Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
Kang Byeong-Cheol is a Korean author, poet, translator, and Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. He was born in Jeju City, South Korea in 1964. He began writing in 1993 and published his first short story, “Song of Shuba,” at the age of twenty-nine.
In 2005, he published a collection of short stories. He has won four literature awards and has published more than eight books. He was a member of The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International from 2009 to 2014.
He also served as an editorial writer for NewJejuIlbo, a newspaper in Jeju City, Korea. Currently, he is a Research Executive at The Korean Institute for Peace and Cooperation.
Forgotten things
“How did Earth’s civilization begin?” a student asked
“While making a stone axe?”
“As he makes earthen vessels?”
Earth’s civilization is the creation of humanity
It began with the care we give to each other
Animals do not create civilization
There are only predators and prey
We are forgetting
How civilizations were built
How to shape our future
Long ago, when civilizations were first born
Our ancestors knew that we had to care for each other.
잊어버린 것들
지구문명은 어떻게 시작되었나?
한 대학생이 물었지
돌도끼를 만들면서?
흙으로 만든 그릇을 만들면서?
지구문명은 인간이라는 종이
서로를 돌보면서 시작되었지
동물은 문명을 만들 없어
포식자와 약탈자가 있을 뿐이지
우리는 잊고 있지
문명이 어떻게 만들어졌는지
미래를 어떻게 만들어 가야 하는지
오래 전에 문명이 시작될 때
우리 선조들은 서로를 돌봐야 한다는 것을 알았지
Why does it thunder
Winter is a season of rest.
When all things are at rest, who will awaken spring?
When the snow melts, it doesn’t thunder.
Because thunder cannot awaken spring,
people set off fireworks.
When it thunders,
it awakens people’s conscience.
Fireworks kindle love,
sparking passion.
People beat drums
to encourage action,
when the sky thunders
it awakens the conscience.
The sounds of
“Dung! Dung!”
“Boom, Boom! “
“Kwadadang,”
all sounds serve to awaken something.
천둥이 울리는 이유
겨울은 휴식의 계절이다
만물이 쉬고 있는데 누가 봄을 깨울 것인가?
눈이 녹을 때, 천둥이 치는 것은 아니다.
천둥이 봄을 깨우지 못하므로
사람들이 불꽃놀이를 하는 것이다
천둥이 칠 때
사람들의 양심을 깨우는 것이다
불꽃놀이로 사랑을 깨우고
열정을 일으킨다
사람들이 북을 치는 것은
용기를 북돋는 것이고
하늘이 천둥을 치는 것은
양심을 깨우는 것이다
둥둥
펑펑
콰다당
모든 소리는
뭔가를 깨우는 것이다.
What “alone” means
To weaken people,
God divided man in half.
Being alone is weak.
To be alone is to lack the whole,
Just as the night longs for the day,
One misses out on the other.
Sunflowers are happy to have the sun,
The windmill is happy to have wind,
The bee is happy to have Wildflowers.
A person is happy with a companion,
A husband is happy to have his wife. “
혼자라는 것
사람들을 약하게 하려고
신은 사람을 반으로 나누었다.
혼자는 약하다.
혼자라는 것은 나머지를 상실했다는 것이다
밤은 낮을 그리워하고
낮은 밤을 그리워한다
해바라기는 해가 있어서 행복하다
풍차는 바람이 있어서 행복하다
꿀벌은 들꽃이 있어서 행복하다
남자는 여자가 있어서 행복하고
남편은 아내가 있어서 행복하다
