Lebende Sprachen 2018; 63(2): 316–329

Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero*

“The Unhappy Mistake”: An Analysis of the
Spanish Translation

https://doi.org/10.1515/les-2018-0018

Abstract: “The Unhappy Mistake” is a short story published in the late seven-
teenth century that has received little attention from critics. It has historically
been attributed to Aphra Behn (1640–1689), but her authorship has been ques-
tioned by renowned critics like Janet Todd, Germaine Greer and Leah Orr. This
article studies the translation produced by Jesus Serrano-Reyes (published in
2008 by Siruela) in order to draw attention to some of the translation strategies
applied, showing (according to the principles of the Manipulation School and
Polysystem Theory) the initial norm and type of equivalence. To this end textual
binomials are analysed from the source and target texts, which consist of both
key sentences, phrases, expressions, and even certain words. It also takes into
account the style of some characters in Behn’s work, contrasting them with their
depiction in the target text, specifically the style of the gentleman from Somert-
shire. Attention is also paid to the content of a political nature found in the story
of Miles Hardman (whose flight from his country and domestic, and his return,
constitute a metaphor for the exile of King Charles II and his Restoration), both in
the original text and in the translation by Serrano-Reyes.

Keywords: “The Unhappy Mistake”, Samuel Briscoe, Aphra Behn, Spanish Trans-
lation, Version, Politics

Introduction
Samuel Briscoe published “The Unhappy Mistake”, along with other short stories,
in 1700. Some critics maintain that it is one of Aphra Behn’s novellas, published
posthumously. However, other scholars, such as Germaine Greer (1995, 190),
Janet Todd (1996, 317) and Leah Orr (2013, 37) question its authorship by the
Restoration writer (Torralbo 2016, 411). “The Unhappy Mistake” has been largely
overlooked by specialised critics, and aroused little interest amongst literary

*Corresponding author: Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero, University of Córdoba, Plaza del

Cardenal Salazar 3, 14071, Córdoba, Spain, E-Mail: torralbocaballero@uco.es

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 “The Unhappy Mistake”: An Analysis of the Spanish Translation 317

translators. The only Spanish translation we have dates from 2008 and is found in
a volume by Jesús Serrano-Reyes containing stories by Aphra Behn.
The source text cited in this paper comes from the third volume of the
complete works of Janet Todd, published in 1995 (411–442) under the general title
The Fair Jilt and Other Short Stories. The target text appearing in this article comes
from the edition by Jesus Serrano-Reyes, published in 2008 (491–533) in the
volume entitled Aphra Behn. El príncipe Oroonoko y otros relatos.

1 The Manipulation School and The Polysystem

Theory
The Manipulation School, a term coined in the title of the book by Theo Hermans
(1985), applies to texts a descriptive and functional approach, focusing upon the
production and reception of texts and, a posteriori, the network of influences
generating the translated texts in the target culture receiving them. Within this
school there exist two different approaches: Translation Studies (Vidal-Clara-
monte 1995, 60), upheld by James Holmes, Joseph Lambert, Theo Hermans, André
Lefevere and Susan Bassnett; and the The Polysystem Theory, out of Israel and
advanced by Itamar Even-Zohar and Gideon Toury.
In the words of África Vidal-Claramonte (1995, 64) these theoretical bifurca-
tions, stemming from the same trunk, constitute a new paradigm because they
stress intertextual rather than interlingual relationships. One of the premises of
this group of translation scholars is that the original text and the translated text
stand at the same ontological and hierarchical level. In this school’s view, literary
translation “[...] is descriptive, target oriented, functional and systemic; and [they
have] an interest in the norms and constraints that govern the production and
reception of translations” (Hermans 1985, 11).
The main objective of The Manipulation School is not to assess the compe-
tence or incompetence of the translator, or his successes or failures. Rather, these
theorists set out to elucidate and record why a series of changes in the source text
come about. Thus, the task of translation is not considered to be something
confined exclusively to the realm of mere linguistic interference.
Manipulation School scholars view literature as a system. Theo Hermans
(1985, 10) writes that: “Their aim is, quite simply, to establish a new paradigm for
the study of literary translation, on the basis of a comprehensive theory and on-
going practical research.” The scholar clarifies that: “The group is not a school,
but a geographically scattered collection of individuals with widely varying inter-
ests who are, however, broadly in agreement on some basis assumptions.” He

