducesthreeandthreeproduceseverything.(道生一，一生二，二生三，三生萬(wàn)物)[12].Therefore,inChinesetherearisemanyidiomaticphrases,like三教九流，三思而后行，三人行必有我?guī)熝桑嘁衾@梁，三日不絕，一日不見(jiàn)，如隔三秋，andthelike.Number“three”indicatesperfectionandcompleteness.Theidiom“三生有幸”expressesthatapersonisfortunateallhislife.Here“三生”referstothepreviouslife,presentlifeandnextlife.

And,Christianity,asthemainstreamculture,hasastronginfluenceintheculturalconnotationofnumbersinwesterncountries.ThereligioustraditionoftheChristianTrinity,thatis,Father,Son,andHolySpirit,hasendowedamysteriousnumber“three”withdivinityandperfection.[13]Thewidespreadinterestofnumber“three”stillremainsinthewesterner’smindorthinkingtoday.Manythingsthatareparticularlycompletearestampedwithnumber“three”intheareaslikephysics,mathematics,philosophyandsoforth.Therearethreecompletingtime,thatis,past,presentandfuture.Similarly,number“seven”,anumberwithstrongreligiouscolour,isusedfrequentlyintheBible,indicatingthatGodspentsevendaysinCreation.Attimesithasreferencetobringaworktowardcompletion,oritcanrefertothecompletecycleofthingsasestablishedorallowedbyGod.Thereareplentyofidiomsoridiomaticusageswith“seven”inEnglishculture,suchas,theSevenVirtues,includingFaith,Hope,Charity,Justice,Fortitude,Prudence,Temperance;theSevenDeadlySins,saying,Pride,Wrath,Envy,Lust,Gluttony,Avarice,Sloth;theSevenchampionsofChristendom,thesevendaysofcreation,theSeventhHeaven,andsoon.And,accordingtotheBible,number“six”attimesrepresentsimperfection.Thenumberof“thewildbeast”is666andiscalled“aman’snumber”(Re13:18),indicatingthatithastodowithimperfect,fallenman,anditseemstosymbolizetheimperfectionofthatwhichisrepresentedby“thewildbeast”.Thenumbersixbeingemphasizedtoathirddegree(thesixappearinginthepositionofunits,tens,andhundreds)thereforehighlightstheimperfectionanddeficiencyofthatwhichthebeastrepresents,orpictures[14].

Number“thirteen”isregardedasanevilnumber,standingfor“unfortunate”.AccordingtotheScripture,Judah,thethirteenthcomerduringthelastsupper,betrayedJesus.Hence,peopleinwesterncountriesavoid“13”inmanyaspectsoflife.Peopleavoidaroomnumbered13,aseatinthe13throwofanairplaneorrentingaflatonthe13thfloor[15].Andinafewinstancesperiodsofjudgmentorpunishmentseemtobeassociatedwithnumber“forty”.Ninevehwasgivenfortydaystorepent.Theworldwasfloodedforfortydaysforpeople’sevil-doing.Sofortyisanumberdenotingbadlucktothewesterners[16].

Numbersandmythology

MythologyassociatedwithnumbersinbothChineseandEnglishculturehasdeeplyinfluencedtheculturalconnotationsofnumbers.InChinese,theculturalconnotationsofnumbershaveconnectionwiththeancientmyth.Forinstance,fourcharacterwords“三頭六臂”originatedfromChinesemyth,narratingasupernaturalbeing.Nezha,whotakeschargeofthejustice,hasthreeheadsandsixarms.Hehasvastlymagicpowertotransformhimselfintothreeatrandom.Accordingly,number“three”isendowedwithculturalconnotationsofmagicandpower.

And,EnglishcultureshavebeenmorestronglyaffectedbytheGreekandRomanmythology,whosegodsresemblethecharacterofhumanswithfeelingsanddesires,happinessandsadness.InRomanmyth,god“Jupiter”,whosepowerstemsfromhistridentorthree-prongedthunder-stickinhishand,governstheothers.Neptune,thegodofthesea,reliesonhisthree-prongedspear,andPlutoisadogwiththreeheads.Thusnumber“three”islodgedwithextensionofpoweranddivinity.Andthenumber“thirteen”,inaccordancewiththewesternmyth,isanevilone,whichhasasimilarconnotationandsymbolizationtoChristianity.Itissaidthattwelvegodswerepresentatabanquetheldinheaveninhonorofthesoldierssacrificedinthebattle.Duringthedinner,thedemoniacRocky,anunexpectedperson,arrivedandkilledthesonoftheheadgodAustintodeath.Hence,thewesternersavoidnumber“thirteen”justliketheplague[17].

