tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Feb 22 18:31:58 1997
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Re: Memory Prime
On Sat, 22 Feb 1997, Steven Boozer wrote:
> On Sat, 22 Feb 1997, Joel Peter Anderson wrote:
> |canonical stuff, though). Although there are notable examples of cases
> |where novelists use the language correctly (The opening of Memory Prime,
> |for example).
>
> If it's not too much trouble, could you pass along the Klingon in Memory
> Prime (along with the author's "translation") for our edification? This is
> not one of the Trek novels I have, probably because I didn't realize it has
> any Klingon content. Though I will now look for it in the used bookshops
> here.
The passage isn't at hand (or keyboard) but it is brief, and I can
summarize. A character goes into a bar and a Klingon barkeep say:
"nuqneH?"
The narration notes that the character chooses to take the question
literally and he says:
"bIQ."
Then the barkeep, a surly fellow, spits in front of the character, who
dabs at the spittle with a cloth, and raises it to touch his forhead.
Alarmed at an action that would signify there betrothal, the barkeep
hurriedly shouts:
"ghobe'! ghobe'!"
(and then he gets his water).
There may be more, but it was a case where I reread the book after
becoming involved with Klingon, and was surprised to see anything like
that put in one of the novels. The authors are the same ones who wrote
"Federation" and assisted on Shatner's Trek novels. There are (IMHO)
among the best of the Trek writers.