第十五章 PUN, TRANSFERRED EPITHET和SYLLEPSIS
15.1 Pun
15.1A Pun的含义和形式
1） Joel Sherzer说：“A pun is a form of speech play in which a word or phrase unexpectedly and simultaneously combines two unrelated meanings.” Pun汉译“双关”，它不仅仅是一种文字游戏，而且是英语修辞的一种常见形式：巧妙地利用同音异义或同形异义现象使一个词语或句子具有两种不同的含意，不直接表露，显得含蓄委婉，而又十分幽默新奇。
英语双关的形式颇多，主要有语音双关和语义双关。
2） 语音双关即指谐音双关，利用某些词语发音相同相似而构成双关。例如：
Then there was the man in the restaurant.
“You're not eating your fish,” the waitress said to him.
“Anything wrong with it?”
“Long time no sea,” the man replied.
这是一个广为流传的使用双关的小故事。其中“see”和“sea”两个字发音相同。这个顾客的回答，表面听来似乎是“Long time no see”，相当于汉语中老朋友久别重逢时所说的“好久不见”，但实际上是说那些鱼已离开大海很久，不新鲜了。又如：
Drunk drivers put the quart before the hearse.
这是一句劝告司机戒酒的话。乍一听，似乎是“put cart before the horse”，因为quart与cart, hearse与horse发音近似，但其实际意义不是“本末倒置”，而是“拿性命当儿戏”的意思，其中quart喻指酒的盛器，在hearse（柩车）前挂着酒瓶，用语双关，发人深省，再嗜酒的司机见了这个标语，也会有所警觉。
3） 语义双关，如利用词语的多义构成双关：
I finally figured out how government works. The Senate gets the bill from the House, the President gets the bill from the Senate, and we get the bill for everything.
句中前面的两个bill均指法案，第三个bill指账单；由该词的双重意义构成双关，进行揭露讽刺：他们在官场无事生非，我们承担一切经费。又如：
“Fourth floor,” shouted the passenger to the elevator.
“Here you are, son.”
“How dare you call me ‘son’?”
“Sir, I called, or whatever. I've brought you up, anyway.”
乘客出言不逊。电梯管理员借谐音双关反讥，待他听出并提出质问时，管理员表面上是澄清事实，实则利用to bring somebody up的歧义构成双关语再次骂他，让他品尝“哑巴吃黄连”的滋味。又如：
“My Faith is gone!” cried he, after one stupefied moment.
（Hawthorne）
句中faith原不是多义词，但在这个语境中却具有双关意义；它既是表示人名的专有名词，又是一个表示抽象概念的普通名词：妻子菲丝（Faith大写）死了，对上帝的赤诚信念（faith小写，但不影响读音）也破灭了。
15.1B Pun的使用
1） 美国学者Archibald A. Hill指出，我们分析和使用双关时应把握3个要素，即“双重语境”（Double context），“铰链”（Hinge）和“触机”（Trigger）。试以前面的“My Faith is gone!”为例。这里的“双重语境”是：一方面Faith身染重病，生命危在旦夕，另一方面是她的丈夫Goodman迷信上帝，指望用虔诚的祈祷感动上帝来拯救妻子。“触机”是上帝未显灵，Faith死了。他一阵昏迷，醒来时喊出了这句含悲带愤的双关语：“我的菲丝完了，”句中Faith和faith的同音异义就构成了双关的“铰链”（妻子走了，信仰也没了）。由此我们可以看到，“双重语境”是双关语出现的客观前提，“触机”是促使双关语出现的诱发因素，而“铰链”是串连双重语境和实现双关的语言功能，如词语的多义、同音异义，等。
2） 双关语以幽默、俏皮为特色，往往听时令人发笑，过后回味无穷，是语言技巧的高度体现。这种语言形式存在于各种语言，英语中尤为普遍。下面是含有双关语的小笑话：
“Give me a sentence about a public servant,” said the teacher.
A small boy replied, “The policemen came down the ladder pregnant.”
The teacher took the lad aside to correct him, “Don't you know what ‘pregnant' means?”
“Sure,” answered the boy confidently. “It means ‘carrying a child’.”
双关构成谜语，如：
What is that which, though black itself, enlightens the world?
Answer: Ink.
What trade should one follow in order to cut a figure in the world?
Answer: Sculpture.
广告中的双关语，如：
Try our sweet corn. You'll smile from ear to ear.
这是甜玉米广告：你一尝就会吃了一个又一个（ear指玉米穗头），高兴得合不拢嘴（ear指耳朵）。又如：
You will go nuts for the nuts you get in Nux.
这是坚果广告：句中（go）nuts和（the）nuts字同音同，Nux字不同而音似，但三者所指各异：前者与go构成的短语表示兴高采烈的意思，后者为坚果商标，中间的nuts指Nux牌的坚果，三者连用所构成的双关，声调铿锵，充满情趣。
文学作品中双关语也很常见，例如：
“At least put something warm on, Mr. Boker,”advised Tessie.
