The objective of this paper is to develop a method for translation description as an instrument for comparing translations and original texts, more precisely a method with which to compare a Dutch translation of Don Quixote with the Spanish original. The author's method consists of two components or models: a comparative and a descriptive model. The comparative model is designed for use in detecting shift on the the micro-structural level, that is the level of the sentence, the clause of the phrase, and the descriptive model is designed for use in detecting the consequences of micro-structural level, i.e. the level of characters, events, time, place and other meaningful components of the text.