This paper starts from the observation that the first German translation of Reivindicación del Conde don Julián was published in 1986 without any comments, whereas the text had already been published with comments in 1985 in Spain. The author wonders where lies the peculiarity: in the commented Spanish version or in the uncommented German translation? He discusses the reasons for choosing to comment or not and links them to the fact that any translation is an encounter with the foreignness between languages, literatures and cultures, which is either reduced by domestication or accentuated by alienation.