횡단

 

 

 

그날은 줄곧 혼자 걷기만 하였던
외로운 날이었다, 사람들아.
주위에 친구들 있었으나
그들 모두 떠나고 없는 것 같았다.
아주 매서운 바람 받으며
산으로 올라갔는데
입고 있는 외투는
모기장처럼 엷기만 했다.
계곡으로 내려가서
차가운 시냇물을 건넜는데
내가 건너야 했던 시냇물은
상상했던 거와는 달랐으며
내가 신고 있는 신발은
시냇물을 막아주지 못했더.
이윽고 나는 초원으로 나섰는데
시야에 들어오는 그 초원에는
나 같은 사람은 아무도 없었다.
그날은 줄곧 혼자 걷기만 하였던
외로운 날이었다, 사람들아
바로 내 주위에 친구들 함께 있었으나
그들 모두 다 떠나고 없는 것 같았다.

「횡단」 
  L. Huges 詩集, 박태순 譯『아메리칸 니그로 斷章』(민음사 세계시인선, 1977)

Crossing

It was that lonely day, folks,
When I walked all by myself.
My friends was all around me
But it was as if they'd left.
I went up on a mountain
In a high cold wind
And the coat that I was wearing
Was mosquito-netting thin.
I went down in the valley
And I corssed an icy stream
And the water I was crossing
Was no water in a dream
And the shoes I was wearing
No protection for that stream.
Then I stood out on a prairie
And as far as I could see
Wasn't nobody on that prairie
Looked like me.
It was that lonely day, folks,
My friends was right there with me
But was just as if they'd left.


                                  By Langston Huges