Writers, students and translators of literature know that language is more than a transparent medium for conveying information, and that gaps between languages cannot always be bridged. These axioms are most obviously true when words are used creatively. This paper aims to look at literary examples which illustrate the ambiguous role of the translator caught between languages, between cultures, between text and audience. The special case to be examined is one where social constraints impose creative constraints, and the translator’s role is not to create understanding but to preserve a pious fiction of misunderstanding.