Zooilógico

AUTHOR: Daniel Montero Galán
READER: Margaret Jull Costa

This is a book of mythological – or mythoillogical – beasts divided into various groups – hairy, lizard-like, creepy-crawlies, big birds, etc. Each creature is accompanied by a description and given its scientific name (e.g. Abracadabrus cabestrua), height, weight, hobbies and habitat. And a large drawing of the beast in question (the drawings are absolutely brilliant!). Each section/classification is followed by advice on how to keep (or not) any of the preceding animals as pets. Many of the animals are (perhaps) recognisable human types, for example, the Burroncador resiestero, which, despite drinking numerous cups of coffee, can only remain half-awake for four hours at a time, or the Readaptator, which changes its appearance as often as the average person changes his underwear, but hasn’t yet found an appearance with which it feels comfortable. Others are imaginative wonders, like the Escondridizo, which is a master of camouflage and to be found, if you can see it, in that drawer you never open or under the bed hidden among the dust and the fluff. It also eats those pencil rubbers that are always disappearing from your desk and whose disappearance you always blame on your little brother. Its scientific name is Nilovés niloverás (possible translation: ‘Nowyouseeme nowyoudont). The Cubiforme (Scientific name: Recubiformix devanguardium) is to be found in museums and art galleries. When you see one, you should look at it hard, scratch your chin, nod sagely, and rather than saying ‘God, that’s ugly’, say instead: ‘Such a troubling image, so intensely evocative of a sense of suffering.’

And that brings us to the problem of translation. The text is full of puns and word play, which would make it very difficult to translate, but not, I think, impossible. It’s a really beautiful, imaginative, witty book that could be enjoyed by children and parents alike. Definitely worth considering for translation despite the translation difficulties.