Abstract: The figures of speech in narrative poem Ashima are enriched with diverse culture of the Sani people. The transfer of the rhetoric features as well as of the cultural connotation should be considered in the translation of the poem. In virtue of corpus research, the paper analyzes the translation methods of the figures of speech used by Gladys Yang, a famous translator, in her English version Ashima. It is found that the translator does her utmost to transfer ethnic features of the the figures of speech of the source language by literal translation, and also tries to follow the lingusitic and cultural principles of the target language by liberal translation

Key words: figures of speech, narrative poem Ashima, translation methods