BetweenScyllaandCharybdis.docVIP

Between Scylla and Charybdis??进退维谷，腹背受敌 习语between Scylla and Charybdis 在英汉词典通常把它译作：进退维谷，腹背受敌，左右为难等。也有译作“前有岩礁，后有旋涡”的。这个习语源于古希腊神话传说。西拉（Scylla）原是一个美丽的仙女，为海神格劳克斯（Glaucus）所爱恋。女巫（Circe）夺爱未成怀恨在心，趁西拉在泉水中洗澡时，施魔术将她变成丑恶的海妖：六头六颈十二只脚，每个头上有三排毒牙。西拉海妖居住在意大利和西西里之间墨西拿海峡的山崖石洞中，伺机攫取过往船只的水手们的生命。与西拉遥相对峙的海峡的西西里一侧，又是克里布迪斯（Charybdis）大旋涡，航海者随时都有被旋涡吞噬的危险。航行在墨西拿海峡的船舶，绕过西拉海妖就可能陷进旋涡；要避开旋涡，又害怕被海妖的毒牙咬死，真是左右两难。所以，英语中常用between Scylla and Charybdis来比喻“进退两难”、“腹背受敌”的处境。 “He was in the seventh heaven last night”,这里并不能将“in the seventh heaven”译为“到七重天去了”或“归西了”或“见上帝去了”,而应该相应地译为“非常高兴,非常愉快,欢天喜地”。实际上,这条成语同宗教有关, “七重天”是指上帝和天使居住的天国最高层。言下之意,人能身居天国最高层与上帝同处,自然是非常愉快的。因此,这条成语汉译时,要从“愉快”的意义出发,有“乐不可支”之意。  HYPERLINK /wiki/Scylla Scylla and  HYPERLINK /wiki/Charybdis Charybdis were a sea hazard in the  HYPERLINK /wiki/Strait_of_Messina Strait of Messina between  HYPERLINK /wiki/Sicily Sicily and the Italian mainland. Scylla was a rock shoal (described as a six-headed sea monster) on the Italian side of the strait and Charybdis was a whirlpool off the coast of Sicily. They were said to be located close enough to each other that they posed an inescapable threat to passing sailors; avoiding Charybdis meant passing too closely to Scylla and vice versa. Having to navigate between them eventually became proverbial for being on the horns of a dilemma and is the equivalent of the English phrase, Between a rock and a hard place. HYPERLINK /wiki/Scylla_and_Charybdis \l cite_note-0#cite_note-0 [1] A line from a mediaeval poem, incidit in scyllam cupiens vitare charybdim (He runs on Scylla, wishing to avoid Charybdis), also became proverbial with a meaning much the same as  HYPERLINK /wiki/Jumping_from_the_Frying_Pan_into_the_Fire \o Jumping from the Frying Pan into the Fire Jumping from the Frying Pan into the Fire. HYPERLINK /wiki/Scylla_and_Charybdis \l cite_note-1#cite_note-1 [2] [ HYPERLINK /w/index.php?title=Scylla_and_Charybdisaction=editsection=1 \o Edit section: The myth edit] The myth n Greek my