The 15 scariest books ever written.

Dear Colleagues:

This time of the year brings all aspects of our reverence, fear, and fascination for the culture of death to the spotlight. Whether you call it Halloween, Day of the Dead, All Saints Day, Obon, Ghost Festival, Baekjung, Sat Thai, Mataka Danes, or any other name; even if you do not observe or commemorate the day, festival or event during the month of October, and regardless of your religious, spiritual, or commercial motivation to do so, at this time of the year, most people think of their mortality and manifest it. This blog deals with the subject every year.

Because the topic is very appealing for a blog about language and culture, in past years I have written about horror movies, cultural observances and traditions around the world, and even ghostly legends. This time I decided to share with you my all-time top fifteen scariest books or novels. A big fan of macabre literature, it was no easy task to narrow it down to fifteen. I assure you many horror stories stayed out of the list even though they could be part without any argument. Some of the ones that did not make my top fifteen are probably among your preferred scary tales.

These are my top fifteen:

Dracula.

Bram Stoker’s master piece cannot be left out. The grandmother of all horror stories keeps you involved in the lives of Jonathan Harker, and Van Helsing as they fight against the formidable vampire from Transylvania in a magnificent Victorian Britain. The description of Dracula’s lifestyle in his castle never fails to scare me. Crawling up and down the walls, turning into a wolf, and his power over Lucy will give you some sleepless nights.

The Exorcist.

The 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty, that became the movie of a generation, narrates the demonic possession of 12-year-old Regan MacNeil and her exorcism by Father Merrin and Father Karras. Based on a story that Blatty heard about as a student at Georgetown University, the story describes the conduct of the possessed girl and the struggle to save her soul from the demon Pazuzu that culminates with Karras’ surrender of his own life in exchange from Regan’s. A very popular novel with past generations that should be suggested to all new fans of the horror genre.

El Panteón del Gótico Español (Pantheon of Spanish Gothic).

An anthology of gothic stories by famed Spanish authors such as Benito Pérez Galdós with his tale “Una Industria que vive de la muerte” (An industry that makes its living from the death); “Tristán, el sepulturero” (Tristan the gravedigger) by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez; Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer’s “El Miserere” (Misericord); Emilia Pardo Bazán’s “Eximente” (Exculpatory circumstances); “El Castillo del espectro” (The specter’s castle) by Eugenio de Ochoa; “Los tesoros de la Alhambra” (The treasures of Alhambra) and many more. Fifteen stories that live between the gothic and fantasy worlds, bringing us ghosts and other supernatural beings that accompany us from the moment we begin to read this compilation magnificently written by these 19^th and 20^th century superstars of the Spanish language.

Salem’s Lot.

Stephen King’s second published novel about Ben Mears, a writer who returns to the little town of Jerusalem’s Lot (Salem’s Lot) in the American State of Maine, only to discover that the residents are becoming vampires, and it can all be tracked down to the Marsten House, and old mansion he feared since childhood, now inhabited by the mysterious Kurt Barlow, who is never seen in public. The story begins with the disappearance of a young boy: Ralphie Glick, and the death of his brother Danny, who becomes the first vampire. The novel is full of suspense as everybody in town turns into a vampire. King himself has asserted on different interviews that Salem’s Lot is his favorite novel. In a world swamped with vampire novels, this one is a most read because of its implicit logic as people become vampires after a vampire attacks and kills them. It is uncommon to read a story where all victims end up as offenders.

1Q84

An interesting dystopian novel by Japanese great Haruki Murakami that takes place in Tokyo during a fictionalized year 1984. After Aomame, posing as a hotel maid, kills one guest, she has bizarre experiences that lead her to believe that she has entered an alternative reality inhabited by characters like the dyslexic writer Fuka-Eri and school teacher Tengo. Eventually Aomame’s and Tengo’s alternative worlds intersect as they are both investigated for the murder. Murakami keeps you involved with the fantastic characters throughout the story from its unique beginning until the reader understands the reason for this strange world to exist. Great reading for both, horror and science-fiction lovers.

The Silence of the Lambs.

This 1988 novel by Thomas Harris, a sequel to his 1981 novel “Red Dragon”, feature scary cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter and his interaction with FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling ordered to present a questionnaire to Lecter, a brilliant forensic Psychiatrist, and is serving nine consecutive life sentences in a Maryland mental institution for serial killers. The novel is full of suspense and intellectual content as Starling and Lecter get into a macabre intellectual dance of questions, requests, and answers, while the young FBI agent is trying to solve the murders of serial killer “Buffalo Bill”.  Full of interesting characters, and surprises, this novel is guaranteed to keep you reading until the end.