“I'm almost finished.” Morris grunted.
“It's your health,” said Nick.
The first floor window shot up. Ida stood there in her flannel nightgown, her hair down.
“Are you crazy?” she shouted to the grocer.
“Finished,” he answered.
...
“Come up now,” Ida shouted.
“Finished,” Morris cried. ...
（Bernard Malamud）
故事中的博卡·莫里斯先生是一家小杂货店店主，贫病交加，对生活感到绝望。此刻，他身着单衣在屋外铲雪，别人劝他增加衣服，保重身体，他却不听，只是三次重复使用“finished”一词作答，并由于该词的不同含义构成双关：活快完了，人也快完了。果然，他拖着病体铲雪，又遭严寒袭击，便死去了。叶封在译成汉语时，巧妙地利用“快铲完了”和“快完了”表达出原文的双关含义：
“你至少得穿暖些，”泰锡劝道。
“我快铲完了，”莫里斯咕噜一声。
“要保重身体。”尼克说道。
二楼窗口突然亮起来。艾达穿着法兰绒睡衣。披头散发，站在那儿。
“你疯了？”她对掌柜大声嚷叫。
“就快完了，”他答道。
……
“马上上楼来，”艾达叫道。
“就快完了，”莫里斯喊了一声。
（叶封 译）
15.2 Transferred Epithet
15.2A Transferred Epithet的含义和形式
1） Transferred Epithet汉译“移就修饰”，亦称“转移修饰”，或简称“移就”。这种修饰语不直接说明它所修饰对象的性质、形象或特色，而往往转个弯子去表示该对象给人的某种感觉。例如：
a dizzy height: （a） *a height that is dizzy
（b） a height that causes people to feel dizzy令人眩晕的高度
a sleepless bed: （a） *a bed that is sleepless
（b） a bed on which the sleeper has little sleep寝不安枕
由于人的不同感觉器官相互间联系密切，移就修饰也指把通常与甲种器官相关的修饰语转移到了乙种感觉。例如：
a sweet voice: 一个甜嗓子。（表示味觉的形容词转移到了听觉。）
an icy look: 一副冷漠神色。（表示触觉的形容词转移到视觉。）
2） 移就格中的修饰语分前置和后置两种，可以由单个词（多为形容词）担任，也可以由词组担任。
上面的例子都是形容词前置，下例是副词前置：
“Of a lifetime,” repeated Mrs. Rymer, sweetly murmuring and casting towards her friend an eloquent glance.
（G. R. Gissing）
下面是前置短语作移就修饰语：
an angel of a woman: an angel-like woman天仙般的女人
a deafening roll of a thunder: a thunder with a deafening roll一声震耳欲聋的雷鸣
a beautiful model of an art: an art with a beautiful model一件精美艺术品
a bottleneck of a crossroad: a crossroad that is like a bottle-neck瓶颈般的路口
下面是后置形容词作移就修饰语：
The letters, sad and reproachful, offer the choice of pleading ignorance or being proved insensitive.
（Advanced English）
I am indeed aware that the movement of abolition is widespread and, especially in England.
（ibid.）
The dark greenish color grows as the plant decays, till it approaches a black.
（范家材）
15.2B Transferred Epithet的使用
1） 通过移就格，作者或说话者可以把通常用来形容人类情感的词语转移到客观事物上，达到借物抒情的目的。在这一点上，移就格同拟人格（参见10.1）有共同之处。例如：
Indeed they seemed to know, or to wish to know, as little about that as the earth itself which, beautiful there at any time, seemed that afternoon to wear an extreme and pathetic beauty.
（Arthur Clutton-Brock）
这是作者写战争爆发前夕，人们对战争危险一无所知，甚至也毫不在意这种危险，而美妙的自然景色却有某种灵感，因而呈现一种极致的、悲怆的美——当然这正是作者抒发自己的感慨。
2） 移就修饰反映人们富于联想和跳跃的思维方式，把通常与甲类词语搭配的修饰语转到乙类，产生出一种形式简洁、新颖而含义形象、深邃的效果。例如：
There was an amazed silence. Slowly Alexander turned away.
句中silence是抽象名词，通常修饰它的是total, dead等形容词，amazed通常用来说明人的惊讶。这里通过移就结构，让amazed修饰silence，就把人们由于惊讶而产生的沉默景象生动地表现出来了，故汉译为：人们一阵惊讶，默不作声。
3） 前面讲到，移就格和拟人格有某种共同之处，但两者绝不等同：一是移就只限于修饰语，而拟人除修饰语外，也可以通过名词、动词等词语达到目的（参见10.1A），二是拟人法是把原属于人所有的品质、行为、情感等直接赋予大自然其他有生命或无生命的东西，别人很容易接受，而移就由于涉及修饰功能的转移，别人乍一看到（或听到）时会有某种“意外感”，稍作考虑才会恍然大悟，感到妙在其中。例如：
The big man crashed down on a protesting chair.