Allinall,thefunctionofnumbersisnotlimitedinthecalculationormathematics.Itisobviousthatnumbershavegraduallyevolvedthroughoutthelonghistoryofhumanity,inresponsetopracticalrequirementsforcalculation,formingaspecialcultureofnumbers.Fromtheanalysisabove,weknowpeopleshowdifferentattitudesandpreferencetowardsnumber.Thus,studyingthediversityofnumbercultsinEnglishandChinesenotonlyhelpsusunderstandtheirspecificculturesbetter,butalsofacilitatesinterculturalcommunication.

3.VaguenessofnumbersinChineseandEnglish

Vaguenessandprecisenessaretwoparadoxicalcharacteristicsofhumanlanguage.Numbers,whosebasicfunctioniscalculation,areintegrationofnotionandsymbol.Butinmostcases,alotofnumbersinidiomsdonotdesignatequantitiesanymore,nottosayprecisequantities.SomenumbersinidiomsmeansmallquantitiesbothinChineseandinEnglish[18].InChinese,一(one),二or兩(two),三(three)areoftenusedtoindicatesmallquantities.Forinstance,“一本萬(wàn)利”,i.e.asmallinvestmentbringsaten-thousandfoldprofit.So“一”inthesetphrasemeansasmallinvestmentorcapital.And“略知一二”means“toknowalittle”.Comparedtoone，twoandthree,thenumbersfromfourtotenarebignumbersrelatively,aswellashundred,thousand,tenthousand,millionandbillion.Sothesenumberscanbeusedtoexpresslargequantities.Forinstance,inChinese,wehavesetphrases:三令五申，三番五次，五光十色，五顏六色，千金買(mǎi)笑，千方百計(jì)，萬(wàn)目睽睽andthelike.InEnglish,wecanseesuchasentence“Theseventiessawasuccessionofone-hitwonderswhowerefamousovernightandthenneverheardofagain.”Here“one-hitwonder”meansthesuccess,whichlastsashortperiodoftime.Andnowlet’slookatanotherexample:“Theywontheirlastgame.Butoneswallowdoesn’tmakeasummer,theyarestillbottomoftheleague.”“oneswallowdoesn’tmakeasummer”meansonecan’tbecertainthatmoregoodthingswillhappenandthewholesituationwillimprovejustbecauseonegoodthinghashappen.Here,“oneswallow”doesn’tstrictlyreferto“onegoodthing”,butasmallquantity.InEnglish,wecanseetheproverb“Acathasninelives”,whichmeansthatacathasavigorouslife.Thus,“nine”canalsoexpressmany.

ChineseandEnglishusedifferentcountingunits.So,inChinese,“萬(wàn)”(tenthousand),and“億”(ahundredmillion)areemployedtodesignateaverylargequantities,whereasmillionandbillionareusedtoachievethesameeffectinEnglish.Forexample,inChinese,wesay“萬(wàn)分感謝”whileinEnglish,“thanksamillion”issubstituted.

ChinesecultureandEnglishculturearequitedifferentfromeachother.Inturn,thedifferencesbetweentheminfluencethevaguemeaningsoftheirnumbersinevitably.Therefore,understandingwhatthenumbersrefertobecomesanimportantfactorintranslatingnumbers,especiallyinliteraryworks.

4.MethodsoftranslationforChineseandEnglishnumbers

Thesamenumbersindifferentcountrieswithdiverseculturalbackgroundswillsparkdissentingassociationsorconnotations.Insomecases,thetargetlanguagesharesthesameassociationorconnotationandlinguisticfeaturewiththesourcelanguage.Butinmostcases,thesource-languagenumbersornumeralexpressionsmayproducespecificculture,whichisunknowntothetarget-languagereaders.Thereby,thetranslationofnumbersissimpleonthesurfacebutcomplicatedinessence.Translationishereconceivedprimarilyasaprocessofinterculturalcommunication,whoseendproductisasmoothandacceptabletextinspecificsituationandculture.Sodecision-makinginthemethodsoftranslationdependsonthespecificcontextandrespectiveculturebackground.