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318 Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero

explains that they do have a shared vision of literature as a system: “What they
have in common is, briefly, a view of literature as a complex and dynamic system;
a conviction that there should be a continual interplay between theoretical
models and practical case studies” (Hermans, 1985, 10–11).
Even-Zohar (1990, 11) explains the polysystem as “a multiple system, a
system of various systems which intersect with each other and partly overlap,
using concurrently different options, yet functioning as one structured whole,
whose members are independent.” Like-minded, Toury (1980: 7) endorses a
theory of translation oriented towards the target text and focusing on the type and
degree of equivalence between the texts (and not on equivalence as a concept),
preferring the concept of acceptable or appropriate translation. In this regard,
Venuti (1995, 307–313) stated that the translator is an agent of linguistic and
cultural alignment. Literature, therefore, is a powerful factor in society according
to these theorists, an idea also advanced by Pascale Casanova in The World
Republic of Letters (Jersonsky 2015, 86).
For Hermans (1985, 12): “From the point of view of the target literature, all
translation implies a degree of manipulation of the source text for a certain
purpose [...] since notions of interference, functional transformation and code-
switching are essential aspects of the polysystem theory [...].” The polysystem,
therefore, is a conglomerate of differentiated and dynamic systems characterized
by internal oppositions and continuous changes (García-González 2000, 150).
Rosa Rabadán (1992, 47) believes that translation is a factor featuring a dual
function, as it contains innovative and also conservative elements that consoli-
date and reinforce the canonical literary model of the receiving literature.
As for the translation strategies used for the analysis, mention must be made
of the book by Vinay and Darbelnet entitled Stylistique comparée du français et de
l’anglais, published in 1958, which contains, within oblique translation, a set of
procedures that are very useful when working with textual binomes, such as
transposition, modulation, equivalence, adaptation, expansion and reduction,
among others.

2 A few notes about the plot

“The Unhappy Mistake: or, The Impious Vow Punish’d” is a short story whose
main character, Miles Hardyman, falls in love with his neighbour Diana Con-
stance. His father does not approve of this match because he deems her to be of
insufficient means. The two exchange love letters, in a clear style far removed
from the rhetoric of romance in the preceding tradition. Miles also receives a letter
from his sister in which she warns him of a powerful suitor who is courting Diana.

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 “The Unhappy Mistake”: An Analysis of the Spanish Translation 319

The young man runs away from home, repudiating the patriarchal system and its
marriages of convenience, and goes to Diana’s house, where he finds a young
man passionately holding and kissing her (who turns out to be her brother, Lewis
Constance, after returning from a trip).
Miles, taken in by a farmer living nearby, decides to send a letter to the young
man who had “done me an unpardonable injury” (421), challenging him to a
sword duel. Miles Hardyman and Lewis Constance square off (“they fought for
some minutes”) (423) and the latter is almost killed by the former. When Miles
says to a moribund Lewis “And now adieu to the Fair and Faithless Diana” (423),
his adversary replies: “Diana! Ha! [...] O Bloody mistake” (hence the work’s title).
Then “Hardyman [...] rode with all speed for London, attended by Goodland”
(423–424). The ageing father comes looking for his son and is informed of the
situation. Enraged, he roams about like a kind of quixotic madman, longing for his
return and now accepting Diana, indicating that he would grant his blessing if his
son were to return. Meanwhile, Henry (Lewis’ father) approves of the marriage of
his daughter, Lucretia, to Lewis Constance, and they celebrate their wedding with
all the due pageantry. Henry dies shortly thereafter, but not before expressing his
best wishes for his son Miles, as his daughter Lucretia devotedly cares for him.
Miles Hardyman reaches Bristol and London, harbouring plans to travel
abroad. Miles calls his servant Goodlad “Truelove” for his faithfulness, while he
dubs himself “Lostall” because he has lost everything. They arrive in Germany
and join the army, Miles soon being named a General and Lostall a lieutenant,
going on to fight in a war (Lostall dies in combat) in command of a cavalry
squadron. Three or four years after the war, now broke, he decides to return to
England.
Miles arrives in London and presents himself before some royal officers at the
Tower of London, who assign him work as a soldier in their company, in which he
stands out, winning the approbation of his superiors. While cleaning the Tower’s
moat a gentleman walks by (Lewis Constance) who speaks the dialect of his
county: Somersetshire. Lewis recognises Miles and invites him several times to
nearby bars until he finally reveals that he is Lewis Constance. Lewis orders that
Miles dress like a gentleman (they visit a tailor and several suits are made for
him), as befits his social status, and Lewis Constance explains to Miles that he has
married his sister. Along with the military commanders, they celebrate this new
situation with a dinner at which it is revealed that the simple soldier is, in fact,
“Sir Miles Hardyman Baronet, son to the late Sir Henry Hardyman of Somerset-
shire” (438). Miles expresses his grief and repentance, describing himself as a
“disobedient and mean villain to such a generous, forgiving and kind father”
(439). The work has a happy ending, celebrating the protagonist’s return, as he is
rewarded for his integrity through his ultimate marriage to his beloved Diana.

