"If you feel good after eating an egg, why do you need to know the hen that laid the egg?" (Quoted from Yang Jiang's "Qian Zhongshu and (Fortress Besieged)") This is Qian Zhongshu's refusal. A sentence said by an American journalist during an interview. Today, this humorous, witty and euphemistic metaphor has become a famous saying of Mr. Qian and is widely circulated. As one of his representative works, the novel "Fortress Besieged" is full of metaphors like this, and Mr. Qian Zhongshu's use of metaphors in this book has reached a superb level. According to statistics, there are 325 metaphors used in the book. The entire "Fortress Besieged" can be said to be a city of metaphors. The extravagant, delicate, witty and humorous satirical style, and the wisdom of freely using Chinese and Western cultural allusions, all present the unique artistic charm of language metaphors in his novels. It shows the unique aesthetic effect of the book "Fortress Besieged".

Qian Zhongshu talked about his theory of metaphor many times in "Guan Zhui Bian" and "Selected Notes on Song Poems". He believes that metaphor is not just a simple rhetorical device, it should be a major literary language expression. Through the author's unique vision, he can find the connection between things and understand things from a new perspective. What it brings is not only easy to understand, but more importantly, a natural and innocent way of expression (natural things), and a personalized and multi-dimensional way of thinking. Qian Zhongshu advocated the use of metaphors, and he even believed that the use of metaphors was a sign of genius. American psychologist Ariti also believes: "The poet discovered that there are similarities between things. Every time he discovers a similarity, he discovers a new concept, which means that human understanding has developed to a new stage." (Translated) Quoted from "The Use of Rhetorical Techniques" by He Xiang). This coincides with Qian Zhongshu's view. It can be seen that the 325 metaphors in "Fortress Besieged" are not misused, but carefully arranged by the author. Every metaphor has its own subtlety, whether it is in narrating events, portraying characters, expressing themes, or playing a positive role in forming the artistic style of the work. These metaphors are like crystal clear pearls shining in the works.

In "The Besieged City", Qian Zhongshu metaphors people, events, objects, and moods, all of which are metaphorical, but without metaphors, it is not good. In terms of artistic expression, they present colorful artistic effects. The following is a detailed analysis of the artistic effect and unique aesthetic value of metaphors in "Fortress Besieged" in four points.

1. Novelty can be found in appropriateness

“It is best to seek appropriateness in metaphors first” (quoted from Lao She’s “Metaphors”). The so-called "appropriate" first means that the connection and image between the ontology and metaphor should be appropriate and natural, not rigid. Not artificial. The key to metaphor is to find the similarities between the ontology and the metaphor, so that the connection between the two is close, subtle, full of meaning, and full of aftertaste. Qian Zhongshu combined seemingly unrelated things based on his profound knowledge, profound life foundation, rich associations and unique vision, and the comparison was appropriate and wonderful. For example:

1. The French people on the boat became like dogs when they saw home. Their momentum suddenly became louder, and their actions and voices became much louder. (See page 16 of "Fortress Besieged")

2,...Hongjian suddenly turned around, shook his body like a dog shaking its fur, as if shaking away the rain around him, and walked away. (Page 114)

3. You are like what foreigners call a dog. You bark ferociously, but your bite is not harmful. (Page 238)

4. The Zhou family can no longer live in the house for a day. They can only go back to their father and mother to squeeze in the day, like a dog that has been beaten outside and runs home with its tail between its legs. (Page 122)

These metaphors all use dogs as metaphors, and the ontologies are Frenchman, Fang Hongjian, Zhao Xinmei, and Fang Hongjian respectively. The author uses the same metaphor and different ontologies to express the relationship between dogs. The different connections appropriately express the characteristics of the original character. The first one used the barking and jumping of a dog that suddenly saw home after a long absence to describe the rampant, arrogant, and ugly face of the French on board when they saw their overseas colony of Saigon. The second one uses a wet dog to compare Fang Hongjian's frustration and resentment after being rejected and abandoned by Miss Tang. The third one uses a dog that opens its mouth but does not bite to compare Zhao Xinmei to a fake politician who talks nicely but does not do it. The fourth one uses a tail-pinned dog to compare Fang Hongjian's miserable and miserable appearance after being kicked out of the house by the Zhou family. This natural relationship between ontology and metaphor makes metaphor appropriate.

