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| 두 순정(純情) |
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나는 고골의 , 도스토옙스키의 처녀작 중편 을 읽고 감동을 받았다. 모파상, 오 헨리, 알퐁스 도테, 나다니엘 호돈, 애드가 알랜 포우의 작품들을 거의 모두 재미있게 읽었다. 하지만 채만식의 단편소설 “두 순정(純情)”을 능가하는 작품은 없었다. 그래서 영어로 번역해보았다. 세계적인 문인(文人)포름 literrary forum 몇 군데에 올렸는데 역시 찬사를 받았다. "What a beautiful(wonderful) story it is?" ■두 순정(純情)■ 1938년 채만식 모처럼 산행(山行)을 갔다가 일부러 그 암자를 찾아 하루밤을 묵기로 했다. 그곳에 이상한 노승이 있다는 말을 들었기 때문이다. 산중 절간은 초저녁부터 삼경처럼 깊다. 바람이 불 때마다 낙엽 지는 소리가 쓸쓸하고, 등잔불이 흔들린다. 청아한 얼굴에 눈썹이 하얀 노승은 눈을 감고 합장을 하다가 다음과 같은 이야기를 들려주었다. 밤중에 글방에서 돌아온 어린 새서방은 “어머니!”하고 외쳐 부른다. 기다리고 있던 색시가 달려나와 사립문을 열어준다. 12살 새서방은 좋아서 싱글거리고, 21살 색시는 귀여운 오랍동생을 대하듯 방긋 웃는다. 방으로 들어온 새서방이 색시의 무릎에 엎드리면 색시는 망건을 벗겨준다. 새서방은 옛날 이야기를 해달라고 조른다. 색시가 “옛날에 쬐고만 새서방하고 커다란 색시가 살았는데...”하니까 새서방 봉수는 질색을 한다. 그러다 문득 색시가 웃는 볼에 옴푹 팬인 보조개가 좋아 보여 손가락으로 꼭 눌러본다. 색시는 이미 셀 수 없을 만큼 들려주었던 호랑이 이야기를 적당히 꾸며댄다. 새서방은 이야기를 다 듣지도 않고 스르르 잠이 든다. 색시는 잠든 새서방의 얼굴을 바라보며 미소를 짓는다. 매일 바라보는 나무처럼 안 크는 것 같지만 실상은 꽤 자랐다. 재작년 섣달 시집왔을 때, 새서방 나이는 열 살, 밤이면 자다말고 엄마를 부르며 울기도 하고 오줌을 싸는 때도 있었다. 겨울이 되어 바쁜 일이 없게 되자 시부모는 새며느리를 근친 보내기로 했다. 시집 온 지 2년이 지나면 누구가 으레 첫 친정 나들이를 가는 법이다. 색시가 한 달간 자기 집(친정)에 간다는 말을 들은 새서방 봉수는 안된다고 펄쩍 뛴다. 오래 전부터 친정나들이를 기다렸던 색시도 그처럼 자기를 따르는 새서방을 떼어놓고 가기가 안쓰러워 어쩔 줄을 모른다. 하지만 마음대로 그만둘 수도 없는 노릇이다. 시부모에게 내세울 말도 없다. 새서방은 글방에도 안 가고 울어대다가 부친에게 매를 맞았다. 색시는 설에 부모님에게 말씀을 드리고 길잡이를 앞세워 오라고 달랬으나 새서방은 울먹거릴 뿐 대답도 하지 않는다. 색시는 마음에 걸려 몇 번이고 뒤를 돌아보며 내키지 않는 길을 떠났다. 새서방은 손가락을 입에 물고 바라본다. 분홍 저고리에 옥색 치마를 입은 색시가 해죽 웃으니까 볼에 보조개가 팬다. 점점 멀어지고 있지만 아직 모습이 보이니까, 어머니, 하고 부르면 서서 기다려 줄 것 같다. 새서방의 얼굴은 어느 새 눈물로 흠뻑 젖었다. 사흘 뒤에 봉수의 부모는 할 수 없이 어린 새서방을 아내가 있는 처가로 보내기로 했다. 풀이 죽어 있는 꼴이 어처로와 차마 볼 수가 없었던 것이다. 뒤늦게 얻은 외아들이기에 일찌기 장가를 들였고 가난한 살림에 글방에도 보낸 것이다. 부모는 간 김에 설까지 쇠고 아내와 같이 오라고 했다. 봉수는 순식간에 기운이 나서 날뛰었다. 일찍 조반을 먹고 우쭐거리며 길잡이와 함께 길을 떠났다. 들판을 지나 재를 오르 내리고 다시 한참 걸어 처가에 당도했을 때, 해는 중천을 지났다. 새서방이 찰삭거리고 들어서는 걸 본 색시는 고꾸라질 듯이 달려나온다. 보는 사람이 없다면 그대로 얼싸 안을 듯하다. 새서방은 배시시 웃고 서 있다. 장모도 반겨하고, 앓고 누웠던 장인도 방문을 열고 얼굴을 내민다. 색시가 방으로 들어오라니까 볼이 잔뜩 부운 새서방은 “집에 가!”하고 소리친다. 여섯 살 짜리 처제까지 모두 웃는다. 그러나 그의 고집을 잘 아는 색시는 속으로 단단히 걱정이 된다. “호호호, 나도 오랜만에 우리 어머니 아버지한테 왔으니까 좀 편안히 있다가 가야지! 그렇잖아?”하고 달래보았지만, 새서방은 꼼짝 않고 집에 가자고 조른다. 할 수 없이 색시가 가긴 갈 테니 우선 방으로 들어가자고 하니까 새서방은 마지못해 비실비실 따라 들어간다. 이튿날 오후가 지났을 때, 색시는 새서방과 함께 친정집을 나설 수밖에 없었다. 아무도 그의 고집을 당해낼 수가 없었다. 조반도 안 먹고 점심 때가 되니까 드디어 울음보를 터뜨린 것이다. 실상 색시도 오랜만에 친정에 왔지만 며칠 지나니까 그다지 즐거움을 모르겠고, 풀이 죽어 있을 새서방의 모습이 자꾸만 떠올랐다. 일찌감치 시댁으로 돌아가는 것이 싫지도 않았다. 해는 좀 기울었으나 재만 넘으면 들판이니까 괜찮을 거라는 생각을 하고 길을 나섰다. 시댁에 보내는 선물로 꿩 두 마리는 새서방이 보따리에 꾸려 짊어지고, 술 한 병은 색시가 손에 들었다. 하늘은 잔뜩 흐렸고 바람이 차갑다. 어이없어 하면서 5리까지 따라나왔던 모친이 돌아설 때 눈발이 폴폴 날리기 시작했다. 재 밑에 왔을 때는 이미 사나운 눈보라로 변해서 길을 분간하기가 어려웠고 제대로 걸을 수도 없다. 새서방을 보니 입술이 새파래져서 달달 떤다. 겁이 난 색시는 친정집으로 돌아가서 내일 날이 들거든 오자고 달랬다. 그러나 새서방은 완강히 도리질을 한다. 색시는 할 수없이 새서방이 짊어졌던 보따리를 제 어깨에 걸치고 한 손으로 새서방의 손을 잡아끌면서 재를 오르기 시작했다. 비탈을 오르는 작은 길은 이미 눈에 덮였고, 사나운 눈보라는 앞을 가린다. 짐작만으로 길을 더듬었지만 오르 내리기를 반복할 뿐 아무리 가도 제자리를 헤매는 것 같다. 더럭 겁에 질린 색시는 허둥거린다. 새서방은 세 걸음에 한번 씩 고꾸라진다. 와들와들 떨며 얼굴이 사색이다. 참다못해 색시는 새서방을 들쳐업는다. 다시 얼마를 헤매는 사이에 날이 깜빡 저물었다. 눈보라는 더욱 사나워져 앞이 보이지 않는다. 등에 업힌 새서방은 엉엉 울어댄다. 춥고 배가 고프다는 것이다. 처가에 온 후 떼를 쓰느라 밥을 거의 먹지 않았던 것이다. 애가 탄 색시는 치마를 벗어 새서방에게 덮어준다. 지척을 분간할 수 없는 눈보라 속에서 구르는 듯 기는 듯 헤매다 기진맥진해서 더 이상 한 걸음도 옮겨 놓기가 어렵게 되었다. 정신도 아득아득해진다. 자신도 모르게 털썩 주저앉았을 때 손에 잡히는 것이 있었는데, 그것은 논바닥의 벼포기였다. 산을 넘어선 것이다. 그러나 색시는 더 이상 일어설 기력을 잃고 말았다. 색시는 새서방을 제 품안에 담뿍 안고 치마로 감싸주었다. 새서방의 울음소리가 점점 멀어져 가는 것 같았다. “혼자 먼저 가나보다. 그렇다면 다행이지!” 여기까지 생각하다 색시는 의식을 잃었다. 