椅子怎么会提抗议？原来是大个子一屁股坐了下去，椅子吱吱嘎嘎地响（好像是提抗议似的）。
After an unthinking moment, she put her pen into her mouth.
时间哪里谈得上思考还是不思考？原来这句中的unthinking的逻辑主语不是它后面的moment，而转移到了所修饰的主语She，故全句意思为：她想了一会儿，想不出什么来，就把钢笔含在口中。
15.3 Syllepsis
15.3A Syllepsis的含义和形式
1） Syllepsis的汉语名称为“一语双叙”，作为一种修辞格，它和Zeugma （轭式搭配） 同义，二词均源于希腊语，前者的意思是putting together，后者的意思是yoking，仿佛是用轭把几匹马套在一起拉车，看似强拉硬套，实则协调前进，具有强大的合力，结构上通常是指一个词语同时和并列结构的两部分搭配，形式上都要符合英语使用习惯，但含义上一为直义 （Literal meaning），一为喻义（Figurative meaning）。例如：
She had to swallow bread and butter and a spasm of emotion.
句中“to swallow bread and butter” 搭配表示直义，而“to swallow a spasm of emotion”为喻义。
2） 一语双叙除像上例那样由一个谓语动词和两个作宾语d）搭配外，也可以是两个主语共一个谓语动词b），还可能是一个介词带两个或更多的宾语a），或者一个修饰语修饰两个名词短语c）。例如：
a） He fought with desperation and a stout club.
b） Ten minutes later, the coffee and Commander Dana of Naval Intelligence arrived simultaneously.
（J. P. Bachman）
c） Miss Bolo rose from the table considerably agitated, and went straight home, in a flood of tears and a sedan chair.
（Dickens）
d） Yesterday he had a blue heart and coat.
15.3B Syllepsis的使用
1） 英谚Kill two birds with one stone.在一语双叙法中得到了体现，显得简洁明快，试想若把一语双叙改成一语一叙，就要多费笔墨；并且即使增加一些词语，也难以道出一语双叙的味道。
2） 一语双叙的特色在于：直义和喻义的并行和交叉，往往给人某种“不协调感”，但稍加思索，就会感到格外幽默、俏皮，并由此产生出一种耐人寻味的逻辑力量，因此，不论在日常谈笑和商业广告及故事、小说中都经常出现这种辞格。例如：
I got up yesterday and managed to catch a bus and a cold.
清早起床上路，赶上了公共汽车，却着凉患了感冒。说得轻松幽默，颇有自我解嘲的味道。又如：
She looked at the faded photo with suspicion and a magnifying glass.
她带着满腹疑团看那张褪了颜色的照片，于是戴上了放大镜。通过一语双叙，把人物的心理和行动有机地联系起来。
We sell clothes that fit the figures and the times.
衣服既合身，又合时，这样的广告确具吸引力。
She braved it for a moment or two with an eye full of love and stubbornness, and murmured a phrase or two vaguely of Gen. Pinkney; but at length down went her head and out came the truth and tears.
（O. Henry）
讲出实话，动了真情，同时也流出眼泪，把心理反应和生理反应一语叙出，合情合理，令人回味无穷。
3） 一语双叙中有时会出现某种不符合一般习惯的搭配。例如：
Lawsuit consumes time, and money, and rest, and friends. Children suck the mother when they are young, and the father when they are old.
这是两句英语谚语，其中consume friends和suck the father不属规范搭配，不好单独使用，但在这两个句子里不仅可以让人接受，而且给人以新奇感，因为在语义上有内在联系，它所产生的语义优势超越了形式上的不协调，并形成一种得体的新颖表达方式，用中文表示则为：
诉讼使人丧失时间，金钱和安宁，也使人失去朋友。
小时吃娘奶，大了吃爹的。
练习十五 （Exercise Fifteen）
I. Preview Questions:
1. What did Joel Sherzer say about Pun?
2. Can you cite an example of homonymic pun?
3. What have you learned about semantic pun?
4. What effects can a pun achieve when properly used?
5. What does the phrase “a dizzy speed” mean in the sentence “The car is running at a dizzy speed”?
6. Can you cite examples to indicate that some transferred epithets are pre-positioned and some are postpositioned?
7. How can you compare Transferred Epithet with Personification?
8. How is Syllepsis similar to Zeugma?
9. Cite an example of Syllepsis and analyse it.
II. Identify the pun in each of the following:
1. “We must all hang together, or we shall hang separately” is a famous pun by Benjamin Franklin.
