Kim Sowolh
Zhup-dong Bird
“Zhup-dong”
“zhup-dong”
“Little brothers zhup-dong”
The sister who once
lived by the Zhindoo river bank
now cries at the edges of the village.
Long ago, faraway,
in our country, there was a sister
who lived by the Zhindoo river bank.
She died of her step-mother’s jealousy.
Sister! Shall we call out!
Oh! How sadly!
Our sister, though jealousy killed her body,
after death she became a zhup-dong bird.
The nine younger brothers she left behind
she couldn’t forget, even after her death, couldn’t forget.
After midnight, the everyone-else-sleeping night deepens;
moving from this hill to that hill, sadly she cries.
접 동 새
접동
접동
아우래비 접동
진두강 가람 가에 살던 누나는
진두강 앞 마을에
와서 웁니다
옛날, 우리 나라
먼 뒤쪽의
진두강 가람 가에 살던 누나는
의붓어미 시샘에 죽었읍니다
누나라고 불러보랴
오오 불설워
시새움에 몸이 죽은 우리 누나는
죽어서 접동새가 되었읍니다
아홉이나 남아 되던 오랩동생을
죽어서도 못잊어 차마 못잊어
야삼경 남 다 자는 밤이 깊으면
이 산 저 산 옮아 가며 슬피 웁니다.
published in The Seventh Quarry Poetry. (2013)