#1
-"changed"
-to find himself (as opposed to "found himself")
-"giant"-- gives an idea of size
-"woke from uneasy dreams one morning" (as opposed to "one morning, __ woke up from an uneasy dream")
-only one of the 4 translations that calls him Gregory
#2
-starts with "when" instead of his name-lacks commas where commas would seem appropriate ("...morning, he found...)
-mentions in his bed
-"transformed" instead of "changed"
-"enormous"
#3
-starts with "as" instead of "when"-- progressive-again, lacking commas where commas would seem appropriate (...dreams, he found...)
-"transformed"
-"gigantic"
-"insect" instead of bug
#4
-"transformed"
-"monstrous vermin" (size, doesn't specify exactly what he transformed into)
-"upon"
I found that word choice seemed to have the biggest effect on the meaning. When talking about the dreams, "uneasy" made it seem like merely discomfort, while "troubled" seemed more unpleasant and "agitated" seemed like the reason he woke up. The first translation also uses "changed instead of "transformed". "Transformed" feels much more dramatic, giving almost a Cinderella vibe. The words used to describe what he changed into were also very different- "giant", "enormous", and "gigantic". While all of them emphasize Samsa's large size, "giant" and "enormous" paint different pictures. There is also the difference between "bug" and "insect"- while not wildly different, insect is more specific. The last translation is in its own category when it comes to size and creature. "Monstrous vermin" doesn't give much of an idea of size or bug, but more makes it seem like he turned into some kind of monster, like Bigfoot or a werewolf. All of the translations (with the exception of the last one, to an extent) convey the same type of narrative, just with varying severity of details. Punctuation also has some effect on the interpretation, but not as much on the meaning. Most of the translations lack punctuation, making the sentence feel rushed, while the one with commas feels more staccato.
This is a good way to understand the difficulty of reading translated texts because you can see it even changes things as important as the main character's name. Some translations give little to no detail, which is a good example of things literally getting lost in translation. Some translations manage to change the starting message completely. This shows that translated texts might not always have the same impact that the original would because in translating it, you're losing part of the author's work. In terms of tone, the different translations all come across differently. The first one, to me, seems very calm. If you read it straight across, there's no punctuation to break it up, and it almost feels like he woke up and looked down and went "oh. I'm a bug. Okay". The second translation is still a somewhat calm feeling (or as calm as one can be when transformed into a bug), but the more intense words "troubled" and "enormous" make it feel more uneasy than the first. The third translation feels like the first one that might induce a bit of panic, because "gigantic insect" gives a freaky James and the Giant Peach feeling. The last translation is definitely more panicked. The commas make it short and choppy, and "monstrous vermin" is such an aggressive description, like the kind of thing that makes you want to scream.
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