Chinese and English use different counting units. So, in Chinese, “万”( ten thousand), and“亿”(a hundred million) are employed to designate a very large quantities, whereas million and billion are used to achieve the same effect in English. For example, in Chinese, we say “万分感谢” while in English, “ thanks a million” is substituted.
Chinese culture and English culture are quite different from each other. In turn, the differences between them influence the vague meanings of their numbers inevitably. Therefore, understanding what the numbers refer to becomes an important factor in translating numbers, especially in literary works.
4. Methods of translation for Chinese and English numbers
The same numbers in different countries with diverse cultural backgrounds will spark dissenting associations or connotations. In some cases, the target language shares the same association or connotation and linguistic feature with the source language. But in most cases, the
source-language numbers or numeral expressions may produce specific culture, which is unknown to the target-language readers. Thereby, the translation of numbers is simple on the surface but complicated in essence. Translation is here conceived primarily as a process of intercultural communication, whose end product is a smooth and acceptable text in specific situation and culture. So decision-making in the methods of translation depends on the specific context and respective culture background. 4.1 Literal translation
Literal translation, also called word-for-word translation by Cicero, Horace and virtually everyone thereafter[19]，is a notion which has been at the heart of most translation controversies for many centuries. As a translation strategy, literal translation clearly has its uses. Here, the precise words and word order are followed and translated into the target language wherever possible. And this strategy involves the same meaning for a source language expression and brings about the same impact on the target reader and it can also provide language learners with useful insights into the structure of the target language. Surely, literal translation can be employed in the pretext of not causing misunderstanding.
E.g.: (1)好容易熬了一天，这会儿瞧见你们，竟如死而复生的一样。真真古人说一日三秋，这话再不错的。 （曹雪芹《红楼梦》）
But I survived it somehow, and now that we’re together again I feel as if I’d just risen from the dead! “One day apart seems three autumns. ”—How true that old saying is. [20] (2)-- 咱那面红旗呢？ -- 叫吴淑兰掂了啦
-- 哪个吴淑兰？敢情是有三头六臂？ （王汶石《新结识的伙伴》） -- What happened to our red flag? -- Wu shulan has captured it …
-- What Wu shulan? Don’t tell me she has three heads and six arms! [21]
As stated above,“一日三秋” or“一日不见，如隔三秋” expresses that a day’s separation seems as long as three years. It is literally translated into “one day apart seems three autumns”, which not
only retains the original meaning but is understandable and readable to the target reader. The same is in the case of“ 三头六臂”，originating from the Chinese ancient myth about the superhuman, Nezha. Thus, in the example (2), translating it literally into “three heads and six arms” will give people an expression of vividness and powerfulness. Generally speaking, some idioms and proverbs can be translated practically according to the translatability of the source language, to such an extent that the people of target language can assimilate them to fertilize their culture. And, hence it also can retain some of its diversity through literalism and engender a view of translation in which the target language in specific cultural context is paramount. (3) I love Ophelia, forty thousand brothers could not (with all their quantity of love) make up my sum…
我爱奥菲利亚，四万个兄弟的爱 加起来也休想抵得上我的分量…[22]
(4) Putting two and two together, as the saying is, it was not difficult for me to guess who the expected Marquis was. (W.Thackeray, The Newcomes)
正如二加二等于四那么简单，我不难推断出还没来的侯爵是谁了。[23]
The English people like to employ forty or forty thousand to indicate a large quantity, just as the sentences listed in the example (3). We can still understand its meaning even if it is translated into“四万个”. And “putting two and two together” means “guess the truth from what one sees, hears, etc”. So, even if it is translated as the expression above, it is still readable and understandable. 4.2 Free translation
Free translation is a type of translation in which more attention is paid to producing a naturally reading target text than to preserving the source text wording intact. It is also known as
sense-for-sense translation. And according to different texts, different techniques are employed in translation.
4.2.1 Meaning translation
In the course of translating, sometimes we find it difficult or impossible to translate literally to get equivalence between the source language and the target language, due to the diversity in the cultural backgrounds and the expressions. In English and Chinese language, some idioms or idiomatic usages with numbers carry particular cultural connotations, which have no identical or similar characters in another language. This means the necessity, in order for the
intercommunication to be realizable in practice, of free rendering in both source language and the target language.
