El modesto misterio

There have been many translations of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Amongst those were the ones discussed in class by Ormsby, Putnam, Rutherford and Grossman.

John Ormsby’s translation was written in 1885. His style of writing is very much different from the other three translators. One of the reasons is that this translation was done nearly 130 years ago. Therefore his English is very different from the English we use today. Another observance is that he keeps the original word “olla” as it is in Spanish. He decides not to translate this word. Ormsby also changes the letter j in Quijada to x in English, written as Quixada.

Samuel Putnam’s translation was written in 1949. Not as old as Ormsby’s translation but still 54 years old. Though this translation is not as old, his English is not of one’s writer today. Putnam does translate the word “olla” to stew in English. He also keeps the words Quijada and Quesada as are written in the Spanish language.

John Rutherford and Edith Grossman are translators of our present time. There English is much easier to read and understand than the other two translators. As for my opinion as a reader, I feel that Edith Grossman does a great job conveying the translation. Not that the other three translators don’t do so, but as for my preference and ease to read through, I feel she does a great job.