No one can possibly know how long they are going to live, much less what their last words are going to be. Nonetheless, many of us attempt to control our lives to the greatest extent possible–given the circumstances. This is exactly what Mr. White (or Sr. White in the original) sought out.
Though I either imply or say outright throughout this blog that we as translators are here to make money, it doesn't mean we can't veer from this end from time to time. More than a few years ago, amid the turmoil of the Great Recession, I didn't have a lot of translation work, so I decided to translate a story by Eugenio Prados, an indie Spanish author, because I found his story, El Largo Funeral del Señor White so amusing. I sent him the translation free of charge, and he happily accepted it. Now it is on Amazon, and I think that the positive reviews are much more thrilling to me than any payment.
Click here to read the original.
Click here to read my translation.