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe.

A delightful collection of the works of one greatest and earliest pioneer of the short story. Poe was the poet who perfected the tale of psychological horror, and we as his admirers, can savor his main works of satires, fables, fantasies, drama, and poetry in this anthology, including: “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “Annabel Lee’, “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket”, and his masterpiece: “The Raven”, where he tells us of a talking raven’s mysterious visit to a distraught lover, showing us how the man slowly falls into madness because of losing his love: Leonore, as he listens to the raven who constantly repeats, to the lover’s distress, the word: “nevermore”.  All those who call themselves literature lovers must read the works of Poe.

Interview with the Vampire.

This gothic vampire horror story by Anne Rice cannot be left out of this list.  The reader “listens” to Louis as he conveys his 200-year-long life story to a reporter, starting with his days as a plantation owner near New Orleans, in the American State of Louisiana, and his search for death motivated death of his dear brother, that takes him to a vampire named Lestat de Lioncourt who turns him into a vampire and gives him immortality.  Even though Louis comes to terms with he killing to survive, he becomes increasingly repulsed by Lestat’s lack of compassion for the humans he preys upon. The interview covers the fantastic adventures of Louis in Europe, including his romances, and moves on to one last encounter he had with Lestat I n New Orleans in the 1920s. At the end of the story, the listener begs Louis to turn him into a vampire so he can also live forever; but Louis, frustrated and disgusted by this young man’s doing not learn anything from his story, attacks him and vanishes without a trace, and the interviewer decides to track down Lestat hoping to get immortality. This is a perfect story for a city like New Orleans, and it shows the values and “humanity” of a vampire in a way that neither Bram Stoker nor Stephen King ever do.

Dracula’s Guest.

This tale is apparently the deleted first chapter from the original “Dracula” manuscript, which the publisher eliminated from the final work as he considered it superfluous. After Bram Stoker’s death, his widow Florence published the chapter as a short story in the book: “Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories” by Bram Stoker.  The story, as published, can stand alone. It follows a nameless Englishman (because we read Dracula we know it is Jonathan Harker) on a visit to Munich before leaving for Transylvania on Walpurgis Night. The Englishman, against all warnings by the hotelier and the carriage driver, makes it to a desolated “unholy” place where he takes shelter from a snowstorm in a cave. He soon realizes that he is in a cemetery and that his shelter is a tomb where he is met by a beautiful vampire woman who attacks him until he realizes that it is a gigantic red-eyed wolf licking at his throat. The English man is later found by the locals who rescue him and take him back to his hotel where he learns that a note had arrived during his absence. It was from his host, Dracula, warning him from the dangers of the snow and wolves at night. This gets your imagination going once you learned that Harker’s first encounter with a vampire was in Germany, not Transylvania.

Aura.

This short novel by Mexican author Carlos Fuentes deals with dreamlike themes of double identity, as unemployed young historian Felipe Montero reads an add on the paper for a job to perform secretarial duties as a live-in for Consuelo Llorente, to help her organize and finish the memories of her late husband General Llorente. Montero goes for a job interview to Consuelo’s dark old mansion in downtown Mexico City where he finds her lying in bed with all lights off. She addresses him as she was already expecting him and hires him. Montero soon meets Aura, Consuelo’s beautiful young niece who lives in the house, speaks little, and mimics all movements and gestures of Consuelo. As his work progresses, Montero learns of Consuelo’s love story with her late husband, and about her infertility. He becomes more attracted to mysterious Aura until he falls madly in love with her. One day, Montero enters Aura’s room and finds her in bed. He holds her, and suddenly Aura transforms into the old widow, Consuelo, as he himself transforms into the old General Llorente. The story depicts the progression of the transformation of Felipe Montero into the General, and Aura’s transformation into Consuelo. This is a very original plot and it is wonderfully written by Fuentes.

Dark Water.

This is a collection of short stories by Japanese writer Koji Suzuki, originally published in Japan as “Honogurai mizu no soko kara” (From the depths of the black water). It includes seven stories: “Floating Water” about a mother and her young daughter who move into a run-down apartment after her messy divorce, and discover that another girl vanished from the building a year earlier, and that the disappearance was surrounded by terrifying events in the building; “Solitary Isle”, about a man who investigates the unusual circumstances of his friend’s death and an artificial island in the middle of Tokyo Bay; “The Hold”, about a fisherman who abuses his wife, and how their son tries to uncover the reason for the woman’s disappearance; “Dream Cruise”, “Adrift”, “Watercolors”, and “Forest Under the Sea”, complete the anthology. As horror and science-fiction novel aficionados read these stories, they will find out that some have been made into movies under other names.