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320 Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero

3 The Dedicatory
The complete content provided by the editor Janet Todd on the page preceding
the story is “The Unhappy Mistake: or, The Impious Vow Punish’d. By Mrs.
A. Behn. LONDON: Printed for Sam. Briscoe, in Charles Street, Covent Garden,
1698,” while the title offered by the translator is simply “La equivocación desafor-
tunada o La infame promesa castigada.” The Spanish version lacks the paratex-
tual elements that Todd wished to include in the English version, such as the
authorship (which scholars such as Leah Orr question, 2013), the city where it was
printed, the editor who decided to publish the work posthumously, the address of
the publisher, and the year it came off the press.
The second thing that appears is “The Epistle Dedicatory to Arthur Maynwar-
ing Esq.” which is translated as “Dedicatoria epistolar a Arthur Mainwaring,
Escudero,” utterly faithful to the source text. It begins thus: “Honoured Sir, I am
told that Dedications were Originally only made to Men of Known Merit, whose
sense of Learning had gain’d such a Reputation in the World [...]” (413), which is
rendered in Spanish as “Honorable señor, me han dicho que las dedicatorias se
hacían originalmente para los hombres de reconocido mérito, que se habían
ganado esa reputación por su sensibilidad y sabiduría en el mundo [...]” (493). A
first alteration that can be appreciated is the transposition of the voice from
passive to active, to allow its readers to understand it properly, as they are offered
a statement featuring a syntactical construction that is natural in Spanish gram-
mar. Also notable is the omission of the adverb “only”, such that its semantic
nuance is lost. We also detect an addition in the adverbial of manner “por su
sensibilidad y sabiduría en el mundo”, for “whose sense of Learning.” The
translator takes an expansive approach to every level of the linguistic construc-
tion, with the inclusion of the new noun “sensibilidad”, which adds a nuance
absent from the English text.
This preamble is a dedication signed by the editor Samuel Briscoe, as “Yours
Most Humble, and most Devoted Servant Sam. Briscoe” (414) who in the new text
remains ad litteram pedem (“vuestro más humilde y devoto servidor, Sam. Bris-
coe”) (494), the reiteration of the superlative “most” before the second adjective
of the phrase being omitted here. This nominal parallelism between the two texts
prompts readers, in both languages, to keep in mind the role played by the
publisher, Samuel Briscoe, who was spurred by economic motives (Torralbo 2016,
424) to place on the market a work under the name of the successful Aphra Behn,
who had died in 1689.

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 “The Unhappy Mistake”: An Analysis of the Spanish Translation 321

4 The beginning of the story: a reflection on

jealousy

The story begins: “The Effects of Jealousie have ever been most Fatal; and it is
certainly one of the most Tormenting Passions that an Humane Soul can be
capable of, tho it be created by the least Appearances of Reason. The Truth of
which this following Story will evince” (415). We find here a reflection similar to
the maxims imparted by La Rochefoucauld in Seneca Unmasqued. It should be
borne in mind that Behn translated the French writer’s maxims into English and
that we have here at least one of her sources. Serrano-Reyes’s translation is: “Las
consecuencias de los celos han sido siempre las más fatídicas. Es cierto que es
uno de los sentimientos más tortuosos que el alma humana puede tener, aunque
aparentemente nazcan bajo la apariencia de la mínima razón” (495). Noteworthy
is the target text’s division into two different sentences, whereas in the original
text they are separated by the strong pause entailed by a semicolon. The explana-
tion is the clarity that Jesús Serrano wishes to offer new readers of the work. We
can also detect a certain modulation of the noun “Passions” in the translation
“Sentimientos,” providing a minimal semantic variation, as the two words are
still abstract and convey similar meanings. The translator captures the nuance
furnished by “it be created” by adding the adverb “aparentemente” along with
the use of the subjunctive. The adverbial “by the Least Appearances of Reason” is
also worthy of mention because (“bajo la apariencia de la mínima razón”) the
translator changes the introductory preposition and alters the noun phrase from
plural to singular, applying a salient change in the premodification “the least,”
which in the English text refers to “Appearances,” while in the Spanish text it
premodifies “razón.” In this case we see a clear modification that, although only
slightly, affects the overall meaning of the adverbial phrase.
The highlight of this first excerpt is that the English text concludes with a
relevant sentence from the author’s point of view: “The Truth of which this
following Story will evince”, which is omitted in the Spanish text. It is a sentence
that injects the noun phrase “The Truth” for a clear authorial purpose. It should
be noted that the authoress points up in other works the truthful and realistic
nature of her works; for example, at the beginning of “The Wandering Beauty”
she stresses the narrator’s testimonial nature through various phrases, such as
“as near as I can remember” (393) and the subtitle of “The Unfortunate Happy
Lady”, which is “A True History” (361). Therefore, this omission creates an
objective diminution of the writer’s content and intention, by conveying to the
reader the fidelity of the text with the predication on jealousy closing this
introduction.

