And Then There's Opera . . One who transforms, changes or alters. I couldn't translate a peace treaty, a document of lading, or instructions on how to put together your baby's new crib. There are translators in every language under the sun, who specialize in such work.
Speed is their by-word.
I was on the third draft of a translation of a novel when I came across a technical translators' internet discussion of fees. It set me screaming at my monitor. Yet there is a serious issue here for readers and theater goers, as well as for translators. For all the time we take, for all the drafts and revisions we literary translators go through before we claim to be have produced a satisfactory translation, we are most often associated with betrayal of the original author. Before we can answer that, it's important to know something about the act of translation.