그 날밤 재를 넘어오던 동네사람 몇 명이 그들을 발견하여 업고 돌아왔다. 꽁꽁 얼어붙은 색시는 영영 소생하지 못했지만, 색시 품속에 안겼던 새서방은 무사히 살아났다. 봉수는 죽은 색시를 잊지 못했다. 분홍 저고리에 옥색 치마를 입고 해죽 웃는 얼굴에 예쁜 보조개가 옴푹 패는 색시의 환영은 나이가 든 후에서 사라지지 않았다. 20살 때 그의 부모가 다시 장가를 들이려고 했지만 봉수는 막무가내로 듣지 않았다. 25살에 양친이 다 돌아가자 봉수는 논밭과 살림을 모두 정리한 후 동네를 떠났다. 그후 그는 어느 산중에 들어가서 중이 되었다고 한다. 이야기를 마쳤을 때 노승의 나이를 물어보니 82세라고 한다. 70년의 세월이 흐른 것이다. “지금도 분홍 저고리에 옥색 치마를 입고 보조개가 옴푹 패는 색시의 보습이 보입니까?”하고 물으니, 노승은, “실없는 말씀을!”하며 눈을 감고 고개를 숙이며 합장을 한다. (끝) A Most Genuine Love Story Written in Korean by Chae, Mansik in 1938 Edited and Translated into English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007 After a long interval, I went mountaineering. I decided to stay overnight in order to find a small Buddhist temple nearby. They said that there you could find an aged monk who had something singular and even mysterious about him. I met him and he told me the following story. The 12-year-old newly-wed boy husband just returned from the village school by night and was crying out loudly, "Mom, I'm home!" It was not his mother but his own wife aged 21 who came out hurriedly to open the gate made of twigs. The very young husband jumped for joy with a sweet smile on his face. His much older wife was also pleased to see him as if he were her own dear brother. In their own room, the boy husband as usual pillowed his head on his mature wife's lap and asked her importunately to tell him an old tale. His wife began to talk, "Once upon a time there lived a very little and young boy husband and his tall and mature wife...". and the boy husband, Bongsu's face registered direct dismay. At the moment, Bongsu casually noticed deeply dented dimples on her gently smiling cheeks. He had a fancy for them and fingered them curiously. And the gentle wife made up another version of a tiger story which she had told countlessly. Soon her little husband softly closed his eyes and already fell asleep. The mature woman turned bemused eyes toward her sleeping husband, beaming. She had a long wait for the boy to grow up. It seemed to her that he grew as slowly as you looked at a tree awaiting its growth. Yet it was a matter of fact that he grew up quite a bit. When she got married to the young boy aged 10 about two years ago, the little child used to awake up from his sleep in the middle of the night and cried out for his mother and occasionally experienced bed-wetting. Fall drifted into winter. Bongsu' mother decided to send his son's wife to her parent´s home. It was the custom to grant her daughter-in-law a leave of absence for a month when two years passed after her married life in the home of the husband´s parents. Bongsu' mother thought that it was for leisure hours of winter. Upon knowing of it, the little husband started up with anger. The mature woman had been waiting for the visit to her parent´s old home. But now she was at a loss what to do. Puzzlement showed on her face. It was difficult to set forth because she could not bear to see her little husband who liked her so much. However, it was not up to her to give up the customary visit to her old home. And she could not find a plausible excuse for that. The little boy refused to go to the village school. He cried and cried loudly till he got whipped by his father. The wife tried hard to comfort and calm down her little husband, saying, "My dear, you can come to me on New Year´s Day with a guide!" But he showed no