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opologist, was one of those who first defined culture，in Primitive Culture (1871). His definition was that “Culture is complex whole, which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” Tylor’s definition has continually been the basis of most anthropological conception of culture. [2] Culture is also a historical phenomenon. Each generation inherits the culture established by its forefathers and makes its own contributions to the development of culture; so different nations have different cultures. Universality between Chinese and English cultures and similarity in the thinking modes make people associate the same animal words with the same or similar figurative meanings. But differences between these two cultures always lead to different association, i.e. Chinese and English people have different figurative meanings to same animal words or use different animal association vehicles to express same or similar figurative meanings. English and Chinese are rich in animal words as association vehicles, so in this paper the author mainly compares figurative meanings of animal words in English and Chinese culture and indicates translation techniques. 2. Animal words as association vehicles It is well known that there are many figurative expressions in English and Chinese, especially animal metaphors. However, because of different histories, social backgrounds and cultures, the connotations of animal words are different. If Chinese people and English people want to use the figurative way to express the same tenor, they would use the same or different association vehicles, so the corresponding relationships between association vehicles and figurative meanings are also different. 2.1 Same animal association vehicles and similar figurative meanings As all human beings live in the similar environment, the Chinese people and English people nearly have the same knowledge of animals. Therefore, they have the same or similar figurative meanings to animal words. For example, English people would say, “He is a fox.” Similarly, Chinese people can understand the meaning of the sentence “He is a fox.” in Chinese “他是一只狐狸。” This example shows that in English “fox” can be used to describe somebody who is cunning and dishonest. This example indicates that different languages and cultures endow “fox’’ the same figurative meanings. The following animal words have the similar figurative meanings both in English and Chinese. “Sheep(羊) or lamb(羔羊)” can be considered as a kind of animal with a sweet and tame temper. As a result, the “sheep(羊) or lamb(羔羊)” is used to show the character with a sweet and tame temper both in English and Chinese, for example: “as lovely as a little sheep (像小羊羔一样可爱)”. Wolf(狼) is a kind of greedy, savage and cruel beast, so in Chinese there exist such expressions: “狼心狗肺”, “豺狼当道”, “如狼似虎”, “狼吞虎咽”, “狼狈为奸”, “狼子野心”. Similarly, the greedy, sinister, dishonest character of wolf also displays vividly and incisively in western culture, e.g.: “a wolf in a sheep’s clothing or a wolf in lamb’s skin (披着羊皮的狼)”; “wake a sleeping wolf (自找麻烦)”; “hold a wolf by the ears (骑虎难下，进退两难)”;“keep the wolf from the door (勉强度日)”. [3] In addition, when “wolf” is used to refer to a person, it means “a man who charms women so as to use them for his own pleasure’’. Therefore, in English there is an idiom “a wolf whistle(挑逗口哨)”. In Chinese, there is also such