Day 129: Arguing Over Yun Dong-ju's Stars

Dialogue

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1. 1

   A 상훈 씨, 저기가 윤동주 문학관이에요. 내려가는 길에 시인의 언덕에 잠깐 들렀다 갈까요?

   Sanghun ssi, jeogiga Yundongju munhakgwanieyo. Naeryeoganeun gire siinui eondeoge jamkkan deulleotda galkkayo?

   Sanghun, that's the Yun Dong-ju Literary Museum. Shall we stop at the Poet's Hill for a bit on the way down?

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2. 2

   B 좋죠. 여기만 오면 '서시'가 생각나요. 저는 그 시를 읽을 때마다 별이 저항의 상징처럼 느껴져요.

   Jochyo. Yeogiman omyeon 'seosi'ga saenggangnayo. Jeoneun geu sireul ilgeul ttaemada byeori jeohangui sangjingcheoreom neukkyeojyeoyo.

   Sure. Whenever I come here, I think of "Prologue." Every time I read it, the stars seem like a symbol of resistance.

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3. 3

   A 저항이요? 저는 좀 다르게 읽어요. 그 시는 싸우는 시가 아니라 부끄러워하는 시예요.

   Jeohangiyo? Jeoneun jom dareuge ilgeoyo. Geu sineun ssauneun siga anira bukkeureowohaneun siyeyo.

   Resistance? I read it a bit differently. It's not a poem about fighting; it's a poem about shame.

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4. 4

   B 부끄러움도 결국 저항이죠. 일제 강점기에 우리말로 시를 쓴 것 자체가 저항이었잖아요.

   Bukkeureoumdo gyeolguk jeohangijyo. Ilje gangjeomgie urimallo sireul sseun geot jachega jeohangieotjanayo.

   Shame is resistance in the end. Writing poems in Korean under Japanese rule was an act of resistance in itself.

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5. 5

   A 그건 맞는데, 시 안에서는 적을 향해 칼을 들지 않아요. 자기 자신을 들여다보죠. '한 점 부끄럼이 없기를' 하고요.

   Geugeon manneunde, si aneseoneun jeogeul hyanghae kareul deulji anayo. Jagi jasineul deuryeodabojyo. 'Han jeom bukkeureomi eopgireul' hagoyo.

   True, but inside the poem he doesn't raise a sword against the enemy. He looks into himself. "That I may have not a speck of shame," he says.

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6. 6

   B 그다음 구절이 뭐였더라. '잎새에 부는 바람에도 나는 괴로워했다'였나요?

   Geudaeum gujeori mwoyeotdeora. 'Ipsaee buneun baramedo naneun goerowohaetda'yeonnayo?

   What's the next line again? "Even in the wind blowing through the leaves, I suffered"?

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7. 7

   A '부는'이 아니라 '이는'일 거예요. '잎새에 이는 바람에도.' 아마 그럴걸요.

   'Buneun'i anira 'ineun'il geoyeyo. 'Ipsaee ineun baramedo.' Ama geureolgeoryo.

   Not "blowing" - I think it's "stirring." "Even in the wind that stirs the leaves." I'm fairly sure.

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8. 8

   B '이는'이요? 확실해요? 저는 평생 '부는'으로 외웠는데요.

   'Ineun'iyo? Hwaksilhaeyo? Jeoneun pyeongsaeng 'buneun'euro oewonneundeyo.

   "Stirring"? Are you sure? I've always known it as "blowing."

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9. 9

   A 음, 확실하다고 하긴 좀 그렇네요. 요즘 기억이 영 가물가물해서요. 그 시를 몇 년에 썼던가. 천구백사십일 년이었던가요?

   Eum, hwaksilhadago hagin jom geureonneyo. Yojeum gieogi yeong gamulgamulhaeseoyo. Geu sireul myeot nyeone sseotdeonga. Cheongubaeksasibil nyeonieotdeongayo?

   Hmm, I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm sure. My memory's been hazy lately. What year did he write it, now... Was it 1941?

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10. 10

    B 해방되기 몇 년 전이었던 건 확실해요. 윤동주는 해방을 못 보고 후쿠오카 감옥에서 세상을 떠났잖아요. 그러니까 저항이죠.

    Haebangdoegi myeot nyeon jeonieotdeon geon hwaksilhaeyo. Yundongjuneun haebangeul mot bogo Hukuoka gamogeseo sesangeul tteonatjanayo. Geureonikka jeohangijyo.

    It was a few years before liberation, that much I'm sure of. He died in Fukuoka prison without ever seeing it. That's why it's resistance.

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11. 11

    A 감옥에 간 건 역사고, 시는 또 달라요. 저는 그 부끄러움이 더 무섭게 느껴져요. 총칼 앞에 서는 것보다 자기 양심 앞에 서는 게 더 어렵잖아요.

    Gamoge gan geon yeoksago, sineun tto dallayo. Jeoneun geu bukkeureoumi deo museopge neukkyeojyeoyo. Chongkal ape seoneun geotboda jagi yangsim ape seoneun ge deo eoryeopjanayo.

    Going to prison is history; the poem's something else. To me, that shame is even more formidable. Standing before your own conscience is harder than standing before guns and swords.

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12. 12

    B 그러니까 동현 씨 말은, 별이 저항이 아니라 양심이라는 거예요?

    Geureonikka Donghyeon ssi mareun, byeori jeohangi anira yangsimiraneun geoyeyo?

