Thus ， equivalent as pairs o f terms seem ， they actually refer to differe nt things for the different social and historical back ground of their origination ． Although so far as many words are concerned ， the details of their history are forgotten or neglected because words keep developing in stead of staying still after they appeared ， their historical background still functions deeply beneath the surface of a language ． Equivalent because they refer to different group of people ， and even some corres ponding words with the same referent are not necessarily equi valent ．

    b) The English word owl means “猫头鹰” in Chinese ． In China ， people dislike owls and often associate bad lu ck and misfortune with them ． But in English speaking cou ntries people believe that owls stand for wisdom ． Both the Chinese word and the English word refer to the same kind of bird ， but the associations about the bird are quite different ．

    With their cu lture originated from pictograph ， Chinese people like thinking in images ． The appearance of things occupies an important position in their emotion ． They like to associate some abstract concepts with animals or plants in nature according to their appearances or characteristics ． Although no one is so foolish that he thinks beautiful things are good ， and ugly ones bad ， Chinese people are used to putting good things together with those things that make people feel bright and lively and evil things with those dark and shade ． 0wls always come out at night and their appearance makes people unpleasant ． Generally speaking ， it is a kind of dark and stealthy animal in Chinese people's eye ． But western people think in a different way ． In their opinion ， that owls come out at nigh while others are sleeping ， is a symbol of different thou g ht with the ordinary ． In this case ， it is the different aesthetics mentality and ways of thinking o f peoples that matter ．

    c) Religion is a key part of a culture ． It in fluences people ' s character and ways of thing and then decides people ' s attitudes t ow ard some words ．

    Buddhism is an essential part of Han Culture ． Thousands of years of Chinese history has witnessed that the theory and ideas of Buddhism have been influenced in the Han people greatly ． Buddhism considers life is j ust 1ife itself while wealth and material treasures in life are only transient clouds ． It maintains that people should have few desires to cleanse the soul and gain the happiness of life ． Chinese people ' s attitude toward life is consciously and unconsciously ， more or less in fluenced by this opinion ． Althou gh they encourage “上进心 ” and “人志穷不短”， they don ' t think to desire or pursue too much is proper ． This is why the word ambitious ， which carries a positive meaning in English ， often makes Chinese people not so pleasant ． In English-speaking countries ， especially in the U．S．A， whose developing history determines that the social system and people ' s mentality encourage the accumulation of personal wealth and highly praise those people who achieve their goals through their own efforts ． They think it is fair and square only if what he has got is due to his own hard working ． The distinction betwee n the emotional coloring of the corresponding words ambitious and “富有野心的” brings misunderstanding in people ' s exchanging ．

    In fact，many corresponding terms that people take for granted diverge in actual meanings ， such as communism and “共产主义”， conservative and “保守的”， revolution and “革命”， etc ． Only comprehend them on the surface makes understanding deviations arise ．

    Various types of cultures create various types of languages ． The distinction between various languages exists not on ly in that they have dif f erent forms of expression ． Different culture source gives words not only different forms but also different contents ．It never occurs to native speakers the cultural implication of a word when they are using it ． There is no such a necessity for they ' ve been living in the culture to which their daily words belong and ， in fact ， they have already unconsciously grasped the exact meaning of the words ． Although they may not be aware of the words ' cultural content ， they use right words most of the time ． But when translating is concerned ， things are completely different ．

    Translation is a bridge between two languages ． It is the source language and the underlying culture on its one end the target on me other ． To make the two ends communicate and understand each other is the purpose of translation ． Translating is a double-directed activity ； which is to perceive the idea of the source text and men to express it in the target language ．

    Language is the dress of ideas ． Translating is to put the source ideas into target language ， Just like to change the dress of an idea into another one so that the idea can be understoodby the target language users ． The dress should be changed with the i ner ideas absolutely intact ． That is to say ， the target text has a different form ， but provides an equivalent comment ， which requires faithfulness to the source text ． The essence of being faithful is faithfulness to the meaning but not to the language itself The meaning of a word consists of two layers ； meaning on the surface and meaning beneath the surface ． Faithfulness to the meaning is to be faithful to both of them ． Or if full faith fu lness cannot be achieved ， faith fulness to the deep meaning is more signi fi cant ．

    A word ' s literal meaning can be found in dictionaries ， which is far from enough. To comprehend a word only on the surface is often found misleading ． Attention t o cultural background is required so as to grasp the precise value of a word ．

    “不孝有三，无后为大” is an old Chinese saying ． Why should “后” be translated into son or boy ， but not child ? Chinese people of old age looked down upon females and female children were not regarded as true descendants ． But western people have different sense of value ． Only pointing out the definite referent of “后 ”can the native English- speakers be provided with the precise meaning of the word ．