Vasko Popa (조영필 역)
석영 자갈의 비밀
그는 자기자신으로 가득 차있네
그는 자신의 단단한 살을 너무 많이 먹었나
그는 아픈가
그에게 물어라 두렵지 않느냐고
그는 빵을 구걸하지 않네
그는 더없이 행복한 경련에 사로잡혀 있네
그는 아마도 임신인가
그는 낳을 것인가 돌을
또는 거친 짐승이나 한 줄기 번개를
그에게 물어라 당신이 원하는 만큼
답은 기대하지 마라
기대하라 오직 하나의 혹
아니면 두번째 코 아니면 세번째 눈
아니면 누가 알겠나
The secret of the quartz pebble
He’s filled himself with himself
Has he eaten too much of his own tough flesh
Does he feel ill
Ask him don’t be afraid
He’s not begging for bread
He’s petrified in a blissful convulsion
Is he pregnant perhaps
Will he give birth to a stone
Or a wild beast or a streak of lightning
Ask him as much as you like
Don’t expect an answer
Expect only a bump
Or a second nose or a third eye
Or who knows what
(Vasko Popa Selected Poems, translated by Anne Pennington, Penguin Books, 1969)
Secret of the pebble
It filled itself with itself
Did it eat too much of its own tough meat
Is it ill
Ask it don’t be afraid
It’s not begging for bread
Turned to stone with a blissful cramp
Is the pebble pregnant
Will it give birth to a stone
Or a beast or a streak of lightning
Go and ask all you want
Don’t hope for an answer
Hope for a bump on the head
Or another nose or another eye
Or who knows what
(Homage to the lame wolf, translated by Charles Simic, Oberlin College Press, 1987)