The Dancer and the Dance is a collection of thirteen essays in translation studies. Unlike many similar collections that have appeared in the past decades, it is the product of theory integrated with practice; in it, the authors have steered clear of theorizing in a vacuum, making sure that their findings tally with what actually happens in translation; there is no attempt at putting forward hypotheses based on mere speculation. As translation theorists and/or translators whose specialties cover translation studies, linguistics, cultural studies, computer-aided translation, Chinese literature, English literature, comparative literature, and creative writing, the thirteen authors have taken up the challenge of unravelling the mystery of what, in I. A. Richards's words, "may very probably be the most complex type of event yet produced in the evolution of the cosmos." Impossible as the task may have seemed, they have all succeeded, each in his/her own way, in tracing out many warp and weft threads, as well as hitherto undiscovered patterns in the vast, gorgeous, and mysterious tapestry woven by God after Babel.