tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Oct 28 04:48:29 2001

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Re: Klingon literature: clipped or flowery?

Daniela Berger wrote:

> Hello, it's me again!
>
> And I have another question.
> When I translated the story about the northwind and the sun, Clayton
> sent me his version, and I noticed that it was a lot shorter. This
> brings me to the question:
> Are Klingons as curt in their literature as they are in their everyday
> conversation? Would an author be called weak or un-Klingon if he used
> more words than strictly necessary?
> This question really made me think when I considered translating "The
> Oval Portrait" for the Poe Project. This story could be expressed in
> -hm- five(?) sentences of Clipped Klingon, and thus be about 90%
> shorter than the original.
>
> So, what do you think: should telling a Klingon a story be like giving
> a report, or is it okay to be more verbose?
>
> Thank you
>
> Daniela B

I'd say it depends. For example, if describing a battle, I'd say that any
detail that helps to bring the feeling of the battle over, as in how much
blood was shed, how many different weapons were used etc, would not be
seen as too much. Klingons also love Shakespeare, so you can't generally
say they love everything short.

However, if giving a proverb, or a story with some moral/traditional
meaning in it, I'd say Klingons would stay focussed on the main thing and
avoind too many words to get the message over.

JaHinTa'

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