Handbook for translators of Spanish historical ... - University Library

THEORY
change in the idea expressed by the following lines:
Dicen que me case yo: They would have me wed, "but I
No quiero marido, no. Truly for no husband sigh-
The idea expressed by the word "sigh" in the translation
is nowhere to be found in the original. The change is
made because of the requirements of rhyme and rhythm. The
translator might have avoided the idea of a sigh by using
a more accurate but less poetic line: e.g. "Truly no husband
desire." In its search for truth, historical translation
endeavors to find exact meanings rather than embellishment
of language. In this respect historical translation
is more akin to scientific or commercial than to literary
translation. No poetic license is permitted in the
translation of historical documents. In fact, quite often,
when there is doubt in the mind of the translator as to
the exactness of a word, the original word or expression
is retained in brackets. Such a device would be cumbersome
and undesirable in a purely literary translation.
One of the chief benefits of such exactness in historical
translations is the preservation of the original documents;
if the translation is accurate enough, there is no need
for the reader to handle the original. Nevertheless, in
both literary and historical translation, a serious attempt
should be made to retain as much as possible of the
flavor of the original.
VThat is "flavor of the original?" This question is puzzling,
and no definite answer is readily available. The
flavor is not merely the idiomatic expression, but it included
also the vocabulary and phraseology peculiar to the
locality or time of the original. One can as easily put
his finger on the flavor of an original as one may indicate
the exact place where a soul resides in a body that
has a soul. In documents which have it, flavor may be
found anywhere and everywhere. Many factors enter into
the understanding and translation of the flavor of an
original. Strict adherence to the idea expressed in it
and the method of expression are absolutely necessary in
order to retain the flavor of the original. In the treins-
lation of Spanish historical documents, for instance, a
and
"free" translator would render Vuestra Excelencia , Vuestra
Senorfa ,
vuestra merced into English with the simple
pronoun you. A translator endeavoring to catch and retain
Gil Vicente quoted in E. Stuart Bates, Modern Translation,
p. 156. _5_