我們先來看幾條中西文化水乳交融的諺語。

Man proposes, God disposes.

這個說法最早見于14世紀，起初以 “If man proposes evil, God disposes of it.” 的形式出現(xiàn), 意思是上帝會阻止想要為惡的人。這里的God, 既可以指上帝, 又可以指天意。 就像我們常說的“盡人事, 聽天命”、“謀事在人，成事在天”一樣, 盡力而為之后, 還要順從自然的規(guī)律。 畢竟，人類是自然的一部分, 凡事皆不可強求，與自然的和諧是人類的生存之本。

e.g. A: Bob, how about tomorrow’s driving test？Sure to pass，huh？

B: I don’t know. I’ve done enough, I’d say. Anyway, man proposes, God disposes. I am praying for good luck.

If you play with fire, you get burnt.

所謂“玩火者必自焚”，鋌而走險的盲目舉動會招致無窮禍患。

e.g. The abuse of power has sent many people into jail, which shows that playing with fire could get you burnt.

Revenge is a dish that could be eaten cold.

很形象的一句諺語。所有的菜肴都必須趁熱吃，唯獨revenge是個例外。“君子報仇，十年未晚。”

e.g. He has done serious wrong to his friends. You just wait and see. They will not let him go scot-free. Revenge is a dish that could be eaten cold.

Every dog has its day.（又作All dogs have their days.）

這里的day，是指opportunities, 即成功的機會；而dog 則泛指那些地位低下、似乎沒有出息的人。“士別三日，當刮目相看”，落魄的人若發(fā)奮圖強，總會有出頭之日。

e.g. You must not look down upon him. Though poor and gloomy. he could turn out to be outstanding one day. As the saying goes, every dog has its day.

上一句中提到了"dag"。西方人其實經(jīng)常用狗來比喻人，如，lucky dog（幸運兒），因為他們并不歧視狗。而在漢語中，有不少涉及狗的諺語和成語都是貶義的，如“狗改不了吃屎”、“掛羊頭賣狗肉”、“狗仗人勢”、“狗嘴里吐不出象牙”等。當然，英文中dog一詞有時也帶有貶義，但往往含義與中文不盡相同，我們使用時切忌望文生義。如，It is a dog’s life Chris is leading. 某位教授認為“a dog’s life”的意思是“悲慘的生活”，因而在一篇論及中英文化差別的文章中將其譯成“過著牛馬不如的生活”。其實“a dog’s life”指的是“爭吵不休，過著不安寧的日子”。這類成語很多，如go to the dogs（每況愈下），dog-eat-dog（狗咬狗的，損人利己的），dog in the manger（占著茅坑不拉屎的人）。還有一些沒有任何褒貶涵義的用法，如dog days（大熱天），doggy bag（餐館里的打包袋），據(jù)說，早先人們礙于面子，不愿明說要把剩菜帶回家吃，佯稱要帶給狗吃，所以叫doggy bag。

上面這些西方諺語大體還能找到和它們相對應(yīng)的漢語諺語，而以下兩條則完全不同。

Lightning never strikes the same place twice.

“閃電從不打同一個地方”，與我們說的“福無雙至，禍不單行”恰恰相反，這也是差異的一個有趣的體現(xiàn)。

e.g. -How were your exams? All over?

-I really don’t know. I did rather poorly last time. I hope I’ll do better this time.

-Come on, don’t worry about it. You are sure to pass. As the saying goes, lightening never strikes the same place twice.

One swallow does not make a summer.

swallow 是燕子。西諺說，一只燕子飛來不能代表夏天的來臨。而中國成語卻說，一葉知秋。兩種說法各有其智慧。“One swallow does not make a summer”強調(diào)的是要區(qū)別一般性與特殊性的辯證哲理；而“一葉知秋”體現(xiàn)的則是從細微的端倪窺見總體趨勢的睿智。

e.g.-Hey, look! The scores are already 2:1！Liverpool is sure to win, I bet!

-I don’t think so. One swallow does not make a summer. Miracles always happen the last minute.