"Without pain, honor is like a salad."
Klingon Proverb
(It loses a little something in the translation.)
Back in the mid-nineties I was very involved in on-line interactive fiction on newsgroups. One of these was a Star Trek based universe where we created characters, ships, worlds, and stories whole-cloth from our imaginations.
One of the things I loved about this group was their sense of humor. This fabricated proverb was offered up in a story thread by Celia Fox, a very talented writer.
I love this line because it is absurd and it points to the truth of trying to translate anything from one culture to another... something is lost in translation.
At any rate this struck me so much that I had a banner made up to put in the hospital room for Charlotte to look at when Simon was being born. In my haste I left it at home, of course, but it was oft repeated as we waited for Simon's arrival, let me tell you.
Q'apla!
40 for 40, #21
Comments
But, um, isn't salad supposed to be, um, good for you?
Posted by: Leah | March 1, 2007 10:02 AM
As the originator of this bit of lunacy, I am honored (in a uniquely human and totally non-salady way) that you chose to include it among your "40 for 40" quotes, L. I was having one of those "thinking back on your life and googling old friends" kind of nights when I came across this, and it made me smile. And *where* did you manage to find a photo of a jello/aspic/whatever salad mold that looks precisely like it was taken from a Klingon's head to go with it?? LOL! (For real, and not the annoying way...;)
And for your other commentator, Leah... I realized that I *could* actually explain what the original phrase would have meant to a Klingon, but to actually write out that explanation would take too much of the fun out of it. After all, a proverb is by nature somewhat ambiguous and subject to multiple interpretations, all equally valid in different contexts. :-)
Posted by: Celia Finsel | April 16, 2007 4:09 PM
Well, if you click on the pic it will take you to the source. As far as how I found it, I find throwing keywords like "klingon salad" into google image search will get you the most interesting results. Actually a lot of people as me where I find my pics. Stream of consciousness is a wonderful search aid.
Great to hear from you Celia!
Posted by: ironic1 | April 16, 2007 4:44 PM