【正文】 he head of a dog than the tail of a lion. 寧為雞頭，不為鳳尾 No correspondence of cultural connotationsBecause of the differences between the two cultures and image thoughts of the two nations, it’s natural that the two nations have different emotional reaction to the same kind of animal. In different cultures and civilizations, the same kind of animal might be given different cultural connotations, which will lead to the vacancy of cultural connotation in the other language, and lead to the obstacles for crossexchanges. For example, peacock(孔雀) represents “arrogance” in English, but it stands for “beauty” in Chinese. The Chinese think “owl”(貓頭鷹) means “illomened”, while in English culture, it is viewed as “wisdom”. And “鴛鴦” means that husband and wife in Chinese, but “mandarin duck” has not such cultural connotation in English. “山羊” has no special meaning in Chinese, but “goat” means “l(fā)echer” in English. In Chinese we have the idiom “指鹿為馬”, but the equal expression in English is “talk black into white”. The English version of the Chinese saying “掛羊頭賣(mài)狗肉” is “to cry up wine and sell vinegar”. The causes of the discrepancy between cultural connotation of English and Chinese animal words The culture of a nation is formed by many factors. And the development of a society influences the formation, the development and the disappearance of the culture. Cultural connotations of some animal words in English and Chinese are closely related to the religion, history, geographical environment, and the customs of a nation. According to these factors, I will take some typical animals for example to elaborate the causes of their discrepancies in Chinese and English. ReligionWe know that there is a big difference between the Chinese religion and the English religion. The Chinese people believe in Buddhism, but the English people believe in Christianity. That is why some animal words about religion are quite different in Chinese and English. For instance, “dragon” and “龍” have different cultural connotations in the two languages, Chinese and English. In the Chinese culture, “龍” has been a symbol of “power, being sacred” from ancient times to now. In the feudal society, emperors were addressed with “真龍?zhí)熳印? To some extent, “龍”is a symbol of China in the world, which stands for the source of the Chinese culture of about five thousand years. It is a special product of the Chinese culture. The Chinese take proud of being “the descendants of dragon”(龍的傳人). Some Chinese idioms like “望子成龍”, “龍鳳呈祥”are well known to the Chinese. Their meanings contain a mendatory sense. But because of the influence of the Bible, the dragon in westerners’ minds is a kind of evil monster, which can vomit fire and sometimes possess three to nine heads. Therefore, there are few idioms and phrases about dragon in English. Generally speaking, in English the word dragon has a derogatory sense when it is used to refer to somebody. Collins Cobuzld English Language Dictionary explains: If you call a woman as a dragon, you mean that she is fierce and unpleasant. So “亞洲四小龍” is often translated as “ the four tigers of Asia”, not “the four dragons of Asia”.We have some other idioms that are associated with animals from the Bible: (1) cast pearl before swine 明珠暗投（把珍珠拋給豬）(2) separate the sheep from the goats 把好人與壞人分開(kāi) HistoryEach nation has its own unique history, which affects the culture of theirs. Meanwhile the history is an important part and factor of each nation’s culture.In Chinese, “ox” has the same meaning as the “horse” in English. That’s caused by their different histories. The earliest cultivation mainly depended on “ox” in China, while the heavy farm work was done by “horse” in the early stage of Britain. “Ox” is always a kind of food in Britain, but horse is mainly ridden in China. So “ox” of Chinese and “horse” of English are both the same laborious livestock, and they have the same cultural connotations. Today, their functions have more or less changed in these two nations, but their cultural connotations given by history have been carried on as before by their people. . (1) as strong as a horse 壯如牛 (2) work like a horse 像牛一樣地辛勤干活Some special animal words, idioms e from historical books and classical works, and fable and story are the important ponents of them.For example, we have the English idiom “cook one’s goose”. The literal Chinese translation of this idiom is “烹某人的鵝”. That’s confusing to the Chinese. Its correct translation should be “挫敗某人的計(jì)劃” or “戰(zhàn)勝某人”.This idiom es from an ancient story. English tradition has it that in The Middle Ages, a city was suddenly surrounded by enemies. A resident of the city hanged a goose on a tower to express his scorn for the enemies. But that was a terribly wrong action. The enemies could not stand this shame. Every soldier became mad, and soon they conquered the city. The goose was cooked by the enemy soldiers. Later, people use the idiom to mean “frustrate somebody’s will” or “destroy or defeat somebody”. . If we try hard, we will surely cook their goose. 只要我們努力，我們肯定就能戰(zhàn)勝他們We also have some idioms that e from The Fables of Aesop. . (1) cherish a snake in one’s bosom 養(yǎng)虎貽患(2) cry wolf 發(fā)假警報(bào) （烽火戲諸侯） Geographical environmentThe differences between the geographical environments of the two nations make many animals’ images and cultural c