1、生动形象的 Simile （明喻）英语辞格 simile （明喻）是一种最简单、最常用的修辞方法，也是运用最为广泛的一种修辞手段。在文学作品中尤其如此。文学词汇词典（A Dictionary of Literary Terms）对明喻是这样定义的：A figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another, in such a way as to clarify and enhance an image. It is explicit comparison (as opposed to the metaphor where comparison is implicit) recognizable by the use of words “like” or “as”.这个定义对明喻的界定既有权威性又有普遍性，许多论述英语修辞的书籍或文章在讲到明喻时，其叙述都没有超出这个概念。根据定义，明喻是一种表现一事物像另一事物的修辞格。说得通俗点，也就是打比方，即把要描述的事物本体（A）用比喻词与另一种具有鲜明的同一特征的事物喻体（B）联系起来。常用的比喻词有 as（如）， like（像）， seem（似乎）， as if（好像）， as though（好像）， such as（像一样）等。其基本格式是“A is like B”或“A is asas B”。 Simile 在英语中应用得很广泛，用以状物、写景、抒情、喻理，可收到生动形象，简单明了，新鲜有趣的修辞效果。先看引自大学英语精读（笔者按：系指董亚芬总主编的大学英语系列教材(College English)中的精读（Intensive Reading 1-6 册）修订本，上海外语教育出版社，1997。下同）中的几个例子。The cheque fluttered to the floor like a bird with a broken wing. （Book 1, Unit 3）支票像只断了翅膀的小鸟似的飘落在地板上。一位孤苦伶仃的老人在生日那天，满心欢喜地期待她的女儿来给她祝寿，至少给她寄一份生日礼物，最终等到的却是一张冷冰冰的支票。此句形象地描述了老人收到支票后的心情她多么失望，就让那张令她伤心的支票随它去吧！这个明喻的比喻词是 like。Praise is like sunlight to the human spirit we cannot flower and grow without it. (Book 2, Unit 10)对于人的精神来说，赞扬就像阳光一样：没有它我们便不能开花生长。作者借助明喻形象地说明了赞扬的作用，赞扬对于人的精神如阳光对于生命一样重要，对于我们来说是不可或缺的。此句的比喻词也是 like。He looked at me with an air of surprised disappointed, as a colonel might look at a private whose bootlace were undone. (Book 2, Unit 4)他带着一种吃惊的，不以为然的神态看着我，就像一位上校看着一名没系好靴带的列兵一样。这句话传神地刻画出校长对于“我”这位求职者傲慢自大，不屑一顾的神气。这句用的比喻词是 as。英语中有许多谚语包含着美妙的明喻，闪烁着语言艺术的光彩。这些谚语多数以 like 和 as 作比喻词。例如：Wit without learning is like a tree without fruit. 有天资而无学识，好比树木不结果实。Choose an author as you choose a friend. 择书如择友。Credit lost is like a Venice-glass broke. 信誉丧失，犹如破镜难圆。Use a book as a bee does flowers. 读书如蜜蜂采花。明喻通常表示本体和喻体之间的相似性，从而道出两种事物之间的关联。由于这个原因明喻常用于广告语言中，能使我们了解商品，给我们具体、形象的概念，读来颇感亲切，易于为大众所接受。如下面这则衣服广告：Light as a breeze, soft as a cloud.轻盈如微风，柔软似白云。这则广告中两个明喻的运用，把衣服的质地感和穿着的舒适感体现出来了，使广告的魅力倍增，谁会不为之慷慨解囊呢？Cool as a mountain streamcool fresh Consulate. 凉爽如山间清泉清凉甘爽的 Consulate 香烟。这是 Consulate 牌香烟的广告。广告将该香烟比作山间溪流，言下之意是，Consulate 牌香烟犹如山间溪流那样清新、甘爽、提神、醒脑通过比喻把该烟的特点表现的淋漓尽致，使人难以忘怀。另外，值得注意的是英语中有许多成语含有明喻，其结构为 as + 形容词+ as +名词（第一个 as 可省略）。例如：(as) blind as a bat 目光如豆(as) cool as cucumber 泰然自若(as) cold as a marble 冷若冰霜(as) busy as a bee 像蜜蜂一样忙(as) firm as a rock 坚如磐石(as) light as a feather 轻如鸿毛(as) mute as an oyster 噤若寒蝉(as) strong as horse 健壮如牛用些含明喻的成语用 like 构成。例如：like a duck to water 如鱼得水like a hen on a hot griddle 像热锅上的蚂蚁like a cat in a hole 瓮中之鳖以上是明喻最典型的体现格式：A is like B. 