2. After successfully delivering the first child of a Canadian couple visiting Scotland, the doctor popped into the waiting room to tell the anxious husband the good news. “It's a boy — eight pounds exactly!”
“Oh,” replied the flustered father. “Will you take a check?”
3. A bus driver was filling out a report on a highway accident he had just had. When he came to the question “Disposition of passengers,” he wrote, “Mad as blazes.”
4. “Could I try on the trousers in the window?” asked the customer in the man's shop. “You can if you want, sir,” replied the salesman, “but we do have a dressing-room.”
5. What coat is finished without buttons and put on wet? — a riddle
6. After the flood had subsided, Noah asked all the animals in the ark to go forth and multiply. When all the other animals were gone, he saw two serpents remained in the ark.
“Why don't you go forth and multiply?” asked Noah, a bit angry.
“We can't,” said the serpent.“We are adders.”
III. Interpret the italic parts into proper Chinese:
1. Water flowed languidly into the thirsty fields.
2. Although young, she wrote a gem of a poem.
3. Not far from the brook stood a frowning rock.
4. IBM has a handsome increase of productivity this year.
5. He insisted that our assumptions were all wet.
6. The murderer has been put into the condemned cell.
7. In his devil of a hurry, he forgot to take down the address.
8. The Apple Company occasionally engages in electronic conversation with its users around the country.
IV. Point out the literal meaning and the figurative meaning in the syllepsis, and then try making your own sentences with syllepses:
1. Every time she went to a party, the woman put on ornaments and airs.
2. His temper was as short as his coattails.
3. Their talk continued on their three days' horseback journey, and finally they arrived at the town hall and an agreement.
4. He halted in the district where by night are found the lightest street, hearts, vows, and librettos.
5. She's too low for a high praise, too brown for a fair praise, and too little for a great praise.
6. Joanna, pursued by the three monks, ran about the room, leaping over tables and chairs, sometimes throwing a dish or a scriptural maxim at her pursuers.
V. Reading and discussion:
A pun is a word employed in two or more senses, or a word used in a context that makes the reader think of a second term resembling it in sound. In the first of the two following examples the pun depends upon different meanings of the same word; in the second, upon one word's sounding like another:
A cannon-ball took off his legs, so he laid down his arms.
（Thomas Hood）
During the two previous centuries musical styles went in one era and out of the other. ...
（Frank Muir）
While puns resemble one kind of irony in simultaneously using words in different senses, they differ in more important ways. For one thing, a pun is almost exclusively a device of humor. （At least it is so today. In earlier centuries poets and dramatists often employed puns in serious contexts.） Mark Twain, for instance, makes us laugh by punning on the expression “raising chickens”：
Even as a schoolboy poultry-raising was a study with me, and I may say without egotism that as early as the age of seventeen I was acquainted with all the best and speediest methods of raising chickens, from raising them off a roost by burning lucifer matches under their noses, down to lifting them off a fence on a frosty night by insinuating a warm board under their feet.
For another thing, puns, the better ones at any rate, work more like metaphors and similes. They reveal unexpected connections. A good pun not only amuses us, it surprises us by pointing out a significant and hitherto unseen similarity. The humorist S. J. Perelman entitles one collection of his essays The Road to Miltown, or Under the Spreading Atrophy. The pun on “atrophy” is effective not only because the word sounds like “a tree” and the phrase echoes a famous line of American poetry （“under the spreading chestnut tree”）, but also because in an age given to the wholesale swallowing of tranquilizers like Miltown, atrophy may indeed be spreading.
Because they have become a sign of “low humor，” many people think puns are unseemly in modern exposition. That judgment is a bit harsh: a good pun is often worth making. Use them only when you wish a light, informal tone, however. Even then a pun should be clever and revealing. A clumsy or inappropriate pun is worse than none at all.
Zeugma （pronounced ZOOG ma） is a special kind of pun involving a verb. It occurs when the same verb is used with two or more objects, either （1） applying to each of them in a different sense, or （2） even when having the same sense, creating an apparently incongruent combination of ideas.
In this example, the verb operates in slightly different senses:
Piano, n. A parlor utensil for subduing the impenitent visitor. It is operated by depressing the keys of the machine and the spirits of the audience.
In another example the verb has the same meaning but combines with two objects to create an unusual coupling of ideas, is found in this sentence:
She left his apartment with tarnished virtue and a new mink.
Zeugma, like puns in general, is a comic figure of speech. At its best zeugma is witty and amusing, and it increases meaning by revealing hidden connections. Not only does Durrell's pairing of dishes and scriptural maxims amuse us: it also leads us to see their equal inefficacy in Joanna's plight.
（Thomas S. Kane）
Questions for discussion:
1. What are the usual ways to form puns?
2. In what way is a pun similar to Irony?
3. How is it that puns work more like metaphors and similes?
