The Translator's Revenge

A Russian translator was asked why he took fifteen years to translate a single novel. He sighed and explained: 'The original author used the word "toska" on page one. I spent the first decade trying to translate it. Then I spent four more years in therapy. The final year I just wrote "melancholy" and moved on. The author's ghost has been passive-aggressively rearranging my bookshelf ever since.'