The second meaning of appropriateness is that the metaphor can fit the specific characters and environment, so that the metaphor can be organically combined with the work and better play its role in the work, without making the metaphor isolated and Making the mistake of using a metaphor for metaphor's sake. There are many metaphors in "Fortress Besieged" that combine specific characters and environments. For example:

1. Dong Xiechuan said: "Okay, okay, even though you are 'throwing water in front of the horse', you are actually 'reunited'. Brother Shenming's future marriage will definitely be full of joys and sorrows, and it will be promising." (Page 99 Page)

2. The pipe in Xinmei’s mouth was raised like a cannon on an old warship. He rubbed his big palms together, patted the crisp side, clenched his fists and said... (page 185 )

Example 1 is that Dong Xiechuan used "splashing water in front of the horse" to compare Chu Shenming's glasses falling into the milk cup and splashing milk, and using "broken mirrors to reunite" to compare Chu's glasses falling but not breaking. , and used it to compare Chu's marriage. Because Xiechuan is an old-style poetry poet, his use of these two idioms is very suitable for his identity, portraying his pedantic image, and the metaphor is very appropriate.

Example 2 is the metaphor of the pipe in Xinmei's mouth when Zhao Xinmei and his gang were quarreling with the widow's master and servant. Because of the quarrel, it was filled with the smell of gunpowder, just like fighting. The pipe was compared to a cannon held high, which was very suitable for the atmosphere at that time. , making readers feel the smell of gunpowder during the quarrel.

The metaphors in "Fortress Besieged" are appropriate while striving to have novel artistic effects. Qian Zhongshu's metaphors do not plagiarize the meaning of predecessors or use clichés, and strive to be novel and original in terms of metaphors. His metaphors involve ancient and modern China and foreign countries, politics and art, folk customs, animals and plants, quotations from scriptures, etc. They are very rich. The originality of his metaphors gives people a refreshing feeling. Let's analyze it with an example:

1. Some people call her "Cooked Meat Shop" because only delicatessens will openly display the many warm-colored meats; some people call her "Truth" because it is said that " The truth is naked.” (Page 5)

2. The weight of this kiss is very light and the scope is very small. It is just like smearing the lips on the edge of the tea bowl when serving tea to guests in the Qing Dynasty officialdom. Or in the past, witnesses in Western courts would touch their lips to the Bible when swearing an oath, at most like those believers kissing the big toes of Tibetan Living Buddhas or the Pope in Rome, a kind of closeness that is far away. (Page 107)

3. Unfortunately, scientists are very different from science. Scientists are like wine, they become more valuable as they get older, while science is like women, they lose value when they get older. (Page 202)

It can be said that these wonderful metaphors can only be written by a knowledgeable, witty and humorous scholar like Qian Zhongshu. Reading these sentences is like a spring breeze blowing towards you, giving people a sense of wonder. Fresh and refreshing feeling. For example, in Example 1, a person is compared to a word. This difference between the ontology and the metaphor itself gives people a new and strange feeling, and the essentially connected spiritual-like image connection that the author is looking for is even more convincing. The novelty of Qian Zhongshu's metaphors is not achieved entirely by searching for strange metaphors, but more by his rich knowledge, broad vision, active thinking and by increasing the depth and thickness of the metaphors. For example, in Example 2, in order to describe a kiss, the author listed three metaphors in one go, some Chinese and some foreign; some ancient and some modern; some secular and some religious. This allows readers to have a deeper understanding of the kiss. The arrangement of these various metaphors gives a fresh and more convincing feeling. In addition, new images are given to popular and common things to give people a new feeling. For example, in Example 3, it is said that scientists are like wine and science is like women. Both the metaphor and the ontology look very ordinary. Novelty. But when you combine it with the metaphor and know that the author uses the mellower the wine, the more valuable it is to compare the scientists, the older they get, the more valuable they become, and the older women become less valuable, to compare the older the science becomes less valuable, this kind of ontology and metaphor The image connection between them can’t help but make you feel unique and novel.

