영어고전154 아서 코난 도일의 도시 저편에

도시 저편에(Beyond the City by Arthur Conan Doyle)(1892)는 1890년 빅토리아 시대(Victorian lives)를 배경으로 영국 런던 남쪽에 위치한 노우드(Norwood)의 어느 빌라(the three villas)를 배경으로 펼쳐지는 소셜 코미디(social comedy)이자 로맨스(Romance)입니다. 장편이라기엔 짧고, 단편이라기엔 긴 중편 소설이지요. 테마여행신문 TTN Korea 영어고전(English Classics)과 함께 어제도, 오늘도, 내일도 멋진 문학여행을! B

But Clara Walker still sat in the dim-lit room with her chin upon her hands, and her dreamy eyes looking out into the gathering gloom. It was the duty of her, a maiden, to play the part of a mother?to guide another in paths which her own steps had not yet trodden. Since her mother died not a thought had been given to herself, all was for her father and her sister. In her own eyes she was herself very plain, and she knew that her manner was often ungracious when she would most wish to be gracious. CHAPTER IV. A SISTER'S SECRET.

세 채의 빌라에는 각기 다른 개성의 중산층(middle class) 가족이 입주해 옵니다. 각기 다른 사정과 각기 다른 상황이지만, 노우드(Norwood)에서 보다 멋지고 행복한 삶을 꿈꾼다는 공통점이 있는 이들이지요.

The open window looked out upon a sloping lawn, well trimmed and pleasant, with fuzzy rosebushes and a star-shaped bed of sweet-william. It was bounded by a low wooden fence, which screened it off from a broad, modern, new metaled road. At the other side of this road were three large detached deep-bodied villas with peaky eaves and small wooden balconies, each standing in its own little square of grass and of flowers. All three were equally new, but numbers one and two were curtained and sedate, with a human, sociable look to them; while number three, with yawning door and unkempt garden, had apparently only just received its furniture and made itself ready for its occupants. CHAPTER I. THE NEW-COMERS.

세 가족은 빌라촌이 공유하는 테니스 코트(tennis court)를 거점으로, 자연스럽게 만나고 교류합니다. 테니스 게임이란 명분으로 이웃을 초대해 정성껏 단장한 옷차림과을 자랑하는 모습은 한 폭의 그림과도 같습니다. 테니스 코트가 있던 자리는 예나 지금이나 황야(The Wilderness)라 불리는데, 노우드의 황야에서는 모든 대화도 가능하고, 모든 연인도 이루어지기 마련이랍니다.

But this was not to be the only eventful conversation which Mrs. Westmacott held that day, nor was the Admiral the only person in the Wilderness who was destined to find his opinions considerably changed. Two neighboring families, the Winslows from Anerley, and the Cumberbatches from Gipsy Hill, had been invited to tennis by Mrs. Westmacott, and the lawn was gay in the evening with the blazers of the young men and the bright dresses of the girls. CHAPTER VI. AN OLD STORY.

한편 빌라가 개발되기 전 일대의 토지를 소유했던 이의 가족, 베르다 부인(Misses Bertha)와 모니카 윌리암스(Monica Williams)는 빌라 건너편에 살고 있습니다. 아버지의 농지였던 곳에 새롭게 건설된 빌라와 빌라에 이사오는 낯선 이들을 바라보는 그들의 심경은 가슴앓이와 수줍음으로 가득차 있습니다.

For years they had clung to the one field which faced their windows, and it was only after much argument and many heartburnings, that they had at last consented that it should share the fate of the others. A broad road was driven through their quiet domain, the quarter was re-named “The Wilderness,” and three square, staring, uncompromising villas began to sprout up on the other side. With sore hearts, the two shy little old maids watched their steady progress, and speculated as to what fashion of neighbors chance would bring into the little nook which had always been their own. CHAPTER II. BREAKING THE ICE.

드디어 세 채의 빌라가 주인을 맞이하였습니다! 첫 번째 빌라에는 은퇴한 헤이 덴버(Hay Denver)와 아내, 아들 헤롤드(Harold) 가족이, 두 번째 빌라에는 은퇴 무렵의 노인 의사 발타자르 워커(Doctor Balthazar Walker)와 두 딸 클라라(Clara)와 이다(Ida), 그리고 세 번째 빌라에는 여성의 사회적 활동에 관심이 많은 과부 웨스트마콧 여사(Mrs. Westmacott)가 조카와 살고 있습니다. 젊은 아들과 두 딸이라니, 벌써부터 심상치 않은 분위기가 느껴지는군요!

“Oh, we can do it very nicely. You see we are both engaged and that makes it very easy. Harold will do what you ask him, especially as you have told him the reason why, and my Charles will do it without even wanting to know the reason. Now you know what Mrs. Westmacott thinks about the reserve of young ladies. Mere prudery, affectation, and a relic of the dark ages of the Zenana. Those were her words, were they not?” CHAPTER X. WOMEN OF THE FUTURE.

웨스트마콧 여사는 자신의 주장을 관철하기 위해 화려한 언변으로 주변 사람에게 끊임없이 설득을 시도하지요. 바로 황야(The Wilderness)에서! 혈기왕성한 자녀들이 부모의 뜻을 벗어나, 서로에 대한 호감으로 사랑에 빠지는 과정은 평범한 로맨스라고 규정 짓기엔, 그 어떤 독자도 셜록 홈즈의 작가 아서 코난 도일에게 기대하지 않았던 낯선 이야기일지도 모르겠습니다. 도시 저편에(Beyond the City by Arthur Conan Doyle)(1892)에 등장하는 네 가족의 좌충우돌 이야기, 한번 들어보시겠습니까? 참고로 살인자도, 범인도, 그를 쫓는 형사도 등장하지 않는답니다.