为了便于人们认识龙和 dragon 之间的差异,我提出五个最主要的方面:
1,龙主要是吉祥的象征,而 Dragon 主要是邪恶的象征;
2,龙没有翅膀,而 Dragon 有着巨大的蝙蝠翅膀;
3,龙的身体修长,而 Dragon 的身体粗壮;
4,龙不食人间烟火,但是 Dragon 要吃人和动物;
5,龙的颜色为金黄色或其它颜色,Dragon 的颜色主要是黑色的。
笔者尝试着为 Loong 撰写了英文解释,欢迎大家指正、补充或修改:
Loong [lu:η]
(1) n. c. a mythological creatures, with the head of a camel or horse, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a rabbit, the ears of a cow, the neck and body of a snake, the belly of a kind of huge clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of a hawk, the palm of a tiger, and without wings. It has whiskers and a beard, and is deaf. It is generally regarded as benevolent but is also the source of thunder and lightning.
The Loong is a spiritual tie linking the Chinese people. The Loong, as the symbol of the Chinese nation, has become part of the Chinese culture. Chinese people are proud to call themselves "the offspring of the Loong".
The Loong is translated as "dragon" wrongly now. In fact, Loong is so different in nature from Western Dragons that it may be more reasonable to consider them as dissimilar creatures, rather than as the same creature interpreted differently.
(2) n. used to be the symbol of Chinese kings, they were called "the son of the Loong".
(3) a surname of Chinese people.
(4) the transliteration of Chinese character of loong.
(5) the stage property used in The Dance of Loong.
有些学者建议把“龙”音译成“Long”。
但是“long”的英文发音和“龙”完全两样,相当于中文的“狼”,并非真正的音译。当西方人指着龙说“long”时,中国人还必须纠正他的发音,不仅增加了交流的困难,还会引起对方的困惑。Long 在英文中是一个使用非常普遍的常用词,含义本来就很多,如:长,久,期盼,股票或期货的多头,等等,把龙翻译成 long 也会造成意义上的混乱。所以不能简单地把龙的拼音字母作为龙的英文音译。