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ms. 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: 项庄舞剑，意在沛公 (Xiang Zhuang performed the sword dance as a cover for his attempt on Liu Bang’s life.---act with a hidden motive); 四面楚歌(be in desperate straits); 暗度陈仓(to steal a march on). And it is also mirrored in the following English idioms: “What millions died that Caesar might be great” (一将功成万骨枯); “Meet one’s Waterloo” (遭遇惨败); “Pyrrhic victory” (得不偿失的胜利); and gentleman’s agreement (君子协定). 2.1.3 Idioms from religion Religion is an important source for idioms. It is a social phenomenon and mainly a code of ethics governing personal and social conduct. Comparatively speaking, Buddhism has greater influence in Chinese culture although China is a multi-religious country. It was first introduced into China in the first century AD, and has shaped the Chinese language, diet, arts, etc., and greatly stimulated the development of Chinese literature. The large number of words and idioms derived from Buddhism is one of the manifestations of its influence, such as 放下屠刀，立地成佛 (A butcher becomes a Buddha the moment he drops his cleaver---a wrongdoer achieves salvation as soon as he gives up evil) and 做一天和尚，撞一天钟 (take a passive attitude toward one’s work). And there are quite a few English idioms from religion. Such as: Benjamin’s mess (最大的份额); raise Cain (大吵大闹); apple of Sodom (金玉其外，败絮其中); sop to Cerberus (贿赂); handwriting on the wall (不祥之兆) and so on. 2.1.4 Idioms from historical events In most language, people embellish their speech or writing with References to characters or events from their history, that is to say, idiomatic expressions are closely related to a country’s history. There are a lot of idioms in the Chinese language cannot find an equivalent in the English language because the history of the two countries are quite different. Many idioms are from their own history. The English language has much less idioms from historical events than the Chinese language because English just has a history of more than one thousand years during which less important historical events happened. For example, “to meet one’s Waterloo” (遭遇滑铁卢) is from the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, which means to be completely defeated. 2.1.5 Idioms from literary works Literary works are also one of the main sources of English idioms. In English literature, the most glittering star is Shakespeare. His dramas are the major source of this kind idioms: “to claim one’s pound of flesh” (割某人的一磅肉) is from The Merchant of Venice; “make assurance doubly sure” (加倍小心) comes from Macbeth. And there are other examples: “Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, writing an exact man”---Bacon On Study; “ the ugly ducking”(丑小鸭) is from Han Anderson’s tales; “Jekyll and Hyde” (双重性格) originates from Stevenson’s The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; “open sesame” and “old man of the sea” come from Arabian tales. 2.1.6 Idioms from mythology and allusion In this thesis, the author focuses on the translation of mythologies and allusions in English idioms, which come from stories of Gods and heroes. As we all know, Greek and Roman civilizations have a great influence on English, so the Greek and Roman civilizations have great influence on English idioms. Let’s pay attention to the following idioms: (1) “Achilles’ heel” (致命弱点) which comes from the Greek mythology has the meaning “the one weak spot in a man’s circumstance