Day 91: The Toast She Softened

Dialogue

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1. 1

   B 왔어? 국빈 만찬은 어땠어? 아까 뉴스에 자기 뒷모습 잠깐 나오던데.

   Wasseo? Gukbin manchaneun eottaesseo? Akka nyuseue jagi dwinmoseup jamkkan naodeonde.

   You're back? How was the state dinner? I caught a glimpse of the back of your head on the news earlier.

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2. 2

   A 뒷모습이라 다행이다. 표정 보였으면 큰일 날 뻔했어. 나 오늘 건배사를 좀 바꿨거든.

   Dwinmoseubira dahaengida. Pyojeong boyeosseumyeon keunil nal ppeonhaesseo. Na oneul geonbaesareul jom bakkwotgeodeun.

   Good thing it was the back of my head. If they'd shown my face, I'd have been in trouble. I changed a toast a little tonight.

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3. 3

   B 바꿨다고? 통역사가? 허허, 그래서 분위기는 어떻던가?

   Bakkwotdago? Tongyeoksaga? Heoheo, geuraeseo bunwigineun eotteoteonga?

   Changed it? You, the interpreter? Well, well. And how, pray tell, was the atmosphere?

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4. 4

   A 갑자기 웬 사극 말투야. 분위기는 좋았어. 내가 바꿔서 좋았던 거지만.

   Gapjagi wen sageuk maltuya. Bunwigineun joasseo. Naega bakkwoseo joatdeon geojiman.

   Why the period-drama voice all of a sudden? The atmosphere was fine. Fine because I changed it, that is.

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5. 5

   B 무슨 말을 했길래? 그쪽 장관이 뭐라고 했는데?

   Museun mareul haetgillae? Geujjok janggwani mworago haenneunde?

   Why, what did he say? What did their minister say?

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6. 6

   A 건배를 제안하면서 '약속을 지키는 친구와만 잔을 부딪치겠다'고 했어. 작년 협상 때 우리가 발표를 미룬 걸 콕 집어서 한 말이야.

   Geonbaereul jeanhamyeonseo 'yaksogeul jikineun chinguwaman janeul buditchigetda'go haesseo. Jangnyeon hyeopsang ttae uriga balpyoreul mirun geol kok jibeoseo han mariya.

   When he proposed the toast, he said, 'I will raise my glass only with friends who keep their promises.' A pointed dig at how we delayed the announcement during last year's talks.

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7. 7

   B 와, 만찬장에서 그렇게 노골적으로? 그래서 어떻게 옮겼어?

   Wa, manchanjangeseo geureoke nogoljeogeuro? Geuraeseo eotteoke omgyeosseo?

   Wow, that blatantly, at a dinner? So how did you translate it?

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8. 8

   A '서로의 약속을 소중히 여기는 친구로서 잔을 들겠습니다.' 가시는 빼고 뜻만 남겼지.

   'Seoroui yaksogeul sojunghi yeogineun chinguroseo janeul deulgetseumnida.' Gasineun ppaego tteunman namgyeotji.

   'Let us raise our glasses as friends who treasure the promises we make to each other.' I took out the thorn and kept the meaning.

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9. 9

   B 그건 통역이 아니라 외교 아니야? 통역사는 들은 대로 옮기는 게 원칙이잖아.

   Geugeon tongyeogi anira oegyo aniya? Tongyeoksaneun deureun daero omgineun ge wonchigijana.

   Isn't that diplomacy rather than interpreting? The rule for interpreters is to render what you hear.

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10. 10

    A 원칙은 그렇지. 근데 그대로 옮기면 우리 쪽 테이블이 싸늘해지고, 그 뒤 두 시간이 망가지는 게 눈에 보였어.

    Wonchigeun geureochi. Geunde geudaero omgimyeon uri jjok teibeuri ssaneulhaejigo, geu dwi du sigani manggajineun ge nune boyeosseo.

    That's the rule. But I could see that if I rendered it as it was, our side's tables would freeze over and the next two hours would be ruined.

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11. 11

    B 그래도 그 장관은 일부러 그 말을 골랐잖아. 결국 그 사람 의도를 왜곡한 거지.

    Geuraedo geu janggwaneun ilbureo geu mareul gollatjana. Gyeolguk geu saram uidoreul waegokan geoji.

    But that minister chose those words on purpose. So you distorted what he meant.

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12. 12

    A 왜곡한 게 아니라 온도를 낮춘 거야. 약속 얘기는 그대로 남겼잖아. 들을 사람은 다 알아들었을 거고.

