Kang, Byeong-Cheol (writer, poet, translator, Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science)
Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
Kang Byeong-Cheol is a Korean author, poet, translator, and Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. He was born in Jeju City, South Korea in 1964. He began writing in 1993 and published his first short story, “Song of Shuba,” at the age of twenty-nine.
In 2005, he published a collection of short stories. He has won four literature awards and has published more than eight books. He was a member of The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International from 2009 to 2014.
He also served as an editorial writer for NewJejuIlbo, a newspaper in Jeju City, Korea. Currently, he is a Research Executive at The Korean Institute for Peace and Cooperation.
Our ancestors sang songs
In times of sorrow, our ancestors sang with grace,
In green fields beyond the mountains tall,
Apricot blossoms bathed in sunshine, they’d recall.
Shouldering the plow, one by one they’d toil,
Working hard in the garden soil,
Their labor, though tough, brought them joy,
Producing crops, they felt employed.
The waves crash and rush over the sea,
As the sun sets, a touching scene to see,
We must remember, until tears fall,
Tomorrow brings a new day for us all.
Our traditional song, so beautiful and true,
Loved by all, in our hearts it grew,
May it forever live on and on,
Passed down to our descendants, like the dawn.
let’s sing our ancestors song,
“A tiger is coming! a tiger is coming down!
A beast is coming down through the valleys in the vast forest”
선조들의 노래
슬픔 가득한 날에도 선조들은 우아하게 노래했지!
높은 산 너머 푸른 들에서,
살구꽃이 햇살에 물드는 모습을 떠올렸어.
삽을 메고 일하던 그들은 한 사람씩 밭에 들어갔어
처음부터 끝까지 힘들지만,
작물을 수확하는 즐거움에 충만했었지
파도가 바다 위를 내달리면서,
일몰은 감동적인 장면을 선사하네
눈물이 떨어질 때 기억해야 할 것은,
내일은 우리 모두를 위한 새로운 하루가 온다는 것
우리의 전통 노래는 아름답고 진실하지
모두에게 사랑받고 우리 마음속에서 자라났어
영원히 이어지며,
새벽처럼 우리 후손들에게 전해져야 해
노래하자, 선조들이 노래를,
“범 내려온다! 범이 내려온다! 장린 깊은 골로 대한 짐승이 내려온다!”
