再来看以下例子：

a. The U.S. mainland, where the Japanese have lent more than $ 25 billion to developers, is also becoming a wasteland.

                                                                        —Business Week , Dec. 2，1991 p.49 

日本人给开发商贷款超过250亿美元的美国大陆，现在日渐变成一文不赚的地方。

                                                                                             —《国际商业与管理》，

                                                                                             1992年，第3期，第48页

上面这句原文中的wasteland指荒地、荒原、废墟、不毛之地等。如果按字面意译就有点讲不通，美国大陆怎么会变成一片荒原（废墟）呢？作者用这个词指的是日本银行要在美国赚钱很容易，因此译成“一文不赚的地方”比较恰当。

b. Mr. Smith moved into a new house with a very small study. He had over a thousand books which had to be put on the floor temporarily because the book cases were not moved in. So they almost covered every inch of the floor space, and Mr. Smith had to walk on them to get in or out of the room. When his sister saw this, she got a big surprise, saying, “This is the prettiest carpet I have ever seen. You don't need bookcases at all. You can sit here and read the carpet.” (译文略）

上面这段故事是根据《新概念英语》一书第252页的原文改写的。末句中的“carpet”是指满地板的书，作者把它比喻成地毯，非常形象。读者不难想象史密斯先生书房地板上的书本之多，连走路都没空当了。这里直译时应当给地毯二字加上引号， 否则会令人费解。

c. "The State banks must he aware that the debt-equity swap program is the last supper for them, " Dai (Dai Xianglong — governor of the PBOC) said. "They must rely on themselves to reform and to sharpen their competitive edge after the swap program is finalized. There will be no midnight snack and no free breakfast for tomorrow."

—CHINA DAILY, Jan. 211 2000 p.1

“国有银行必须意识到这样一点，债转股计划是他们最后的‘晚餐’，”戴（戴向龙，人行行长）说，“他们必须依靠自己的力量在转换计划敲定之后进行改革，提高竞争力。午夜没有加餐，明天也没有免费早餐。”

英语里使用暗喻的情况很多，如Time is money. Efficiency means wealth. Law is order, and good law is good order (法律就是秩序，有好的法律才有好的秩序。---希腊亚里斯多德语）等， 译成汉语时，应视具体情况而定，切不可一律直译。

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