    Waegokan ge anira ondoreul natchun geoya. Yaksok yaegineun geudaero namgyeotjana. Deureul sarameun da aradeureosseul geogo.

    I didn't distort it, I turned the temperature down. The part about promises stayed in. Anyone who needed to get it would have got it.

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13. 13

    B 그럼 장관은 눈치채던가? 자기 말이 순해진 거.

    Geureom janggwaneun nunchichaedeonga? Jagi mari sunhaejin geo.

    So did the minister notice? That his words had been softened?

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14. 14

    A 그게 문제야. 그쪽 수행원 중에 한국어 하는 사람이 있었어. 만찬 끝나고 장관이 와서 영어로 그러더라. '제 말보다 통역이 더 친절하더군요.'

    Geuge munjeya. Geujjok suhaengwon junge Hangugeo haneun sarami isseosseo. Manchan kkeunnago janggwani waseo Yeongeoro geureodeora. 'Je malboda tongyeogi deo chinjeolhadeogunyo.'

    That's the problem. One of his aides speaks Korean. After dinner the minister came over and said to me in English, 'Your interpretation was kinder than my words.'

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15. 15

    B 헉. 그거 칭찬이야, 경고야?

    Heok. Geugeo chingchaniya, gyeonggoya?

    Yikes. Was that a compliment or a warning?

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16. 16

    A 나도 모르겠어. 웃으면서 말했는데 눈은 안 웃었어. 오는 내내 그 얼굴만 생각났어.

    Nado moreugesseo. Useumyeonseo malhaenneunde nuneun an useosseo. Oneun naenae geu eolgulman saenggangnasseo.

    I don't know. He was smiling as he said it, but his eyes weren't. I couldn't stop thinking about that face the whole way home.

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17. 17

    B 내가 보기엔 둘 다야. 덕분에 만찬은 살았고, 장관은 할 말을 다 못 한 거니까.

    Naega bogien dul daya. Deokbune manchaneun saratgo, janggwaneun hal mareul da mot han geonikka.

    I'd say it was both. Thanks to you the dinner survived, and the minister didn't get to say everything he meant.

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18. 18

    A 맞아. 그리고 그건 내가 정할 일이 아니었어. 외교는 장관들이 하는 거고, 나는 말을 옮기는 사람인데.

    Maja. Geurigo geugeon naega jeonghal iri anieosseo. Oegyoneun janggwandeuri haneun geogo, naneun mareul omgineun saraminde.

    Right. And it wasn't my call to make. Diplomacy is for ministers. My job is to carry the words across.

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19. 19

    B 그럼 다음엔 어떻게 할 건데?

    Geureom daeumen eotteoke hal geonde?

    So what will you do next time?

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20. 20

    A 다음엔 토씨 하나 안 바꾸리라. 가시가 있으면 가시까지 그대로 옮기리라.

    Daeumen tossi hana an bakkurira. Gasiga isseumyeon gasikkaji geudaero omgirira.

    Next time I shall not change a single particle. If there's a thorn, I shall carry the thorn across too.

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21. 21

    B 오, 결연하시네. 근데 그 가시에 우리 쪽 장관이 찔려서 만찬장을 박차고 나가면?

    O, gyeoryeonhasine. Geunde geu gasie uri jjok janggwani jjillyeoseo manchanjangeul bakchago nagamyeon?

    Ooh, how resolute. But what if our minister gets pricked by that thorn and storms out of the dinner?

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22. 22

    A 그땐 장관님들이 알아서 하셔야지. 아니면 옮기기 전에 원래 표현이 꽤 세다는 걸 살짝 알려 주는 방법도 있고.

    Geuttaen janggwannimdeuri araseo hasyeoyaji. Animyeon omgigi jeone wollae pyohyeoni kkwae sedaneun geol saljjak allyeo juneun bangbeopdo itgo.

    Then the ministers will have to deal with it themselves. Or there's the option of quietly signalling, before I render it, that the original is pretty strong.

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23. 23

    B 그거 좋네. 자, 이제 자자. 통역사 양반, 내일 아침은 가시 없는 말로 부탁하네.

    Geugeo jonne. Ja, ije jaja. Tongyeoksa yangban, naeil achimeun gasi eomneun mallo butakane.

    That's a good one. Come on, let's get to bed. Madam Interpreter, tomorrow morning, thornless words only, if you please.

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