Second, there is wit in humor

Ms. Yang Jiang wrote in "Remembering Qian Zhongshu and (Fortress Besieged)": "Every night. He

Show me the finished manuscript, eager to see how I react. I laugh, and he laughs too; I laugh, and he laughs too. Sometimes we put down the manuscript and laugh with him, because it’s not just the book that makes us laugh. There are also things outside the book." It can be seen that "Fortress Besieged" is indeed a book that can make people laugh, and many of the laughter are caused by funny metaphors.

I think these smiles can be divided into two types. One is humorous and funny laughter. This kind of laughter just makes people happy, like a joke after dinner, which is forgotten after laughing. Its main function is to give people a relaxed and lively feeling. There are many metaphors with this effect in "The Besieged City", such as "The battalion commander has a big orange-peel nose, and there is a face attached to the nose, and the face has everything. The eyebrows have not been squeezed out of his nose, and there are a few wine thorns on the tip of his nose, like unripe strawberries. He talks and laughs loudly, and you can tell at a glance that he is a hero." (Page 179) This is a metaphor describing a character portrait. Although these comic-style metaphors can make readers laugh, it is difficult to leave a deep impression after they laugh. It can only create some jokes. Of course, such metaphors do not play a major role in "Fortress Besieged". Another kind of laughter is a witty and humorous smile. This kind of smile is not superficial or exposed. It does not deliberately pursue superficial effects, but uses the depth of life and the spiritual world of the characters to discover ridiculous things and talk and laugh. Among them, profound truths are told, and humorous language emits sparks of wisdom and truth. The laughter makes people think deeply, and it gives people not only a sense of relaxation, but more of a sense of depth. Metaphors with such effects play a major role in "The Siege" that make people laugh, which is also in line with the tone of the book - "tragedy in a comic atmosphere." There are many such metaphors in works, for example:

1. Maybe men are like a group of hedgehogs when they are together. (Page 223)

2. In fact, a person's shortcomings are like a monkey's tail. When the monkey squats on the ground, the tail is invisible. Until he climbed up the tree. The rear part is left for the public to admire, but the red buttocks and long tail are already there, not a new sign of higher status. (Page 283)

3. This diploma seems to have the function of the leaf on the lower body of Adam and Eve, which can cover up shame and ugliness; a small square of paper can cover up a person's empty, humble, Stupidity is covered up.

(Page 10)

Example 1 is not the kind of humor that will naturally burst out into loud laughter as soon as you touch the words, but the kind that is enough to arouse your play and thinking, and "the mind is connected to the point of understanding" A knowing smile. When you understand why the author compares people to hedgehogs, you will feel a sense of humor, because he profoundly expresses a kind of ordinary human nature. Perhaps you will think of the fact that you have been a "hedgehog" once. A heartfelt smile, and a smile with a certain heaviness. The humor in Side 2 and Example 3 is different from that in Example 1. Because of the comicality of the metaphor itself and the humor of the text, it makes people laugh at the first sight. But when you taste it carefully and experience it carefully, you will find something is wrong. You laugh too early, because behind the smile there is a deep and serious thinking, which is enough to make your smile pass away quietly, leaving behind It is about mental tension or even pain. The monkey climbs up its hips and uses its tail, and Adam and Eve use their diplomas to cover up their shame. This is all laughable. But the real purpose of the author is not just to make you laugh. The author uses them to vividly expose the bad nature of people - getting carried away and loving vanity, and causing readers to reflect and think. This is the author's fundamental intention, which is more interesting than ordinary laughter. Thoughtful and artistic.