Carrie.

This was Stephen King’s first published novel, and it deals with Carrie White, a misfit high school who uses her telekinetic powers to avenge from those who bullied her., causing one worst local disaster in American history, destroying most of the town on prom night. After learning she was conceived because of marital rape, and that she was the subject of a huge prom prank, a mortally wounded, but still alive, Carrie destroys the house where she was conceived, kills her bullies, and after forgiving her innocent girlfriend, she dies crying out for her mother. This is a classic novel taken to the big screen twice, but I believe that even for those who have seen the movies, the novel is a good read because of King’s terrific style, and to see how he was writing at the very beginning.

Ghost Story.

Peter Straub’s fascinating story of the “Chowder Society” of the fictional town of Milburn, New York. The characters are five lifelong friends who meet periodically to share ghost stories until one of them dies suddenly and the surviving four find themselves haunted by dreams of their own death. The story takes us back to a time when the protagonists were young and they all were involved in the death of a young woman whom they believe has come back to take revenge upon them. This is a novel we must read. Even Stephen King has included it among the finest horror novels of the 20^th century.

Rebecca.

This novel by English writer Dame Daphne du Maurier tells the story of how a young woman, while working as companion to a rich American woman on vacation in Monte Carlo, meets Maximilian, de Winter, a British middle-aged widower who she marries after a short courtship. She moves into his beautiful estate Manderley where she meets Mrs. Danvers, the enigmatic housekeeper who had been a devote companion to the first Mrs. De Winter, Rebecca, who died in a boating accident about a year before she met her now husband Maximilian. The sinister housekeeper drives the new wife to madness by constantly talking about the first wife’s beauty and intelligence, until the young wife is convinced that her husband regrets his decision to marry her as he must be deeply in love with the deceased Mrs. De Winter. Through Mrs. Danvers’ manipulation, the young wife attends the annual costume ball dressed like a woman in a portrait that hangs from one wall of the estate. This turns out to be the same dress Rebecca was famous for, and when her entrance to the ballroom is announced as “Caroline de Winter”, the name of the woman in the portrait, Maximilian gets very angry and orders her to change. Mrs. Danvers continues her campaign against the young wife and tries to get her to commit suicide, but at the last moment there is a shipwreck and a diver investigating the scene of the accident also discovers the remains of Rebecca’s boat with her body still on board. After some turmoil, Maximilian tells her he loves her; that Rebecca was a mean and selfish human who told him, on the night she died, that she was cheating on him and was pregnant with a child that was not his. In a moment of rage, Maximilian shot her and she died.  Later on he learned that Rebecca was told on the same day she would die of an incurable disease and she could have no children. Maximilian assumed that Rebecca, knowing she would die soon, manipulated him into killing her quickly. After coming to terms with these facts, Maximilian drives back to Manderley, but as he gets closer to the mansion, it becomes clear that the house was ablaze.  This is truly a suspense novel that will give you many reasons not to go near a boat or a masquerade.

Dear friends and colleagues, this is my list. I am sure that many of you will agree with some of my picks and disagree with others. I could have continued up to 50 or 100 novels, but I had to end the post at some point. For that reason, and hoping that you help me enhance the list, I now ask you to share some of your favorite horror novels, and please make sure that you talk about novels, short stories, or plays; I am not interested in horror movies this time around.

The original interpreters. First encounters between Europe and The Americas.

Dear Colleagues:

A few days ago the world commemorated, and debated, a most controversial date. Depending on culture and history, it is known as “Columbus Day”, “Native-American Day”, “Hispanic Heritage Day”, “Day of The Race”, “National Day (of Spain)”, “Indigenous Peoples’ Day”, and maybe other names I do not know. Because it is a widely observed date, and not getting into the political, cultural, and historical debates, I thought it was an appropriate occasion to talk about the first encounters between the European and American civilizations from the perspective of the interpreters’ work.

There were many contacts between explorers, conquistadors, and missionaries from Europe and rulers, warriors, ad common people from the Americas; this meant there were many interpreters struggling to facilitate the communication between peoples who did not know their counterparts’ language. The interpreters often spoke one language and learned the other “on the job”.