E.g. (1) 七碟子八碗摆了一桌。 He laid out an elaborate spread. [24] (2) 一听说他又要来,她七窍生烟。
When she heard he would come again, she fumed with anger. (3) 阿Q候他略停，终于用十二分的勇气开口了。 （鲁迅《阿Q正传》）
Ah Q waited for him to pause, and then screwed up his courage to speak. [25]
The set phrase “七碟子八碗”is a dialect, used to describe a substantial meal. And, “七窍”refers to seven apertures in the human head, i.e. eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.“七窍生烟”means very angry. And the translation above is appropriate and acceptable to the English people. (4) Seventy times seven did I take counsel with my soul. 我在内心深出不知考虑了多少次。[26]
(5)Everyone sprang to his feet, but the business was over in two twos. (R.Stevenson, New Arabian Nights)
此时大家都一跃而起，但转眼间他就一命呜呼。[27] (6)-- Are you taking Pam out tonight?
-- Ah, that’s the sixty-four-thousand dollar question! -- 你今晚打算带帕姆出去吗？ -- 唉，这真是个难题！[28]
As illustrated above, the idiom “seventy times seven” originated from the Bible. “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” (Matt, 18:22) [29]. It is a repetition of seven in a number, equivalent to saying “a large number” or “without limit”, but its original meaning is“七十七个次”. And “in two twos” which means immediately can be translated into“转眼间，一下子”. The expression “sixty-four-thousand dollar” started to be used because of a television Game Show, in which people played games or answered questions to win prizes, the presenter used these words just before he asked the last and most difficult question. So it means the most difficult and crucial. This method of translation is not always concerned with the words of the original forms, but with understanding the meaning of the text. Sometimes more words, sentences or even paragraphs are to be added so as to be understandable. 4.2.2 The technique of replacement
It happens on the premise of not disturbing the original meaning and context. Since there exist substantial idioms or idiomatic usages about numbers in both English and Chinese, this method involves replacing a cultural specific expression with a target-language expression which is certain or likely to have a similar impact on the target language reader, so that the idiom in the target language conveys roughly the exactly same meaning as that of the source-language idioms. E.g.: (1)普及工作若是永远停留在一个水平上，那末，教育者和被教育者岂不是半斤八两？ （毛泽东《在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话》）
If popularization remains at the same level forever… will not the educators and those who are educated be six of one and half a dozen of the other? (2) 廖湘云用尽九牛二虎之力，才把季交恕拉曳起来 （李六如《六十年的变迁》）
Liao xiangyun eventually succeeded in pulling Ji Jiaoshu up from the ground with Herculean efforts. [30]
(3) 柳嫂子有八个头，也不敢得罪姑娘。 （曹雪芹《红楼梦》）
Even if Mrs. Liu had nine lives, she’d never dare offend you. [31] (杨宪益，戴乃迭译)
In the first sentence, “半斤八两”is a Chinese usage. According to the old weighing apparatus, one jin（斤）equals sixteen liang(两) “jin” and “liang” are both units of weighing. So,“半斤八
两”means a situation that is good and bad to an equal degree. When translated into English, it can be transferred into the corresponding the English idiom “six of one and half a dozen of the other” on account of duodecimal number system in western countries like English and so on. Such methods of translation can be found in other idioms as following:
人生七十古来稀 The days of our years are threescore years and ten[32]. 二一添作五 go fifty-fifty
一不做，二不休 in for a penny, in for a pound. a nine day’s wonder 昙花一现 ten to one 十有八九
to be flung to the four winds 抛到九霄云外 at sixes and sevens 乱七八糟 a thousand and one ways 千方百计 4.2.3. The technique of adjustment
In order to be in conformity with the principle of tradition and thinking of the target language, some expressions of numbers should be enlarged or narrowed when translated into another language, because of the different usages in numbers.
