In his preface to The Zodiac, James Dickey refers to the poem with the same title by the Dutch poet Hendrik Marsman, and he states explicitly that his poem is in no sense a translation of the Dutch poem, but that he has taken certain liberties with the original. The author wanted to discover and describe the relationship between the two texts, in order to trace the influence of Marsman on Dickey. Apparently, the literary contact with Marsman was mediated through an English translation by Adriaan J. Barnouw. The author describes the three Zodiac / Dierenriem - texts by Marsman, Barnouw and Dickey, and demonstrates the importance of a translation, or translations in general, within the scope of intertextual continuity. The author pleads for a more intensive interest on the part of the comparative literature in Translation Studies and for the integration of Translation Studies within the general study of literature.