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322 Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero

5 Central episodes
One of the turning points in the work’s plot comes when the father addresses his son
to convince him to abandon his love for his neighbour. Specifically, he says: “You
are guilty of a foolish, Lazy Passion (reply’d the Father). You are in Love, Miles; in
Love with one who can no way advance your Fortune, Family, Nor Fame.” The
Spanish text reads thus: “Sois culpable de una pasión tonta y ociosa. Estáis
enamorado de alguien que en modo alguno puede superar vuestra fortuna, ni
vuestra fama, ni vuestra reputación.” In this reworking there is a marked symmetry
between the two texts; though there are two differences, they do not distort the
original content. First, Serrano-Reyes omits the vocative, the direct reference to the
interlocutor (Miles) existing in the source text. To maintain the father’s severe tone,
the translator uses the second person plural. Secondly, of note is the maintenance
of the three objects of the verb “advance” (“Fortune”, “Family”, “Fame”), with a
variation in the second: “Family”, which is translated as “Reputación”, opting for
something abstract rather than concrete. And the translator alters the order to
preserve the alliteration of the fricative phoneme /f/ to some degree. Notwithstand-
ing this adjustment, the meaning is perfectly preserved.
Miles’ father reiterates his pecuniary obsession with the marriage union as a
conditio sine qua non when he states that: “‘Tis true, she has Beauty, and o’ my
Conscience she is Victorious too. But will Beauty and Virtue, with a small Portion
of 2000 ll. Answer to the Estate of near 4000 ll. a Year, which you must Inherit, if
you survive me?” The translator conveys this thus: “Es cierto que es bella y, a mi
entender, es virtuosa también. Pero ¿responderá la belleza y la virtud, con una
pequeña cantidad de dos mil libras a un patrimonio de cerca de cuatro mil libras
al año que heredaréis si me sobrevivís?” In this case we note an exact equiva-
lence, in both the choice of the lexical elements and the syntactic arrangement,
and, therefore, in meaning. The Spanish version instils in the reader’s mind the
father’s economic obsession in terms identical to those in the original work.
This same adherence to the original text can be appreciated below, when
Miles upholds and evokes a theme that would come to characterise the novels of
the impending century: the absolute vitality of virtue. Specifically, he responds to
his father: “Beauty and virtue, Sir, (return’d young Hardyman) with the Addition
of good Humour and Education, is a Dowry that may merit a Crown.” The
translation reads as follows: “La belleza y la virtud, señor -contestó el joven
Hardyman-, sumadas al buen carácter y la buena educación son una dote que
puede merecer una corona.”
The father’s reaction is contemptuous, as he lashes out fiercely against the
virtue, insisting upon the all-encompassing, all-important value of money, above
everything else: “Notion! Stuff! All Stuff! (cry’d the old Knight) Money is Beauty,

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 “The Unhappy Mistake”: An Analysis of the Spanish Translation 323

