Don Quixote translations?

[Anonymous No.14889157]

What is the best, most /lit/ Don Quixote translation?
I am currently about 130 pages through the 1700 P.A. Motteux Translation (Everyman’s Library) and I am starting to think it’s complete shit and I should find a different one. It’s hard to follow not just because it uses antiquated English but also it just doesn’t feel...Spanish.
I am aware of the Grossman translation but it’s really modern and I would like to find a nice middle ground between readability and period authenticity if that makes sense.
any advice friends?

[Anonymous No.14889176]

>>14889157
>any advice friends?
Compare every translation, in chronological order. Pick a few passages that stood out from what you've read so far, and A/B them until you've got your winner.

[Anonymous No.14889193]

>>14889157
John Ormsby is the best translator of Don Quixote, without a doubt. He is to Cervantes what Scott Moncrieff is to Proust or Rabassa to Marquez. It isn’t close.

[Anonymous No.14889222]

>>14889193
Nope. That would be Edith Grossman.

[Anonymous No.14889280]

>>14889193
Thanks Anon. I have read Moncrief’a translation of The Red and The Black. Amazing book. Good taste. I will look for Ormsby

[Anonymous No.14890935]

Get John Ormsby off of Standard Ebooks, it might be the only eBook version that reproduced his literal thousands of translation footnotes.
I think Motteux is supposed to be really bad even for its age. A number of translator introductions shat on it including Ormsby and Putnam.

[Anonymous No.14891085]

Lathrop

[Anonymous No.14891113]

>>14889157
>What is the best, most /lit/ Don Quixote translation?
Ormsby or Rutherford

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/996/996-h/996-h.htm

[Anonymous No.14891447]

I have the Harvard Classics whichever that is, not going to look it up right now sorry and the Burton Raffel and I really enjoy the Raffel. Sometimes I read it alongside the Spanish and it's fucking glorious

[Anonymous No.14891658]

>>14889157
>En su oriundo idioma no se atreve este tunante caballero a facer el placer de leer

[Anonymous No.14891692]

>>14889157
Try the Tobias Smollett translation from B&N Classics.

[Anonymous No.14891711]

>>14889157
Motteux is perfectly readable. Go ahead and post some examples of his antiquated English so we can laugh at your 2oz brain.

[Anonymous No.14891829]

>>14891711
Motteux's translation is infamous for being dogshit.

[Anonymous No.14891847]

>>14889157
Ormsby, Rutherford, Raffel, and Grossman are all infinitely better than Motteux. Take your pick.

[Anonymous No.14892035]

>>14891658
This

[Anonymous No.14892118]

>>14891829
Dogshit in its efficacy to the original text. That says nothing of its actual readability. It reads fantastic.

[Anonymous No.14892129]

>>14889157
>It doesn't feel spanish

explain

[Anonymous No.14892202]

>>14889157
Smollett.

[Anonymous No.14892375]

>>14892129
It just feels way too much like Shakespeare

[Anonymous No.14892390]

>>14891113
This, but Rutherford is way better than overratedmsby.

[Anonymous No.14892423]

whats the best translation into german?

[Anonymous No.14892506]

Original:
Estaban acaso a la puerta dos mujeres mozas, destas que llaman del partido, las cuales iban a Sevilla con unos arrieros que en la venta aquella noche acertaron a hacer jornada; y como a nuestro aventurero todo cuanto pensaba, veía o imaginaba le parecía ser hecho y pasar al modo de lo que había leído, luego que vio la venta se le representó que era un castillo con sus cuatro torres y chapiteles de luciente plata, sin faltarle su puente levadiza y honda cava, con todos aquellos adherentes que semejantes castillos se pintan. Fuese llegando a la venta que a él le parecía castillo, y a poco trecho della detuvo las riendas a Rocinante, esperando que algún enano se pusiese entre las almenas a dar señal con alguna trompeta de que llegaba caballero al castillo. Pero como vio que se tardaban y que Rocinante se daba priesa por llegar a la caballeriza, se llegó a la puerta de la venta y vio a las dos destraídas mozas que allí estaban, que a él le parecieron dos hermosas don- cellas o dos graciosas damas que delante de la puerta del castillo se estaban solazando. En esto sucedió acaso que un porquero que andaba recogiendo de unos rastrojos una manada de puercos —que, sin perdón, así se llaman— tocó un cuerno, a cuya señal ellos se recogen, y al instante se le representó a don Quijote lo que deseaba, que era que algún enano hacía señal de su venida; y así, con estraño contento llegó a la venta y a las damas. Las cuales como vieron venir un hombre de aquella suerte armado, y con lanza y adarga, llenas de miedo se iban a entrar en la venta.

