第二节
借喻

所谓借喻，即以彼作此，只言喻体，不言本体。此修辞手法虽然新颖，但若不解其本体之实，便难晓其实际所指。

例1：开鬼门，洁净府，精以时服，五阳已布，疏涤五脏（《素问·汤液醪醴论》）。

在本例中，“开鬼门”“洁净府”就是借喻，借“鬼门”和“净府”来比喻“汗孔”和“膀胱”。不了解这个借喻，便难明其实。Veith在翻译这句话时，因不解其喻，便信笔曲意旁解。其译文如下：

One should restore their bodies and open the anus so that the bowels can be cleansed，and so that the secretions come at the proper time and serve the five viscerawhich belong to Yang，the principle of life，One should put in order the five viscera which were remiss and cleanse and purify them.

在这个译文中，译者将“鬼门”（sweating pores）理解为anus（肛门），将“净府”（bladder）理解为bowels（肠道），乃指鹿为马。所谓“开鬼门”，即inducing sweating；所谓“洁净府”，即promoting urine discharge。其他人对内容的理解和翻译，也颇为南辕北辙，不合原意。如“精以时服”指“水精得以正常运行”（normal flow of water essence），不是the secretions come at the proper time；“五阳已布”指“五脏的阳气得以敷布”（distribution of yang from the five zang-organs），而不是什么serve the five viscera which belong to Yang，因为以阴阳分“脏腑”，则“五脏”从来都属阴而不属阳；“疏涤五脏”指“五脏郁积得以疏通涤除”（removing stagnation in the five zang-organs），而不是put in order the five viscera which were remiss and cleanse and purify them。

例2：论言治寒以热，治热以寒，而方士不能废绳墨而更其道也（《素问·至真要大论》）。

“绳墨”指木工测量木材时所使用的线绳和墨斗，本例借以比喻规则和原则。吴氏父子将这句话译为：It was stated in the treatise that one should treat cold disease with the hotmedicine，treat hot diseasewith the cold medicine and a physicianmust not annul this rule to treat in some other ways.译文虽然略嫌逶迤，但基本意思还是明确的。 YeXikU0fyJrQvVa3cqgwUFfc6k9qMeleAjbImSMnKo1OXBK1AEoWSvpzpx+/1WPB