Virtue, Good Humour, Education, Reputation, and High Birth” (417). The target text
is as follows: “Palabrería! ¡Tonterías! ¡Todo tonterías!” gritó el anciano caballero. El
dinero es belleza natural, virtud, buen carácter, educación, reputación y alcurnia”
(498). In this case, Serrano-Reyes emphasises the father’s pejorative tone through
the noun “Palabrería” (shifting from the abstract to the concrete) and adds an
adjectival modifier to add a nuance to the noun “beauty” (“natural beauty”).
Through this translation strategy the Spanish translator is implicitly contrasting
and underscoring the dichotomy between the material and the natural.
When father and son prepare to play chess the son tells his elder that, should
he win, he hopes to have his approval to wed his beloved. The father replies that
he has made no such promise, but that if he is placed in checkmate he will give
him “cincuenta monedas de oro” (499). In the original version the noun phrase is
“50 Broad Pieces” (418). The translator, however, wishes to transmit the original
content he has lost by rendering “Broad Pieces” as “monedas”, so he adds a
footnote that reads: “Moneda más grande que una guinea, llamadas “carolus” o
“jacobus”, acuñada por primera vez con Carlos I” (499). As far as we have been
able to confirm, the broad was a currency worth 20 shillings minted during the
Commonwealth (Snelling, 1672, 28), specifically in 1656, and containing an image
of the Lord Protector1 (Oliver Cromwell), one evocative of a Roman emperor, while
on the reverse side there was a coat of arms of the Commonwealth, reading in
Latin: “Peace is sought through war.”
The letter Constance sends to Miles is another important element to evaluate
the Spanish professor’s way of translating, as we detect a set of clearly hierarchi-
cal ideas in the source text, captured in the target text in a parallel manner:

My Hardyman,
Too Dear!—No,—too much lov’d!—That’s impossible too. How have I enjoy’d my self with
your Letters since my Absence from you! In the first, how movingly you lament the unkind
Distances of Time and Place that thus divorces you from me! In another, in what tender and
prevailing Words your Passion is express’d! In a Third, what invincible Arguments are urg’d
to prove the Presence of your Soul to me in the Absence of your Body! A Fourth, how fill’d
with just Complaints of a rigorous Father! What Assurances does the Fifth give me of your
speedy Journey hither! And the Sixth, (for no less methought I should have receiv’d from
you) confirms what you last said to me, That you will ever be mine, and none but mine.—O
boundless Blessing!—These (my Life) are the Dreams, which, for six several Nights, have
mock’d the real Passion of

Your forgotten Diana. (418)

1 Around the image of Cromwell one could read this text: “OLIVAR D GR P ANG SCO ET HIB &
PRO”, whose complete meaning is: “Oliver, by the Grace of God, of the Republic of England,
Scotland, Ireland etc., Protector” (Snelling 1762, 28).

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324 Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero

Mi queridísimo Hardyman,
No. Mi amadísimo. Eso es imposible también. ¡Cómo disfruto con vuestras cartas desde que
me separé de vos! En primer lugar, ¡qué conmovedor es vuestro lamento sobre la distancia
del espacio y el tiempo que nos separa así a vos de mí! En segundo lugar, ¡con qué palabras
tan cariñosas y sencillas expresáis vuestro amor! En tercer lugar, ¡qué argumentos tan
irrefutables usáis para demostrar la presencia de nuestro cuerpo! En cuarto lugar, ¡cómo me
han afectado las quejas de un padre tan estricto! En quinto lugar, ¡qué seguridad me dio
vuestro fugaz viaje hasta allí! En sexto lugar (pues me parece que no he recibido de vos
menos), se confirma lo último que me dijisteis: que siempre seréis mío, de nadie más que
mío. ¡Ay, infinita bendición! Éstos son los sueños (mi vida) que durante seis noches seguidas
se han burlado del amor verdadero de
vuestra olvidada Diana. (500)

