Mullerian mimicry occurs in nature when two or more harmful species look very similar in order to ward off potential predators. This is very advantageous to animals as a means of protection. The benefit to Müllerian mimics is that predators only need one unpleasant encounter with one member of a set of Müllerian mimics, and thereafter avoid all similar coloration, whether or not it belongs to the same species as the initial encounter. Mimicry can be a disadvantage for an animal because for scarlet king snakes people mistake them for coral snakes and kill them.
tradition that we were born and brought up in leads to a mode of thought and behaviour engraved in us. The three translators live in different eras (although the last two translations are only 16 years apart, the time has changed dramatically), their background and life experience are completely different, which lead to the great differences in the version they translated.
a. Lin and Wei’s translation and the translation intention
In 1901, Lin and Wei’s translation of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published. Lin Shu is the first person in China who translate foreign novels in Classical Chinese. His translation has had a considerable impact on the Old Democratic Revolutionary stage in China. The translation of this novel came at a time when the US government was persecuting the Chinese workers living in the US. The Chinese version of this novel prompted the rebellious emotional of Chinese people. The translation intention for Lin is to revitalise Chinese people’s aspiration, call on their vigilance and fight for the independence, freedom and equality. Therefore, Lin abridged the fussiest preaching parts (He felt that there are too many preaching in the novel). Lin Shu himself knows nothing about English. His translation relies on Wei Yi’s dictation.
In the process of translation, the translator mainly considers how to be loyal to the original work. There was a time when the translator were regarded as the “servant”, who is not only be manipulated by the “master”—the original work, but also should be faithful to another master, the reader. However, according to Hermans (1985, 2014) and his Manipulation School, translation means a certain degree of manipulation of the original text for a certain purpose. Based on Hermans’s theory, Lefevere (1985) proposed the conception “translation is rewriting”, and rewriting means “manipulating”. One of the three factors that controls rewriting is “ideology”.
In the three chosen translation, there are more or less traces of rewriting, reflecting the role of ideology plays in translation, and this role changes along with the society, history and culture. Compared with the other two translators, Lin and Wei’s translation has the most “rewriting” parts. As Pickering (1999) said, “we only develop historical understanding through working with the realisation of our own his