    So what you're saying is, the stars aren't resistance, they're conscience?

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13. 13

    A 그렇죠. 하늘의 별은 시인이 자기를 비춰 보는 거울이에요. 별처럼 살지 못하는 나, 그것이 곧 시인의 부끄러움이라.

    Geureochyo. Haneurui byeoreun siini jagireul bichwo boneun geourieyo. Byeolcheoreom salji motaneun na, geugeosi got siinui bukkeureoumira.

    Exactly. The stars in the sky are a mirror in which the poet looks at himself. A self that cannot live like the stars - therein lies the poet's shame.

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14. 14

    B 갑자기 말투가 옛날 선비 같네요. 근데 '별을 노래하는 마음으로 모든 죽어 가는 것을 사랑해야지'는요? 그건 다짐이잖아요.

    Gapjagi maltuga yennal seonbi ganneyo. Geunde 'byeoreul noraehaneun maeumeuro modeun jugeo ganeun geoseul saranghaeyaji'neunyo? Geugeon dajimijanayo.

    All of a sudden you sound like an old-time scholar. But what about "With a heart that sings to the stars, I must love all things that are dying"? That's a vow.

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15. 15

    A 싸우겠다는 다짐이라기보다 사랑하겠다는 다짐 아닐까요? 싸움과 사랑은 좀 다르죠.

    Ssaugetdaneun dajimiragiboda saranghagetdaneun dajim anilkkayo? Ssaumgwa sarangeun jom dareujyo.

    Isn't it more a vow to love than a vow to fight? Fighting and loving aren't quite the same thing.

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16. 16

    B 그 시대에는 사랑하는 게 곧 싸우는 거였을 수도 있죠. 우리말을 사랑하는 것조차 금지된 시대였으니까요.

    Geu sidaeeneun saranghaneun ge got ssauneun geoyeosseul sudo itjyo. Urimareul saranghaneun geotjocha geumjidoen sidaeyeosseunikkayo.

    In that era, loving might have been the same as fighting. It was a time when even loving your own language was forbidden.

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17. 17

    A 허, 그건 반박하기 어렵네요. 인정할게요. 반만요.

    Heo, geugeon banbakagi eoryeomneyo. Injeonghalgeyo. Banmanyo.

    Huh, that's hard to argue with. I'll give you that. Half of it.

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18. 18

    B 반이라니요. 근데 우리 둘 다 구절 하나 제대로 못 외우면서 해석을 논하고 있네요.

    Baniraniyo. Geunde uri dul da gujeol hana jedaero mot oeumyeonseo haeseogeul nonhago inneyo.

    Only half? Still, here we are debating interpretation when neither of us can even get a single line right.

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19. 19

    A 마침 저기 시비가 있네요. 저 돌에 '서시'가 새겨져 있을 거예요. 가서 확인해 봅시다.

    Machim jeogi sibiga inneyo. Jeo dore 'seosi'ga saegyeojyeo isseul geoyeyo. Gaseo hwaginhae bopsida.

    Look, there's a poem stone over there. "Prologue" should be carved on it. Let's go and check.

    Line 19
20. 20

    B 봐요, '잎새에 이는 바람에도.' 동현 씨가 맞았네요. 저만 평생 틀리게 외우고 다녔어요.

    Bwayo, 'ipsaee ineun baramedo.' Donghyeon ssiga majanneyo. Jeoman pyeongsaeng teullige oeugo danyeosseoyo.

    Look, "the wind that stirs the leaves." You were right. I'm the one who's been getting it wrong my whole life.

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21. 21

    A 제가 이겼네요. 그럼 해석도 제가 맞은 걸로 할까요?

    Jega igyeonneyo. Geureom haeseokdo jega majeun geollo halkkayo?

    So I win. Shall we say I'm right about the interpretation too?

    Line 21
22. 22

    B 그건 별개예요. 구절은 돌에 새겨져 있지만, 해석은 어디에도 새겨져 있지 않잖아요.

    Geugeon byeolgaeyeyo. Gujeoreun dore saegyeojyeo itjiman, haeseogeun eodiedo saegyeojyeo itji anchanayo.

    That's a separate matter. The words are carved in stone, but the interpretation isn't carved anywhere.

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23. 23

    A 그 말은 멋있네요. 그럼 오늘 밤에 별이 보이면 각자 자기 식대로 읽기로 하죠.

    Geu mareun meosinneyo. Geureom oneul bame byeori boimyeon gakja jagi sikdaero ilgiro hajyo.

    Nicely put. Then tonight, if the stars are out, we each read them our own way.

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24. 24

    B 서울 하늘에 별이 보여야 말이죠. '오늘 밤에도 별이 바람에 스치운다'는데, 오늘은 미세 먼지에 스치겠네요.

    Seoul haneure byeori boyeoya marijyo. 'Oneul bamedo byeori barame seuchiunda'neunde, oneureun mise meonjie seuchigenneyo.

    Only if you can see any stars in the Seoul sky. "Tonight, too, the stars are brushed by the wind," he wrote - but tonight they'll be brushed by fine dust.

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25. 25

    A 하하, 그 구절은 정확하게 외우시네요. 내려가서 막걸리 한잔하면서 마저 싸웁시다.

    Haha, geu gujeoreun jeonghwakage oeusineyo. Naeryeogaseo makgeolli hanjanhamyeonseo majeo ssaupsida.

    Ha, that line you know word for word. Let's head down and finish this fight over some makgeolli.

    Line 25