1. sarcasm
是指用尖酸刻薄的话对个人的缺点、过失、社会的丑恶现象或黑暗面进行讥讽、挖苦,常是有意地伤害他人的感情,所以常含有较强的贬义。例如:
Laws are like cobwebs, which catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through. 法律就像蜘蛛网一样,能捉住小苍蝇,却让黄蜂、大黄蜂钻过去了。
这里用比喻来讽刺当时法律的不公正:小人物犯法依法惩治,而大人物犯法却仍能逍遥法外。
He is here because ignorance and bigotry are rampant, and it is a mighty strong combination. 他之所以站在这里(被告席上),是因为无知和偏见猖獗,而且形成了一股强大的势力。
说话人在这里用直叙法来讽刺无知和偏见的影响之大。
Frankly, I have been accustomed to regard your President as a statesman whose mouth was the most efficient part of his head. He cannot have thought of it (the idea) himself. Who suggested it to him? 坦率地说,我一贯把你们的总统看作政治家,他的嘴是他头上最能干的器官。他本人是想不出这个主意的.是谁向他提出的?
这里用直叙法来讽刺总统的愚蠢。
2. satire
是指用散文、诗歌、戏剧、小说、电影等文学形式,综合运用反语、讽刺等手法对个人或社会的愚昧、过失加以揭露、抨击和批判。例如莎士比亚在其作品《李尔王》中便使用了这一手法:
Fool
Fools had ne'er less wit in a year;
For wise men are grown foppish,
They know not how their wits to wear,
Their manners are so apish.
这年头傻瓜供过于求;
聪明人个个变迂腐,
顶着个没有思想的头,
只会学人依样画葫芦。
莎士比亚在这里讽刺了那些没有思想,只会跟在人家屁股后面亦步亦趋的傻瓜。
Quite right, the laws are turnpikes, only made to stop people who walk on foot, and not to interrupt those who drive through them in their coaches. 对极了,法律是高速公路,只能挡住那些用腿走路的人,却挡不住那些在路上开车的人。
作者在这里用比喻讽刺了法律的不公正。
