영어고전155 아서 코난 도일의 블루만스다이크의 협곡

블루만스다이크의 협곡과 다른 이야기(The Gully of Bluemansdyke, and Other stories by Arthur Conan Doyle)(1892)은 아서 코난 도일의 단편 7편을 모은 단편집입니다. 국내에 번역본이 출간되지 않은 작품입니다만, 아서 코난 도일의 역마살과 자유분방한 상상력을 엿볼 수 있습니다. 아서 코난 도일은 1880년부터 1885년까지 영국 월간지 런던 소사이어티(London Society)를 통해 11편의 단편을 발표하였으며, 1899년에는 작은 판형의 미스테리와 모험(Mysteries and Adventures) 단행본으로, 1893년에는 블루만스다이크의 협곡과 다른 이야기(The Gully of Bluemansdyke, and Other stories by Arthur Conan Doyle)(1892)란 제목의 단행본으로 각각 출간되었습니다. 7편의 단편은 영국을 벗어난 헝가리 부다페스트(The Silver Hatchet)와 스코틀랜드의 해변(Caithness coast of Scotland), 대서양 횡단 증기선(transatlantic steamer), 러시아 제국(Russian Empire)(A Night Among the Nihilists) 심지어 지구 반대편의 호주(Australia) 등 세계 각지를 배경으로 하고 있기에, 독자들의 탐험심을 자극하지요! 테마여행신문 TTN Korea 영어고전(English Classics)과 함께 어제도, 오늘도, 내일도 멋진 문학여행을! B

블루만스다이크의 협곡(The Gully of Bluemansdyke)과 내 친구는 살인자(My Friend the Murderer)는 작품의 배경이 황금을 찾아 떠난 영국 이민자들의 식민지 시대, 호주 멜버른(Melbourne)이란 공통점이 있는데요, 독립적인 단편이지만 등장인물 빌(Chicago Bill)이나 말로니(Maloney)가 두 작품에 모두 등장하는 등 같은 세계관을 공유하고 있습니다.

One word before we proceed with our story, or our chronicle rather, as every word of it is based upon fact. The colonial trooper of fifteen or twenty years ago was a very different man from his representative of to-day. Not that I would imply any slur upon the courage of the latter; but for reckless dare-devilry and knight-errantry the old constabulary has never been equalled. The reason is a simple one. Men of gentle blood, younger sons and wild rakes who had outrun the constable, were sent off to Australia with some wild idea of making their fortunes. On arriving they found Melbourne by no means the El Dorado they expected; they were unfit for any employment, their money was soon dissipated, and they unerringly gravitated into the mounted police. Thus a sort of colonial "Maison Rouge" became formed, where the lowest private had as much pride of birth and education as his officers. They were men who might have swayed the fate of empires, yet who squandered away their lives in many a lone wild fight with native and bushranger, where nothing but a mouldering blue-ragged skeleton was left to tell the tale.

작품명 블루만스다이크의 협곡(The Gully of Bluemansdyke)는 황금을 찾아 헤매는 탐광업자들이 밀집한 어딘가를 뜻하는 가상의 지명입니다.

Yes, a wild, tempestuous night; a night for birds of darkness and for beasts of prey. A strange night for seven men to lie out in the gully at Bluemansdyke, with revolvers in their hands, and the devil in their hearts. 네, 거칠고 격한 밤입니다. 어둠의 새들과 맹수들을 위한 밤이죠. 7명의 남자가 블루맨스다이크의 협곡에 누워있는 이상한 밤이죠 권총을 손에 들고 악마를 가슴에 품고 말이죠.

말로니(W. T. Maloney)는 두 편의 작품을 통해 역사상 가장 대대적인 살인자(the most wholesale murderer that ever lived)로 묘사됩니다. 내 친구는 살인자(MY FRIEND THE MURDERER.) 마지막 단락에 그에 대한 소개가 첨부되어 있습니다.

"Fatal Affray.?W. T. Maloney, a well-known citizen of New Montrose, and proprietor of the Yellow Boy gambling saloon, has met with his death under rather painful circumstances. Mr. Maloney was a man who had led a chequered existence, and whose past history is replete with interest. Some of our readers may recall the Lena Valley murders, in which he figured as the[Pg 113] principal criminal. It is conjectured that, during the seven months that he owned a bar in that region, from twenty to thirty travellers were hocussed and made away with. He succeeded, however, in evading the vigilance of the officers of the law, and allied himself with the bushrangers of Bluemansdyke, whose heroic capture and subsequent execution are matters of history. Maloney extricated himself from the fate which awaited him by turning Queen's evidence. He afterwards visited Europe, but returned to West Australia, where he has long played a prominent part in local matters. On Friday evening he encountered an old enemy, Thomas Grimthorpe, commonly known as Tattooed Tom of Hawkesbury. Shots were exchanged, and both men were badly wounded, only surviving a few minutes. Mr. Maloney had the reputation of being, not only the most wholesale murderer that ever lived, but also of having a finish and attention to detail in matters of evidence which has been unapproached by any European criminal. Sic transit gloria mundi!“ MY FRIEND THE MURDERER.