Translation is hard. I don't mean just
difficult, I mean
really amazingly hard. Not only does one have to be
fluent in two
languages, one must also be culturally extremely
literate in both cultures, and be a good writer to boot. Thinking of trying some
easy translation? Maybe a
poem or
comic book?
Don't kid yourself. Poems are
damn near impossible to
translate, and
comic books are so full of cultural references that no matter how
elegant your
textual translation is, you'll want to put lots of footnotes in by way of
explanation.
Only bad translators have to use explanatory text.
I want to be a translator, but some days I feel like giving up, it's just so damn hard. It's harder than you think. Next time you read something that's been translated, have a moment of silence for the translator. It's as much their work as it is the original author's.