Turning a novel into another language is harder than most readers imagine. A good 11 does not simply replace one word with another. First she reads the whole book, listens to the voice of the 12, and marks every joke that will not travel well. Then she must decide how much of the original 13 she may change without losing the meaning. A long English 14 often becomes two short ones in Chinese. Publishers usually allow six months for a full 15, and many say the second half of that time is spent reading the text aloud.
Some students groan when the teacher opens a book of 16. Poems look short, yet every line seems to hide something. Their teachers answer that a poem trains the ear: it teaches you to hear whether a 17 sound is long or short, and why one word feels heavier than another. A famous 18 once said that he wrote in order to slow his readers down. That is also why many schools ask students to write a short 19 about a poem they dislike. Explaining your own taste, teachers say, is the fastest way to 20 new ideas.