Why This Object? · 为什么是这个物体？
Selection matters as much as traits
- The function of a simile relies on the selection of the objects being compared as well as the traits of the objects.
- Units 2 and 5 taught the traits; this adds the selection itself.
- So like a rope and like a wire can transfer the same quality and still mean different things.
Compare someone to a rope or a bridge: the traits matter, but so does why the speaker passed up a ladder.
选择与特征同样重要
- 明喻的功能,既取决于被比较之物的特征,也取决于对这些物体的选择。
- 第二与第五单元教的是特征;这里加上了选择本身。
- 因此像一根绳子与像一根钢丝可以转移同样的品质,含义却依然不同。
把人比作绳子或桥，特征固然重要，也要问说话人为什么没选梯子。
The function of a simile relies on the traits of the objects and on... · 明喻的功能依赖于物体的特征以及……
So two objects with the same trait can still mean different things. · 因此，具有相同特征的两个物体仍然可以表达不同的含义。
An object brings its world with it
- A rope belongs to boats, farms and work; a wire belongs to machines, fences and current.
- Even when the transferred trait is identical — tension, strain, breaking — the surrounding world differs.
- That world is what the selection contributes, and it is analysable.
一个物体带着它的世界而来
- 绳子属于船只、农场与劳作;钢丝属于机器、围栏与电流。
- 即便被转移的特征完全相同——紧绷、受力、断裂——它们周围的世界也不同。
- 那个世界正是"选择"所贡献的东西,而它是可供分析的。
Select all · 所有 the things a rope brings with it that a wire does not. · 选择绳子带给我们的而铁丝没有带来的所有东西。
Tension is the shared trait — the rest is what the selection contributed. · 张力是共同特征——其余部分是选择所贡献的内容。
The selection is evidence about the speaker
- Whoever made the comparison reached for something from their own world.
- A sailor's simile and a clerk's simile can carry the same trait and describe two different people.
- So ask not only what transferred but where the comparison came from.
选择是关于说话者的证据
- 作出这个比喻的人,是从自己的世界里伸手去够的。
- 水手的明喻与职员的明喻可以承载同样的特征,却描述出两个不同的人。
- 因此不仅要问什么被转移了,还要问这个比喻来自哪里。
What does this comparison contribute? · 这个比较有什么贡献？
Sort each element of his patience was stretched like a rope. · 对“他的耐心像绳子一样被拉长”中的每个元素进行排序。
Test a selection by ____ a different object that carries the same trait. · 通过____一个承载相同特征的替代物体来测试选择的合理性。
What is lost is exactly what the original selection contributed. · 失去的部分正是原始选择所贡献的内容。
Two objects can carry the same trait and still mean different things. Like a rope and like a wire both transfer tension, but one belongs to boats and work and the other to machines and current — and the CED counts that selection as part of the simile's function.
两个物体可以承载同样的特征,含义却依然不同。 像一根绳子与像一根钢丝都转移了紧绷感,但一个属于船只与劳作,另一个属于机器与电流——而 CED 把这一选择算作明喻功能的一部分。
The choice of comparison object is evidence about whoever made it. · 比较对象的选择是关于做出选择的人的证据。
A sailor's simile and a clerk's can carry the same trait and describe two different people. · 水手的明喻和职员的明喻可以承载相同的特征并描述两个不同的人。
Test by substitution
- Replace the comparison subject with another that carries the same trait.
- What is lost is exactly what the original selection contributed.
- That test takes ten seconds and produces a whole sentence of analysis.
用替换来检验
- 把喻体换成另一个承载相同特征的东西。
- 所失去的,恰好就是原来那个选择所贡献的东西。
- 这个检验只需十秒,却能产出一整句分析。
Put the selection pass in order. · 将选材段落按顺序排列。
The substitution is what turns a hunch into a sentence you can write. · 正是这种替换将直觉变成了你可以写下的句子。
A selection pass
- Name the transferred trait, as before.
- Then substitute a different object with the same trait and say what is lost.
- Finally ask what the speaker's choice of that object says about them.
选择检查
- 像以前一样,说出被转移的特征。
- 然后换上一个具有相同特征的不同物体,说出失去了什么。
- 最后问说话者选择那个物体,说明了他们什么。
His patience was stretched like a rope. Substitute like a wire: the strain survives, but the boats, the farm and the human hands are gone. The rope was chosen by a speaker whose world contains work you do with your hands — and the story is about him losing it.
他的耐心像一根绳子那样被拉紧。换成像一根钢丝:那份受力还在,但船只、农场和人的双手都不见了。那根绳子是由一位世界里有手上活计的说话者选定的——而这个故事讲的正是他失去它。
A simile's function relies on the selection of the objects being compared as well as their traits. An object brings its world with it, and the selection is evidence about who made the comparison. Test by substitution: replace the object with another carrying the same trait and name what is lost.
明喻的功能既取决于被比较之物的特征,也取决于对它们的选择。物体带着它的世界而来,而这一选择是关于作出比喻者的证据。用替换来检验:换上另一个承载相同特征的物体,说出失去了什么。