3. Sharpness and irony

Xia Zhiqing, a Chinese-American scholar, commented on "Fortress Besieged" in his book "History of Modern Chinese Literature": "...more than any ancient satire in any country Novel." Some people say that it is a "Confucian history" of modern China. No matter how you evaluate it, everyone agrees that it is a satirical novel, and irony is its main artistic style. As the metaphor of the main literary language expression in the work, it is also ironic. This is a special and important artistic effect of metaphor in "Fortress Besieged".

Sarcasm, like humor, can also make people laugh. The difference is that the humor is non-thorny. Satire is bound to be thorny. Ridiculous laughter is uncomfortable for the person being stabbed, but it is very pleasant for the author and other readers. No matter what kind of laughter it is, sarcasm can bring a kind of humorous beauty. Humor and banter are a pleasant style and a relaxed and lively state. There are many metaphorical sentences with this kind of artistic effect in "The Besieged City", for example:

1. He has no new ideas that are difficult to express in Chinese, and needs to speak in English; therefore, the English words embedded in his words, It is worse than the gold teeth embedded in the mouth, because the gold teeth are not only decorative but can also be used. They are just like the meat scraps embedded in the gaps between the teeth, indicating that the food has been eaten well, and are useless other than that. (Page 44)

2. Names like Russell and Chen Sanyuan are like a fine Havana cigar that can be pulled around your mouth. (Page 100)

3. Her preface clearly quoted Jules Jellier's metaphor, saying that a man with alopecia went to get a haircut, but the man with the bald head told him that he didn't need to cut his hair and couldn't wait. Within a few days, all the hair on my head fell out, and most modern literature was equally unworthy of criticism. (Page 78)

The above examples are all ironic. Example 1 is a satire on Mr. Zhang, a foreign comprador who likes to embed unnecessary English words in Chinese to show that he is close to foreign society and has a slave-like attitude and a vanity mentality. Example 2 is a satire on Dong Xiechuan and Chu Shenming for relying on celebrities. The disgusting behavior of vain pseudo-intellectuals who rely on celebrities to show off their face. Example 3 is a satire on modern literature and the recession. The above examples are thorny and sharp, ruthlessly criticizing the various scandals of those people. But these criticisms are not meant by the author to lecture people with a straight face. This is done using witty, tongue-in-cheek metaphors, thus bringing a sense of relief to people other than the person being satirized.

Because the structure of metaphorical sentences is composed of metaphor and ontology. Therefore, in satirical metaphors, the effect of irony can often achieve the effect of killing two birds with one stone. It not only satirizes the ontology, but also satirizes the metaphor to a certain extent. Sometimes the intensity of the satire on the metaphor exceeds the satire on the ontology, giving people A feeling of saying one thing and saying the other, leaving a rich aftertaste for readers to experience. For example:

1. Her eyes are not very big, but they are flexible and gentle. In contrast, the big eyes of many women are just like the big words of politicians, which are too big to be appropriate. (Page 52)

2. The trouser legs of the lower body are thick and round, with no creases. They can stand upright on the ground without human legs, like a pair of hollow pillars of the country... (Page 162 )

The ironic significance of these two metaphors to the metaphor is greater than the ironic significance to the ontology. It can be said that the small leads to the big. In example 1, the "big but inappropriate" eyes of the woman are just the characteristics of human portraits. It can be said that the author did not satirize this. At most, it only reflects the author's aesthetic point of view. The politicians' words are too big and inappropriate, which is of great practical significance. The author's critical attitude is clear, and every reader can clearly feel it. of. As for the criticism of the metaphor in Example 2, it has more practical significance. At that time, the country was suffering from internal and external troubles, and the people were in dire straits. However, the pillar of the country was corrupt and incompetent. It could not resist aggression externally and could not stabilize the people internally. This pillar only existed in form. It has no practical effect. Isn't this just like the trouser legs that are "thick and round, with no creases, and can stand straight on the ground without legs"? Obviously, the irony of the metaphor here is greater and more thought-provoking. The irony of the ontology can only make people laugh.

If Lu Xun's sharpness is to "face the bleak life" and "face the dripping blood", revealing the essence of cannibalism and giving people a dull and depressing feeling, then, through the above analysis, Qian Zhong The sharpness of the book is the insight into everything through banter, and the essence of things through exaggeration. It gives people the cheerfulness after understanding and the joy after catharsis.