There are not enough accounts of what many of these interpreters went through to facilitate communication, but there is enough information about some for us to get an idea of what happened during the first half of the Sixteenth Century in what is now Mexico.  This post deals with two individuals who played a vital role in the conquest of the Aztec Empire by the Spanish Crown, and it includes historical facts, my interpretation of what happened from the interpreter’s viewpoint, and my conclusions on the services provided.

Their backgrounds could not be more different, but these two humans would meet and collaborate in an awesome task that would forever change the world as it was known. I am referring to Jerónimo de Aguilar and Malinalli, also known as Malintzin or “La Malinche”.

Jerónimo de Aguilar.

Jerónimo de Aguilar was a Franciscan friar from Écija, Spain who most likely traveled to The Americas to convert the native population to Catholicism. As all Spaniards, he first arrived in Cuba where he was assigned to a mission in the colony of Santa María La Antigua del Darién (now Panama) where he served for a few years, until some internal strife among the Spaniards forced him to sail to Santo Domingo (now Dominican Republic). His expedition shipwrecked near the Yucatán Peninsula where apparently they hit a sand bar. He survived, but the strong currents took him and the rest of his crew to the beaches of what is today the Mexican State of Quintana Roo. The Spaniards were captured by the locals who sacrificed them to the Maya gods, but Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero, a Spanish conquistador, escaped alive just to be taken prisoners and enslaved by the Mayan chief Xamanzana (his name according to Spanish records).

Aguilar and Guerrero learned Chontal, the language of their Mayan captors. Because of their loyalty, the Mayan ruler offered them freedom if they married a Mayan bride. Jerónimo de Aguilar, a friar, refused to break his vows and lived as a slave for eight years. Gonzalo Guerrero married Zazil Há, daughter of Nachan Can, Lord of Chactemal, fathered three children, and became a general in Nachan Can’s army. By applying his military experience, and his knowledge of the Spanish culture and language, he was instrumental on the defeat of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba in Champotón in 1517. Although Hernández de Córdoba died from his wounds shortly after his return to his military base in Cuba, this expedition is well documented because among its surviving crewmembers were Christopher Columbus’ pilot: Antón de Alaminos, and famed historian Bernal Díaz del Castillo.

When Hernán Cortés invaded México in 1519 he heard of some Chontal-speaking white bearded men living among the Maya in the Yucatán region. Thinking they might be Spaniards, and envisioning their help as interpreters and translators, Cortés dispatched letters to both, Aguilar and Guerrero, inviting them to join him in his quest. Aguilar accepted the offer and join the expedition. He visited Guerrero, by now an influential general, to convince him to join Cortés. Gonzalo Guerrero explained to Aguilar he had a happy life with a wife and children. He said that because of his current physical appearance (he had tattooed his body and face, and pierced his ears) he could not face the Spanish army, so he declined, asking Aguilar to reassure Cortés of his Catholic faith and loyalty to the Spanish monarch. Maybe he also feared punishment once Cortés learned of his involvement in the defeat of Hernández de Córdoba’s expedition two years earlier.

Once Jerónimo de Aguilar joined Cortés’ army and the general was convinced of his loyalty to Church and Crown, he became Hernán Cortés’ personal interpreter Chontal<>Spanish. This was very useful during the campaign in Mayan lands.

Malinalli.

Malinalli was probably born around 1500 in Oluta (near present Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico) to a wealthy family. Her father was Lord of Copainalá, Oluta and Xaltipa. Some say that he was married to a young and beautiful noble woman named Cimatl. Her place of birth was a border region between the Maya city-states and the Aztec Empire. She got the name Malinalli to honor the Mayan goddess of herbs and vegetation. As she grew up and showed her personality, friends and relatives called her Tenepal (She who speaks lively).

Malinalli’s father died when she was a child, so her mother remarried and had a baby boy. This relegated Malinalli to the role of stepdaughter and put her under the care of her grandmother. During this time her mind is stimulated and motivated to learn. Her grandmother taught her the oral history and traditions of their people and forced her to develop her memory by playing a game every night: Before bedtime, her grandmother would tell her a story that young Malinalli had to visualize and memorize, because the next evening she had to tell the story back to her grandmother before she shared a new story with her. Soon Malinalli’s excellent memory became famous among her peers in the village.