response but tried to gulp down his tears. Feeling so sorry and uneasy, she looked back twenty times before she left reluctantly. The little husband, holding a finger between his teeth, saw her walk away. Everytime the pretty woman in pink jacket and jade green skirt turned around and smiled sweetly at him, he saw dimples on her cheeks. She was getting away from him but not yet out of sight. Suddenly he felt the urge to call her back; it seemed to him that she might possibly stand still and wait for him. Burning tears streamed down his cheeks. Four days later, Bongsu's parents reluctantly decided to send their son to his wife's. They were just getting nowhere. Their son was completely out of spirits. He was just too pitiful to look at. Bongsu was the only son they had in their too old age. That was the reason why they married him so early and sent him to a school though they were not so well off. They said, "Once you have decided to go anyway, stay with your wife for the New Year holidays and return home together with her." These words suddenly filled him with new energy. Bongsu ate breakfast ahead of time and set off along with a guide in hight spirits. They passed a field and went through the woods over a hill. Then they still walked quite a lot through a plain. When they arrived at Bongsu´s wife´s old home, the sun was descending slowly. On seeing her little husband coming flippantly , she dashed out to meet him. She might have thrown her arms around his neck if there had been only two persons around. The little husband was standing there with a broad smile on his face. His mother-in-law was delighted to see the guest. Even his father-in-law got up from his sickbed to open the door and threw out his head to meet his little son-in-law. As the wife asked her little husband to come in, Bongsu kept a sullen silence. And he shouted, "I want you to go back to my home with me right now!" Everybody around, including the six-year-old sister-in-law, laughed at the scene. But the wife became seriously concerned about her husband. She knew well that he was extremely obstinate. "Ho, ho, ho. I am here with my mom and pa and other family after a long absence. I think I have a right to stay here comfortably at rest for a while. Don't you think so?" The mature wife attempted to coax her little husband into compliance. But he wouldn't budge an inch and continued clamoring out for their returning home. The wife had nothing to do but concede. "All right. I promise you to go back home with you and please, come inside for the time being. At that, he followed her inside reluctantly with faltering steps. The next day afternoon, the wife could not help but prepare to leave her maiden home. He didn't eat breakfast and at noontime burst into tears at last. As for the wife, it was not altogether disagreeable to go back to the house of her husband earlier than expected. Though she came to her parent´s family after a long separation, after some days passed, she found the pleasure of life at her maiden home was not so great. Besides, the sight of her little husband who must be in poor spirits began to flit across her mind day after day. Though the sun was declining, they didn't mind it. If they could cross over a hill, they would meet a field. Then, no matter. They set forward. The wife's parents gave something as a present for the family of their daughter's husband. The little