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IrenetaH pagh taHbe' (Have you experienced Shakespeare in the original Klingon?)
June 12th 2009 19:14
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, which is in my opinion one of the franchise's most under-appreciated movies, features the great Christopher Plummer as Klingon General Chang. He's one of the best baddies in the Trek universe--certainly better than, say, the Duras sisters. And you know Chang's a badass because he's bald and has an eyepatch bolted onto his face.
David Warner, who seems to have played most of the major Trek species, is Chancellor Gorkon in the same film. Like Chang, he has the tendency of spouting Shakespeare, especially text from Hamlet, which he speaks in "the original Klingon". It is this line that apparently drove the Klingon Language Institute to produce The Klingon Hamlet.
The Tragedy of Khamlet, Son of the Emperor of Qo'nos is actually written in iambic pentameter, though according to the appendix, the metre in Klingon is not as restrictive as in Terran languages. The English and Klingon texts are on opposing pages, which I suppose makes it easier to understand:
There is something lost in translation, though (do I mean English to Klingon, or Klingon to English?): Much Ado About Nothing is The Confusion is Great Because of Nothing in Klingon, and Midsummer Night's Dream is One Dreams in the Middle of the Hot Season.
The next time you feel compelled to sprinkle a little Shakespearean Klingon into your conversation, you might try uttering one of these classics:
To be, or not to be.
taH pagh taHbe'
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
chav boH, chav ralqu' je Data'!
These tedious old fools.
qelth qoHvam qan.
The devil take thy soul!
Dughupjaj Ghe"or!
Get thee to a nunnery.
Ha'! ngaghQo'wI' nawlogh yImuv.
For more on Klingon language, see the Klingon Language Institute.
David Warner, who seems to have played most of the major Trek species, is Chancellor Gorkon in the same film. Like Chang, he has the tendency of spouting Shakespeare, especially text from Hamlet, which he speaks in "the original Klingon". It is this line that apparently drove the Klingon Language Institute to produce The Klingon Hamlet.
Khamlet the Klingon Hamlet
The Tragedy of Khamlet, Son of the Emperor of Qo'nos is actually written in iambic pentameter, though according to the appendix, the metre in Klingon is not as restrictive as in Terran languages. The English and Klingon texts are on opposing pages, which I suppose makes it easier to understand:
The Klingon Bard
There is something lost in translation, though (do I mean English to Klingon, or Klingon to English?): Much Ado About Nothing is The Confusion is Great Because of Nothing in Klingon, and Midsummer Night's Dream is One Dreams in the Middle of the Hot Season.
The next time you feel compelled to sprinkle a little Shakespearean Klingon into your conversation, you might try uttering one of these classics:
To be, or not to be.
taH pagh taHbe'
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
chav boH, chav ralqu' je Data'!
These tedious old fools.
qelth qoHvam qan.
The devil take thy soul!
Dughupjaj Ghe"or!
Get thee to a nunnery.
Ha'! ngaghQo'wI' nawlogh yImuv.
For more on Klingon language, see the Klingon Language Institute.
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