【正文】 t go out for there is a dog outside, because here the “dog” is used metaphorically to refer to spies or servile followers.[14]P15 Another case in this point is dragon. Chinese people admire and worship this imagined animal. It is the symbol of the Chinese nation。 Love me, love my dogaccept my friends as yours. However, In China, people often despise such an animal, therefore, a dog is usually associated with a derogatory sense:狗血噴頭 (a torrent of abuse),狗頭軍師 (wicked counselor),狗眼看人低 (be damned snobbish),狼心狗肺 (rapacious as a wolf and savage as a cur),狗急跳墻 (despair gives a courage to a coward),打落水狗 (kick the man when he is down),狗嘴里吐不 出象牙 (a filthy mouth can39。s invitation to a meal, you will find it difficult to say anything against him) reflects the philosophy of the Chinese. That is why most of the problems can be solved at the dinner table, which surprises the western businessmen. . Animals The English and Chinese people have their own individual state of mind, which add national coloring to the idioms, due to their different living conditions. The English and the Chinese people traditionally have different opinions of animals, such as “dog”, the English people have a high opinion of the dog and think a dog to be a faithful friend, thus there are many canine idioms in English, most of which have a mendatory sense such as clever dogclever boy or clever guy。s leisure),不當家不知柴米貴 (He who takes charge knows the responsibility)，看菜吃飯，量體裁衣 (to adapt oneself to circumstances). China has a long history of cooking and the Chinese are known as the most critical and at the same time the most causal eaters, for they att ach greater importance to food than any other people, as is reflected in the sayings like:家常便飯 (daily food preparation)，粗茶淡飯 (coarse tea and brown rice)，大魚大肉 (abundant fish and meatrich food),添油加醋 (to exaggerate embellishment to),畫餅充饑 (to draw cakes to allay hunger)，雞毛蒜皮 (an inch breaks no square),生米煮成熟飯 (What39。s bread(過舒適的生活 ) is used to mean to obtain an fortable living. It is certainly a bad luck if someone has to eat hard cheese, so hard cheese(倒霉 ) got its meaning bad luck. In China, most of the areas especially the south grow rice, so many idioms have to do with rice:巧婦難為無米之炊 (Even the cleverest housewife can39。s bread may satisfy a person39。s will. The teachings and beliefs concerning Christianity are recorded in the Bible, which has contributed a great deal to English idioms, for many English people who believe in Christianity all read the Bible. Therefore, numerous idioms have e into people39。s joss stick before an idol in times of peace, then embrace the Buddha39。s work), 借花獻佛 (to present Buddha with borrowed flowersto borrow something to make a gift of it)，五體投地 (to throw oneself down at somebody39。t be repaid)孟郊《游子吟》 .[12]P23 3. Different religions and beliefs As a cultural phenomenon, religion, which is the manifestation of different cultures, is the vital part of human thought. It perates into every possible aspect of people39。物換星移 (Things change with the passing of years)《藤王閣序》 。s content)《水滸傳》 。兵臨城下 (with troop closing in on the city) and 心滿意足 (to one39。 東 施效 顰 (now it means imitating somebody stupidly)《莊子 文質(zhì)彬彬 (gentle and polite) and 小不忍則亂大謀 (If you are too tenderhearted over small matters, you39。s mill grinds slow but sure)，山高水低 (unfortunate accidents or happenings)，棄暗投明 (quit the reactionaries and side with the people) are all from ancient Chinese literature《史記 s tales.[11]P23 Chinese idioms like 精衛(wèi)填海 (the mythical bird trying to fill up the sea with pebbles, a person with strong will) and 機關算盡太聰明，反算了卿卿性命 (too much cunning in plotting and scheming is the cause of her own undoing ar e from《山海經(jīng)》 and《紅樓夢》 respectively。s Catch 22。s eye ( 當心你的眼睛 )Charles Dickens Barnaby Rudge。s Fable, can refer to assuming a selfimportant air。s own petard (搬起石頭砸自己的腳 ) and out of joint (雜亂無章 ) are from Hamlet. Besides, the woks of other famous writers also store a great many idioms: a nineday wonder (曇花一現(xiàn) ) appears in Troilus and Cressid written by Geoffrey Chaucer。s pound of flesh (割某人的一磅肉 ) are from The Merchant of Venice。 his dramas are the major source of this kind: applaud one to the echo (掌聲雷動 ), die in harness (因公殉職 ), make assurance doubly sure (加倍小心 ) and at one fell swoop(一下子，一舉 ) e from Macbeth。邯鄲學步 : learn the ways of walkingimitate others only to lose one?s originality。囫圇吞棗 : swallow a date wholly without chewing or tasting ituncritical acceptance without real prehension of what one reads or studies。s bosom(姑息養(yǎng)奸 )， the lion39。 choice means the reward of toil in preference to pleasure, the Herculian efforts(九牛二虎之力 )， the pillars of Hercules(天涯海角 ).In addition, Aesop39。 Every Caesar has his Brutus implies that one should be aware of one39。 crocodile39。[9]P360,10and Penelope39。s circumstances or character. A Pandora39。s take a glance at the following idioms: Achilles39。s muttons(言歸正傳 )and do in Rome as the Romans do(入鄉(xiāng)隨俗 )are from France and Rome respectively. The history of mankind is almost the history of war, which is the source of numerous idioms, as is mirrored in the following English and Chinese idioms: What millions died that Caesar might be great(一將功成萬骨枯 )， to steal a march on(先發(fā)制人 )， to put up the sword(講和 ). The Chinese nation has a long history of war for more than two thousand years, and therefore the Chinese language is rich in such idioms, which often appear in the following historical books such as《左傳》，《史記》，《三國志》，《三國演義》，《水滸傳》 . They are 兵不厭詐 (There can never be too much deception in war)，兵荒馬亂 (amidst the ravages and turmoil of war),短兵相接 (cut and thrust)，趕盡殺絕 (cut down the grass and dig up the roots)，知己知彼，百戰(zhàn)不殆 (Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat),臨陣磨槍(to sharp one39。s egg, th