狗年话说汉英词典中的“狗”
文/肖福寿1
在汉语言中，狗被称为“犬”。中华民族的犬文化源远流长，已有八千多年的历史。《说文稽古篇》记载“游牧时代，惟犬独多，穴居则畜犬守御，狩猎则携犬自随，因而人必备犬”，可见犬早已就与人类朝夕为伍；《本草纲目》云“称狗有乌龙白龙之号”，可见犬与“四灵”有相同的灵性，已被尊奉为图腾；《礼记·曲礼》载“凡祭宗庙之礼：牛曰一元大武，豕曰刚鬣，豚曰腯肥，羊曰柔毛，鸡曰翰音，犬曰羹献……”，可见犬已作祭祀之用，为人们降福降祉；《汲冢周书》曰“商汤时，四方献，以珠玑玳瑁短狗献”，可见犬已用作宠物馈赠，甚至作为贡品进贡；《史记·苏秦列传》言“临淄甚富而实，其民无不吹竽鼓瑟，弹琴击筑，斗鸡走狗，六博蹋鞠者”，可见犬已作玩赏与陪伴之用。古人甚至将犬升华为一种忠义精神，教育人们要学会“甘效犬马之劳”，忠于国家，忠于朋友，忠于家人。纪昀《阅微草堂笔记》赞曰：“余谓犬之为物，不烦驱策，而警夜不失职，宁忍寒饿，而恋主不他往，天下为僮仆者，实万万不能及。其足使人愧，正不在能语不能语耳。”
可以说，狗因可爱、忠诚、勇敢而著称，早已被国人视为一种吉利的动物，一种与人类同甘共苦的宠物。而且，狗还是一种能够预示前兆的动物，故古人常以狗吠的时辰来测吉凶：子时狗吠，则主夫之人，时争闹画；丑时狗吠，则主心中有，忧疑之事；寅时狗吠，则主失得财，帛大吉利；卯时狗吠，则主失雄心，得财利来；辰时狗吠，则主有财喜，大事通吉；巳时狗吠，则主亲人来，及有信至；午时狗吠，则主有酒食，宴会事吉；未时狗吠，则主妻外心，有破财喜；申时狗吠，则主家宅内，小口事凶；酉时狗吠，则主加官禄，有得财吉；戌时狗吠，则主有口舌，招灾事凶；亥时狗吠，则主有官司，词讼随后。
2018年，是中国农历戊戌年，即民间生肖纪年的狗年。在这狗年之际，让我们重新检阅一下汉英词典中与狗相关的种种说法，聊作一种新年之乐吧。
本文的语料主要选取自陆谷孙教授主编的《中华汉英大词典》，均为该词典的编纂者自以为迻译尚有特点的与狗有关的表达法，其目的在于与广大读者共享并敦请广大读者质疑与指谬。
…………
二、与“狗”有关的两字表达
这方面的表达，多数为名词，有少量的动词或形容词。在这些名词当中，不少为专有名词，其中包括一些比喻词或詈词。具体请见以下例子：
狗才 worthless person; incompetent person
狗盗 thief
狗命 (1) dog’s life (2)wretched existence
狗屁 rubbish, nonsense (usu of writing): | ～不通 mere trash or rubbish | ～文章 a worthless piece of writing
狗食 (1) dog food (2)useless things: ～盆子a good-for-nothing
狗窝 (1) kennel; doghouse (2)dirty or messy or untidy (room)
…………
三、与“狗”有关的三字表达
这方面的表达，均为名词，不少是专有名词，其中包括一些口语词、比喻词、詈词等。具体请见以下例子：
狗吃屎 dog eating dung; to fall flat on the face; to fall to the ground face down [usu a heavy fall]: 摔了个～ fall flat on the face
狗爬式 dog-paddle [swimming style]
狗脾气 bad disposition
狗腿子 hired thug; lackey; henchman
狗咬狗 (dog-eat-dog ) strife or dogfight [usu among bad people]
狗仔队 paparazzi
…………
四、与“狗”有关的四字表达
这方面的表达，绝大部分为习语，只有少量的一般性表达，其中含有一些贬义性的词语。具体请见以下例子：
狗盗鸡鸣 (1) having little tricks (2) slinkingly; covertly
狗苟蝇营 to seek gains shamelessly
狗急跳墙 (a dog at bay will jump over a wall) to take a desperate action in a critical situation: ～, 人急悬梁 (just as a cornered dog will leap over a wall, so a desperate person will hang himself from a roof beam) desperate people will resort to desperate measures
狗皮膏药 (1) dogskin plaster (2)quack remedies; worthless goods
狗头狗脑 (1) furtive; sneaky: 这家伙～, 来历不明 judging from that guy’s furtive manner, he might be a trouble (2) words used by the older generation to the younger ones to wish them health: 保佑你日后～的, 长命百岁 wish you health and many happy returns
狗头军师 person who likes to give advice, but not very good advice; person who offers bad advice; inept advisor
狗尾续貂 (a dog’s tail attached to a sable) a wretched sequel attached to a fine work; to complete a masterpiece with poor finishing (of literary works)
狗血喷头 also 狗血淋头a stream of abuse; a torrent of abuse
狗仗人势 (like a dog threatening people on the strength of its master’s power) to be a bully with the backing of a powerful person; to take advantage of one’s or sb else’s power to bully people
五、与“狗”有关的五字或以上的表达
这方面的表达，绝大部分为习语或俗语，仅有极少的一般性表达。具体请见以下例子：
狗不上前用食喂，马不上套驾鞭打 (if a dog won’t advance toward you, feed it with food; if a horse won’t get into harness, beat it with a whip) different people or situations should be treated with different tactics
狗不嫌家贫 dogs do not shun a poor home
狗都有翘尾巴的时候 (every dog has his time to stick up his tail) every dog will have his day
狗多不怕狼，人多不怕虎 (when dogs are many, they dread no wolves; when people are many, they dread no tigers) there is strength in numbers
狗改不了吃屎 you can’t make a crab walk straight; a leopard never changes its spot; it’s hard to change sb’s bad disposition
狗拿耗子, 多管闲事 (like a dog trying to catch mice) to poke one’s nose into other people’s business; to be a busybody; to be too meddlesome
狗瘦主人羞 (if a dog is thin, its master feels ashamed) a leader feels ashamed when his subordinates misbehave
狗头上搁不住肉骨头 (no meaty bones can be kept on a dog’s head for long) certain people or situations are just hopeless
狗头上长角 (a horn growing on a dog’s head) utter impossibility
狗眼看人低 to be snobbish
狗咬吕洞宾 (a dog snapping at Lǚ Dongbin [the first of the eight immortals]) not to recognize a good person or his good intention; to bite the hand that feeds one
狗嘴吐不出象牙also狗嘴里长不出象牙 (no ivory will come out of a dog’s mouth) no decent words come from the mouth of a bad person; filthy mouth can’t utter decent language; what can you expect from a dog but a bark
的确，汉语中与“狗”有关的表达实在太丰富了，诸如“狗宝”“狗窦”“狗鱼”“狗刨儿”“狗盗鼠窃”“狗走狐淫”“狗咬狗，两嘴毛”等词语的英文翻译，更待我们共同探索。
注释：
1. 南京大学博士，哈佛大学访问学者，现为上海大学教授、英语系主任，主要从事英语语块学、ESL写作以及词典编纂研究。