The Turn of the Screw
나사의 회전
Henry James (1916)
The Story
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On a dark Christmas Eve, a small group of guests sat by the fire in an old country house, taking turns telling each other ghost stories.One guest named Douglas stayed quiet for a long while, then said he knew of a story far stranger and more terrible than anything told that night.The story, he explained, involved not one child but two, and he had never told it to anyone.
The others begged to hear it at once, but Douglas said the manuscript was locked away in a drawer at his home in London.He promised that if someone would send for it, he would read the whole account aloud in a few days’ time.Before he began, Douglas told them a little about the woman who had actually written it down.
She had been his own sister’s governess many years before, and she had died only twenty years ago.He remembered her as young, charming, and unusually brave for the strange task she had once agreed to take on.The task had begun with a wealthy bachelor living alone on Harley Street in London.
When his younger brother died in India, this bachelor suddenly found himself the guardian of two small orphans, a boy and a girl.Busy with his own comfortable life, he had neither the time nor the patience to raise two children himself.So he sent them to live at Bly, his quiet country house, and set out to hire a governess to take full charge of them there.
He interviewed several young women, but he made one condition that frightened most of them away.She must handle absolutely everything herself, and never, under any circumstances, trouble him with letters or complaints.The young governess who eventually accepted was inexperienced and a little dazzled by her charming, wealthy employer.
Still, something about the strange condition — and about Bly itself — stayed with her long after she agreed to it.When the manuscript finally arrived from London, Douglas sat by the fire and began to read her story aloud, word for word, exactly as she had written it.The guests leaned closer, sensing that whatever they were about to hear would be stranger than any ghost story they already knew.
Full translationTry the story first — open this only to check your understanding.
어느 어두운 크리스마스이브, 오래된 시골 저택에 모인 손님들은 벽난로 곁에 둘러앉아 돌아가며 유령 이야기를 들려주고 있었어요. 더글러스라는 손님은 한참 동안 말이 없다가, 그날 밤 나온 그 어떤 이야기보다도 훨씬 기이하고 무서운 이야기를 알고 있다고 말했어요. 그 이야기는 아이 한 명이 아니라 두 명이 얽혀 있으며, 그는 지금까지 누구에게도 이 이야기를 들려준 적이 없다고 설명했어요.
사람들은 당장 들려 달라고 졸랐지만, 더글러스는 그 원고가 런던 집 서랍 속에 잠겨 있다고 말했어요. 그는 누군가 사람을 보내 그 원고를 가져오면, 며칠 안에 이야기 전체를 소리 내어 읽어 주겠다고 약속했어요. 이야기를 시작하기 전에, 더글러스는 그 글을 직접 쓴 여인에 대해 조금 이야기해 주었어요.
그녀는 오래전 그의 여동생을 돌보던 가정교사였고, 세상을 떠난 지도 벌써 이십 년이 되었어요. 그는 그녀를 젊고 매력적이며, 자신이 맡았던 그 이상한 일에 비해 유난히 용감했던 사람으로 기억하고 있었어요. 그 일은 런던 할리 스트리트에 홀로 살던 한 부유한 독신 남자로부터 시작되었어요.
인도에서 남동생이 세상을 떠나자, 그는 갑자기 어린 남매의 후견인이 되어 버렸어요. 자신의 안락한 생활만으로도 바빴던 그는 아이 둘을 직접 키울 시간도 인내심도 없었어요. 그래서 그는 아이들을 조용한 시골 저택 블라이로 보내고, 그곳에서 아이들을 온전히 책임질 가정교사를 구하기 시작했어요.
그는 여러 젊은 여성을 면접했지만, 그가 내건 한 가지 조건이 대부분을 겁먹게 해 떠나보냈어요. 그녀가 모든 일을 혼자서 처리해야 하며, 어떤 경우에도 편지나 불평으로 그를 귀찮게 해서는 안 된다는 조건이었어요. 결국 그 자리를 받아들인 젊은 가정교사는 경험이 부족했고, 매력적이고 부유한 고용주에게 다소 마음을 빼앗긴 상태였어요.
그럼에도 그 이상한 조건과 블라이라는 곳 자체가 무언가 그녀의 마음에 오래도록 남아 있었어요. 런던에서 마침내 원고가 도착하자, 더글러스는 벽난로 곁에 앉아 그녀가 쓴 그대로 한 글자씩 이야기를 읽어 내려가기 시작했어요. 손님들은 몸을 더 가까이 기울였고, 지금부터 듣게 될 이야기가 이미 들은 그 어떤 유령 이야기보다 더 기이하리라는 것을 예감했어요.
Original text
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You just read an easy retelling. Here is the same passage exactly as the author wrote it — unabridged, split into short readings.
The opening (before Chapter 1) · 2,768 words · 6 short readings
Read the originalComprehension Check
1. Why wouldn't Douglas tell his ghost story that same night?
2. What unusual condition did the wealthy bachelor set for the governess he hired?
3. Why did the young governess accept the position despite the strange condition?
Vocabulary
noun
manuscript
원고
The others begged to hear it at once, but Douglas said the manuscript was locked away in a drawer at his home in London.
사람들은 당장 들려 달라고 졸랐지만, 더글러스는 그 원고가 런던 집 서랍 속에 잠겨 있다고 말했어요.
Your Summary
In 1–2 sentences, say what condition the wealthy bachelor set for the governess, and why she accepted the position anyway.
Source: Adapted from Henry James's The Turn of the Screw (1898; Project Gutenberg #209) — the framing chapter: on a Christmas Eve gathering of ghost-story tellers, Douglas promises a story stranger than any told, then explains its origin — a governess he once knew, hired by a wealthy Harley Street bachelor to take sole charge of his orphaned niece and nephew at Bly on the odd condition that she never trouble him with anything. An entirely fresh author for the shelf. This simplified retelling and its Korean translation are original text written for SeoJae Story.
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