"Long" Should Not Be Translated into "Dragon"

BelleNiki（2006年12月25日）
http://blog.hjenglish.com/belleniki/articles/562600.html

（作者说明：上学期我们教写作的外教让我们写一篇以中英翻译误差为主题的小论文。）
http://blog.hjenglish.com/zhangchixin/archive/2006/12/24/557567.html

The Chinese word in phoneticism "long" should not be translated into "dragon" because there are many differences between these two animals.

The original meaning of dragon is a flagitious monster with wings, demon and fierce woman.

"Long" is an animal that stands for auspice, however, the "dragon" is a symbol of evil. So, the Chinese should not call themselves "dragon" before the Western people, which would probably demonize them.

Moreover, "long" should not be translated by its pronunciation as the English pronunciation is not "dragon" but wolf and it is not correct transliteration.

"Long" is an ancient and mysterious animal in Chinese myth. This mythological creature does not really exist and its appearance is described to have the features of nine animals: 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 "Long" is a spiritual tie linking the Chinese people. The "Long", 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 Long".

The "Long" is translated as "dragon" wrongly now. In fact, "Long" 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.

"Long" should be translated into "loong" which is similar to the former in pronunciation and is originally the transliteration of "long" in English. For example, the famous Kongfu star Li Xiaolong's English name is Lee Siu Loong.
Some westerners also call "long" "loong". The two "o"s in "loong" looks like the two eyes of the "loong".

In English, dragon is an evil monster with wings. It also means: a cruel person or a fierce woman. In the picture, dragon’s body is huge and clumsy and is black gray in color; it has big wings and can spay fire from its mouth. It also eats humans and animals which makes itself very ugly and horrible. Seen from these features above, the dragon is totally different from Chinese "loong".

For people to understand the differences between loong and dragon, I conclude five main aspects:

1. Loong is a symbol of auspice but dragon stands for evil.

2. Loong has no wings bug dragon has big batlike wings

3. Loong's body is very slender bug dragon has a strong and huge body.

4. Loong does not eat the things in the world but dragon eats humans and animals.

5. The color of Loong is golden or green but dragon's color is mainly black.

In conclusion, loong and dragon should be known as two dissimilar animals. Loong is a symbol of auspice and honor but dragon is described as an evil thing. Moreover, these two mythological creatures are different in appearance. As loong is a spiritual symbol of China, we Chinese people should no longer misinterpret "loong" into "dragon".