... certain words only exist in those languages. Moreover, language, especially in literature, leaves much up to interpretation, and translations often omit any ambiguity that the author may have originally intended. When searching for English versions of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, several versions are available, each translated by different individuals. In each of these books, differences can be observed in the way the plot is described, though they seldom make any difference in the larger scheme. Even the spelling differs (e.g. "Dunya" and "Dounia") simply because of the way the translator thought the word sounded phonetically. By the same token, reading a Tang dynasty poem in Chinese differs greatly from the English translation. Though the English version manages to retain most of the poet's original message, it lacks the fluidity and the poetic essence that can be found in the same poem in Chinese. As with all subjective issues, ...

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