[Anonymous No.14892515]

>>14892506
Rutherford:

Sitting by the inn door there happened to be two young women, of the sort known as ladies of easy virtue, on their way to Seville with some muleteers who’d chanced to break from their journey that night at the inn. And since whatever our adventurer thought, saw or imagined seemed to him to be as it was in the books he’d read, as soon as he saw the inn he took it for a castle with its four towers and their spires of shining silver, complete with its drawbridge and its deep moat and all the other accessories that such castles commonly boast. He approached the inn that he took for a castle, and at a short distance from it he drew rein, waiting for some dwarf to appear upon the battlements and announce with a trumpet-blast the arrival of a knight. But finding that there was some delay, and that Rocinante was impatient to get to the stable, he rode on towards the inn door and saw the two dissolute wenches sitting there, and thought that they were two beautiful maidens or fine ladies taking their ease at the castle gate. At this point a swineherd who was gathering together some pigs (begging nobody’s pardon, because that’s what they’re called) from a stubble field happened to sound his horn to round them up, and Don Quixote thought that his wish had been fulfilled and that a dwarf was announcing his arrival; so it was with unusual satisfaction that he reached the inn and the ladies, who, on observing the approach of a man dressed like that in armour and clutching a lance and a leather shield, started to run in terror back into the inn.

[Anonymous No.14892526]

>>14892506
Ormsby:

At the door were standing two young women, girls of the district as they call them, on their way to Seville with some carriers who had chanced to halt that night at the inn; and as, happen what might to our adventurer, everything he saw or imagined seemed to him to be and to happen after the fashion of what he read of, the moment he saw the inn he pictured it to himself as a castle with its four turrets and pinnacles of shining silver, not forgetting the drawbridge and moat and all the belongings usually ascribed to castles of the sort. To this inn, which to him seemed a castle, he advanced, and at a short distance from it he checked Rocinante, hoping that some dwarf would show himself upon the battlements, and by sound of trumpet give notice that a knight was approaching the castle. But seeing that they were slow about it, and that Rocinante was in a hurry to reach the stable, he made for the inn door, and perceived the two gay damsels who were standing there, and who seemed to him to be two fair maidens or lovely ladies taking their ease at the castle gate. At this moment it so happened that a swineherd who was going through the stubbles collecting a drove of pigs (for, without any apology, that is what they are called) gave a blast of his horn to bring them together, and forthwith it seemed to Don Quixote to be what he was expecting, the signal of some dwarf announcing his arrival; and so with prodigious satisfaction he rode up to the inn and to the ladies, who, seeing a man of this sort approaching in full armour and with lance and buckler, were turning in dismay into the inn.

[Anonymous No.14892543]

>>14892506
Shelton (first english translation, published in 1612, before Cervantes had published part 2 of Quixote):

There stood by chance at the inn door two young women, adventurers likewise, which travelled toward Seville with certain carriers, and did by chance take up their lodging in that inn the same evening; and, forasmuch as our knight-errant esteemed all which he thought, saw, or imagined, was done or did really pass in the very same form as he had read the like in his books, forthwith, as soon as he espied the vent, he feigned to himself that it was a castle with four turrets, whereof the pinnacles were of glistening silver, without omitting the drawbridge, deep fosse, and other adherents belonging to the like places. And approaching by little and little to the vent, when he drew near to it, checking Rozinante with the bridle, he rested a while to see whether any dwarf would mount on the battlements to give warning with the sound of a trumpet how some knight did approach the castle; but seeing they stayed so long, and also, that Rozinante kept a coil to go to his stable, he went to the inn door, and there beheld the two loose baggages that stood at it, whom he presently supposed to be two beautiful damsels or lovely ladies, that did solace themselves before the castle gates. And in this space it befel by chance, that a certain swineherd, as he gathered together his hogs, blew the horn whereat they are wont to come together; and instantly Don Quixote imagined it was what he desired, to wit, some dwarf who gave notice of his arrival; and therefore, with marvellous satisfaction of mind he approached to the inn and ladies; who beholding one armed in that manner to draw so near, with his lance and target they made much haste, being greatly affrighted, to get to their lodging.

>>14891447
This one is from the Harvard Classic

[Anonymous No.14892590]

>>14892506
< Smollett

[Anonymous No.14892610]

>>14892506
< Grossman

So you can peruse and nitpick or just get a general feel of these ones and go with the one that seems best. The best one is the spanish one.

[Anonymous No.14892614]

>>14892610
Idiot that i am, i didnt remember to upload the pic

[Anonymous No.14892620]

>>14892590
Smollet wins

[Anonymous No.14893452]

Selfish bump

[Anonymous No.14893865]

>>14892506
>>14892515
>>14892526
>>14892543
>>14892614
The real MVP of the thread.

