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4.2 Corresponding relations and approaches to the translation of English metaphors As we know, every nation has its own unique social and cultural backgrounds. There exists great cultural differences between nations, especially in modern times, thanks to the development of advanced and convenient means of communication and transportation, the inter-cultural communication becomes more and more frequent. Meanwhile, because people in different nations must have some similar experience to some extent, the cultural overlap cannot be avoided under this condition.[30] As shown above, language, especially metaphor has close relation with culture. Metaphor widely exists in both Chinese and English, and typically represents the rich and unique culture of each nation, while the fact that different nations often have different ways of making metaphors poses problems for translators. In the last section, also the most important section, based on a large number of convincing examples and from the angle of cultural analysis, the author is going to discuss the corresponding relations between Chinese and English metaphors, and offer several approaches to the translation of metaphor from English into Chinese. (i) Full- corresponding relation So-called full-corresponding is, in fact, such a kind of relation that the object and the image of a metaphor are fully corresponding in Chinese and English. The reason why there is full-corresponding relation in Chinese and English is the cultural overlap we have mentioned above. Although different countries have different cultures, traditions and ways of thinking, we still have a lot in common in using metaphor, because we human beings live in the same material world. As mammals, human beings’ basic living necessities and activities, regardless of their races, are fundamentally the same, or tend to be the same. People from different cultures also share much identical understanding of the nature. Our living environment, such as ecological environment and climate change, as well as our own bodies provide us with the possibility to have same understanding of the outside world and ourselves. At the same time, the common cognitive experience enables people to have basically same mentality to accept metaphors that are fresh to them.[31] Under the condition of full-corresponding relation, there are two approaches to the translation of this kind of metaphor: (a) Literal translation-----reproducing the same image in the target language provided that the image has comparable frequency and currency in the appropriate register. That’s to say, through literal translation, the image in source language is entirely retained and the information and effect brought about by the image also can be achieved in target language. “The advantage of literal translation is to enable the readers of the target language to be exposed to and gradually accept the cultural feature of the source language.”[32] For the translation of one-word metaphors, this approach is most useful. e.g. (9) a ray of hope 一线希望 (10) Chain reaction 连锁反应 (11) the white terror 白色恐怖 (12) cold winds 冷言冷语 While for the complex metaphors with a high degree of cultural overlap, this approach is also feasible. e.g. (13) to go through fire and water 赴汤蹈火 (14) to head a wolf into the house 引狼入室 (15) to give somebody green light 给某人开绿灯 Also some sentences with metaphors are translated by t