As Malinalli entered her teens, her stepfather sold her as a slave to some Aztec slave traffickers from Xicalango in the Yucatán Peninsula. After hew masters lost a war against the Maya, she was claimed as a slave by the Mayan Lord of Tabasco: Tabscoob. To this point in her life, young Malinalli spoke only her native Náhuatl, the language of the Aztec Empire. Now she quickly learned Chontal, the Mayan language of her masters and became fluent.

When Cortés arrived in Tabasco, already accompanied by Jerónimo de Aguilar as his personal interpreter, he defeated Tabscoob in the Centla battle. Among the spoils of war, he received gold, blankets, and 20 slave women as a present. Among them Malinalli.

Cortés baptized the women so they could be given to his soldiers. Legally, for a good Catholic to be allowed to have concubines, the women had to be baptized and single.  He baptized Malinalli as Marina, and gifted her to his loyal captain Alonso Hernández Portocarrero.

By now, Cortés is advancing towards the Great Tenochtitlan (present Mexico City), site of the Aztec Empire, and he realizes that Jerónimo de Aguilar’s knowledge of Chontal is useless among peoples who speak Náhuatl. It is now that he discovers that Marina speaks both: Náhuatl and Chontal, so he uses her interpreting services combined with those of Aguilar, because Marina did not speak Spanish.

Soon after, Cortés sends Portocarrero back to Spain as an emissary to King Charles V, but he keeps Marina, or “Malinche” as many call her by then, as his Náhuatl interpreter.

Marina and Jerónimo.

It is clear from all accounts that Marina and Aguilar turned into an indispensable asset to Cortés. At the beginning, they practiced relay interpreting on the consecutive mode with Cortés addressing Náhuatl-speaking lords and commoners in Spanish, the source language, Jerónimo de Aguilar consecutively interpreting from Spanish into Chontal, the relay language, followed by Marina’s consecutive rendition from Chontal into Náhuatl, the target language. The answers would have been interpreted back to Cortés through the same process.

There are records showing the use of relay interpreting as described above. I chose consecutive interpreting as their mode of choice for several reasons: It was the customary mode of interpretation in Europe, and explorers and conquerors had been using consecutive interpreters during their campaigns throughout history. Neither Marina nor Aguilar were trained interpreters, they were empiric interpreters, and it is doubtful that they even considered a simultaneous rendition; there is no evidence as to the level of fluency that Aguilar had in Chontal, and they both had to explain concepts and develop vocabulary for things and ideas that were unknown to the counterpart. We must remember that European concepts such as Christianity, and things like horses, harquebuses, and body armors were new to the Native-American population; and the Spaniards had never seen tomatoes, turkeys, tobacco, or chocolate.  These linguistic and cultural difficulties are usually resolved with consecutive interpreting.  We cannot lose sight of the fact that, even today, interrogations, or question and answer sessions are rendered in consecutive mode. Finally, we have information about Marina’s excellent memory, a skill she had developed in childhood because of her grandmother. In her case, consecutive interpreting would have seemed the natural thing to do.

Marina and Aguilar were able to learn foreign languages. Aguilar had learned Chontal, in an environment where nobody else spoke Spanish, by observing his Mayan masters in the Yucatan Peninsula. Young Malinalli mastered the Chontal language while held as a slave. By the time they were part of Cortes’ expedition they had both discovered their interest in foreign languages, and they had realized that interpreting was their ticket to working with the top ranking Spanish officers, including Cortés himself.  As they got deeper into Aztec territory, and Chontal speaking became less of a necessity, Aguilar must have learned Náhuatl, and as historical records show, Marina became fluent in Spanish. I believe that at some point relay interpreting was unnecessary anymore. From that moment on Aguilar and Marina must have rendered interpreting services separately.

Besides language interpreting, these two individuals acted as cultural brokers and advisors to the Spaniards. Because of their lack of knowledge, Cortés and his troops needed plenty of explanations about the natives’ culture, social structure, government, and religion. This was an essential part of their plan. Cortés had only some four hundred Spanish soldiers, fifteen horses and seven cannons; for the campaign to succeed, he needed the military support of some of the native nations enslaved by the Aztecs. This meant plenty of convincing first, and learning how to live side-by-side during the war against the Aztec Empire.   This is how Cortés was joined by the Totonac nation in Cempoala, after he convinced them to turn against their Aztec oppressors, and how he negotiated a peace agreement with the Tlaxcalans after he defeated their leader Xicoténcatl. Both negotiations showed a great deal of diplomacy and awareness of the political situation and tribal hatred these state-nations had for the Aztecs. The role of Marina and Aguilar as interpreters and cultural advisors was the key to success. At this point we see how they were working as diplomatic interpreters, dealing with very sensitive matters at the highest level, and most likely under extreme pressure and total secrecy. These interpreting skills had to be developed by practicing their craft. In Aguilar’s case by putting into practice his knowledge of history acquired through formal education as a friar, and in Marina’s case, by mere intelligence, social skills, and perhaps some memories of her early childhood as the daughter of a nobleman. They also took advantage of what they learned by observing their masters during their years of slavery.

