·口蜜腹剑，笑里藏刀

        有人译为 His mouth is honey; his heart is a sword.外国人听了会对这样的比喻摸不着头脑，如果要形容某人“口蜜腹剑，笑里藏刀”，我们可以说with honey on one's lip and murder in one's heart,
 或者 honey-mouthed but dagger-hearted.也可以更直接的译成He is an evil man who has a mouth that praises and a hand that kills.

        ·少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲

        有人译成 If you neglect study when you are young, what may happen to your old age?这句问句会把老外问得云里雾里，因为他们沒有“学而优则仕”的思想，也不认为功课差，将来就会伤悲。他们劝告子女经常说的是：
         Studying / working hard can lead you to a brighter / more promising¹ future. (努力用功会带给你光明的前程。)
 
         Study hard when you are young. It will pay off when you get older. (年轻时好好努力，到老的时就会觉得学有所值。)

        ·学如行舟，不进则退

        如果直译成：Learning is like rowing upstream; not to advance is to drop back. 老外听后，也许会感到一头雾水。这样修改一下，表达可以清晰一些：

         Learning seems like rowing upstream(逆流); if one does not advance, one will fall back.

         Learning is like rowing against the current(激流), if one does not advance, one will retreat.

         更直接的说法是：

         If you don't make progress, you will fall behind.

         ·一日为师，终身为父

         有这样的译法：
         He who teaches me for one day is my father for life.

         If you are my teacher for even one day, you will be my teacher (mentor) all my life.

         He who teaches me may be considered my father-figure for life.

        这几种译法意思都是“老师即使对我只有一天的教诲，也会让我一生都受用不尽。”外国人也有他们表达师生关系的谚语，如：

        Teach others to fish and they will fish for a lifetime.(授人以鱼，不如授人以渔)

        Give a man fish, he will have a meal; teach him to fish, he will have food all his life.

       ·忠言逆耳，良药苦口

        有人译成

        Faithful words are contrary to the ears; good medicine tastes bitter to the mouth.

        也有人反译为：

        Bitter words are medicine; sweet words bring illness.

       Good advice often jars on the ears; bitter pills have good effects.

       这些说法，老外也会“一知半解”，不如直接一点说成：

       Honest advice may be distasteful to the recipient².

       Honest advice is hard to accept.

       Truth is a hard pill to swallow.

       更简单的说就是：Truth hurts.

      ·近墨者黑，近朱者赤

       有人直译为：one who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black.(vermilion 是朱砂或鲜红色的意思)也有人译成：

       When you touch black, you become black; when you touch red, you become red.
        这种说法，恐怕老外一时无法理解真正含意。

        不过他们倒有这么说：（这就不是figurative，比喻用法，而是直接叙述了）

        One takes the behavior of one's company. (一个人的行为，往往受到朋友的影响。)

        One takes on the attributes of one's associates. (attributes 复数時是指品质；associates 指朋友、同事)
 
        Watch the company you keep!(小心交朋友！)

        As he who lies with dogs will ride with fleas³, how could your son learn anything good by mixing with those people? (你儿子跟那些人混在一起,能学出个好来?)

        得出的结论是，有一些习惯用语比较形象，但英语中不一定有与之相对的比喻（如半瓶水之类），当翻译成英语时可能只会让外国人了解其字面上的意义，而不是比喻意义，此时不如直接说出来。如果英语中有与之对应的比喻用法就很幸运了。（如：烈火炼真金，患难见真情，相对的是By a long road, we know a horse's strength；at times of difficulty, we discover a friend's true character.） 当然，习语也要使用有度，在提倡创新的今天，新鲜的语言大概更令人可喜吧！