A Study Of Animal Metaphors In Aesop’s Fables From The Perspective Of Conceptual Metaphor Theory

Aesop’s Fables is not only a classical western literature but also an embodimentof ancient Greek culture. Language and culture have a close relationship. Thus, thestudy of linguistic expression in Aesop’s Fables is a study of western culture. The aimof reading fables is to make readers understand the meaning implied in fables.However, the understanding of linguistic expressions in fables is the basic step tounderstand the meanings of fables. The stories in Aesop’s Fables are about animalswhich are used to refer to human beings. A great many of animal metaphors are usedin Aesop’s Fables. Therefore it is necessary to study the animal metaphors in order tounderstand the meanings of fable stories. However, English culture and Chineseculture are different, which makes the comprehension of animal metaphors similarand different. Previous researchers have given more focus on animal metaphors at asyntactical level such as proverbs or idioms. Actually animal metaphors cannot beunderstood without a context. Fables provide such contexts. Therefore, the presentresearch, based on conceptual metaphor theory claimed by Lakoff and Johnson makesan analytic study of animals in Aesop’s Fables such as fox, wolf, lion and beaverwithin the framework of the Great Chain Metaphor. Thus, for one thing, the studytries to support the metaphor HUMANS ARE ANIMALS in a further way; for another,the study tries to find different cultural backgrounds have an impact oncomprehending animal metaphors in fables and even metaphorical meanings impliedin fables.In order to study the animal metaphors in Aesop’s Fables, the present researchfirstly reviews studies on metaphors, animal metaphors and fables and gives a detailedstatement about conceptual metaphor theory and the Great Chain Metaphor. Next thepresent research makes a comparison and contrast about animal metaphors betweenEnglish and Chinese. Lastly the present research studies the animal metaphors in fablestories chosen from Aesop’s Fables. The study finds that animals in Aesop’s Fablesare actually humans. For example, fox refers to the sly; wolf refers to the villainous;lion refers to the powerful. These implied meanings cannot be revealed just at a syntactical level but at a contextual level. Besides, culture is a factor to understandmetaphorical meanings in fables. Similar cultural backgrounds can help understandmetaphorical meanings while different cultural backgrounds can cause amisunderstanding of metaphorical meanings. Take dragon as an example. In Chineseculture, it symbolizes the power and majesty and the outstanding people while inEnglish culture, it is the symbol of evilness. Therefore, different cultures indeed havea big impact on comprehending the meanings implied in fables.