These interpreters’ versatility was crucial for Cortés’ victory over the Aztecs. Aguilar and Marina were interpreters in conflict zones working under unique conditions: Aguilar raised suspicion among the native troops and lords who joined Cortés in his war against the Aztecs, and Marina was perceived as a foreigner by the Spanish soldiers. There is evidence that at least Marina acted as a military interpreter once. While the Spaniards were in the city of Cholula, Marina learned from a local woman that the locals, who outnumbered the Spaniards, were planning a surprise attack against the Spanish troops. Marina took this intelligence straight to Cortés who confronted the Choluteca lords and priests, arrested them, and helped by three thousand Tlaxcalans, killed about six thousand Cholultecas as a warning to all natives who may consider betraying the Spanish forces. Thanks to Marina’s actions, the surviving Cholultecas joined Cortés’ army, and the Spaniards turned a sure defeat into a decisive moment in the conquest of the Aztec Empire. Here Marina’s actions are military interpreting textbook.

The highest point of Marina’s interpreting career (and of Jerónimo de Aguilar’s, even though he is not specifically mentioned or depicted on surviving records) were the encounters between Hernán Cortés and the ninth Aztec Emperor: Montezuma II Xocoyotzin. These face to face meetings involved complex concepts and terms about the fundamentals of Christianity, Emperor Charles V’s divine right to govern all peoples, and questioning about gold and treasures. There were also welcoming speeches of peace by Montezuma, and presentation of gifts, including an Aztec calendar, in the understanding the presents were in exchange for Cortés’ withdrawal from Tenochtitlan. Many written and painted accounts of the event depict Marina beside Cortes and right in front of Montezuma. A common positioning for modern diplomatic interpreters, but something that must have made her very uncomfortable and proud at the same time.

Aztec Emperors were deities. Most Aztecs would live and die without ever seeing their emperor. Marina was the daughter of another Nahua nation that had been vassal to the Aztec Empire. She had been enslaved by the Mayans, and she was now a slave woman acting as the interpreter for the most important encounter in Aztec history. She must have known of this, and must have realized that because of her condition of Native-American, she was despised and hated by all Aztecs. The same circumstances must have made this woman “who speaks lively” very proud. I could not imagine these meetings between Cortés and Montezuma without Cortés demanding that Jerónimo de Aguilar be present nearby if Marina needed his assistance, or if the Aztec Emperor refused to speak through a slave of Cortés. It is also possible that despite the loyalty Marina had exhibited since day one, Cortés feared a double-crossing once she was in the presence of such intimidating figure as Montezuma. He needed Aguilar nearby just in case.

Although not documented, it is possible that, after Cortés’ return from defeating Cuba’s envoy Pánfilo de Narváez, either Marina or Aguilar were present during the last exchanges between Cortés and Montezuma once the latter had been taken prisoner by the Spaniards and was asked (or ordered) to speak to his people from the balcony of his palace. The Aztecs revolted against the Spaniards, when absent Cortés, his lieutenant Pedro de Alvarado had ordered what is now known as the “Great Temple Massacre”.  Forty-year old Montezuma was killed that evening.

Following the death of the Aztec Emperor, Cortés and his army were driven out of Tenochtitlan by the Aztecs in the biggest defeat of the Spanish army during “La Noche Triste” (The Night of Sorrows). During their retreat to Popotla, Marina and Aguilar were to the back of the column. Almost immediately, Cortés inquired about the whereabouts of his interpreters, and gave orders to make sure that neither Aguilar nor Marina were lost during the escape.

Cortés eventually regrouped in Tlaxcala and launched the decisive campaign that would put an end to the Aztec Empire. During this period, his interpreters were crucial in developing battle plans and recruitment of more allies. After the fall of Tenochtitlan, the role of Marina and Aguilar changes as they become the main interpreters in the collection of tribute and taxes. Cortés built a palace in Coyoacán, near Tenochtitlan, where he lived with Marina for about a year and fathered a son: Martín Cortés.

