Why are Interpreted Languages Slow?

Question

I was reading about the pros and cons of interpreted languages, and one of the most common cons is the slowness, but why are programs in interpreted languages slow?

Answer 1

For the same reason that it's slower to talk via translator than in native language. Or, reading with dictionary. It takes time to translate.

Update: no, I didn't see that my answer is the same as the accepted one, to a degree ;-)