boy carried on the back the two pheasants done up in a bundle. His wife was holding a bottle of wine. The sky was overcast and the wind was piercing. When the wife's mother, who in blank dismay came along to see the two off, was about to turn back, snowflakes began to fall. As they arrived at the foot of a mountain, the snowflakes suddenly turned into a raging snowstorm. It was hard to discern the way and difficult to walk on. The wife saw her husband trembling with his pallid lips. He was shivering with cold. She became seized with fear and tried to persuade her husband to return, saying, "We can start again next day, when the weather turns fine." However, her husband shook his head stubbornly. There was no help for it. She bore on the shoulder the thing her husband carried and began to climb up the hill, leading him by the hand. The ascending small pass was already laden with snow all the way. The raging snowstorm obstructed their range of view. They struggled along a mountain path at a random guess. They walked around, upward and downward repeatedly. But it seemed to be the original place all the time. The woman became so flustered that she didn't know what to do. She was panic-stricken. The little boy staggered and fell down incessantly. He was trembling all over, his face turned deadly pale. She couldn't bear it any longer. She gave a piggyback to him. They wandered about over again for some time and night fell. Darkness overtook them. The blizzard became more and more fierce and everything around went out of sight. The little boy started to cry bitterly. He was dying of the cold and hunger. Indeed, he was so cold and hungry. He ate almost nothing since he came over to his wife's home. He only badgered his wife to take him home. So worried, the woman took off her skirt and covered up the boy tightly with it. They wandered, rolling over and over, where nothing was to be seen an inch ahead. They just felt all in. The woman was passing out. Scarcely witting, she plunked herself down and felt something vaguely. It was a rice stubble in the field. They just went over the mountain. But the young woman blacked out. The woman was holding her little husband in her bosom wrapping him firmly in her skirt. That night, some neighbors, who were coming over the hill, found and carried them home. The woman was thickly frozen over; they could not bring her back to life. But Bongsu, the little boy, who were hugged in his wife's bosom revived safe and sound. Bongsu never forgot his wife who died to save him; a vision of the pretty woman in pink jacket and jade green skirt; who turned around and smiled sweetly at him; together with the dimples on her cheeks; never vanished from him. When he was 25 years old, his parents tried to remarry their son to a woman. But he refused flatly. Soon after, both his parents died and Bongsu left the village. Then he entered a Buddhist temple to be a priest. When the old priest finished the story, I asked him how old he was. He answered, "I am 83 years old now." 70 years passed since then. I asked him again, "Do you still see the vision of the woman in pink jacket and jade green skirt along with the deeply dented dimples on her gently smiling cheeks?" The old man, with his hands pressed in prayer and a bow on ceremonial occasions, responded, "What a silly talk!" (The End)
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