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The old lady searched the ground for paper. Even a small piece of paper that didn’t seem to weigh anything seemed heavy in her eyes. So she bent down even lower and looked at the ground more carefully. 

The more she did that, the less she looked up at the sky. One day, she completely forgot what the sky looked like or how the clouds floated by. 

그 날은 메이가 다 쓴 스케치북을 가져왔는데요,

할머니는 그림을 보다가 탄성을 질렀습니다.

That day, May brought her a used sketchbook. The old lady marveled at the pictures inside. 

약간 찌그러진 둥그스름한 지구에

아름다운 테를 두른 토성,

몸빛이 황갈색으로 빛나는 울퉁불퉁한 목성,

붉은 빛이 뿜어져 나오는 태양,

그리고 그 주위를 돌고 있는 버섯 모양의 우주선까지

찬란하게 아름다운 우주의 모습이었습니다.

The girl had drawn a beautiful, star-studded universe with round Earth; Saturn with its splendid rings; big, lumpy Jupiter; the sun with its red flares; and a mushroom-shaped spaceship traveling among the planets. 

“하늘은 본 게 언제였더라? 별을 본 게 언제였지? 달을 본 건...” 

“When was the last time I looked up at the sky and the stars and the moon?” 

할머니는 중얼거리며 하늘을 올려다 보았습니다.

하늘은 비가 올 듯 회색빛이었습니다.         

She mumbled as she looked up at the sky. It was overcast as if it was going to rain soon.

# Interview with SNU Korean Literature Professor Bang Min-ho

The old lady was tired from living a long, hard life. She made a living by collecting scrap paper, never looking up from the ground. But she came to see the sky through May’s paining of outer space, the sky and the moon. This scene is what makes this story special. We don’t usually look up at the sky as we live through our tough, busy lives. But when we do look at the sky, we get a vastly different perspective on our lives. We get to look down on our lives from outer space. This scene describes such realization. 

여러 계절이 왔다가 가고, 다시 왔다가 갔단다.

종이 할머니는 여전히 폐지를 모았어.  

그렇지만 이제는 혼자가 아니야.  

눈에 혹이 난 할머니와 같이 주웠어.  

그리고 저녁이 되면 따뜻한 밥도 같이 먹고, 생강차도 나누어 마셨지.

Seasons came and went many times over. The paper lady still collected cardboard boxes and scrap paper. But she was no longer alone. She had the lady with a lump by her side. They ate dinner together and shared ginger tea.

종이 할머니는 벽에 붙여 놓은 우주 그림을 보며, 

잠깐잠깐 이런 생각에 빠졌단다.

The paper lady’s thoughts wandered as she looked at the painting of outer space on the wall.

‘여기가 우주 호텔이 아닌가?  

 여행을 하다가 잠시 이렇게 쉬어 가는 곳이니...

 여기가 바로 우주의 한 가운데지’ 

‘May be this is the space hotel. This is where I rest from space travel. I’m in the middle of the universe.’

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Yu Sun-hui (Born in Seoul, 1969~ )

Debuted with children’s story “Sun-hui’s House” in 2006