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A pair of dogs in heat were fooling around in the field near the stream. They were openly expressing freedom to their hearts’ content, without fearing the heavens, without being ashamed of the open field, without caring about human eyes. It was me who felt embarrassed. 

It must have been because of the season. I never witnessed such a romp in the middle of winter. Males and females make merry when the fields are green and when the birds belatedly lay their eggs. I shouldn’t have mocked or gotten angry at the scene. 

과수원 철망 너머로 엿보이는 철 늦은 딸기.

지날 때마다 건강한 식욕을 참을 수 없다.

Strawberries out of season peeped out from beyond the orchard fence. I couldn’t hold back my raging appetite every time I passed by the orchard. 

탐나는 열매에 눈독을 보내며 철망을 넘기에 

나는 반드시 가책과 반성으로 

모질게 마음을 매질하지 않았으며 그럴 필요도 없었다.

그것이 누구의 과수원이든간에 철망을 넘는 것은 

차라리 들사람의 일종의 성격이 아닐까~        

Since I climbed over the fence with my gaze fixed solely on the tempting fruits, I felt no need to whip my conscience harshly with guilt and regret. Climbing over the orchard fence must be a typical trait of field dwellers. 

그러나 능금나무 그늘에 난데없는 사람의 그림자를 발견하자

황급히 뛰어넘다 철망에 걸려 나는 옷을 찢었다.   

But when I saw an unexpected human form among the shadow of an apple tree, I jumped over the fence in a hurry, ripping my clothes in the process.      

# Interview with literary critic Jeon So-yeong

The story takes place at a field in spring. In nature and in springtime all behaviors of wild creatures can be tolerated and considered beautiful, even animals’ mating or human love-making. Hak-bo cannot resist his carnal desire when he sees strawberries beyond the orchard fence. The fence represents a boundary that he should not cross, a taboo he should not break. But he felt the urge to violate that boundary. The truth of the matter is that such desire resides within every human being and sometimes it needs to be released.  

공포는 왔다.

Fear came.

그것은 들에서 온 것이 아니요,

마을에서, 사람에게서 왔다.

공포를 만드는 것은 자연이 아니요,

사람의 사회인 듯싶다.

It came not from the field, but from the village, from people.  

It wasn’t nature that created fear, but a community of human beings. 

사흘 밤을 지우고 쉽게 나왔으나 문수는 소식이 없다.

오랠 것 같다.

여러 가지 재미있는 여름의 계획도 세웠으나 혼자서는 하릴없다. 

I was detained for three nights before I was released, but I haven’t heard from Mun-su yet. I think it would take some time before I heard from him. We made many fun plans for the summer, but there is nothing I can do by myself. 

들에는 도라지꽃이 피고 개나리꽃이 장하다.

진펄의 새고사리도 어느덧 활짝 피었다.

해오라기가 가끔 조촐한 자태로 물가에 내린다.

시절이 무르녹았다.

Balloon flowers and forsythias blossom in droves out in the field. Bracken ferns have bloomed in the marsh as well. The white heron alight shyly on the water’s edge. The season is ripe. 

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Lee Hyo-seok (Born in Pyeongchang, Feb. 23, 1907~May 25, 1942)

Debuted with short story “City and Ghost” in 1928