4.1Literaltranslation

Literaltranslation,alsocalledword-for-wordtranslationbyCicero,Horaceandvirtuallyeveryonethereafter[19]，isanotionwhichhasbeenattheheartofmosttranslationcontroversiesformanycenturies.Asatranslationstrategy,literaltranslationclearlyhasitsuses.Here,theprecisewordsandwordorderarefollowedandtranslatedintothetargetlanguagewhereverpossible.Andthisstrategyinvolvesthesamemeaningforasourcelanguageexpressionandbringsaboutthesameimpactonthetargetreaderanditcanalsoprovidelanguagelearnerswithusefulinsightsintothestructureofthetargetlanguage.Surely,literaltranslationcanbeemployedinthepretextofnotcausingmisunderstanding.

E.g.:(1)好容易熬了一天，這會(huì)兒瞧見(jiàn)你們，竟如死而復(fù)生的一樣。真真古人說(shuō)一日三秋，這話(huà)再不錯(cuò)的。

（曹雪芹《紅樓夢(mèng)》）

ButIsurviveditsomehow,andnowthatwe’retogetheragainIfeelasifI’djustrisenfromthedead!“Onedayapartseemsthreeautumns.”—Howtruethatoldsayingis.[20]

(2)--咱那面紅旗呢？

--叫吳淑蘭掂了啦

--哪個(gè)吳淑蘭？敢情是有三頭六臂？

（王汶石《新結(jié)識(shí)的伙伴》）

--Whathappenedtoourredflag?

--Wushulanhascapturedit…

--WhatWushulan?Don’ttellmeshehasthreeheadsandsixarms![21]

Asstatedabove,“一日三秋”or“一日不見(jiàn)，如隔三秋”expressesthataday’sseparationseemsaslongasthreeyears.Itisliterallytranslatedinto“onedayapartseemsthreeautumns”,whichnotonlyretainstheoriginalmeaningbutisunderstandableandreadabletothetargetreader.Thesameisinthecaseof“三頭六臂”，originatingfromtheChineseancientmythaboutthesuperhuman,Nezha.Thus,intheexample(2),translatingitliterallyinto“threeheadsandsixarms”willgivepeopleanexpressionofvividnessandpowerfulness.Generallyspeaking,someidiomsandproverbscanbetranslatedpracticallyaccordingtothetranslatabilityofthesourcelanguage,tosuchanextentthatthepeopleoftargetlanguagecanassimilatethemtofertilizetheirculture.And,henceitalsocanretainsomeofitsdiversitythroughliteralismandengenderaviewoftranslationinwhichthetargetlanguageinspecificculturalcontextisparamount.

(3)IloveOphelia,fortythousandbrothers

couldnot(withalltheirquantityoflove)

makeupmysum…

我愛(ài)奧菲利亞，四萬(wàn)個(gè)兄弟的愛(ài)

加起來(lái)也休想抵得上我的分量…[22]

(4)Puttingtwoandtwotogether,asthesayingis,itwasnotdifficultformetoguesswhotheexpectedMarquiswas.

(W.Thackeray,TheNewcomes)

正如二加二等于四那么簡(jiǎn)單，我不難推斷出還沒(méi)來(lái)的侯爵是誰(shuí)了。[23]

TheEnglishpeopleliketoemployfortyorfortythousandtoindicatealargequantity,justasthesentenceslistedintheexample(3).Wecanstillunderstanditsmeaningevenifitistranslatedinto“四萬(wàn)個(gè)”.And“puttingtwoandtwotogether”means“guessthetruthfromwhatonesees,hears,etc”.So,evenifitistranslatedastheexpressionabove,itisstillreadableandunderstandable.

4.2Freetranslation

Freetranslationisatypeoftranslationinwhichmoreattentionispaidtoproducinganaturallyreadingtargettextthantopreservingthesourcetextwordingintact.Itisalsoknownassense-for-sensetranslation.Andaccordingtodifferenttexts,differenttechniquesareemployedintranslation.

4.2.1Meaningtranslation

Inthecourseoftranslating,sometimeswefinditdifficultorimpossibletotranslateliterallytogetequivalencebetweenthesourcelanguageandthetargetlanguage,duetothediversityintheculturalbackgroundsandtheexpressions.InEnglishandChineselanguage,someidiomsoridiomaticusageswithnumberscarryparticularculturalconnotations,whichhavenoidenticalorsimilarcharactersinanotherlanguage.Thismeansthenecessity,inorderfortheintercommunicationtoberealizableinpractice,offreerenderinginbothsourcelanguageandthetargetlanguage.

