(Translation) 2019 金氏撲虎
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| Translator(s) | Participants of 2019 JSG Summer Hanmun Workshop (Intermediate Training Group) | |
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| Year | 2019 | |
Original Script
【詩】慇懃入室爲裝糧. 出戍良人宿舍傍.
夜半忽爲虓虎攫. 追奔手撲俾無傷.
大吼重來最可驚. 開門荷杖語丁寧.
縱然囓樹終無害. 始信毛蟲亦性靈.
Translation
Student Translation : Kristina Kaltenbach
Lady Kim, a person of Andong, was married to Yu Ch’ŏn'gye who was a captain of the eights rank. In the sinsa year of Emperor Hongwu’s reign Ch’ŏngye had to leave to do service at the border.
He spoke to his wife and said: “Today is auspicious. I am going to sleep outside.”
His wife said: “Then I will also go out and sleep there.”
So therefore, she went into the house to pack some food. In the middle of the night suddenly there were screams of surprised people.
Female and male servants shrank in fear (and fled). Lady Kim with her head held high went outside. But the tiger had already snatched her husband and left. Lady Kim grabbed a wooden bow. She roared and screamed and advanced.
With her left hand she grabbed her husband; with her right hand she beat the tiger. They almost went 60 paces and then some. The tiger released (her husband) and stopped.
The Lady said: “You already snatched my husband. Do you want to take me as well?”
The tiger thus went away. Her husband fainted. Lady Kim carried him on her back and returned home. At dawn the husband woke up.
That night the tiger came again.
Arrogantly and daringly it roared loudly. Lady Kim again opened the door bearing a club on her shoulder and told the tiger, saying: “You are also a thing that carries a spirit. How can you be (obnoxious) like this?”
The tiger gnawed on a pear tree next to the house and left. The tree thus died.
Gently she entered the house to pack food.
The husband who is going out to the garrison slept outside the house.
In the middle of the night suddenly, he was snatched by a roaring tiger.
Chasing it quickly, beating it with her hand, not letting him get harmed.
The big roar coming again was the most astonishing.
She opened the door while holding a club and spoke warningly.
Accordingly, (the tiger) gnawed on the tree and there was no harm in the end.
Now I get to believe this furry critter also has a spiritual nature.
- Discussion Questions:
NA: Do you think that the fact that the tiger "is also a thing that carries a spirit" has something to do with the fact that the tiger was one of the few mentioned in the Kyemongpyon passage 24?
- Not sure if it has something to do with that passage in particular but tigers in general appear in a lot of those stories and it is also one of the animals in the Tan'gun myth so I assume they held a somewhat special position in people's minds. Maybe because they were considered to be more 'spiritual' than other animals but that's just a guess. (KK)
(YO) Good thinking. Tigersare also called san'gun 山君 'lord of the mountain,' which also means 'mountain spirit' (san sillyŏng 山神靈). They were considered extraordinary beings of all animals.
-To reiterate, 縮頸 is "shrink (縮) their necks (頸) in fear."
-I think 幾至六十步許, 虎委之而止 should be considered as one sentence: "In/after more than 60paces, the tiger release (her husband) and stopped."
