【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 towards the end of war 1812, a British officer encountered an American hunter near the British line, gained control of his musket and thereby forced him to eat the crow he had just shot. The American plied, but when his musket returned, he forced the British officer to do the same. (Ping Hong amp。 Zhang Guoyang, 1999:190) from religionAs a cultural phenomenon, religion, which is the manifestation of different cultures, is the vital part of human thought. It penetrates into every possible aspect of people’s life and is an important source for idioms.English people believe in Christianity, which is by far the most influential religion in the west. And the Bible, which included the Old Testament and the New Testament, is regarded as the scriptures. It is safe to say that Bible influences every aspect of its disciples’ life. (Ping Hong amp。 Zhang Guoyang, 1999:110) Consequently, many sayings and sentences in Bible have been popularly accepted. They have been deeply rooted among people. These idioms are no longer only confined to religion and they have bee proverbs which reflect English people religious faith such as ‘Every man must carry his own crosses’. (Yang Yaofang, 2002:174) This proverb is from Bible, Matthew. On the grounds of Matthew, the main idea is like this: “As the soldiers went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon, they pelled this man to carry Jesus’ cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots’ then they sat down there and kept watching over him. Over his head they put the charge against, which read, ‘this is Jesus, the king of the Jews.’” From this, we can learn that cross means sufferings. The proverb tends to tell us that everyone should put up with misery in daily life and undertake the life’s burdens.‘One doesn’t live only by bread.’(Yang Yaofang, 2002:382) It is from Bible, Deuteronomy, the general idea is: “Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his mandment. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with Manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that es from the mouth of the Lord.” From this, we can know that material is not the only thing that indispensable to men. Spirit is also very important. If one only searches for material, he will be considered as an animal, for the most distinctive characteristic between men and animals is that men have the pursuit of spirit but animals have not.‘Let not thy left hand knows what thy right hand doeth.’ (Wang Shuting amp。Wang Jianmin, 1999:191) According to the doctrines of the Bible, all human beings are brothers and sisters, and they should help each other. So when we give hands to others, never keep the memory that we have helped them. Another example, ‘if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.’ (Wang Shuting amp。 Wang Jianmin, 1999:168) It implies that if one has little knowledge, it is difficult for him to teach others some useful things. Even if he tried to help others, he would do nothing good to them. Originating from mythologies and allegoriesDifferent ethic groups posses their own mythologies so that mythologies are characterized by their nationalism. Mythology is the soil from which the national culture develops. Language is deeply influenced by the mythologies and allegories, so does idioms. Idioms from Greek and Roman mythology‘Westerners are heirs to GrecoRoman civilization. Many ideas now prevailing in western countries can be traced back to the thinkers in ancient Greece and Roman. Greek and Roman mythologies are well known in the west and have beard on a strong influence upon people’s lives in western countries. It is natural that it bees a mon source of English idioms.’ (Wang Zhenya, 1999)‘The devil too has Achilles’ heel’. (Wang Dechun, Yang Suying amp。 Huang Yueyuan, 2003:57) According to the Homer, we can know: Achilles was a Greek hero. Every part of his body was sword proof except his heel, so his heel was his fatal defeat. This saying tells us that even the devil has his weakness. No man is absolutely powerful. There is a similar example. ‘Not even Hercules could contend against two.’ (Wang Dechun, Yang Suying amp。 Huang Yueyuan, 2003:50) Hercules, a son of Zeus, was a hero in Roman mythologies. He had incredible force, which helped him gain twelve heroic achievements. Although he was powerful enough, he could not defeat a large number of enemies on his own. So the proverb tells us that man’s energy is limited no matter how powerful he is. Another example ‘Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus grows cold.’ (Wang Zhenya, 2004:139) Ceres is Roman goddess of gain and agriculture, Bacchus is the Greek god of wine。 Venus is the goddess of beauty and love. From this, we can know that Ceres and Bacchus stand for basic necessity of life. So the proverb tends to express that love cannot be sweet without material support. Idioms from The Fables of AesopMany English idioms from The Fables of Aesop are very concise and humorous, and they reflect the essence and the true meaning of life. It is very easy for people to understand and put them into practice. Many of them are passed down till today.‘The camel going to seek horns lost his ears.’ (Wang Dechun, Yang Suyingamp。Huang Yueyuan, 2003:55) The general idea of the allusion is a cow showed off his horns in front of a camel. The camel was envious of cow’s horns, so he requested Zeus to give a pair of horns to him. Zeus was very angry, because he thought that the camel was greedy to ask for horns with his so huge body. At l