Translation is tough work. Translating is poetry is often more difficult than writing poetry from scratch. One of my most difficult writing assignments was for a Los Angeles Zen Buddhist Temple. The head priest asked me to translate part of the service into English from Japanese. My Japanese is not that great, and neither was his English, but I think this lack of explicit understanding actually helped us focus on the spirit and meaning of the passage.
When we were finally finished, I asked him how long this translation would be used. He looked up at me, and gave me the most wonderful confused look before he said, "Forever, of course."
One of the best moments of my writing career.