E.g. (1)薛蟠也假说来上学，不过是“三天打鱼，两天晒网”，却不曾有一点进益。 （曹雪芹《红楼梦》）
Xue Pan had hastened to register himself as a pupil. His school-going was, needless to say, a pretence—“one day fishing and two days to dry the net” as they say, and had nothing to do with the advancement of learning. (杨宪益，戴乃迭译)[33] (2)鹰击长空， 鱼翔浅底， 万类霸天竞自由。 （毛泽东《沁园春·长沙》） Eagles cleave the air, Fish glide in the limpid deep,
Under freezing skies a million creatures contend in freedom [34]. (3)背河的这面街房，却故意不连贯，三家五家隔有一巷。
The houses on the northern bank of the river are separated according to the design that has lanes running between every three or four of them and steps leading down to the river bank [35]. (4)千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭。
（柳宗元《江雪》） A hundred mountains and no bird, A thousand paths without a footprint. [36]
(5) A slave that is not twentieth part of the tithe of your precedent lord… 一个不及你先夫千分之一的奴才…[37]
For the first example,“三”and“两”in the original text designate no precise quantity, but their vague meaning, so when we translate it into English, we can narrow the number just as the above, retaining its original vagueness. And, “万”（ten thousand）is not as frequently used in English as in Chinese due to the different unit of counting. Similarly, in example (5), translating “twentieth”
into “千分之一” is more acceptable to us Chinese. 5. Conclusion
Numbers, as an important theme in humanity, are filled with mystery and connotations both in English and Chinese since the earliest time. People are surrounded by the rhythm of numbers. But different nations show quite different appetites for numbers due to the different cultural backgrounds. Thus, cultural factors necessitate decision-making on translation strategies. It is generally agreed nowadays that literal translation and free translation do not form a binary contrast, and that the most appropriate translation strategy will vary according to the text being translated and the purpose of the translation. The translator should have a relatively thorough understanding of the Chinese and English culture in order to convey the correct meaning of numbers, especially their idioms. References
[1] 戴炜栋、何兆熊. 新编简明英语语言学教程[M] . 上海外语教育出版社，2002. P127 [2] 王振亚. 语言与文化[M] . 高等教育出版社（第二版），2001. P6 [3] 牛津高阶英汉双解词典（第六版）[Z]. 牛津大学出版社，2004. P1180 [4] 包惠南、包昂. 中国文化与汉英翻译[M] . 外文出版社，2004. P238 [5] 蒋咏梅. 英、汉数字文化与翻译[J] . 保山师专学院，2005，2. P115 [6] Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, International Bible Students Association. Insight on the Scriptures Volume2: Jehovah-Zuzim and Index [M]. Watchtower Bible and Tract society of New York, Inc. International Bible Students Association, Brooklyn, New York, USA. P512
[7] 张伟、韩江. 中国文化掠影[M] . 华南理工大学出版社，2005，2. P115 [8] 同[7] P116
[9] 王秀银. 英汉数字词语的比较及翻译[J] . 湖北三峡学院学报，1999，2. P70 [10] 包惠南. 文化语境与语言翻译[M] . 中国对外翻译出版公司，2001. P195 [11] 同[4] P241
[12] 陈炯. 中国文化修辞学[M] . 江苏古籍出版社，2001. P235 [13] 同[12] P79 [14] 同[6] P513
[15] 蓝红军. 英汉数字习语文化比较与翻译[J] . 华东船舶工业学院学报，2002，9. P59 [16] [6] P513 [17] 同[9] P71
[18] 于亚莉、班荣学. 英汉数字的语义模糊性与翻译--《浮躁》英译本Turbulence个案分析[J] . 浙江万里学院学报，2004，8. P41
[19] Mona. Baker. 翻译研究百科全书[M] . 上海外语教育出版社，2004，10. P125 [20] 李延林、潘利锋、郭勇. 英语文化翻译学教程 [M] . 中南大学出版社 2003. P125 [21] 同[4] P250
[22] 腾梅. 英汉数词翻译略说[J]. 青岛海洋大学学报（社科版），1998，2. P84 [23] 同[20] P117 [24] 同[18] P42
[25] 中国文学出版社. 中国文学许多小说卷[M] . 外语教学与研究出版、中国文学出版社，