It is known that during the process of translation of
a text is the risk of some words or concepts to lose some of its meaning, or
even that the translation is provided for a completely different
interpretation. Sometimes, these variations do not affect the end result
too and do not generate significant confusion. But during the history of
mankind, many of these translation errors have led to conflicts, wars
and even changed the course of some religions.
For example, there is a theory that says
that all worship the Virgin Mary is based on a failed interpretation of the
Hebrew word lama (young
woman) which when translated into Greek was used the word Virgin. Without
going into controversy, we can already imagine the enormous historical impact
that may have had any other translation of this word. If this theory is
correct, then a single badly translated word could have accomplished the start
of one of the most popular in the world worships.
Another case of erroneous translations
occurred in Easter Island. It is estimated that this island, whose
original name is Rama Nui (Big Island), was populated by ancient Polynesian travelers
before the 5th century, which developed their culture away from the rest of the
world. The first European, from visitors from Holland, came the Domingo de
Pascal from 1722 (hence its name). Then followed the visits of Spanish,
English, French, and even Peruvian, but those who took the final step to
"stay" with the island were Chileans, who came in peace to the
island, and signed a treaty with its then King, Tammany Taken. The Treaty
was in Spanish . But guess who! The texts
of each treaty had a subtle difference in the translation. In the document
in Spanish, it was written that the Islanders yielded complete sovereignty over
the island and its people, while the document in Rapa nun just accepted
protection and friendship by the Chileans. Is until today the Islanders
refuse to be part of Chile, and Chile considers the island as part of the
Department of Valparaiso... Despite being over 6 hour’s flight from the Chilean
coast!
