운수 좋은 날
A Lucky Day
Hyeon Jin-geon (1900–1943)
이야기
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잔뜩 흐린 겨울 하늘에서 눈은 오지 않고, 얼다 만 비가 추적추적 내리는 날이었다.서울 동소문 안에서 인력거를 끄는 김 첨지에게 이날은 오래간만에 운수가 좋은 날이었다.열흘 동안 돈 구경도 못 했는데, 아침부터 손님이 연달아 둘이나 생겨 팔십 전이라는 큰돈을 손에 쥐었던 것이다.
집에는 한 달이 넘도록 앓아누운 아내가 있었다.아내는 쿨룩쿨룩 기침을 하며 조밥 한 숟가락도 제대로 넘기지 못했지만, 약 한 첩 써 본 적이 없었다.그런 아내가 사흘 전부터 설렁탕 국물이 먹고 싶다며 남편을 졸랐다.오늘 아침에도 아내는 “오늘은 나가지 말아요. 내가 이렇게 아픈데...” 하며 떨리는 목소리로 남편을 붙잡았다.김 첨지는 “재수 없게 무슨 소리야!” 하고 버럭 소리를 지르고는 문을 나섰다.
행운은 거기서 그치지 않았다. 남대문 정거장까지 가자는 학생이, 김 첨지가 부른 일 원 오십 전을 두말없이 내겠다고 한 것이다.비에 젖은 몸이 날아갈 듯 가벼웠지만, 이상하게도 집 근처를 지날 때는 다리가 무거워졌다.“오늘은 나가지 말아요.” 아내의 그 말이 자꾸만 귀에 울렸다.그럴수록 김 첨지는 이 행운이 조금이라도 더 이어지기를 바라며, 집으로 돌아갈 시간을 자꾸만 미루었다.
해가 질 무렵, 김 첨지는 선술집 앞에서 친구 치삼이를 만났다.빈속에 막걸리를 몇 잔이고 들이켠 김 첨지는 갑자기 껄껄 웃다가, 또 갑자기 엉엉 울기 시작했다.“우리 마누라가 죽었다네.” 치삼이가 깜짝 놀라자, 김 첨지는 다시 웃으며 거짓말이라고 손을 내저었다.그러고는 비틀거리는 걸음으로 설렁탕 한 그릇을 사 들고 집으로 향했다.
집 안은 무덤처럼 조용했다. 늘 들리던 기침 소리도, 가쁜 숨소리도 들리지 않았다.들리는 것은 빈 젖을 빠는 아기의 쪽쪽 소리뿐이었다.김 첨지는 일부러 더 크게 소리를 지르며 누워 있는 아내의 다리를 걷어찼지만, 발에 닿는 것은 나무토막 같은 느낌뿐이었다.
김 첨지는 아내의 얼굴에 제 얼굴을 비비며 울부짖었다.“설렁탕을 사다 놓았는데 왜 먹지를 못하니, 왜 먹지를 못하니... 이상하게도 오늘은 운수가 좋더니만...”
전체 번역먼저 이야기를 읽어 보고, 이해했는지 확인할 때만 열어 보세요.
It was a grey winter day, and instead of snow, a half-frozen rain kept drizzling down. For Kim Cheomji, who pulled a rickshaw inside the East Small Gate of Seoul, it was the first lucky day in a long while. He had not seen a single coin in ten days, but since morning two passengers in a row had come his way, and he now held eighty jeon, a lot of money for him.
At home lay his wife, who had been sick in bed for more than a month. She coughed and coughed and could hardly swallow a spoonful of millet, yet she had never had a single dose of medicine. For the last three days, she had been begging her husband for some ox-bone soup. This morning, too, she had tried to hold him back in a shaking voice: "Don't go out today. I'm so sick..." Kim had shouted, "Don't bring me bad luck with that talk!" and walked out the door.
His luck did not stop there. A student who wanted to go to Namdaemun Station agreed without a word to the one won fifty jeon that Kim asked for. His rain-soaked body felt light enough to fly, yet strangely, his legs grew heavy as he passed near home. "Don't go out today." His wife's words kept ringing in his ears. Yet the louder they rang, the longer he put off going home, hoping his luck would last just a little longer.
Toward sunset, Kim met his friend Chisam outside a tavern. After gulping down cup after cup of rice wine on an empty stomach, Kim suddenly roared with laughter, and then just as suddenly began to sob. "My wife is dead." When Chisam stared in shock, Kim laughed again and waved his hand, saying it was a lie. Then, staggering, he bought a bowl of ox-bone soup and set off for home.
The house was as silent as a grave. He could not hear the usual coughing, or the short, hard breathing. The only sound was the baby sucking at an empty breast. Kim shouted even louder on purpose and kicked at his wife's legs where she lay, but all his foot met was something like a block of wood.
Kim pressed his face against his wife's face and wailed. "I brought you the soup, so why won't you eat it, why won't you eat it... Strange, my luck was so good today..."
이해도 확인
1. What did Kim Cheomji's wife want to eat?
2. What did his wife ask Kim this morning?
3. Why does the title "A Lucky Day" feel so sad?
핵심 단어
noun
인력거
illyeokgeo
rickshaw
김 첨지는 비를 맞으며 인력거를 끌었다.
Kim pulled his rickshaw through the rain.
한줄 요약
In 1–2 sentences, say why Kim Cheomji's lucky day was really the worst day of his life.
출처: Based on Unsu joeun nal (운수 좋은 날, A Lucky Day), the short story Hyeon Jin-geon published in the magazine Gaebyeok in 1924. The author died in 1943, and the story is in the public domain. This simplified retelling in modern Korean and its English translation are original text written for SeoJae Story.
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