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Rating: “A Viagem do Elefante”
by José Saramago, 2008
I will be somewhat brief and concise but I must begin with a preface, this review is the result of reading a critique by Flo, which appeared on WordPress on August 12, concerning translators and specifically Rita Desti who (hopefully without glaring errors) also handles this tale that I read a few days ago on my Kindle here in Morocco and which I had not intended to review, but here we are.
In the 16th century and more precisely in 1551, under the reign of Dom João III, the Portuguese king disposed of the Indian elephant Solomon, having him accompanied from Lisbon to Vienna by land, sea & mountains by his “cornac” named Subhro (freely translated from Indian: White), to ehm, "gift" him to the Archduke of Austria Maximilian II.
I will not reveal anything, meaning I will not do any "spoilers," but I must say that good Subhro, whose name the archduke will change for convenience to (poor him) Fritz, is one of the few true protagonists of this story and recalls our medieval Bertoldo for his wit, he made me smile more than once despite the tough blows he is forced to endure.
To keep my promise of brevity, I conclude with this saying recovered during the reading and I dedicate it to @Flo with sympathy, and not knowing Portuguese at all, I don’t even know if Rita Desti translated it correctly: "there is no fabric on which a stain does not fall"...
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