和 A is asas B.英语中的明喻可以多种格式体现，其他的格式或句型还有：1、虚拟句型 最常见的是用 as if 或 as though 作比喻词，另外还有其他一些形式。例如：My handwriting looks as if a swarm of ants, escaping from an ink bottle, had walked over a sheet of paper without wiping their legs. (Sydney Smith )我的笔迹，看来就像一大群蚂蚁从墨水里逃出来，没有把脚抹干净就在纸上四散奔跑过似的。笔迹像蚂蚁爬的痕迹，比喻得恰如其分。and the fattest woman I have ever seen in my life dozing in a straight-backed chair. It was as if a sack of grain was supported by a matchbox. 还有一位我生平所未曾见过最胖的女人坐在一把直背椅子上打瞌睡，那简直就像一口袋粮食放在一个火柴盒上一样。“一口袋粮食放在一个火柴盒上”比喻（含夸张）得多么生动。The dogs were in full cry, their noses down, their tails up, so close together that they might have been one great yellow and white moving carpet. 那群狗吠叫着追猎，低着头，翘着尾巴，一条挨着一条，看上去就像一块黄白交织的活动的大地毯。本句也是虚拟句型的明喻，词组 sothat 起比喻词的作用，连接本体和喻体。She looked both young and aging, as if she had just emerged from an illness of some crisis.(Isacca Bashevis Singer: The Briefcase)她看上去既老又年轻，好像是新病初愈或是刚遭了一场灾难的样子。He was a beautiful horse that looked as though he had come out of a painting by Velasquez.(Ernest Hemingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls)那匹马很漂亮，像是维拉斯凯兹油画上的马变活了。2、what 型 常见的句式有两种：A is to B what C is to D 和 What C is to D, A is to B。例如：Carlos Lehder was to cocaine transportation what Henry Ford was to cars. 卡洛斯雷德与可卡因的贩运的关系，正如亨利 福特与汽车的关系。卡洛斯雷德是著名的哥伦比亚毒枭（Colombian drug lord），亨利福特是美国汽车大王，本句通过喻体（福特）说明本体（雷德）。此明喻起说明的作用。Judicious praise is to children what the sun is to flowers. (Bovee)明智的表扬对于孩子的作用，就像阳光对于花朵的作用。The pen is to a writer what the gun is to a fighter. 作家的笔犹如战士的枪。Intellect is to the mind what sight is to the body. 智力对思想犹如视力对于身体一样重要。在这个明喻句式中，系动词可以改用实义动词 do，介词 to 改为 for，而成为 A does for B what C does for D 。这里 what 引导的是一个宾语从句。例如： Marx did for the development of society what Darwin did for the development of the biology. 马克思对社会发展的贡献和达尔文对生物学发展的贡献一样。第二个句式是把 what 从句提到句首而形成的。例如： What the blueprint is to the builder the outline is to the writer. 提纲对于作家犹如蓝图对于建筑师一样重要。What blood vessels are to a mans body, that railways are to the country. 铁路对于一个国家的作用正如血管对于人体的作用。What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul. 教育之于心灵，犹如雕刻之于大理石。What salt is to food, that wit and humour are to conversation and literature. 妙语与幽默之于会话与文学，恰似盐对于食物一样。以上两例中 what 置于句首，后面的主句一般由 that 连接，但也可以省去。1、生动形象的 Simile （明喻） 3、than 型 Lear: that she may feelHow sharper than a serpents tooth it isTo have a thankless child! Away, away! ( William Shakespeare: King Lear ) 李尔：让她也感觉到一个负心的孩子比毒蛇的牙齿还要多么使人痛入