Sample Translations
Jang Mee Lee Small Discoveries E ng l i s h
Book Information
Small Discoveries (순간 울컥) She Is Laughing Publishing corp. / 2013 / 12 p. / ISBN 9788958781615 03810 For further information, please visit: http://library.klti.or.kr/node/772
This sample translation was produced with support from LTI Korea. Please contact the LTI Korea Library for further information. library@klti.or.kr
Small Discoveries Written by Lee Jang Mee
Chapter 1 - Together
Lacking a rope, it seems as if the two morning glory flowers will use their stems to be each other’s rope.
House Beyond the House
A long time ago, you could see the mountain beyond the house for sure. Now, you can only see the sky beyond the house.
Neighborhood Resident
She (or he) who never looks over at me even once.
The Coy Girl
That is the nickname my younger sister Jeong-hui and I gave a neighbor’s dog. She would follow us, but when you turned around, she would hide behind a pole. Then she would follow us again. So we thought she was being coy.
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She lived in a big house, but she would roam around the neighborhood from early in the morning. And she would go back home whenever she wanted to. She didn’t have a leash and seemed free.
We started calling her “bad girl” after we tried to approach her in a friendly manner, but she suddenly bared all her teeth and chased us ferociously. We were so startled that after that incident, we started to call her “bad girl” and tried to avoid her.
But today she stayed near us a while before passing us. Secretly, we were really happy that she tried to get our attention.
For some reason, this felt like we had been accepted into this neighborhood. So we decided to call her “coy girl” from now on.
Early Morning Moon
Juice Boy
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8 A.M. From way over there, past the elementary school with the big pine tree, past the laundromat where the cute dog lives, past the church with the green staircase, past the lilac-colored wooden house, past the hardworking taxi driver’s house, past the house with the garbage piled high, past the alley with the telephone poles, past the house of the grandmother I have never greeted, past the house of the married couple who fight every night, was my nephew Jeong-ki running towards me. So that he could bring me the 100% all-natural strawberry juice.
Thank you.
Cloud Forecast
At around 10 a.m., I got a text message from a friend that said to hurry and look at the sky that was full of clouds.
A little bit past 10 a.m., I sent him a text that said that there was not a single cloud in the sky in my neighborhood.
A little bit later past 10 a.m.,
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I got a text message that said that the clouds in the sky were fantastic.
At 10:30 a.m., From far away, I could see a group of clouds.
Around 11 a.m., The clouds were approaching my neighborhood.
At 1 p.m., Before I knew it, the clouds filled the sky above my head. My nephew Jeong-ki and I went up to the roof and watched the amazing clouds that had moved from my friend’s neighborhood to mine.
Spring Must Be Here
Mom and Jeong-hui walked around and around the school track, and they weren’t cold in the least.
They promised they would meet again tomorrow night. Spring is wonderful.
Fantasy
The seeds were growing every day.
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If plants made sounds as they grew they would be quite noisy, don’t you think?
In 7 Days
The first sprout appears covered with soil. It stands up straight. It looks like it’s about to burst into tears. Hang in there!
Today, I finally heard the crying sound of the first leaf opening up! The earth giving birth is truly amazing.
The Best Grandmother
Just like any other day my mother could not stop nagging Jeong-ki. “You have to eat well. You’ll be late for school. Hurry up….” And I even told her in my sullen voice, “I think that’s enough.” But I have no right to say that anymore because she has shown that a grandmother’s love can be greater than a mother’s or an aunt’s.
Jeong-ki was supposed to start classes after his entrance ceremony at his school, but he didn’t pay attention to the teacher during homeroom and didn’t bother writing down his class schedule for the next day. By the time he realized this, it was too late to do anything. Frustrated and annoyed, the solution we came up with was for him
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to take all of his textbooks to school the next day.
But the next day at 7 a.m., my mother suddenly called me. She had decided to go to Jeong-ki’s school and, from outside his classroom window, relay his class schedule to him. She hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep the night before trying to think of a way to help Jeongki. In the end she decided to go to the school in person. Wow.
