The Enchanted April
마법에 걸린 사월
Elizabeth von Arnim (1866–1941)
The Story
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It was a wet, grey afternoon in February, and Mrs. Wilkins was sitting alone in her London ladies’ club.She felt small and tired, and she did not expect anything good to happen.Then she opened The Times and saw a strange advertisement.
A small medieval castle in Italy, close to the sea, was for rent for the month of April.It was offered “to those who love wistaria and sunshine.”The words made Mrs. Wilkins ache with longing.
She thought of cold, grey Hampstead, where she lived.She thought of her husband, Mellersh, a lawyer who counted every penny and never praised her.She never spent money on herself, and she never did anything just because she wished to.
Looking up, she saw another woman across the room reading the very same page.It was Mrs. Arbuthnot, whom she knew a little from their church at home.Mrs. Arbuthnot had the same hungry look on her face.
Then Mrs. Wilkins did something she had never done before: she walked over and spoke to her.“What if we took that castle together for April,” she said, “and asked two more ladies to share the cost?”Mrs. Arbuthnot was startled and said it was impossible — the money, the husbands, the sheer folly of it.
But she could not put the idea out of her mind either.By the time the rain stopped, the two near-strangers had almost agreed to run away to Italy.
Full translationTry the story first — open this only to check your understanding.
2월의 비 내리는 잿빛 오후였고, 윌킨스 부인은 런던의 여성 클럽에 혼자 앉아 있었어요. 자신이 작고 초라하게 느껴졌고, 좋은 일이 생기리라고는 기대하지 않았어요. 그때 《타임스》를 펼쳤고, 이상한 광고 하나를 보았어요.
바닷가에 있는 이탈리아의 작은 중세 성을, 4월 한 달 동안 빌려준다는 것이었어요. 그 성은 "등나무 꽃과 햇살을 사랑하는 분들께" 내놓은 것이었어요. 그 문구는 윌킨스 부인의 마음을 간절한 그리움으로 아리게 했어요.
윌킨스 부인은 자기가 사는, 춥고 잿빛인 햄스테드를 떠올렸어요. 남편 멜러시를 떠올렸는데, 한 푼까지 따지고 아내를 한 번도 칭찬하지 않는 변호사였어요. 자신을 위해 돈을 쓰는 법이 없었고, 그저 하고 싶다는 이유로 무언가를 하는 일도 없었어요.
고개를 들자, 방 건너편에서 바로 그 같은 지면을 읽고 있는 또 다른 여자가 보였어요. 그 여자는 고향 교회에서 조금 알고 지내던 아버스넛 부인이었어요. 아버스넛 부인의 얼굴에도 똑같이 무언가를 갈망하는 표정이 떠올라 있었어요.
그때 윌킨스 부인은 한 번도 해 본 적 없는 일을 했어요. 그 여자에게 걸어가 말을 건 거예요. "우리 둘이 4월에 저 성을 함께 빌리고, 다른 부인 두 사람을 더 구해서 비용을 나누면 어떨까요?" 윌킨스 부인이 말했어요. 아버스넛 부인은 깜짝 놀라며, 그건 불가능하다고 말했어요. 돈도 그렇고, 남편들도 그렇고, 도무지 터무니없는 짓이라고요.
하지만 그녀 역시 그 생각을 머릿속에서 떨쳐낼 수가 없었어요. 비가 그칠 무렵, 서로 거의 남남이던 두 사람은 이탈리아로 떠나기로 거의 마음을 정하고 있었어요.
Original text
Now read the original
You just read an easy retelling. Here is the same passage exactly as the author wrote it — unabridged, split into short readings.
Chapter 1 · 4,915 words · 11 short readings
Read the originalComprehension Check
1. What did the advertisement in The Times offer?
2. Why did the advertisement affect Mrs. Wilkins so strongly?
3. What did Mrs. Wilkins do about it?
Vocabulary
noun
advertisement
광고
She read the advertisement twice, hardly believing it.
윌킨스 부인은 그 광고를 두 번 읽으며 좀처럼 믿지 못했어요.
Your Summary
In 1–2 sentences, describe the advertisement Mrs. Wilkins saw and the bold suggestion she made to Mrs. Arbuthnot.
Source: Adapted from Chapter 1 of Elizabeth von Arnim's novel "The Enchanted April" (first published 1922; in the public domain, Project Gutenberg #16389). This simplified retelling and its Korean translation are original text written for SeoJae Story.
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