The researcher applying his lens to this English contextualisation of the original
text will note the clarity with which the plot is conveyed, and the hierarchical
arrangement of ideas, which reflect a new and burgeoning style in the literature
of the late seventeenth century, giving way to realism and foreshadowing new
paths leading towards the realism and verisimilitude that would characterise the
eighteenth-century novel. This clear and unadorned language is indicative of a
new style furthered by the Royal Society, Natural Philosophy, and Empiricism
(Maioli 2016, 10), which spurned the romance and verbal exuberance of the
preceding era.
The next scene is also worthy of study. Father and son engage in a bowling
match. While the father had assumed that he would bowl best (as had usually
been the case, an image of patriarchy and his tyranny over his son in matters of
love), Miles Hardyman pulls off a brilliant throw, knocking down all the opposing
team’s pins and even grazing the jack (key to the game), thereby winning. A
young man shouts: “Ha! [...] bravely done, Miles, you hast carry’d the Day, and
kiss’d the Mistress.” The meaning of this expression is key to the evolution of the
plot, as his reference to the young man’s throw refers, in fact, to “besar la dama.”
The protagonist replies, ironically and symbolically: “I hope I Shall before ’tis
dark yet” (420), unleashing the anger and fury of his authoritarian father. In the
target text this passage is translated: “¡Vaya! [...] ¡Bien hecho, Miles! ¡Hoy tienes
tu día! ¡Has rozado a la amante” to which the young man replies: “Espero hacerlo
antes de que oscurezca” (502). This metaphorical reference is maintained intact,
though the word “kiss” is rendered as “rozar”, applying a modulation (the whole
for the part). In this case the translator again includes a note for the purpose of
clarification: “En el original “kiss’d the mistress”, rozar el boliche con el propio
bolo” (502), in this way remedying the meaning that would otherwise have been
lost in his translation.
This type of content, containing realistic overtones, reflects the empiricist
trends emerging at that time and that denote “current events” through “authenti-

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 “The Unhappy Mistake”: An Analysis of the Spanish Translation 325

cating devices,” as Roger Maioli has recently observed (2016, 10). It is a reflection
of the new epistemology that Rose Zimbardo (1998, 39–42; 2014: 39) characterised
as “the aesthetics and discourse of the “Zero Point” journey from the Restoration
to the eighteenth century.”

6 The denouement
The story’s protagonist returns to his country on the anniversary of the Restora-
tion: May 29, 1661, which is also the king’s birthday. This chronological coinci-
dence vividly reflects the political content of the text, as this date is a highly
symbolic one marking a critical turning point: the end of the Commonwealth and
the Protectorate and the return to monarchy in England, in the person of Charles
II. In the story, Tom Lostall (thus does he rename himself) returns to his country
penniless, having lost everything.
The source text reads as follows: “[...] the War ceasing, he was oblig’d to
make use of what Jewels and Money he had left of his own, for his Pay was quite
spent.” (430) It is translated as follows: “Cuando terminó la guerra [...] tuvo que
hacer uso de las joyas y el dinero que le quedaban, porque ya no tenía paga”, this
resulting in a syntactic expansion (“the War ceasing”), in a transposition generat-
ing a subordinate adverbial clause of time (“Cuando terminó la guerra”) that
makes the content clearer, avoiding the original work’s elliptical construction.
The rest of the fragment remains faithful to the source text, except at the end,
which shifts the semantic centre (“for His pay was quite spent”) from the idea of a
waning payment to the idea of a payment he no longer receives (“porque ya no
tenía paga”), applying a change that is somewhat more negative. The translator
fully maintains the meaning, though to the detriment of a semantic nuance, quite
subtle and understandable in the task of literary translation.
The next section is quite similar, as can be observed in these sentences: “But
at last his whole Fund being exhausted to about Fifty or Threescore Pounds, he
began to have Thoughts of returning to his Native Country, England, which in a
few Weeks he did” (430). This was translated as: “Finalmente, cuando sus fondos
propios apenas alcanzaban las cincuenta o sesenta libras empezó a pensar en
regresar a su país natal, Inglaterra. Lo hizo unas cuantas semanas después.” At
the beginning the translator sheds the adversative conjunction, this semantic
nuance vanishing in the resulting text. There is another exclusion in the transla-
tion of “his whole Fund” (applying a transposition to stress the temporal mean-
ing) as the nuance transmitted by “whole” is lost: “cuando sus fondos.” The
addition of a temporal conjunction may be appreciated (“cuando”) and the
adjective “propio”, with the target text emphasising the money’s belonging to the

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326 Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero

