분명히 13살 교과서에서 어린왕자를 읽고 어린 나이에도 뭔가 뭉클해져 신포동 지하상가 시작 점에 있던 볼품없었던 (비하가 아닌 그리움의 표현이다) 서점에서 한영판이 있던 책을 샀던 기억이 있는데... 이 책은 1998년 판이다. 분명히 여우가 나왔던 그 부분을 보고 눈물흘렸던 기억이 있는데, 94년도 95년도 아닌... 98년에 나온 책이라니. 집에 있는 책의 뒷표지를 보고 얼마나 의아했는지 모른다. 내 기억이 조작 된 것인가.
어찌 되었든 그 때나 지금이나 무언가 뭉클하다. 지금 더 더해진 건 무언가 설명할 수 없는 미안함이다. 그리고 이 책을 읽으며 어린 시절의 또또나, 사회생활 힘들었던 시기 또순이가 괜히 저 행성에 두고 온 장미 마냥 생각나고.. 그리고 지금은 내 곁에 있는 한두냥이들이 언젠가는 저 하늘 별들을 보며 생각할 이들처럼 마음이 아파온다.
이 책이 집에 오랜 시간 있었음에도 영어로 된 글은 이번이 처음이었다. 영어 공부를 위해서 읽은 건 아니었다. 그냥 그렇게 흘려 버리기 아까운 마음들을 다른 언어로도 만나고 느끼는 게 그저 고마울 뿐이었다. 정말 귀한 글들은 다른 번역본으로도, 혹은 누군가의 설명으로도, 감상으로도 만나면 또 다른 반가움이 것만 같다.
<인상적인 구절>
*TO LEON WERTH
I ask the indulgence of the children whothis book for dedicating it to a grown-up.
I have a serious reason he is the best friend I have in the world. I have another reason; thisgrown-up understands everything, even booksabout children. I have a third reason he lives in France wherehe is hungry and cold. He needscheering up. If allthese reasons are not enough,
I will dedicate the book to the child from whomthisgrown-up grew. All grown-ups were oncechildren-although few of them remember it.
And so I correct my dedication:TO LEON WERTH WHEN HE WAS A LITTLE BOY
*To those who understand life, that would havegiven a much greater air of truth to my story.
* If I try to describe him here, it is to make surethat I shall not forget him. To forget a friend is sade.
* 바오밥도 크게 자라기 전에는 조금씩 조금씩 돋아나게지요
Before they grow so big, the baobabs start out by beining little.
* 아시다시피 사람들은 슬플 때 해 지는 것 보기를 좋아하지요.
You know - one loves the sunset, when one is so sad......
* But you cannot pluck the starts from heaven... (84p)
* In the old days it was reasonable. (88p)
*˝My flower is ephemeral,˝ the little prince said to himself, ˝and she has onlyfour thorns to defend herself against the world. And I have left her on myplanct, all alone!˝ (100p)
* It is also lonely among men. (108p)
* They have no roots, and that makes their life very difficult. (110p)
* And he was overcone with sadness. (116p)
* But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world... (124p)
* ˝Nothing is perfect˝ sighed the fox. (124p)
* My life is very monotonous. (124p)
* ˝It would have been better to come back at the same hour,˝ said the fox.
˝If, for example, you come at four o‘clock in the afternoon, then at threeo‘clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the houradvances. At four o‘clock, I shall already be worrying and jumping about. (126p)
* ˝Then it has done you no good at all!˝
˝It has done me good,˝ said the fox, ˝because of the color of the wheat fields.˝ Andthen he added:
˝Go and look again atthe roses. You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret.˝ (128p)
* What is essential is invisible. (132p)
* ˝But you must not forget it.
You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsiblefor your rose˝
(134p)
* ˝What makes the desert beautiful,˝ said the little prince, ˝is that somewher it hides a well ...˝
(142p)
* ˝But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart.˝ (150p)
* But I was not reassured. I remembered the fox. One runs the risk of weepinga little, if one lets himself be tamed ... (154p)
*˝It is just as it is with the flower. If you love a flower that lives on astar, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom withflowers ...˝
˝Yes, I know ...˝ (160p)
* Once again I felt myself frozen by the sense of something irreparable. And I knew that I could not bear the thought of never hearing that laughter any more. For me, it was like a spring of fresh water in the desert. (160p)
* ˝In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing.
And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the skyat night You-only you—will have stars that can laugh!˝ (162p)
*And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you willbe content thatyouhave known me. You will always be my friend. You willwant to laugh with me.
(162p)
* ˝내가 별들 중의 하나에 살고 있을테니까요. 내가 그 별들 중의 하나에서 웃고 있을거예요. 그러니까 밤에 아저씨가 하늘을 쳐다보게 되면 별들이 모두 웃는 것처럼 보일 거예요.……… 아저씨는 단지 아저씨만이 웃을 수 있는 별들을 갖게 될 거예요.˝
그리고 그는 다시 웃는 것이었다.
˝그리고 아저씨의 슬픔이 가라앉을 때에는 (시간이 흐르면 자연히 모든 슬픔은 가라앉게 되므로) 나를 알았던 것을 만족스럽게 여기게 될 거예요. 아저씨는 언제나 내 친구일거예요. 나하고 웃고 싶어할테죠. (163p)
* Now my sorrow is comforted a little. That is to say not entirely. But Iknow that he did go back to his planet, because I did not find his body at daybreak. It was not such a heavy body. And at night I love to listento the stars. It is like five hundred million little bells... (170p)
* Here, then, is a great mystery. For you who also love the little prince, and for me, nothing in the universe can be the same if somewhere, we do not know where, a sheep that we never saw has-yes or no?-eaten a rose... (174p)
* 그런데 바로 여기에 커다란 신비스러움이 있다. 역시 어린 왕자를 좋아하는 당신들에게나 내게나, 우리가 보지도 못한 어떤 양이 우리가 알지도 못하는 어디에선가 장미를 먹었는가, 안 먹었는가에 따라서 우주가 달라 보이는 것이다. (175p)
* This is, to me, the loveliest and saddest I andscapein the world. (177p)
