Seemingly Impossibility

What can you do when faced with having to teach something almost impossibly difficult to an ESL student?

I consider myself a decent teacher, and I'd like to think that I could teach any subject material to a student in his or her native language. But when working with ESL, the options suddenly seem limited.

For example, a few months ago I was helping Yuki with her homework. She had to read a short story and answer some questions. It seemed easy enough, until I saw what the story was - Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a little advanced for 7th grade? I was at a loss at how I could help Yuki understand it at her low English level. (Later I found a Japanese translation and emailed it to her. She mentioned that some of the kanji were difficult for her - clearly advanced stuff even in one's native language.)

This is probably the most daunting challenge I've faced (and continue to face) as an ESL tutor.