봄봄
Spring, Spring
Kim Yu-jeong (1908–1937)
The Story
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“장인님, 이제 저도 성례를 시켜 주세요.” 나는 오늘도 용기를 내어 이렇게 말했다.그러면 장인님은 늘 똑같은 대답을 했다. “이 녀석아, 점순이가 아직 덜 자랐는데 어떻게 혼례를 치르니?”
나는 점순이와 혼인시켜 준다는 약속만 믿고, 삼 년 하고도 일곱 달 동안 이 집에서 돈 한 푼 받지 않고 일을 했다.그런데 그동안 점순이의 키는 조금도 자라지 않았다.키가 크면 혼례를 시켜 주겠다는데, 자라지 않는 키를 나더러 어쩌란 말인가.
장인님의 이름은 봉필이었지만, 욕을 하도 잘해서 동네 사람들은 장인님을 욕필이라고 불렀다.큰딸 때도 데릴사위를 여러 번 갈아 치웠다는 소문이 있었다.
어느 날 점순이가 밥을 가져다주며 나에게 쏘아붙이듯 말했다.“밤낮 일만 하면 뭘 해? 성례를 시켜 달라고 왜 아버지한테 따지지 못해?”그 말을 듣자 나는 얼굴이 화끈 달아오르고, 가슴 속에서 무언가가 불끈 솟았다.
다음 날 아침, 나는 일하러 가지 않고 배가 아프다며 논두렁에 드러누웠다.장인님과 함께 구장님을 찾아갔지만, 구장님마저 장인님 편을 들었다.“아직 어리다니 좀 더 기다려야지. 봄에 모를 내지 않으면 누가 손해인가?”
그날 저녁, 점순이가 나를 보는 눈빛은 바보라고 말하는 것만 같았다.나는 결심했다. 오늘은 장인님과 끝장을 보고야 말겠다고.
장인님이 지게막대기로 나를 때리자, 나도 참지 못하고 장인님에게 달려들었다.우리는 마당에서 엎치락뒤치락 뒹굴었고, 장인님은 “사람 살려!” 하고 소리를 질렀다.나는 점순이가 내 편을 들어 줄 거라고 믿었다.
그런데 뛰어나온 점순이는 “아버지를 죽이네!” 하고 소리치며 내 귀를 잡아당겼다.나는 넋을 잃고 점순이의 얼굴만 멍하니 바라보았다.그 사이에 장인님의 지게막대기가 또 내 머리 위로 날아왔지만, 나는 점순이의 마음을 도무지 알 수가 없었다.
Full translationTry the story first — open this only to check your understanding.
"Father-in-law, please let me get married now." Today, too, I worked up my courage and said it. And he always gave the same answer: "You fool, how can we hold a wedding when Jeomsun hasn't finished growing yet?"
Trusting only his promise to marry me to Jeomsun, I had worked in this house for three years and seven months without being paid a single coin. But in all that time, Jeomsun had not grown even a little. He said he would let us marry once she grew taller, but what was I supposed to do about a girl who simply wasn't growing?
My father-in-law's name was Bongpil, but he swore so much that the villagers called him Yokpil, "Bongpil the Curser". Rumor had it that with his eldest daughter, too, he had gone through one live-in son-in-law after another.
One day, when Jeomsun brought me my meal, she snapped at me. "What's the use of working day and night? Why can't you stand up to Father and demand that he let us marry?" When I heard that, my face burned, and something surged up inside my chest.
The next morning, I didn't go to work; I said my stomach hurt and lay down on the ridge between the rice paddies. The two of us went to see the village head, but even he took my father-in-law's side. "If she's still young, you should wait a little longer. And if the rice isn't planted this spring, who loses out?"
That evening, the way Jeomsun looked at me seemed to say I was a fool. I made up my mind: today I would have it out with my father-in-law once and for all.
When he hit me with the stick from his A-frame, I couldn't take it any more and went for him. We rolled around the yard, first one on top and then the other, and he yelled, "Help! Somebody save me!" I was sure Jeomsun would be on my side.
But Jeomsun came running out, cried, "He's killing my father!" and yanked me by the ear. Stunned, I could only stare blankly at her face. Meanwhile his stick came flying down on my head again, but I simply could not figure out what was in Jeomsun's heart.
Comprehension Check
1. Why did the narrator work in his father-in-law's house without pay?
2. Why did the father-in-law keep putting off the wedding?
3. What did Jeomsun do when the fight broke out?
Vocabulary
noun
장인
jangin
father-in-law (a wife's father)
나는 혼례도 치르기 전부터 장인님이라고 불렀다.
I called him father-in-law even before the wedding.
Your Summary
In 1–2 sentences, say what the narrator wants from his father-in-law, and why Jeomsun's reaction at the end surprises him.
Source: Based on Bombom (봄봄, Spring, Spring), the short story Kim Yu-jeong published in the magazine Jogwang in 1935. The author died in 1937, 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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