英文修辭手法2:明喻 (simile)

明喻基本上有兩種. 

九十年代有套西片叫《阿廿正傳》,電影中有句很出名的對白:

My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. 

句中的life was like a box of chocolates(生命像一盒朱固力), 便是明喻的寫作手法. 

所以,第一種明喻,是用like. 

Last night, I slept like a log.
My love is like a red, red rose.

(注意: like在句中充當介詞.)

另外一種, 是用as+形容詞+as+名詞, 例如:

My love for you is as deep as the ocean.
You were as brave as a lion.
He is as cunning as a fox.

Beatles樂隊有首曲叫"Free as a bird". 

不過講到比喻, 我就唸起聖經. 聖經真係充滿比喻, 返教會返得耐,隨時唸到好多比喻出嚟. 別的不談,只談「馬太福音」.耶穌講咗好多關於天國的比喻,例如: 天國好像芥菜種:

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.(太13:31)

而我個人最喜歡以下的明喻, 因為講咗好多人的狀態:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.(23:27)

新譯本是:

虛偽的經學家和法利賽人哪，你們有禍了！你們好像粉飾了的墳墓，外面好看，裡面卻裝滿了死人的骨頭和各樣的污穢

耶穌把法利賽人, 比喻為whitewashed tombs, 即「粉飾的墳墓」,這個比喻實在好正, 因為墳墓本身真係裝咗死人骨頭, 但外表因為係墳墓,點都要好好睇睇. 耶穌竟然唸到將活人比喻為「粉飾的墳墓」,與中國成語「行屍走肉」一樣咁貼切(不過「行屍走肉」係暗喻,下期再探討).