"Traduttori, tradittori," goes the old Terran Italian maxim -- "The translator is a traitor." And if it is so even with languages of the same race, how much more difficult must it be to translate the words of different species, whose very thoughts and emotions may be incompatible? Thus it is that mistranslations, although made with the best of intentions, have created wide gaps of understanding between cultures. With the Vulcans, the replacement of cthia with "logic" and arie'mnu with "elimination of emotion" gave others a picture of a cold, sterile race of robots. And among our people, interpretation of mnhei'sahe as simply "honor" has caused nearly as great a misunderstanding.
One might argue that the distinction is a trifling one, a picayune detail of concern solely to scholars. After all, the Terran concept of honor is indeed a part of mnhei'sahe; the most important part, some say. Both honor and mnhei'sahe are unwritten codes of conduct by which we strive to live our lives. Mnhei'sahe requires us to always be attentive to honor -- to our own honor, to the honor of others, to the honor of the Rihannsu people, and most of all to the honor of the Elements. Mnhei'sahe, like honor, resides within the individual; as no one but you can take away your honor, so no other can force you to violate mnhei'sahe. Mnhei'sahe compels us to do honor to all we meet, even our enemies.
But mnhei'sahe is so much more than honor. It is the "Ruling Passion" (another inaccurate translation, I fear), encompassing all other passions within it. It concerns the Fires of love and of hate, the freedom and fear of Air, the joy and tears brought by Water, and the unshakable loyalty and stubbornness of Earth. If you tell another, "Mnhei'sahe to you," you may be wishing her an honorable mission, but you may also be wishing her luck, success, or happiness, affirming your loyalty or love for her, or giving her the blessing of the Elements.
The actions required by mnhei'sahe often seem strange, even shameful, to those unacquainted with its intricacies. It may require a mother to kill her son or a crewmember to disobey a commander. It may even require one to behave dishonorably, sacrificing one's personal honor for a necessity of mnhei'sahe. But if this occurs -- if because of mnhei'sahe, a Rihanha must break her oath or commit treachery -- she is still responsible for her actions. Mnhei'sahe is never an excuse or an apology. The legendary Ael t'Rllaillieu had to break her oath to the Empire because of mnhei'sahe, knowing full well the consequences of her betrayal. "There was no justifying the spilling of all her crew's lives, despite their treachery to her. Ael would bear the weight of murder, and sooner or later pay their bloodprice in the most intimate coinage possible; her own pain. . . . All that remained was the question of whether she would accept the blame for their deaths willingly, or reject it, blind herself to her responsibility, and prolong the Elements' retaliation." *
Though it may be the closest Terran equivalent, it is nevertheless a mistake to attempt to describe this complex idea solely in terms of honor. Such a translation is much easier, it is true, but few things of value are attained easily. Rihannsu philosophers have written hundreds of book attempting to define mnhei'sahe. How shall we presume to reduce it to the single word honor?
