tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 04 18:04:54 1997
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Re: Epic Poetry
- From: Terrence Donnelly <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Epic Poetry
- Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 19:56:51 -0600
At 02:48 PM 11/4/97 -0800, qoror wrote:
>
> I recall on Friday at the qep'a', Dr. Schoen said that one thing
>he'd like to see translated was the epic poetry, like Homer and Gilgamesh.
>(This was during a talk, not an offhand remark.) Has there been any
>headway on that?
I've been working on Gilgamesh off-and-on for a couple of years now. I'm
hampered on the one hand by the fact that I can't find a cohesive English
translation (I'm using a copy of the translated tablets, some parts of which
are fragmentary), but more so by my fear that the sentiment in the epic is
somehow _un-Klingon_: Gilgamesh goes seeking the secret of immortality because
he is distraught at the death of his friend. Nevertheless, I keep at it
from time to time. Here's a bit of it that I could lay my hands on.
Gilgamesh has come to a "refreshment stand of the gods", and the attendant,
Siduri, asks him what he's up to.
(qa'nuv = a god)
jatlh qa'nuv chom *SIDurI'.
"nuqDaq bIqet *ghIlghameS?
yInvetlh DanejtaHbogh DaSamlaHbe'ba'.
Humanpu' chenmoHDI' qa'nuvpu', Humanpu'vaD Hegh lunob
'ach yIn jub lupoltaH.
burghlIj teb Soj 'e' yIqaSmoH *ghIlghameS.
pemmey rammey je yIQuch.
Hoch jaj yIDajmoH.
pemmey rammey je yIbom 'ej yImI'.
Say'taH SutlIj 'e' yIqaSmoH.
jIblIj yIchIp 'ej porghlIj DaSay'moHmeH bIQ yIlo'.
lo'laH ghoplIj 'uchtaHbogh machwI''e' 'e' yInoH.
DeSDu'lIjDaq QottaHbogh be'nal yIQuchmoH.
Human San 'oH ghu'vam'e'."
Another:
jatlh *ghIlgameS.
"ghot jajmey lujuvlu'taH.
Hoch ta''e' chavbogh ghaH 'oH SuS'e' neH."
jatlh *engqIDu
"may'Daq Hegh SuvwI'na'.
Heghvetlh 'oHbe' HeghwIj'e'.
quvtaH may'Daq Heghpu'bogh SuvwI' 'a batlh jIHeghbe'."
-- ter'eS
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/2711