“Dragon” is a legendary and mythological creature in the world。 In ancient times, “dragon” stands for the king or emperor in China。 It is also the traditional symbol of royalty。 Chinese often use the phrase “真龙天子” to describe the king or emperor。 In China, there is also a phrase “龙马精神” which means strong, careful and the spirit of unremitting self-improvement。 Chinese believe that the “dragon” is one of the goodness。 And they can protect human beings and bring good luck。 On the contrary, in the view of the westerners, the dragon is usually a monster。  Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic, told a story about the hero Beowulf who defeated a monster called Grendel which was actually a dragon with wings。 As a result, western people do not like dragons。 In English, the “dragon” often stands for evil and badness。 It is a fierce monster that destroys everything。 As a result, it must be destroyed。 In several stories, saints and heroes often deal with struggles against the monster, which in most cases are slain at the end of stories (Deng 55)。 Therefore, the image of dragon is totally different in Chinese and English。

The animal “fish”, as a kind of food, is of great nutritious so that fish is very popular all around the world。 However, as a kind of cultural symbol, fish has different meanings in Chinese and English。 In China, the pronunciation of the word “fish” is the same as the word “余” which means plentiful。 When Chinese people celebrate the Spring Festival, they are sure to eat fish which symbolizes that they will have a wealthy life in the next year。 It is said that even in the mountain area that has no production of fish, people will make a wooden fish putting on the table to express their best wishes in the future。 In contrast, the word “fish” is derogatory in English。 Therefore, “fish” is always used to describe the bad people and bad things。 For example, the phrase, “the poor fish”, means a person who is pitiable and gutless。 What’s more, in English, there is also an idiom, “a loose fish”, which means a woman who is degraded and dissipated。 To sum up, different culture gives “fish” different meanings。 

3。2 Different animal metaphors with similar cultural connotations

Different animal metaphors with similar cultural connotations mean that people use different animals to express similar meanings。 Sometimes, because of the different geographical environment, not all the places have the same animal。 For example, the animal panda only can be found in China。 However, when people use animal metaphors to express their ideas or feelings, they will not give up describing because there is not this kind of animal。 They will find a different animal to express the same meaning。 Although the animals are different, they stand for similar implied meanings。