The Lady with the Dog
개를 데리고 다니는 부인
Anton Chekhov (1860–1904)
The Story
Tap a word to translate it. Select text to highlight it or add it to your study plan.
People at Yalta were saying that a new face had appeared on the sea-front: a lady with a little dog.Dmitri Gurov, who had already spent two weeks in the town and was thoroughly bored, had begun to take an interest in everyone who was new.From a table outside a café he watched the fair-haired young woman walk past along the water, a white Pomeranian trotting after her.
Gurov was not yet forty, but he already had a daughter of twelve and two sons at school.He had married young, and by now his wife seemed almost twice his age: a tall, serious woman who read a great deal and thought of herself as clever.He privately thought her narrow and dull, was a little afraid of her, and did not like to be at home.
He had been unfaithful to her for years, and often, and he had picked up the habit of speaking of women unkindly, calling them “the lower race.”And yet he could not get through two days without them; among men he was bored and stiff, but with women he felt free and knew exactly what to say.Something in his looks and his manner attracted women, and he knew it.
One evening, while he was dining in the public gardens, the woman in the béret came over and sat down at the next table.Her expression, her walk, and her dress all told him that she was married, that she was travelling alone, and that she was not enjoying herself.He beckoned to the little dog, and when it came near he wagged his finger at it; the dog growled, and the woman said quickly, “He doesn’t bite,” and blushed.
He asked whether he might give the dog a bone, and with that the two of them began to talk.She told him that she had grown up in Petersburg but had married and moved to the town of S—, where she had lived for two years, and that her name was Anna Sergeyevna.She spoke of her husband vaguely, half-laughing that she could not even say for certain where it was that he worked.
Later, alone in his room, he thought about her — how young she still seemed, how shy, how new to all of this — and he felt certain he would meet her again the next day.“There is something pathetic about her, all the same,” he thought, and fell asleep.
Full translationTry the story first — open this only to check your understanding.
얄타의 해안 산책로에 새로운 얼굴이 나타났다는 이야기가 사람들 사이에 돌고 있었어요. 작은 개를 데리고 다니는 어느 부인이었어요. 이미 그 도시에서 두 주를 보내며 완전히 지루해져 있던 드미트리 구로프는, 새로 오는 사람이라면 누구에게나 관심을 갖기 시작한 참이었어요. 카페 밖 탁자에 앉아 구로프는 금발의 젊은 여인이 물가를 따라 지나가는 모습을 바라보았고, 하얀 포메라니안 한 마리가 그 뒤를 종종거리며 따라가고 있었어요.
구로프는 아직 마흔이 되지 않았지만, 벌써 열두 살 난 딸 하나와 학교에 다니는 아들 둘이 있었어요. 젊어서 결혼했고, 이제 아내는 그보다 거의 두 배는 나이 들어 보였어요. 책을 많이 읽고 스스로 똑똑하다고 여기는, 키가 크고 진지한 여자였어요. 속으로 아내가 속이 좁고 따분하다고 생각했고, 조금 두려워했으며, 집에 있는 것을 좋아하지 않았어요.
여러 해 동안, 그것도 자주 아내를 두고 바람을 피워 왔고, 여자들을 "열등한 족속"이라 부르며 함부로 말하는 버릇이 들어 있었어요. 그러면서도 여자들 없이는 이틀도 견디지 못했어요. 남자들 사이에서는 지루하고 서먹했지만, 여자들과 있으면 마음이 편했고 무슨 말을 해야 할지 정확히 알았어요. 외모와 태도에는 여자들을 끌어당기는 무언가가 있었고, 그것을 알고 있었어요.
어느 날 저녁, 구로프가 공원 식당에서 저녁을 먹고 있을 때, 베레모를 쓴 그 여인이 다가와 옆 탁자에 앉았어요. 그녀의 표정과 걸음걸이, 옷차림 모두가 그에게 말해 주었어요. 결혼했고, 혼자 여행 중이며, 조금도 즐거워하지 않는다는 것을요. 구로프가 작은 개를 손짓해 불렀고, 개가 가까이 오자 손가락을 흔들어 겁을 주었어요. 개가 으르렁대자 여인은 얼른 "물지 않아요"라고 말하고는 얼굴을 붉혔어요.
개에게 뼈다귀를 하나 줘도 되겠느냐고 물었고, 그 말로 두 사람은 이야기를 시작했어요. 그녀는 페테르부르크에서 자랐지만 결혼해서 S시로 옮겨 와 그곳에서 두 해를 살았다고, 그리고 자기 이름은 안나 세르게예브나라고 말했어요. 남편에 대해 어렴풋하게 이야기하며, 남편이 정확히 어디서 일하는지조차 확실히 말할 수 없다고 반쯤 웃으며 말했어요.
나중에 방에 혼자 있을 때 구로프는 그녀를 생각했어요. 아직 얼마나 어려 보이는지, 얼마나 수줍어하는지, 이 모든 것에 얼마나 서툰지를요. 그리고 다음 날 다시 만나게 되리라고 확신했어요. "그래도 저 여자에게는 어딘가 가여운 데가 있어," 그렇게 생각하며 잠이 들었어요.
Comprehension Check
1. Why had Gurov started paying attention to newcomers like the lady with the dog?
2. How does Part I describe Gurov's marriage and home life?
3. How does Gurov's first evening with Anna Sergeyevna end?
Vocabulary
adjective
unfaithful
부정한, 바람을 피우는
Gurov had been unfaithful to his wife for years before he came to Yalta.
구로프는 얄타에 오기 전부터 여러 해 동안 아내를 두고 바람을 피워 왔어요.
Your Summary
In 1–2 sentences, describe how Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna first met in Yalta, and what Gurov thought of her once he was alone again.
Source: Adapted from Part I of Anton Chekhov's short story "The Lady with the Dog" ("Дама с собачкой," first published 1899; the English text on Project Gutenberg, #13415, is Constance Garnett's 1917 translation). The story is long in the public domain. This simplified retelling and its Korean translation are original text written for SeoJae Story.
Read this with your book club
Share this chapter with your book club and discuss it together.