Vasko Popa (조영필 역)
석영 자갈의 심장
그들은 그 자갈과 놀았네
여느 다른 돌과 같은 그 돌은
그들과 놀았네 마치 심장이 없는 것처럼
그들은 그 자갈에 분개했네
풀밭에서 그것을 부수었네
그것의 심장을 보고 놀랐네
그들은 그 자갈의 심장을 열었네
심장 속에 한 뱀
꿈 없이 잠자던 똬리
그들은 그 뱀을 깨웠네
뱀이 높이 솟구쳤네
그들은 멀리 달아났네
그들은 멀리 떨어져서 보았네
그 뱀은 수평선 둘레를 똬리로 감았네
그것을 알처럼 삼켰네
그들은 그들이 놀던 곳으로 돌아왔네
뱀이나 풀이나 몇 조각 자갈의 어떤 흔적도
멀리 둘러 봐도 아무것도 없었네
그들은 서로서로 쳐다 보았네 그들은 웃었네
그리고 서로서로 눈웃음 지었네
The Heart of the Quartz Pebble
They played with the pebble
The stone like any other stone
Played with them as if it had no heart
They got angry with the pebble
Smashed it in the grass
Puzzled they saw its heart
They opened the pebble’s heart
In the heart a snake
A sleeping coil without dreams
They roused the snake
The snake shot up into the heights
They ran off far away
They looked from afar
The snake coiled round the horizon
Swallowed it like an egg
They came back to the place of their game
No trace of snake or grass or bits of pebble
Nothing anywhere far around
They looked at each other they smiled
And they winked at each other
(Vasko Popa Selected Poems, translated by Anne Pennington, Penguin Books, 1969)
Heart of the Pebble
They played with the pebble
Pebble like any pebble
Played with it as though it had no heart
They got mad at the pebble
Broke it in the grass
Startled they saw its heart
They opened the heart of the pebble
In the heart a snake
Sleeping spool without dreams
They roused the snake
The snake gushed upward
They ran far away
They looked from a distance
The snake coiled itself round the horizon
Like an egg it ate it
They came back to the place of the game
No trace of snake grass or pieces of pebble
No trace of anything in the circle
They looked at each other and grinned
They winked at each other
(Homage to the lame wolf, translated by Charles Simic, Oberlin College Press, 1987)