tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Dec 23 11:36:43 1995
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Faces of Fire
- From: [email protected] (MR PAUL J COFFEY)
- Subject: Faces of Fire
- Date: Sat, 23 Dec 1995 14:36:00 EST
ghItlh taj'IH
>I read the following bit of poetry in a ST novel (I think it was
>"Klingon Gambit") and have tried to translate it for a poetry reading
>coming up at our next Klingon meeting. Please understand I read this
>novel in German, and first had to retranslate it into English so I could
>present it here!
The novel was _Faces of Fire_ by Michael Jan Friedman.
>Quoted from the epic Ramenaa by Kahless:
>ramena' ghitlh qeylIS' 'ej DaH vImuchvam:
>(This is translated very loosely, as I do not have words for "epic" and
>"quote". There is no epic by the name of Ramenaa in ST canon, so I simply
>spelled it phonetically.)
In the book the spelling <ramen'aa> was used. We have no other
examples of a double <aa> that I know of. Could <ramena'a> have been
intended?
>We will wear faces of fire.
>qul qabDu' matuQ.
>(I used tuQ = to wear clothing on purpose. I *think* this is not taking
>poetic expression too far. Would qabDu' meq be a better way of putting "
>faces of fire"?)
I have no better suggestion, but for the benefit of those experts who
may not have read the book: Kiruc, when asked to explicate the phrase
"Faces of Fire," says that it means both the quality of determination and
skill at deception. I know not if this would mandate a verb other than
<tuQ>. Perhaps <cha'> or <'ang>?
Qapla'
qeSmIv HarghwI'