protagonist. In the final part of the sentence there is a change in the verbal phrase
from “began to have Thoughts” to “empezó a pensar” (a transposition of a noun
phrase to a verb phrase), the translator employing two verbs while the original
used the main verb (“began”) followed by the direct object “Thoughts.” In this
case we detect no defect in the meaning conveyed.
The next textual binomial is key at the political level: “[...] and appear’d at the
Tower to some of his Majesty’s (King Charles the Second’s) Officers, in a very plain
and course, but clean and decent Habit; [...] (The Royal Family had not been
restor’d much above a Twelve Month.)” (430). The target reads: “Se presentó ante
algunos oficiales de su majestad (el rey Carlos II) en la Torre, con una ropa
sencilla y normal, pero limpia y decente. [...] (La familia real había regresado al
trono hacía doce meses)” (519). In this transformation we observe how all the
lexical-syntactic elements are maintained in the target text, through the employ-
ment of hyperbatons that do not distort the semantic content in any way. The final
parenthesis features an adjustment worthy of mention, shifting from the negative
to the affirmative (“had not Been restor’d”, “había regresado al trono”), furnish-
ing the Spanish reader with a target text of greater discursive clarity; the selection
of a different main verb, and the presence of a direct object in the translation,
rendering “been restor’d” as “había regresado al trono” clarifies the meaning to
the foreign reader, as it avoids the use of the verb “restore” (its meaning clear to
an English reader familiar with the era of the Restoration, whose lexical roots –
restore, Restoration – are identical), expanding it to a construction with a verb
and direct object (“había regresado al trono”) that makes explicit the political
meaning to new readers. In this case the author again uses a footnote (“Carlos II
regresó a Londres el día que cumplía treinta años, el 29 de mayo de 1660”) to
clarify to the Spanish reader the text’s historical relationship to the commemora-
tive events of the era.
When his brother walks by the royal palace and recognises Miles, a low-
ranking soldier in the Tower of London, he invites him to a tavern, where they
talk. Here we observe how the original text phonetically expresses the accent
typical of Somersetshire County by changing the “s” “to a “z”, something which is
lost in the target text: “After a Glas sor two apiece, his unknow’n Friend ask’d
Lostall what Country Man he was. To whom the Soldier reply’d, that he was a
Zomerzetshire Man, Zure” (422). The translation is: “Después de tomarse un par
de vasos cada uno, el amigo desconocido le preguntó a Lostall de qué condado
era. El soldado le respondió que era de Somersetshire” (521). In this case we must
infer that the translator resigned himself to making this omission, allowing this
ironic and dialectical content to disappear in the target text. The specific and
unique link between a form of the language, a dialect, and a geographic region
and its characteristic way of speaking is not conveyed by the story’s translator.

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 “The Unhappy Mistake”: An Analysis of the Spanish Translation 327

As seen in these analyses, the translator maintains a deliberate and careful

parallelism at every linguistic level – which spans from morphosyntaxis to the
level of meaning – and achieves a semantic effect quite similar to that transmitted
by the source work. A case in point is the political allegory of the king’s exile and
return, which is visible in the original work and remains unaltered in the target
text.

7 Conclusions
An initial conclusion that emerges from this chapter is that Serrano-Reyes
produces an oblique translation (Vinay and Darbelnet 1977: 266), exercising the
translation techniques necessary to offer a target text that can be understood by
his readers and is natural in the culture surrounding them. The initial norm that
the translator applies prioritises the conservation of semantic aspects, while also
maintaining a lexical, morphological and syntactic symmetry in a large number
of cases. Consequently, we observe a marked equivalence between the two
texts, confirming the translator’s faithfulness to the original, who applies well-
thought-out changes in certain phrases, clauses and sentences, as well as
mutations in the field of semantics in order to clarify the content for the
translation’s readers.
Second, it may be assumed that the source text offered eighteenth-century
readers aesthetic pleasure, with its accounts of the adventures of its characters,
particularly those of Miles Hardyman. The original text also offers the reader socio-
political content in the form of allegory and metaphor, ratifying the thesis of Roger
Maioli regarding the era’s rising empiricism and the emergence of the English
novel, and the arguments of Rose Zimbardo regarding the new epistemological
values and scientific sensibilities of the time. The target text also articulates these
developments to new readers and new audiences in the twenty-first century.
Finally, in general, it should be noted that the range of literary works
available for Spanish-speaking readers is expanded thanks to this translation by
Serrano-Reyes; that is, the literary repertoire is enriched with new resources
proceeding from another literature and culture. In the words of Theo Hermans
(1985: 18–19) “Translating as a teleological activity par excellence [...]. Conse-
quently, translators operate first and foremost in the interest the culture into
which they are translating, and not in the interest of the source text, let alone the
source culture.”
Thanks to the efforts of Serrano-Reyes, the Spanish-speaking reader enjoys
access to this short work of fiction in Spanish and can delve into the intricacies of
its plot and appreciate the different themes conveyed by the text. Despite its

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328 Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero

omissions and deletions, the Spanish version of “The Unhappy Mistake” reflects
“the splendour of” translation, paraphrasing Ortega y Gasset’s dictum.

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