tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Apr 11 18:41:39 1997
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lIy lut translated by qoror
- From: Marian Schwartz <[email protected]>
- Subject: lIy lut translated by qoror
- Date: 11 Apr 97 21:39:36 EDT
qoror here. I rushed to answer your challenge, DaQtIq, and here it is:
Tale of the Comet
Many years ago, during the reign of Kahless the Unforgettable, there was a young
warrior named Dagh. Although he was not strong or big, he was clever and would
never act dishonorably.
The army was in transit to a distant region. The trip was supposed to
last just a few days, but they actually needed many days. By sunset, they had
set up camp. Everyone ate their rations and then dropped off to sleep, because
they were very weary.
Although Dagh was tired too, he couldn't stay asleep. He usually didn't
sleep much, so his friends usually did. He would guard and gaze at the night
sky.
The third night, he was staying up when he thought he saw something in
the sky. It wasn't very big, but it was bright and strange. Dagh started to
feel uneasy, so he woke up his friend, Maltz.
"Whiskers!" Dagh whispered. He called his friend 'Whiskers,' because he
had a really long moustache..
"I'm sleeping, damn it!"
"You've been sleeping, now get up and look at that."
"Hell," said Whiskers, getting up.
"Look at that!" he said, poking Whiskers. "Don't you see something
beside the tracker's eye?"
"No, I don't see anything."
"Open your eyes!"
"I don't see anything because there's nothing there, damn it."
Dagh looked hard at the sky while Whiskers lay back down. In a few
seconds, he said, "I think I see a comet."
"You're crazy," said Whiskers, going back to sleep.
Dagh didn't pay attention to Whiskers and kept looking at the sky.
*
***
*
When the army was on the move again, Dagh described the comet to
everyone. The soldiers laughed and mocked him, but a few soldiers seemed scared
of the comet. Some primitive people born in the hinterlands dreaded comets.
They believed that it indicated a dark omen. He didn't believe in that, of
course, but he knew that he felt uneasy inside.
*
***
*
The next night, they ate and went to sleep. He really couldn't sleep.
It looked like a lot of others couldn't sleep either. When it got dark,
everyone saw the comet. It left the tracker and got big and bright. Then it
appeared in another constellation. While they were watching the comet, all
those who couldn't sleep kept talking with each other. Was it a bad omen? Had
Kahless been defeated? Did it mean that the empire had collapsed?
Before dawn, some soldiers panicked and tried to desert. The deserters
were excecuted.
*
***
*
While the army was on the move the next day, those who couldn't sleep
described the comet to those who had. This time, the soldiers didn't laugh
much. A few still mocked, but it stil put everyone off. They all got to
worrying.
A sergeant came to Dagh and separated him from the army. The sergeant
was serious and looked angry.
He said to Dagh, "You've created a big problem, damn it."
"I didn't do anything, sir."
"The comet will be named Dagh. You created too much of a problem."
"I didn't place the comet in the sky, your honor."
The sergeant yelled, frustrated. He calmed down and said quietly, "We
have a problem. Because of the comet, the soldiers have lost their
self-confidence and we arrave at the battlefiield tommorrow!"
Degh didn't speak for a bit. He knew very well it wasn't his fault, but
he believed that he was slightly responsible.
"What are your orders, sergeant?"
"Be brave, soldier. If the comet doesn't scare you, the others might get
their self-confidence back."
"I understand perfectly," replied Dagh, but the comet definitely scared
him.
*
***
*
That evening, they set up camp, but no-one ate or slept. They hung
around waiting for it to get dark. They saw it quickly, because it was bright
and very big. Its long ponytail scraped the sky. Most of the soldiers were
very quiet, just watching the comet.
Dagh and Whiskers were talking. Dagh asked, "Are you afraid to fight
tommorrow?"
Whiskers chuckled. "Of course not. I'm ready to fight and die with
honor," but there was no fire in his eyes. "It's a dark omen for Kahless."
"Why is that?"
"Because the others are afraid to fight. Are you, Dagh?"
"Of course not." Dagh tried to be sure of himself. "The comet doesn't
make me weak or clumsy." He felt sick to his stomach. "I'm ready to die
honorably."
*
***
*
The soldiers would ordinarily have been celebrating that night because of
the impending battle. Instead, that night they watched the comet. At midnight,
warrior wearing a black cloak walked around the camp. The shadows hid his face.
He didn't pay any attention to the comet. He looked into the soldiers' eyes.
Then this warrior walked over to Whiskers and Dagh.
"Why aren't you ce;ebrating, soldiers? You fight tommorow," said the
warrior.
"Can't you see? There's a comet!" replied Whiskers.
The warrior looked up at the sky. "It is beautiful. One believes that
it is a dark omen."
"Right," replied Whiskers quietly.
The warrior turned to Dagh.. "Do you believe that?"
Dagh was taken by surprise. "I'm sure i don't know."
The dark warrior barked out, "Answer me, soldier! Do you believe?"
Standing up quickly, Dagh said, "No, sir!"
Then the warrior revealed his face. He was Kahless! Everybody got up
quickly and focused on him.
Kahless shouted, "Say that again, soldier!"
Dagh shouted, "No, sir! It is not an evil omen!"
"You are wrong," Kahless replied. All the soldiers stood dumbfounded.
All of them gathered around Kahless, and he said: "Warriors! This comet
represents a dark omen! Look! A stranger has invaded our sky for all these
nights. We sleep under the stars, warriors. We salute the stars. We ought to
know the night sky perfectly. But this sky is different. It is too bright.
The change annoys us and scares us. We dread the change."
Kahless paused and looked at the comet. "And yet it is beautiful. And
the change is beautiful. It excites us."
Kahless faced the crowd again. "New things make our blood burn! A new
area is claimed. A new woman is conquered "
The soldiers laughed and Kahless waited. "And new enemies are defeated!"
The crowd got noisy, but Kahless kept talking. "We require a new
challenge. We need it!"
The crowd kept talking noisily. Kahless raised his honorblade to the sky
and they became quiet at once.
"Dagh's comet is a bad omen yes, an evil omen for our enemeies!"
All the soldiers shouted again. Kahless shouted. The whole world seemed
to shout: "We are Klingons!"
Immediately the soldiers left the camp and attacked the enemy that night.
Under the comet's light, Kahless's army won and the comet was an evil omen for
Dagh's enemies alone.
Finished!