Translation, literary translation in particular, is a task far more rewarding than it is lucrative. Get a group of film and book translators together and the conversation will inevitably be punctuated by complaints about poor rates, unreasonable deadlines, and boneheaded editorial decisions.

Why do people do it? In 2009, fashion and lifestyle magazine Trading Up also spoke to Sun Zhongxu (孙仲旭), who has translated Nineteen Eighty-Four and Catcher in the Rye (among other works), about the business of literary translation...