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As the whole world is aware, I am a very capable and smart man. If I said that I became incompetent and weak due to a mere woman’s seduction, you would laughingly say it’s impossible. But you better believe me when I say I became a complete fool because of a girl named A.  

‘A는 어찌하여 내 맘을 이렇게까지 호리는가?  그를 생각할 때 나는 애만 써진다.

그의 곁에 있으면 어떤 이상한 마력이 있어가지고 나를 움죽 못하게 하는 것 같다.’ 

‘How could A seduce me like this? I get more anxious with the thought of her. I think she has some strange magical power to render me helpless.’

또 어떤 페이지에는 이러한 글귀도 씌어있다.

There was this entry on another page.

‘A한테는 알딸딸한 매운 냄새가 나는 것 같다.

그 냄새가 이상하게도 졸음을 재촉하는 수마와 같이 내 호흡에 들어올 때는 아득해진다.

그리고 새카만 눈과 도라지꽃같이 파란 입술을 들여다 볼 때는

왜 그런지 소름이 끼친다.

그 입에다가 키스를 하게 될 것 같으면 매운 독이 묻을 것 같다.

아, 이상도 한 여자다.  나는 언제든지 그 여자한테 죽을 것 같다’ 

‘A heady, spicy scent seems to emanate from A. Strangely, when that scent enters my breath, I become faint, like sleep is overpowering me. I also get goosebumps for some reason when I look at her black eyes and her lips as blue as the balloon flower. If I kiss those lips, I feel like I’d get spicy poison on my mouth. 

Oh, what a strange woman. I think she could kill me any time.’

그 다음 페이지에는 또 이런 글귀가 있다.

There was another entry on the next page. 

‘나의 생각으로는 도저히 알아낼 수 없는 여자다.

속 시원히 그 여자의 정체를 알려면 A의 속 몸을 맘대로 안아보았으면 모든 일이 알아질 것 같다.’ 

‘She is the kind of woman I can never fathom. If I wanted to find out who she is, I would have to take her whole body in my arms.’

# Interview with literary critic Jeon So-yeong

The word “cheoyeom” describes someone fiercely or desperately beautiful. Readers can probably guess the characteristics of Lim No-wol’s literary world from the title. Lim was known as a writer who revered aestheticism, a movement that prioritized beauty above all other values and sought beauty as the absolute truth. Lim No-wol didn’t want this story to be about social ideas or moral lessons. As the title implied, he wanted to write a story for the sake of beauty alone. Joseon in the 1920s, after the March 1st Independence Movement, tended to idolize literary figures who advocated the idea of human society and ideology. Subsequently, Lim No-wol, who respected individuality and championed the notion of ‘art for art’s sake,’ was ostracized in such an environment. It was, therefore, not surprising that he declared that he would write no more in the mid-1920s and disappeared from the literary scene.

A한테는 사내의 정열을 해롭게 하는 마력이 있다.

그 힘이 독한 버섯과 같이 사내의 정열을 한량없이 매혹하면서도 해를 끼친다.

A had the power to undermine a man’s lust. That power was like a poisonous mushroom that relentlessly seduced a man but, at the same time, harmed him. 

이렇게 생각할 때 나는 무서운 생각이 났다.

이러한 미신적인 일이 과연 실지로 있을까?

아니다, 이러한 생각은 모두 다 나의 망상이라고 생각했다.

그러나 그의 꿈을 꾸고 난 그 이튿날에는 반드시 병세가 중해지는 일을 무엇으로 설명할꼬?

I had a scary thought as I ruminated on that idea. Could something superstitious like this happen for real? No, all these thoughts are my delusion. But how else would you explain that my illness worsened after I had such a dream about A?

나는 병석에 누워서 이리저리 생각해 보았다.

오, 오, 알아낼 수 없는 A여!

I tossed several ideas in my head as I lay on the bed. 

Oh, oh, incorrigible A! 

그대는 왜 꿈 가운데서만 나를 찾는가?

괴로움 가운데서 헤매며 그대를 찾는 줄 모르는가?

Why do you come to me only in my dreams? Don’t you know that I am searching for you amid agony? 

‘여자는 사내에게 대해서 꿈이요 또한 그림자다’라고 한 타고르의 시구가 생각된다.

나는 그 때 영구히 위로받기 못할 한숨을 쉬며 혼자 잠이 들었었다.

A recalled a line from Tagore’s poem that went, “A woman is a dream to a man, and a shadow to a man.” I fell asleep alone as I let out a sigh that could never be consoled. 

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Lim No-wol (Real name: Lim Jang-hwa, Dates of birth and death unknown)

Debuted with short story “Chunhui” in 1920