E.g.(1)七碟子八碗擺了一桌。

Helaidoutanelaboratespread.[24]

(2)一聽(tīng)說(shuō)他又要來(lái),她七竅生煙。

Whensheheardhewouldcomeagain,shefumedwithanger.

(3)阿Q候他略停，終于用十二分的勇氣開(kāi)口了。

（魯迅《阿Q正傳》）

AhQwaitedforhimtopause,andthenscreweduphiscouragetospeak.[25]

Thesetphrase“七碟子八碗”isadialect,usedtodescribeasubstantialmeal.And,“七竅”referstosevenaperturesinthehumanhead,i.e.eyes,ears,nostrils,andmouth.“七竅生煙”meansveryangry.AndthetranslationaboveisappropriateandacceptabletotheEnglishpeople.

(4)SeventytimessevendidItakecounselwithmysoul.

我在內(nèi)心深出不知考慮了多少次。[26]

(5)Everyonesprangtohisfeet,butthebusinesswasoverintwotwos.(R.Stevenson,NewArabianNights)

此時(shí)大家都一躍而起，但轉(zhuǎn)眼間他就一命嗚呼。[27]

(6)--AreyoutakingPamouttonight?

--Ah,that’sthesixty-four-thousanddollarquestion!

--你今晚打算帶帕姆出去嗎？

--唉，這真是個(gè)難題！[28]

Asillustratedabove,theidiom“seventytimesseven”originatedfromtheBible.“Notseventimes,but,Itellyou,seventy-seventimes.”(Matt,18:22)[29].Itisarepetitionofseveninanumber,equivalenttosaying“alargenumber”or“withoutlimit”,butitsoriginalmeaningis“七十七個(gè)次”.And“intwotwos”whichmeansimmediatelycanbetranslatedinto“轉(zhuǎn)眼間，一下子”.Theexpression“sixty-four-thousanddollar”startedtobeusedbecauseofatelevisionGameShow,inwhichpeopleplayedgamesoransweredquestionstowinprizes,thepresenterusedthesewordsjustbeforeheaskedthelastandmostdifficultquestion.Soitmeansthemostdifficultandcrucial.

Thismethodoftranslationisnotalwaysconcernedwiththewordsoftheoriginalforms,butwithunderstandingthemeaningofthetext.Sometimesmorewords,sentencesorevenparagraphsaretobeaddedsoastobeunderstandable.

4.2.2Thetechniqueofreplacement

Ithappensonthepremiseofnotdisturbingtheoriginalmeaningandcontext.SincethereexistsubstantialidiomsoridiomaticusagesaboutnumbersinbothEnglishandChinese,thismethodinvolvesreplacingaculturalspecificexpressionwithatarget-languageexpressionwhichiscertainorlikelytohaveasimilarimpactonthetargetlanguagereader,sothattheidiominthetargetlanguageconveysroughlytheexactlysamemeaningasthatofthesource-languageidioms.

E.g.:(1)普及工作若是永遠(yuǎn)停留在一個(gè)水平上，那末，教育者和被教育者豈不是半斤八兩？

（《在延安文藝座談會(huì)上的講話(huà)》）

Ifpopularizationremainsatthesamelevelforever…willnottheeducatorsandthosewhoareeducatedbesixofoneandhalfadozenoftheother?

(2)廖湘云用盡九牛二虎之力，才把季交恕拉曳起來(lái)

（李六如《六十年的變遷》）

LiaoxiangyuneventuallysucceededinpullingJiJiaoshuupfromthegroundwithHerculeanefforts.[30]

(3)柳嫂子有八個(gè)頭，也不敢得罪姑娘。

（曹雪芹《紅樓夢(mèng)》）

EvenifMrs.Liuhadninelives,she’dneverdareoffendyou.[31]

(楊憲益，戴乃迭譯)

Inthefirstsentence,“半斤八兩”isaChineseusage.Accordingtotheoldweighingapparatus,onejin（斤）equalssixteenliang(兩)“jin”and“l(fā)iang”arebothunitsofweighing.So,“半斤八兩”meansasituationthatisgoodandbadtoanequaldegree.WhentranslatedintoEnglish,itcanbetransferredintothecorrespondingtheEnglishidiom“sixofoneandhalfadozenoftheother”onaccountofduodecimalnumbersysteminwesterncountrieslikeEnglishandsoon.

