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Historia del Caballero Encantado
Adaptación china de El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha.
En 1922 en China, se publicó con el nombre de El Caballero Encantado la primera traducción al chino de don Quijote. Su traductor no sabía español así que lo tradujo indirectamente, escuchando a un asistente que tampoco sabía español, pero le contaba en chino lo que leía desde una versión en inglés. El resultado de esta superposición de idiomas y traductores es un don Quijote con ecos de la China imperial, entre monjes y refranes chinos. Casi un siglo después, este don Quijote chino se publica por primera vez en español.
En 1922 en China, se publicó con el nombre de El Caballero Encantado la primera traducción al chino de don Quijote. Su traductor no sabía español así que lo tradujo indirectamente, escuchando a un asistente que tampoco sabía español, pero le contaba en chino lo que leía desde una versión en inglés. El resultado de esta superposición de idiomas y traductores es un don Quijote con ecos de la China imperial, entre monjes y refranes chinos. Casi un siglo después, este don Quijote chino se publica por primera vez en español.
461 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2021
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November 26, 2024
Update November 26th.2024:
After having a copy languishing for months, I finally read this book.
A few thoughts to share:
- This is really a retelling, not a translation. Lin Shu took the "traduttore traditore" maxim to its full glory and liberally tampered with Cervantes' Don Quixote.
- How much tampering was there? A lot. Not just from language alterations but also scene alterations, extraneous insertions, name changes, authorial overexplaining, and shameless Lin Shu personal insertions. Is it still recognisable as Cervantes' Don Quixote? Yes, quite. Altered as it is, it's still recognisably Alonso Quijano's story.
- Whether the changes and alterations will matter is up to each reader. Academics might be more indulgent than your average reader, though, as this gives them plenty of material for literary and cultural studies, but that won't be of import to the general public.
Personally, to me the changes matter a lot. I grew up with this story. It's part of my diverse cultural baggage, I read it when young, and I get the inside jokes and references that might be lost on others. So I wasn't as amused by the Chinese altering it to fit their own worldview. To me, the most unforgivable changes were:
a. That Lin Shu inserted Chinese Communist hogwash into this, and wasn't even subtle about that. There's an entire paragraph where he very directly pontificates on Communist ideals. In a Spanish cultural icon? I think the Instituto Cervantes folks are too kind, if this was the other way round, we'd hear no end about how this is cultural appropriation, cultural erasure, cultural colonialism, blatant racism, etc. But sure, when the Chinese do it, it's a historical curiosity that only merits a mention and not the harsh criticism and calling it out for what it is as should be.
b. That Lin Shu altered the ending.
- Honestly, much of the charm of the original comes from language. There's a reason Cervantes is to the Castilian language what Shakespeare is to English. Have you noticed how different Shakespeare "sounds" when translated, even when accurately translated? Well, with Cervantes it's more complicated, because Don Miguel was writing in vernacular Castilian and the entirety of the novel is full with proverbs, maxims, sayings, turns of phrase, wordplay, etc., that can't always be translated to convey their full meaning. I was fortunate that I'm one of those that are able to read Don Quixote in the original Old Castilian (not modernised Spanish), before I reread it in modern Spanish and in English, and I can tell how much it loses in the process.
And in an altered Chinese translation that isn't even direct but mediated by English? It's completely lost. The story is still there, barebones like a tree without the leaves, flowers, and fruit. You can still tell what tree it is, but you can't see it's full glory because of the missing leaves, flowers, and fruit that language bestows on it.
So, in short, I think this is a mere historical curiosity indeed. Not particularly worth investing your time in, I'd venture to say, unless you like this kind of curiosities. The first chapter is misleading in that it makes you think it'll be fun, I thought so too when all I had was a sample of the book, yet you quickly grow increasingly impatient with the issues.
____________________________________
Earlier today, someone I follow on another site mentioned there was a Chinese edition of Don Quixote, one of my favourite books, translated in 1922 . . . by someone who didn't speak Castilian.
A translator.
Who didn't know a word of Castilian.
Translated Cervantes' magnum opus.
After laughing myself silly at that revelation, I proceeded to read the sample first chapter that accompanied that person's post and laughed even harder. It's wonderful! And wonderfully quirky!
Yes, I did see for myself that this is truly a translation by a non-Spanish speaking translator.
If you're scratching your head and wondering how this was even possible. Easy peasy: Lin Shu, a Chinese scholar fond of Western literature, decided he'd bring Don Quixote to China. And not worrying about such unimportant trifles as not speaking Spanish at all, he enrolled the help of an English-speaking friend. That friend read Don Quixote in English and dutifully relayed it orally to Lin Shu in Mandarin, which Lin Shu then proceeded to write down. Thus China was introduced to crazy knights that tilt at windmills when his book project was published with the title "Historia del caballero encantado" (History of the Enchanted Knight).
And precisely 100 years later, Don Quixote has come back to Spain from China. The Cervantes Institute decided to republish it by re-translating it from Mandarin back into Castilian, to the joy of all Quixote lovers.