Because of her service during the conquest of Mexico, and perhaps because of his legitimate Spanish wife Catalina Xuárez, Cortés freed Marina from her slavery by marrying her to one of his captains, who eventually became Mayor of Mexico City: Juan Jaramillo. This way, Cortés fulfilled the promise he made to Marina at the beginning of the expedition. Cortés made her a free woman, married to a good family, and he granted her the lands of Huilotlán and Tetiquipac, once property of her noble biological family.

The following year Cortés would require of her services (and perhaps Aguilar’s as well) one more time for a trip to Las Hibueras (present Honduras) to suffocate a revolt organized by his former lieutenant Cristóbal de Olid. Accounts of this trip indicate that on his way to Honduras, Cortés stopped in Coatzacoalcos (presently in the Mexican State of Veracruz) where Cortés called a meeting with all the local Lords to tell them, through Marina, that they had to be loyal to the Spanish Crown. Among those present were Marina’s mother and half-brother, now baptized as Marta and Lázaro. Apparently, they were very afraid of her; after all, her mother had sold her as a slave and Marina was now Cortés’ closest collaborator. Apparently, Marina called them aside, consoled them, forgave them, and gave them plenty of gold and clothing.  Marina was pregnant by her husband Juan Jaramillo. During this trip, Cortés executed Cuauhtémoc in what is now Campeche, Mexico, extinguishing this way the royal hereditary line to the Aztec Empire.

We know little about Jerónimo de Aguilar after the fall of Tenochtitlan. He probably worked as an interpreter in the collection of taxes for some time. He remained in what was now known as Mexico City until his death in 1531. His house later became the home of the first printing press to operate in the Americas. As far as we know, he observed his celibacy until his death.

After the Honduras campaign, Marina and Cortés never saw each other again. Marina and her husband lived in Mexico City where she gave birth to a baby daughter who they named María. Unfortunately, she was denied access to Martín, her son with Cortés, who was raised by Juan Altamirano, a cousin of Cortés’. We have no official records of her death, but we know it was before 1529. It is speculated that she probably died of smallpox, or perhaps from health problems derived from the trip to Honduras.

Both, Jerónimo de Aguilar and Marina with many other Native and Spanish interpreters that followed, contributed enormously to developing a new Spanish language full of words, concepts and cultural values until then unknown. They played a crucial role in the fusion of these two cultures, races, and (many) languages, and by mere instinct, without knowing it, they were the precursors of consecutive, relay, military, diplomatic, and escort interpreting as well as cultural brokerage.

The fall of the Aztec Empire would have taken longer, and the outcome of the conquest would have been different without the interpreting services of Aguilar and Marina.  Rodríguez de Ocaña, a conquistador that served during the conquest relates Cortés’ assertion that “…after God, Marina was the main reason for (his) success…”  In the “True Story of the Conquest of New Spain,” the widely acclaimed eye-witness account of the conquest, Bernal Díaz del Castillo repeatedly calls her a “great lady” always using the honorific title: “Doña.”

I invite you to share your thoughts about these historical figures so important to the interpreting world, and relevant during this time of the year. I also ask you to remember that this is a post about interpreting, so please abstain from making any politically charged comments.

What assignments should interpreters take?

Dear Colleagues:

Sometimes, after turning down a job offer from an individual who had contacted me by email or phone, I wonder if my life would be easier if I turned into a “yes man” and accepted many offers that come my way. It would save me the time I spend explaining why I cannot work under the circumstances proposed, or avoiding all those baseless arguments and laughable excuses from ignorant prospective clients and greedy multinational agencies. No doubt it would be good for my health.  I would have more clients, interpret every day, and turn into the darling of all agencies and professional associations. I would probably be “Tony the Yes Man”, “the one who does not make any waves.” “Mr. Takes it in the chin”.

Unfortunately, I immediately remember that I am a professional; that acquiring my set of skills and knowledge has been difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. At this point I always decide not to be the “lovable loser”.

I understand there are many interpreters; government agencies are looking for ways to save money, and private corporations want to be profitable. This only means it is harder to get an assignment; that we must put a bigger effort into finding good clients and well-paid assignments. Professional interpreting is not a hobby; it is a business, and in that world worthwhile things are not free. We must behave like businesspeople; we cannot make everybody happy by accepting any assignment that comes across our table, and we cannot make the agency recruiter’s life easier by giving in to unspeakable working conditions.

