汉英数字文化翻译

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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】数字是语言科学中的一个特殊领域，是表示数量或顺序的词类。在汉英两种语言中，数字作为计算功能的意义是一致的。但由于受民族心理、宗教信仰、神话传说等文化差异的影响，数字被赋予了丰富的文化内涵。对不同或相同的数字，汉英有着不同的崇尚或禁忌习俗，以及不同的联想和意义，并由此而孕育出各自独特的数字文化。因此，在翻译数字，尤其在民间语言和文学作品中，要对汉英两种语言与文化有较全面的了解,并充分考虑到英汉数字的模糊语义的差异，灵活运用不同的翻译方法，才能译出形神兼备的作品。

【关键词】数字；汉语；英语；对比；翻译

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:说一不二，五湖四海，三教九流，一日不见，如隔三秋，三十六计走为上计，三句话不离本行，八九不离十，百战不殆，七零八落，九霄云外，九九归一，十万火急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“发”，namely,makingafortune.Whenitcomestothecasesliketelephonenumbers,vehiclelicensenumbers,doornumbers,peopleshowspecialpreferencetonumber“eight”orsomethingassociatedwithnumber“eight”,suchas168(tomakeafortunealltheway)(一路发)，518(Iwanttomakeafortune)（我要发）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万物)[12].Therefore,inChinesetherearisemanyidiomaticphrases,like三教九流，三思而后行，三人行必有我师焉，余音绕梁，三日不绝，一日不见，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“三头六臂”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两(two),三(three)areoftenusedtoindicatesmallquantities.Forinstance,“一本万利”,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，五颜六色，千金买笑，千方百计，万目睽睽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,“万”(tenthousand),and“亿”(ahundredmillion)areemployedtodesignateaverylargequantities,whereasmillionandbillionareusedtoachievethesameeffectinEnglish.Forexample,inChinese,wesay“万分感谢”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，这会儿瞧见你们，竟如死而复生的一样。真真古人说一日三秋，这话再不错的。

（曹雪芹《红楼梦》）

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

(2)--咱那面红旗呢？

--叫吴淑兰掂了啦

--哪个吴淑兰？敢情是有三头六臂？

（王汶石《新结识的伙伴》）

--Whathappenedtoourredflag?

--Wushulanhascapturedit…

--WhatWushulan?Don’ttellmeshehasthreeheadsandsixarms![21]

Asstatedabove,“一日三秋”or“一日不见，如隔三秋”expressesthataday’sseparationseemsaslongasthreeyears.Itisliterallytranslatedinto“onedayapartseemsthreeautumns”,whichnotonlyretainstheoriginalmeaningbutisunderstandableandreadabletothetargetreader.Thesameisinthecaseof“三头六臂”，originatingfromtheChineseancientmythaboutthesuperhuman,Nezha.Thus,intheexample(2),translatingitliterallyinto“threeheadsandsixarms”willgivepeopleanexpressionofvividnessandpowerfulness.Generallyspeaking,someidiomsandproverbscanbetranslatedpracticallyaccordingtothetranslatabilityofthesourcelanguage,tosuchanextentthatthepeopleoftargetlanguagecanassimilatethemtofertilizetheirculture.And,henceitalsocanretainsomeofitsdiversitythroughliteralismandengenderaviewoftranslationinwhichthetargetlanguageinspecificculturalcontextisparamount.

(3)IloveOphelia,fortythousandbrothers

couldnot(withalltheirquantityoflove)

makeupmysum…

我爱奥菲利亚，四万个兄弟的爱

加起来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简单，我不难推断出还没来的侯爵是谁了。[23]

TheEnglishpeopleliketoemployfortyorfortythousandtoindicatealargequantity,justasthesentenceslistedintheexample(3).Wecanstillunderstanditsmeaningevenifitistranslatedinto“四万个”.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)七碟子八碗摆了一桌。

Helaidoutanelaboratespread.[24]

(2)一听说他又要来,她七窍生烟。

Whensheheardhewouldcomeagain,shefumedwithanger.

(3)阿Q候他略停，终于用十二分的勇气开口了。

（鲁迅《阿Q正传》）

AhQwaitedforhimtopause,andthenscreweduphiscouragetospeak.[25]

Thesetphrase“七碟子八碗”isadialect,usedtodescribeasubstantialmeal.And,“七窍”referstosevenaperturesinthehumanhead,i.e.eyes,ears,nostrils,andmouth.“七窍生烟”meansveryangry.AndthetranslationaboveisappropriateandacceptabletotheEnglishpeople.