The Spanish press called this translation a "great-great-grandchild" of the original, and to make things even funnier, in the original novel its author Miguel de Cervantes did jokingly say that the Emperor of China had requested a copy of Don Quixote in order to teach Castilian in his realm. Don Miguel turned out to be a visionary by accident, even if his book had to wait three centuries to reach China.
A great story, isn't it? A retelling, almost.
And what is a retelling without yours truly scrambling to get a copy of it? Of course I'll read this, but for now, have fun with the story of its translation and re-translation.
After having a copy languishing for months, I finally read this book.
A few thoughts to share:
- This is really a retelling, not a translation. Lin Shu took the "traduttore traditore" maxim to its full glory and liberally tampered with Cervantes' Don Quixote.
- How much tampering was there? A lot. Not just from language alterations but also scene alterations, extraneous insertions, name changes, authorial overexplaining, and shameless Lin Shu personal insertions. Is it still recognisable as Cervantes' Don Quixote? Yes, quite. Altered as it is, it's still recognisably Alonso Quijano's story.
- Whether the changes and alterations will matter is up to each reader. Academics might be more indulgent than your average reader, though, as this gives them plenty of material for literary and cultural studies, but that won't be of import to the general public.
Personally, to me the changes matter a lot. I grew up with this story. It's part of my diverse cultural baggage, I read it when young, and I get the inside jokes and references that might be lost on others. So I wasn't as amused by the Chinese altering it to fit their own worldview. To me, the most unforgivable changes were:
a. That Lin Shu inserted Chinese Communist hogwash into this, and wasn't even subtle about that. There's an entire paragraph where he very directly pontificates on Communist ideals. In a Spanish cultural icon? I think the Instituto Cervantes folks are too kind, if this was the other way round, we'd hear no end about how this is cultural appropriation, cultural erasure, cultural colonialism, blatant racism, etc. But sure, when the Chinese do it, it's a historical curiosity that only merits a mention and not the harsh criticism and calling it out for what it is as should be.
b. That Lin Shu altered the ending.
- Honestly, much of the charm of the original comes from language. There's a reason Cervantes is to the Castilian language what Shakespeare is to English. Have you noticed how different Shakespeare "sounds" when translated, even when accurately translated? Well, with Cervantes it's more complicated, because Don Miguel was writing in vernacular Castilian and the entirety of the novel is full with proverbs, maxims, sayings, turns of phrase, wordplay, etc., that can't always be translated to convey their full meaning. I was fortunate that I'm one of those that are able to read Don Quixote in the original Old Castilian (not modernised Spanish), before I reread it in modern Spanish and in English, and I can tell how much it loses in the process.
And in an altered Chinese translation that isn't even direct but mediated by English? It's completely lost. The story is still there, barebones like a tree without the leaves, flowers, and fruit. You can still tell what tree it is, but you can't see it's full glory because of the missing leaves, flowers, and fruit that language bestows on it.
So, in short, I think this is a mere historical curiosity indeed. Not particularly worth investing your time in, I'd venture to say, unless you like this kind of curiosities. The first chapter is misleading in that it makes you think it'll be fun, I thought so too when all I had was a sample of the book, yet you quickly grow increasingly impatient with the issues.
____________________________________
Earlier today, someone I follow on another site mentioned there was a Chinese edition of Don Quixote, one of my favourite books, translated in 1922 . . . by someone who didn't speak Castilian.
A translator.
Who didn't know a word of Castilian.
Translated Cervantes' magnum opus.
After laughing myself silly at that revelation, I proceeded to read the sample first chapter that accompanied that person's post and laughed even harder. It's wonderful! And wonderfully quirky!
Yes, I did see for myself that this is truly a translation by a non-Spanish speaking translator.
If you're scratching your head and wondering how this was even possible. Easy peasy: Lin Shu, a Chinese scholar fond of Western literature, decided he'd bring Don Quixote to China. And not worrying about such unimportant trifles as not speaking Spanish at all, he enrolled the help of an English-speaking friend. That friend read Don Quixote in English and dutifully relayed it orally to Lin Shu in Mandarin, which Lin Shu then proceeded to write down. Thus China was introduced to crazy knights that tilt at windmills when his book project was published with the title "Historia del caballero encantado" (History of the Enchanted Knight).
And precisely 100 years later, Don Quixote has come back to Spain from China. The Cervantes Institute decided to republish it by re-translating it from Mandarin back into Castilian, to the joy of all Quixote lovers.
The Spanish press called this translation a "great-great-grandchild" of the original, and to make things even funnier, in the original novel its author Miguel de Cervantes did jokingly say that the Emperor of China had requested a copy of Don Quixote in order to teach Castilian in his realm. Don Miguel turned out to be a visionary by accident, even if his book had to wait three centuries to reach China.
A great story, isn't it? A retelling, almost.
And what is a retelling without yours truly scrambling to get a copy of it? Of course I'll read this, but for now, have fun with the story of its translation and re-translation.
Displaying 1 of 1 review