So what if she nags a little? She has more than earned the right.
After that, my sisters and I bought her a scarf befitting a wonderful grandmother.
Jeong-ki, you are so lucky!
Morning
Jeong-hui washes her hair every morning. I do not.
Jeong-ki, at a quick glance, looks like
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he’s doing a Buddhist bow. But this is what he looks like 30 minutes before going off to school. I bet the sweetest thing in the world at that moment is sleep.
Mom is diligent. She is making kimchi this early in the morning.
Cherry Blossoms
I walk at a speed of 5 centimeters per second as flower petals fall on me and I fall deep into a reverie. It’s a beautiful April day.
Question and Answer
… confused, my father asked me: “Why is my hair red?” Grinning, I said: “Because right now, I only have red markers.”
Let’s work hard and be energetic
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like Mom.
Couple Look
I think a married couple becomes one entity not at the beginning of the marriage but years later. When they move as if they’re on the same team, they look cute. Sorry‌
Mom and Dad’s Dance
My father dances using only his arms, with his hips and legs staying completely still. My mother dances wildly using both arms and legs.
From a Sauna
Soon, my mother will come out of the bath that is 76 degrees Celsius. She is walking over somewhere. She is about to jump in the water that is 17.2 degrees. I watch her from a bath that is just 37.8 degrees. My mother is amazing.
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An Acrobatic Feat
As expected, I like drawing yoga better than doing yoga myself. This is how my older sister does yoga. Applause, please! 9 Transformation and Evolution
My older sister’s full hair can go through 100 different transformations,
while I can tell Jeong-ki’s short hair is growing every day.
Responsibility
My older sister started taking portrait-drawing classes a few months ago. I saw in my sister the joy and excitement I used to get from drawing.
I don’t always enjoy it anymore.
One day my sister will realize also. That the other side of drawing is fear and pain.
Skills develop unevenly,
so don’t get tired walking on the same path; just keep walking…
Marathon Man
Jeong-ki came to my studio at 8:40 in the morning. Drenched in sweat. What he said after he caught his breath was, “Auntie, my drawing assignment, ‘Imagining Science,’ is due today!” During breakfast, we had discussed what he could do for it since he had said the assignment was due tomorrow.
I wondered why Jeong-ki had come here instead of staying at school. His class would start at 9 a.m., so with just 20 minutes left, why had he come to me? Simply to tell me that the assignment was due today and not tomorrow?
There was nothing I could do for Jeong-ki, and he went back to school. The important thing was that he came rushing to me and not anyone else in the family to say that the assignment was due today. But was that all he wanted?
What is this, a jjimjilbang (Korean style dry sauna) or the library?
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The book that Jeong-ki is holding here was purchased by Jeong-hui, but she never read it, and I had just browsed through the strange illustrations. But here is Jeong-ki past 1 a.m. at the jjimjilbang staying awake to read it, unable to put it down. Yet I still have no interest…
Chapter 2 - Time
Each toe on our feet is expressive in its own way and contains memories.
Guest No. 2
The snake plant in the courtyard was overgrown with weeds. I got lazy and left them unplucked, but then a bunch of the weeds bloomed. They ended up being rose moss. This flower blooms in the afternoon and then closes up. It really is pretty. This is the second one that has bloomed, so I’ll call it guest no. 2. I’m waiting for guests no. 3, 4, 5….
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The Virtue of Modesty
The rose moss flowers never bloomed all at once. They never fought; instead each one allowed another to show off its beauty in full light.
The one all the way to the far right, the one that looked like it could break, was the fifth one to appear. Its stem was so thin that I doubted it would bud. Among all the flowers that had bloomed so far, it was the ugliest and the smallest, but it was the one that moved me the most.
The one that has opened the most is the second one from the left. And today I got to see two flowers open up together – the biggest one and the youngest one, which is the eighth one to open up. Maybe by tomorrow or the next day, the third flower from the left or the fourth one from the right will show itself. I can’t wait.
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