recommended by 신영철 병원-윤동주 살구나무 그늘로 얼굴을 가리고 병원 뒤뜰에 누워, 젊은 여자가 흰옷 아래로 하얀 다리를 드러내놓고 일광욕을 한다. 한나절이 기울도록, 가슴을 앓는다는 이 여자를 찾아오는 이, 나비 한 마리도 없다. 슬프지도 않은 살구나무 가지에는 바람조차 없다. 나도 모를 아픔을 오래 참다 처음으로 이곳에 찾아왔다. 그러나 나의 늙은 의사는 젊은이의 병을 모른다. 나한테는 병이 없다고 한다. 이 지나친 시련, 이 지나친 피로, 나는 성내서는 안 된다. 여자는 자리에서 일어나 옷깃을 여미고 화단에서 금잔화 한 포기를 따 가슴에 꽂고 병실 안으로 사라진다. 나는 그 여자의 건강이 — 아니 내 건강도 속히 회복되기를 바라며 그가 누웠던 자리에 누워 본다. --- using [[language_translation]], [translating korean poem on healing cld](https://claude.ai/chat/ee75e810-6644-4244-a8e0-1e8b39b9d5c8) Hospital by Yoon Dong-ju In the hospital's back garden lies a woman, her face veiled by an apricot tree's shadow. She bares her pale legs beneath white garments, taking a sunbath. Half the day passes - to the woman they say is heartsick, not even a butterfly comes. The apricot branches, bearing no sadness themselves, stand without even a breeze. I have come here for the first time, after silently bearing a pain I cannot name. Yet an old doctor dismisses a young man's affliction, declaring me free of disease. This excessive trial, this excessive fatigue - I must not let anger take hold. The woman rises, drawing her collar close. She plucks a marigold from the garden bed, pins it to her chest, and vanishes into the ward. I lie in the place where she lay, hoping for her swift recovery - no, for both our swift recovery. --- what i learned during translation | Translation Aspect | Example from "Hospital" | Learning | Solution | | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Linguistic Ambiguity | 가슴을 앓는다는 (chest pain/heartache) | When Korean uses words with multiple meanings (가슴 = physical chest + emotional heart), preserve intentional ambiguity | Used "heartsick" to maintain both physical and emotional connotations | | Grammatical Nuances | ～다는 in 가슴을 앓는다는 (hearsay ending) | Korean grammatical endings often carry subtle meanings that need creative preservation | Added "they say" to show the indirect nature of knowledge | | Concision vs. Completeness | Long version: "As the day tilts past noon, not even a single butterfly visits this woman they say is ailing in her heart" → Short version: "Half the day passes—to the woman they say is heartsick, not even a butterfly comes" | Korean packs more meaning into fewer syllables than English; challenge is preserving meaning while maintaining poetic elegance | Compressed meaning without losing essential elements, even if requiring slight structural reorganization |