Suchmethodsoftranslationcanbefoundinotheridiomsasfollowing:

人生七十古來(lái)稀Thedaysofouryearsarethreescoreyearsandten[32].

二一添作五gofifty-fifty

一不做，二不休inforapenny,inforapound.

anineday’swonder曇花一現(xiàn)

tentoone十有八九

tobeflungtothefourwinds拋到九霄云外

atsixesandsevens亂七八糟

athousandandoneways千方百計(jì)

4.2.3.Thetechniqueofadjustment

Inordertobeinconformitywiththeprincipleoftraditionandthinkingofthetargetlanguage,someexpressionsofnumbersshouldbeenlargedornarrowedwhentranslatedintoanotherlanguage,becauseofthedifferentusagesinnumbers.

E.g.(1)薛蟠也假說(shuō)來(lái)上學(xué)，不過(guò)是“三天打魚(yú)，兩天曬網(wǎng)”，卻不曾有一點(diǎn)進(jìn)益。

（曹雪芹《紅樓夢(mèng)》）

XuePanhadhastenedtoregisterhimselfasapupil.Hisschool-goingwas,needlesstosay,apretence—“onedayfishingandtwodaystodrythenet”astheysay,andhadnothingtodowiththeadvancementoflearning.

(楊憲益，戴乃迭譯)[33]

(2)鷹擊長(zhǎng)空，

魚(yú)翔淺底，

萬(wàn)類(lèi)霸天競(jìng)自由。

（《沁園春·長(zhǎng)沙》）

Eaglescleavetheair,

Fishglideinthelimpiddeep,

Underfreezingskiesamillioncreaturescontendinfreedom[34].

(3)背河的這面街房，卻故意不連貫，三家五家隔有一巷。

Thehousesonthenorthernbankoftheriverareseparatedaccordingtothedesignthathaslanesrunningbetweeneverythreeorfourofthemandstepsleadingdowntotheriverbank[35].

(4)千山鳥(niǎo)飛絕，萬(wàn)徑人蹤滅。

（柳宗元《江雪》）

Ahundredmountainsandnobird,

Athousandpathswithoutafootprint.[36]

(5)Aslavethatisnottwentiethpartofthetitheofyourprecedentlord…

一個(gè)不及你先夫千分之一的奴才…[37]

Forthefirstexample,“三”and“兩”intheoriginaltextdesignatenoprecisequantity,buttheirvaguemeaning,sowhenwetranslateitintoEnglish,wecannarrowthenumberjustastheabove,retainingitsoriginalvagueness.And,“萬(wàn)”（tenthousand）isnotasfrequentlyusedinEnglishasinChineseduetothedifferentunitofcounting.Similarly,inexample(5),translating“twentieth”into“千分之一”ismoreacceptabletousChinese.

5.Conclusion

Numbers,asanimportantthemeinhumanity,arefilledwithmysteryandconnotationsbothinEnglishandChinesesincetheearliesttime.Peoplearesurroundedbytherhythmofnumbers.Butdifferentnationsshowquitedifferentappetitesfornumbersduetothedifferentculturalbackgrounds.Thus,culturalfactorsnecessitatedecision-makingontranslationstrategies.Itisgenerallyagreednowadaysthatliteraltranslationandfreetranslationdonotformabinarycontrast,andthatthemostappropriatetranslationstrategywillvaryaccordingtothetextbeingtranslatedandthepurposeofthetranslation.ThetranslatorshouldhavearelativelythoroughunderstandingoftheChineseandEnglishcultureinordertoconveythecorrectmeaningofnumbers,especiallytheiridioms.

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[17]同[9]P71

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[21]同[4]P250

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[26]同[20]P118

[27]同[20]P117

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[29]圣經(jīng)[Z].中國(guó)基督教三自愛(ài)國(guó)運(yùn)動(dòng)委員會(huì)、中國(guó)基督教協(xié)會(huì)，2000.P35

[30]同[20]P129

[31]同[22]P85

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[34]同[4]P246

[35]同[18]P43

[36]同[9]P73

[37]同[22]P86