(4)SeventytimessevendidItakecounselwithmysoul.

我在内心深出不知考虑了多少次。[26]

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

此时大家都一跃而起，但转眼间他就一命呜呼。[27]

(6)--AreyoutakingPamouttonight?

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

--你今晚打算带帕姆出去吗？

--唉，这真是个难题！[28]

Asillustratedabove,theidiom“seventytimesseven”originatedfromtheBible.“Notseventimes,but,Itellyou,seventy-seventimes.”(Matt,18:22)[29].Itisarepetitionofseveninanumber,equivalenttosaying“alargenumber”or“withoutlimit”,butitsoriginalmeaningis“七十七个次”.And“intwotwos”whichmeansimmediatelycanbetranslatedinto“转眼间，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)普及工作若是永远停留在一个水平上，那末，教育者和被教育者岂不是半斤八两？

（《在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话》）

Ifpopularizationremainsatthesamelevelforever…willnottheeducatorsandthosewhoareeducatedbesixofoneandhalfadozenoftheother?

(2)廖湘云用尽九牛二虎之力，才把季交恕拉曳起来

（李六如《六十年的变迁》）

LiaoxiangyuneventuallysucceededinpullingJiJiaoshuupfromthegroundwithHerculeanefforts.[30]

(3)柳嫂子有八个头，也不敢得罪姑娘。

（曹雪芹《红楼梦》）

EvenifMrs.Liuhadninelives,she’dneverdareoffendyou.[31]

(杨宪益，戴乃迭译)

Inthefirstsentence,“半斤八两”isaChineseusage.Accordingtotheoldweighingapparatus,onejin（斤）equalssixteenliang(两)“jin”and“liang”arebothunitsofweighing.So,“半斤八两”meansasituationthatisgoodandbadtoanequaldegree.WhentranslatedintoEnglish,itcanbetransferredintothecorrespondingtheEnglishidiom“sixofoneandhalfadozenoftheother”onaccountofduodecimalnumbersysteminwesterncountrieslikeEnglishandsoon.

Suchmethodsoftranslationcanbefoundinotheridiomsasfollowing:

人生七十古来稀Thedaysofouryearsarethreescoreyearsandten[32].

二一添作五gofifty-fifty

一不做，二不休inforapenny,inforapound.

anineday’swonder昙花一现

tentoone十有八九

tobeflungtothefourwinds抛到九霄云外

atsixesandsevens乱七八糟

athousandandoneways千方百计

4.2.3.Thetechniqueofadjustment

Inordertobeinconformitywiththeprincipleoftraditionandthinkingofthetargetlanguage,someexpressionsofnumbersshouldbeenlargedornarrowedwhentranslatedintoanotherlanguage,becauseofthedifferentusagesinnumbers.

E.g.(1)薛蟠也假说来上学，不过是“三天打鱼，两天晒网”，却不曾有一点进益。

（曹雪芹《红楼梦》）

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

(杨宪益，戴乃迭译)[33]

(2)鹰击长空，

鱼翔浅底，

万类霸天竞自由。

（《沁园春·长沙》）

Eaglescleavetheair,

Fishglideinthelimpiddeep,

Underfreezingskiesamillioncreaturescontendinfreedom[34].

(3)背河的这面街房，却故意不连贯，三家五家隔有一巷。

Thehousesonthenorthernbankoftheriverareseparatedaccordingtothedesignthathaslanesrunningbetweeneverythreeorfourofthemandstepsleadingdowntotheriverbank[35].

(4)千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭。

（柳宗元《江雪》）

Ahundredmountainsandnobird,

Athousandpathswithoutafootprint.[36]

(5)Aslavethatisnottwentiethpartofthetitheofyourprecedentlord…

一个不及你先夫千分之一的奴才…[37]

Forthefirstexample,“三”and“两”intheoriginaltextdesignatenoprecisequantity,buttheirvaguemeaning,sowhenwetranslateitintoEnglish,wecannarrowthenumberjustastheabove,retainingitsoriginalvagueness.And,“万”（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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