동백꽃
Camellias
Kim Yu-jeong (1908–1937)
The Story
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오늘도 우리 집 수탉은 점순네 큰 수탉에게 쫓기며 머리에서 피를 흘렸다.점순이는 우리 집이 땅을 부쳐 먹는 마름의 딸로, 나와 같은 열일곱 살이었다.일이 이렇게 된 것은 나흘 전, 감자 때문이었다.
울타리를 엮고 있는 나에게 점순이가 슬그머니 다가오더니, 앞치마 속에서 따끈한 감자 세 개를 꺼내 내밀었다.“너희 집엔 이거 없지? 봄 감자가 맛있단다.”그 말이 괜히 자존심을 건드려서, 나는 고개도 돌리지 않고 감자를 밀어 버렸다.점순이는 얼굴이 홍당무처럼 빨개지더니, 눈물까지 글썽이며 나를 쏘아보고는 돌아섰다.
그 뒤로 점순이는 틈만 나면 제 집 수탉을 몰고 와서 우리 수탉과 싸움을 붙였다.우리 수탉은 덩치가 작아서 늘 피투성이가 되어 쫓겨 다녔다.수탉에게 고추장을 먹이면 힘이 난다는 말을 듣고 몰래 먹여 보았지만, 그것도 잠깐뿐이었다.그렇다고 점순이에게 대들 수도 없었다. 마름의 눈 밖에 나면 우리 집은 땅을 잃고 쫓겨날지도 몰랐기 때문이다.
오늘 산에서 나무를 해 오는데, 점순이가 바위 틈에 핀 노란 동백꽃 옆에 앉아 버들피리를 불고 있었다.그 앞에서는 두 수탉이 또 싸우고 있었고, 우리 수탉은 거의 죽어 가고 있었다.나는 너무 화가 나서 막대기로 점순네 수탉을 내리쳤고, 수탉은 그대로 쓰러져 죽고 말았다.
그제야 덜컥 겁이 난 나는, 땅을 잃을까 봐 그만 울음을 터뜨렸다.점순이가 다가와 물었다. “그럼 너, 다음부터 안 그럴 거지?”무슨 뜻인지도 모르고 고개를 끄덕이자, 점순이는 “닭 죽은 건 걱정 마. 안 이를 테니까.” 하고 말했다.
그러고는 무엇에 떠밀린 듯, 점순이가 내 어깨를 짚은 채 함께 노란 동백꽃 속으로 폭 쓰러졌다.알싸하고 향긋한 꽃 냄새에, 나는 땅이 꺼지는 듯 정신이 아찔했다.그때 산 아래에서 점순이를 부르는 어머니의 목소리가 들려왔다.점순이는 겁을 먹고 꽃 밑으로 살금살금 기어 산 아래로 내려갔고, 나는 엉금엉금 기어서 산 위로 달아났다.
Full translationTry the story first — open this only to check your understanding.
Today, once again, our rooster was chased all over by Jeomsun's big rooster, and its head was bleeding. Jeomsun was the daughter of the steward whose land my family farmed, and she was seventeen, the same age as me. It had all started four days earlier, because of some potatoes.
I was mending the fence when Jeomsun quietly came up to me, took three warm potatoes out from under her apron and held them out. "You don't have any of these at your house, do you? Spring potatoes are delicious, you know." Those words hurt my pride for no good reason, so without even turning my head, I pushed the potatoes away. Jeomsun's face turned as red as a radish, and with tears in her eyes she glared at me and turned away.
After that, whenever she had the chance, Jeomsun drove her family's rooster over and set it fighting with ours. Our rooster was small, so it was always chased about, covered in blood. I heard that a rooster gets stronger if you feed it red pepper paste, so I secretly gave it some, but that only worked for a little while. But I couldn't stand up to Jeomsun either. If we fell out of favour with the steward, my family might lose the land and be driven out.
Today, as I was coming down from the mountain with firewood, Jeomsun was sitting by the yellow camellias growing between the rocks, playing a willow whistle. In front of her the two roosters were fighting again, and ours was nearly dead. I was so angry that I struck Jeomsun's rooster with a stick, and it fell over dead on the spot.
Only then did fear grip me, and afraid that we would lose our land, I burst into tears. Jeomsun came up to me and asked, "So, you won't do it again, will you?" I nodded without even knowing what she meant, and Jeomsun said, "Don't worry about the rooster. I won't tell."
Then, as if something had pushed her, Jeomsun leaned on my shoulder and we tumbled together into the yellow camellias. At the sharp, sweet smell of the flowers, my head swam as if the ground were giving way. Just then, from down the hill, came the voice of Jeomsun's mother calling her. Jeomsun took fright and crept away under the flowers down the hill, and I crawled off up the mountain as fast as I could.
Comprehension Check
1. What did Jeomsun hold out to the narrator?
2. Why couldn't the narrator stand up to Jeomsun?
3. What was the real reason Jeomsun kept starting the cockfights?
Vocabulary
noun
수탉
sutak
rooster
새벽마다 수탉이 크게 울었다.
The rooster crowed loudly every dawn.
Your Summary
In 1–2 sentences, explain why Jeomsun keeps starting the cockfights, and what the narrator finally understands.
Source: Based on Dongbaekkkot (동백꽃, Camellias), the short story Kim Yu-jeong published in the magazine Jogwang in 1936. The author died in 1937, and the story is in the public domain. In Gangwon, Kim's home province, 동백꽃 is the local name for the yellow blossom of the spicebush (생강나무), not the red camellia. This simplified retelling in modern Korean and its English translation are original text written for SeoJae Story.
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