It was related in antiquity that in atonement for their misdeeds the daughters of King Danaus were made to spend eternity filling a vessel with water. The bottom of the vessel was riddled with holes so that no matter how they labored their task was never accomplished. The work of the translator bears a certain resemblance to this penance of the children of Danaus: the vessel provided by the second language is often frustratingly inadequate in conveying the meanings found in the original, and this frustration may yield to a sense of despair when the fundamental impossibility of the task is realized.