tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 24 09:46:54 1997

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KLBC: mu'tlheghvam vIyajbe



muHwI' asked:

> I've read this:
>
> << {DaH mu'tlheghvam vIqelnIS
> quv'a', yabDaq San vaQ cha' pu' je SIQDI?} >>
>
> "now I need to consider this sentence", qar'a' 

bIqar.

> 'ach mu'tlhegh cha' vIyajlaHbe':
>
> "HONOR, in mind agressive fate and two phasers" 

quv'a' - is it honourable? 
yabDaq - in the mind
San vaQ - aggressive fate
cha' pu' - two phasers
je - and
SIQDI' - when it suffers

Is it honourable in the mind when it endures aggressive fate and two 
phasers?

> Am I wrong or is the sentence wrong?

It looks like a line from Hamlet.  I think the usual English 
translation is "whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings 
and arrows of outrageous fortune."

And I'm not really sure what *that* means. I read the English as 
having the nobility in the mind, but the Klingon has the 
torpedoes and phasers in the mind, which suggests that the mind 
is the subject of SIQ.  I would have given it an indefinite subject 
with {-lu} or a first person singular subject, but I give credit to 
the restorers for knowing what they were doing.  I would also have 
tried to translate it with two different weapons ... oh!  It must be 
meant to be:

quv'a', yabDaq San vaQ cha pu' je SIQDI'

"Is it honourable in the mind when it endures the torpedoes and 
phasers of aggressive fortune?"

THAT is better. See what a difference one {'} letter makes?!  Either 
your source or your copying omitted the {'} on SIQDI' and added one 
on {cha}.  I suspect you, as you also left off a {'} on the 
{*vIyajbe} in your subject. :-)

- Qov


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