Here's the Grossman passage in text form:

At the door there happened to be two young women, the kind they call ladies of easy virtue, who were on their way to Sevilla with some muledrivers who had decided to stop at the inn that night, and since everything our adventurer thought, saw, or imagined seemed to happen according to what he had read, as soon as he saw the inn it appeared to him to be a castle complete with four towers and spires of gleaming silver, not to mention a drawbridge and deep moat and all the other details depicted on such castles. He rode toward the inn that he thought was a castle, and when he was a short distance away he reined in Rocinante and waited for a dwarf to appear on the parapets to signal with his trumpet that a knight was approaching the castle. But when he saw that there was some delay, and that Rocinante was in a hurry to get to the stable, he rode toward the door of the inn and saw the two profligate wenches standing there, and he thought they were two fair damsels or two gracious ladies taking their ease at the entrance to the castle. At that moment a swineherd who was driving his pigs - no excuses, that’s what they’re called - out of some mudholes blew his horn, a sound that pigs respond to, and it immediately seemed to Don Quixote to be just what he had desired, which was for a dwarf to signal his arrival; and so with extreme joy he rode up to the inn, and the ladies, seeing a man armed in that fashion, and carrying a lance and shield, became frightened and were about to retreat into the inn, but Don Quixote, inferring their fear from their flight, raised the pasteboard visor, revealing his dry, dusty face...

[Anonymous No.14894967]

>>14892506
thanks for posting all that.

dos destraídas mozas
two dissolute wenches
two gay damsels
two loose baggages
the battered wenches
two profligate wenches

gotta say Smolett wins that translation for me.

[Anonymous No.14895615]

>>14894967
They're all kind of off. The literal translation is something like "bemused bimbos".

[Anonymous No.14895623]

>>14889157
https://discord.gg/SCXq7KE

[Anonymous No.14895672]

>>14895615
That's not literal at all. A literal translation would be "two distracted girls."

[Anonymous No.14895704]

>>14895672
distracted = bemused
"Girls" isn't quite right in English, as we are talking about floozies not children.

[Anonymous No.14895725]

>>14895704
>distracted = bemused
That's not quite the same considering you said LITERAL translation. Also a "moza" is a female between childhood and adult age. "Girl" can also mean "young woman", according to Google.

[Anonymous No.14895759]

>>14894967
>two dissolute wenches
that's the closest in spirit

>>14892590
OHNONONONONONON "battered"?? Don't tell me this PSEUD mistook Cervantes' archaic "destraídas" (modern: distraídas, English: distracted) for "destruidas" (English: destroyed)??? WTF!!!

[Anonymous No.14895781]

>>14892620
>mozas destraídas = battered wenches
>winning
Anon, I...

[Anonymous No.14895782]

>>14889157
pic related
(((she))) didn't get rid of any of the racism, sexism or anti-Semitism, so no worries.

[Anonymous No.14895786]

>>14893865
>>14895782
Grossman passes the "destraídas" (distraídas) test. It seems like Smollett (>>14892590) is the one to avoid. I just checked and the second meaning of "distraído(a)" means something like "licentious" or "libertine" which Grossman translates as "profligate" and it fits.

[Anonymous No.14895883]

>>14895781
>>14895759
>>14895786
The thing with Smollett is that he’s from that a little more wild, a little more fun, if baffling, school of interpretation rather than translation. Its not that he mistook this and that word for others, but rather he made Quixote a work of his own, twisting sentences into a way that he thought would be funny/more fitting than going word for word.
For example, in the opening sentences of Chapter 1 that describes Don Quixote’s personality, he translates ”Amigo de la caza” into ”A regular nimrod”.
It really means ”a friend of the hunt (he was fond of hunting)”.

Rutherford is somewhere in between translating and interpreting and makes a good case for it in his introduction, his translation is great.
The morality, or whatever, of this can be discussed endlessly and in the end you will have a better time picking the one your gut tells you is the most fun/engaging to read. If you want a perfect translation, learn spanish. Cervantes’ spanish is not at all as different from the modern idiom as Shakespeare’s english is and i can read it perfectly after a year and a few months of spanish learning/speaking, only some vocabulary i have to look up.

Academic translations hardly allow any fun or real ”life” into the text, but i would suggest the Ormsby if you hate the idea of interpretation, but he renders a lively book rather stalely for purposes of professionalism.

[Anonymous No.14895940]

>>14889157
>I would like to find a nice middle ground between readability and period authenticity if that makes sense.
Rutherford

[Anonymous No.14895957]

>>14895782
>Introduction by Harold Bloom
Don't trust the anglo.

[Anonymous No.14895970]

>>14895957
At least it's not by Nabokov, bro. But yea, don't trust it because it probably contains spoilers (like his Blood Meridian introduction)

[Anonymous No.14895974]

>>14895957
lol