Espinosa’s Translation of Biblein The Gospel According to Mark

【Abstract】： The translation of Bible has always been sacred and formal. However， in Jorge Luis Borges’ The Gospel According to Mark， the protagonist， Espinosa， translated the Bible to an illiterate family， led to his crucifixion in the end. We’ll discuss what translation had done to our protagonist in this story and whether successful or misguiding his translation was.

【Key Words】： translation; bible; The Gospel According to Mark

Being an essential bridge between different cultures as well as languages， translation plays a vital role in cross-cultural communication. Translation is not just a process， as many people take for granted， which texts or words being put into another language. It is more of a communication of cultures， thoughts， customs， as well as religions. The job of a translator， therefore， is not only to deliver meaning， but to shoulder the responsibility of being a carrier of culture. In Jorge Luis Borges’ short story The Gospel According to Mark， the protagonist， Espinosa， was led to a surprising， yet tragic fate while being a translator of Bible unintentionally.

Espinosa， a 33 years old medical student， was invited to La Colorada by his cousin to spend the summer months. While his cousin was out for business， Espinosa was trapped in the ranch because of the rain and flood with the family of the foreman， the Gutres. Espinosa came across an English Bible and out of boredom， he decided to read it to the Gutres who are illiterate and non-religious， as a practice of translation. Surprisingly， the family showed great enthusiasm towards the book. But gradually， some strange behaviors of the family caught Espinosa’s attention： they were too respectful to Espinosa， they followed him around and obeyed his orders without hesitation; they secretly stole the crumbs he had dropped on the table; they prepared him coffee which none of them liked; more strangely， the daughter came to his bed one night， naked. In the end， as it turned out， the Gutres took him as a figure of Jesus Christ and he was， tragically， plotted to be crucified on the cross.

The tragic fate of Espinosa can be interpreted in many aspects and dimensions， in which his translation of the Bible was one of the most essential factors. For centuries or even thousands of years， since the presence of Bible， the translation of Bible has been extremely important in the world， whether religiously or academically. One of the most basic principles for a translator is a good command of both the original and the target language. From the story， Espinosa had no problem with the language ability. However， there is another translation criteria which Espinosa might not be fully engaged in during the translation of Bible， that is， a translator should fully understand the original text， not only the language， but the background， the culture and all the deep meanings within. Although followed his mother’s request to say the Lord’s Prayer and make the sign of the cross every night， Espinosa was also under the influence of his father who was a “free-thinker” and taught him lessons of Herbert Spencer. Under such conflicting education， there were many conflicts in his behaviors as well as his mind. He was keen on public speaking， yet didn’t like arguing; He liked the thrill of gambling， but winning gave him no pleasure; he was clever， yet undirected; he was afraid of saying no even though he didn’t want to do those things people requested him to. He understood all the stories and everything that was written on the Bible， however， he was neither really a Christian nor could he really interpret all the meaning in Bible， his theology was rather dim.

This does not mean， however， that Espinosa’s translation of Bible is a bad translation. Arguments have been centered on whether his translation was misguiding or successful. Despite his comparative weak grasp of theology， he was successful in some ways during the translation process. The best evidences were the Gutres’ behaviors as well as Espinosa’s death. The Gutres followed him around， stealing the crumbs on the table， just like Jesus’s disciples. The daughter came to sleep beside him naked， which could be considered as a symbol of Virgin Mary. “They mocked at him， spat on him and shove him”[1]， at last， they pulled him to the cross to crucify him. All these behaviors followed those in the Bible. Even Espinosa himself was considered to be a figure of Jesus Christ. Bible is a sacred book. In most circumstances， it should be translated into equal formal and sacred languages. We can’t find in the story the script of Espinosa’s translation， yet we can infer from the text that he translated it into a language more vernacular than the formal ones. The Gutres were illiterate， and they had no knowledge of Christianity， theology or the Bible. They could， however， understand Espinosa’s translation and were totally absorbed in it， even made themselves the scenes of the Bible. From this aspect， Espinosa presented us with an example of translation which leaned toward the readers rather than the original text. From a theory of Reader’s Response， the readers， i.e.， the Gutres， got the feelings and responses which equaled， or even more， to those of the original text， they were engaged and even participated in the original text.

The Gospel According to Mark carries much religious as well as cultural meaning， which much of the focuses of readers and critics are on. Without Espinosa’s translation， however， none of the stories would happen essentially. Espinosa’s translation of the Bible led the plot to begin and to develop， and finally led him astray. Whether his translation was successful or misguiding was hard to be judged for sure， however， it has huge significance in the story and worth discussing and researching.

Reference：

[1] Jorge Luis Borges. The Gospel According to Mark [M]. Amsterdam： John Benjamins， 2008.