We must never forget who we are and what we do. We must protect our profession even when facing a human tragedy. I saw how some of my colleagues, well-intentioned, gave in to the indiscriminate use of bilinguals instead of interpreters during the Mexican earthquakes and Caribbean hurricanes. Some considered that demanding interpreters was inappropriate because of the urgent need for interpreting services. I think they wasted an opportunity to showcase the interpreters’ work to many people who had never heard of interpreting in their lives. I applaud those colleagues who held their ground and defended the use of professional interpreter services.

Recently, I turned down a job offer to interpret for some Spanish speakers, members of another country’s armed forces, because the assignment did not pay for the days off between sessions when interpreting was not required, and because I got no assurance that during the flying lessons there would be a flight instructor on board with direct access to the aircraft instruments if a mistake by the student occurs.  The agency recruiter could not understand why I was not willing to risk my life for an assignment that cared so little for the interpreter they had not even bother to check and see if there would be a licensed pilot on board.

I also declined an offer from a small agency to interpret simultaneously non-stop for three hours by myself. The agency rep thought I was a prima donna, and even offered me more money to take the job. I did not.  Another agency’s “project manager” got mad because after she booked me (and a colleague) for a conference, two weeks went by and we got no materials from her. When asked on the status of the assignment, she replied that the event organizer had selected a different agency, and for that reason she had not contacted the interpreters. She even said that it was the interpreters’ duty to call the agency to see if an event had been cancelled or not!

When you add these incidents to the many times when the agency coordinator argues with you because you want too much money and the agency is offering an “…amount that many would love to make at work…” ; when they reply with sarcastic emails insinuating that you must be out of your mind to ask for the money you quoted for your services; or those occasions when after they explain the assignment for hours, you finally get to say a word, and let them know your fee and they reply with a simple: “oh, thank you” and hang up.

I am sure that I just described another day at the office for many of you, so the question is: What assignments should I take?

Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to such a complex question. Part of the answer must do with experience, language combination, the type of interpreting you do, and the part of the world where you live. I will let you figure out that part of the question by yourself or jointly with colleagues in similar circumstances as yours.

The part I can answer, because it has universal application is straight forward: Develop a portfolio of direct clients and take very good care of them. It is difficult to find these clients but they exist. I know because I am fortunate enough to work with many. The important thing is to know where to look for them and how to spot them from a mile away.

The best clients come from referrals from other satisfied clients, colleagues, and technicians. A good story starts like this: “I am contacting you because I was referred to you by…” or “…I want to retain your services because I attended an event you interpreted in the past…”

These people looked for you because of your skills and the quality of your service. They value what you do and want YOU to interpret.

A bad story generally begins with: “…I got your name from the ATA (or any other association) directory and I was wondering if you are still a translator…”

Screen these individuals for only sixty seconds and politely end the conversation if they do not look promising.  These prospective clients do not understand who you are. To them, you are just another name on a directory under the language they need and from the location they want. They do not know what you do, and they value your profession so little they even wonder if you are still “translating” because, since you are bilingual, this must be a thing you were doing “in between jobs”.  I know some people think that you can get some good clients this way, but it depends on what you consider a good client. So far, I have never found one top client this way.

The other thing to consider, because of its universal application, is the place where you are in the world.  Unlike translation, good interpreting assignments do not happen in small towns or mid-size cities. They are in the big cities and not in all of them.  If you live in a rural area or a small city, and you want to take the best assignments, you must consider moving to a bigger city. You may need to decide between a certain lifestyle, including few professional competitors and life in the big city where you will be swimming with the sharks. Do your research, and when you do it, make sure there is a market for your language combination in the big market you are targeting. Nothing is worse than moving to another place to find out that your languages are not in demand.

Finally, think of what you want to do. People find certain things very important, even if there is not a lot of money in that field. Do not fool yourself, you will never make a lot of money working as a community interpreter or practicing in a small city, but maybe that is not a crucial factor to you. Some colleagues find working in the community assisting people with little or no money more rewarding than a high-profile wealthy client in the big city.  Some interpreters prefer less money and not so famous clients over constant traveling and spending most of the time away from home.

In conclusion, we should all seek clients that will appreciate our work, who select us for who we are as individuals, offer us professional working conditions (treat us with respect, provide materials, understands the need for team interpreting and good technology in a comfortable booth, etc.) and pay professional fees. We should protect the profession and reject prospective clients looking for anybody on a list, disrespect us, want to pay us as laborers, and do not offer the appropriate working conditions mentioned above. The rest are personal judgments we all need to make depending on the lifestyle we want to have and the service we want to provide. I now invite you to share with the rest of us your comments on this topic.