Four. Philosophy in teasing

The metaphors in "Fortress Besieged" come from a wide range of sources, are unconventional, and carry profound philosophical meanings, making people understand profound things through the frequent teasing. reason. For example, Chu Shenming said: "I also talked to him about Bertie's marriage and divorce. He quoted an old British saying that marriage is like a golden birdcage. The birds outside the cage want to live in, and the birds inside the cage want to fly out. "So there is no end to the knot and the knot." Su Wenwan said: "There is also a saying in France. However, it is not about the birds, but the people outside the city. They want to rush in, but the people in the city want to escape." The clever metaphor used here perfectly expresses that they think they have seen through everything in life and society. In fact, they themselves are the birds inside and outside the golden birdcage, and the people inside and outside the castle. . Their world, their mind, whether they live in the birdcage or fly out of the birdcage, whether they rush into the castle or rush out of the castle, are pitifully small. It transcends time and space and summarizes the life situation of a class of intellectuals who face the conflict between Chinese and Western cultures in modern Chinese society. They are always trapped in a narrow life circle and consume their lives in a despicable and vulgar way. This is an extremely bleak and pitiful life. As mentioned above, "A person's shortcomings are like a monkey's tail. When the monkey squats on the ground, the tail is invisible. Until it climbs up the tree, it exposes the rear part for public viewing. But the red buttocks and long tail are originally there. It is not a new sign of rising status." This aphoristic metaphor completely mocks and satirizes Gao Songnian's bad nature that he revealed after he climbed to the position of principal. Another example is when Fang Hongjian and his entourage took a bus from Ningbo to Jinhua. The journey was bumpy and uncomfortable. The author wrote about the broken car in a very interesting way: "This car has been through the dust for a long time. It should celebrate its longevity. But during the Anti-Japanese War, it was inconvenient to retire. Machines have no tempers and tendencies, but this car relied on old age and became unruly. It has an eccentric and unpredictable character, sometimes as bold as a big bureaucrat, sometimes as awkward as a little girl. When it starts, it coughs at the front and deflates at the back, causing the passengers to stumble. It hit the west and shouted in unison...it walked ten or twenty miles in one breath...can it still walk on the road ahead? It was angry and refused to leave, so the driver had to get out of the car and clear the front of the car for a long time. I picked up a ball of mud nearby and invited it to enjoy it. It swayed slowly as if it was drunk. "Here the author compares the old car to an airy bureaucrat and a troubled girl. The imagination is wonderful, fresh and unique, and the car is also used. The dilapidated character is vividly described, and the ugliness of the bureaucrats and girls is ridiculed to the point of death. There is a hint of cynicism in the laughter and scolding. Another example is the prostitute Wang Meiyu: "Suddenly she noticed Mr. Gu's attention and smiled at him. Her mouth was full of bright red teeth, and the bumps were like the chest of a knight." How can "the flesh of the teeth" be like "the mind"? But if you think about it carefully, don't knights like to fight against injustice? It turns out that this is a metaphor for the unevenness of the teeth, which is really unexpected. Another example is "Where there are chickens and ducks, there is a lot of feces, where there are women there are a lot of smiles", "The phone is a visit from a lazy person, a stingy communication" and so on.

I have briefly analyzed several artistic effects of metaphors in "Fortress Besieged" above. This novel and unique metaphor can be seen everywhere in "Fortress Besieged", which is refreshing and makes people think deeply. , it can be said that "City Besieged" is actually a "metaphorical" city. These metaphors add a lot of luster to the book "Fortress Besieged". No wonder Qian Zhongshu believes that the use of metaphors is a manifestation of genius. The careful and unique use of metaphors also better reflects Mr. Qian's careful management of this book. It is no wonder that Xia Zhiqing said that "The Besieged City" is: the most interesting and most carefully managed novel. It can also be said that One of the most outstanding works of contemporary China.