[斷想] 美國의 206年前 短篇小說 “Rip Van Winkle”을 소개한다

◆Rip Van Winkle statue in Irvington, New York (a town named for Washington Irving), not far from the Tarrytown location of Sunnyside, Irving's final home.◆

筆者는 高校1年때(1955년)에, Robert J. Dixon(1908~1963)이란 美國人作家이자, 여러 英文古典서적을 簡素化해서 外國人을 위한 英語敎育用冊 Dixon Series를 多量出刊한 것으로 유명한 學者가 있었다. 이 사람이 쓴 Dixon Series No.1~No.11까지가 당시 출간되었고, 지금도 생각나는 것이 Dixon Series No. 4는 “Essential English Idioms and Phrases”였고, No. 5는 “English Grammer”, No. 7은 “American Short Stories”였다.

Rip Van Winkle은, 위 『American Short Stories 』中에 실린 短篇小說의 하나다. Washington Irving이 쓴 소설속의 主人公의 이름이다. Washington Irving(1783~1859=享年76)은, 美國의 短篇小說家, 수필가, 역사학자, 외교관이었다. 19世紀初, 즉 1800年代初에 그가 1819년에 쓴 “Rip Van Winkle”이란 短篇小說로 유명해진 사람이다. 나중에는 George Washington의 자서전도 썼고, 15세기의 Spain역사, Alhambra宮殿과 Christopher Columbus에 관한 글도 발표하는 작품활동을 했고, 1840年代는 Spain駐在美國大使도 역임하였다.

Rip Van Winkle은 이 책중에서 나오는 4~5편의 短篇小說중의 하나였고, 지금도 잊혀지지 않는 것은. 이 小說이 너무도 짧았고 또한 터무니없게 황당하였다. 다시 말하자면, 마누라의 잔소리가 싫어서 산으로 놀러간 Rip가 산에서 낮잠을 자고 하루지나 집으로 돌아와보니, 20년이란 세월이 흘러가버렸고, 세상이 다 변했고, 아는 사람들은 거의 다 죽어버렸다. 이렇게 세상이 허무할 수 있느냐? 즉, 세월이 電光石火처럼 빠르고 人生이 虛無하다는 것을 諷刺한 短篇小說이었다. 어찌보면 短篇小說이 전혀 현실적이 아니고 漫畫같은 妖術같은 이야기를 늘어놓고 있었다. 나는 그때, 별난 소설도 다 있구나!를 느꼈다. 이 小說이 벌써 200년을 지난 小說이 되었다.

한편, 우리나라의 소설 洪吉童傳이 생각나서 인터넷을 검색해보았다. 洪吉童傳은, 朝鮮의 15代王, 光海君때 허균(許筠)이 當時의 社會制度의 결함을 특히 적서신분(嫡庶身分) 차이를 타파하고, 부패한 정치를 개혁하려는 뜻에서 지은, 小說로서. 한글소설의 효시(嚆矢)라고 한다. 光海君은 仁祖의 둘째아들로 태어나, 1608년 朝鮮15代 王으로 즉위 1623년까지 재위하였다. 그러니까, 洪吉童傳은 지금부터 400年前의 小說이다. 또한 薔花紅蓮傳은 作家未詳이지만 朴仁壽가 全萬宅의 간청을 받고 썼다는 1818年의 것이 전해 내려오고 있다. 딱 207年前의 것이다. 過去를 小說로 들여다보니 100년 200년 400년이 Washington Irving이 쓴 “Rip Van Winkle”처럼, 세월이 참으로 빠르고 허무하다는 생각이 절실하다고 느낀다. 人生 살다보니 별것 아니구나!를 痛感切感한다.<終>

《200年前의 美國短篇小說 Rip Van Winkle의 줄거리》

Rip Van Winkle is an amiable farmer who wanders into the Catskill Mountains, where he comes upon a group of dwarfs playing ninepins. Rip accepts their offer of a drink of liquor and promptly falls asleep. When he awakens, 20 years later, he is an old man with a long white beard; the dwarfs are nowhere in sight. When Rip returns to town, he finds that everything is changed: his wife is dead, his children are grown, and George Washington’s portrait hangs in place of King George III’s. The old man entertains the townspeople with tales of the old days and of his encounter with the little men in the mountains.

●Robert James Dixson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert James Dixson (1908~1963) was an American writer who simplified and adapted some classic works of literature, that were later published in their new version, and wrote a number of books about the English language, especially crafted for the foreign born.

He lived in New York City and moved to Florida in the early 1950s. He died while living in Coral Gables in 1963. He authored English language books by himself but also collaborated with others. Many of these books have been used throughout the world by those who wanted to learn or improve their knowledge of grammar, usage and pronunciation, particularly American English. Although the original editions served the intended purpose of his books, several have been re-published in different countries, most with translated notations to facilitate comprehension

●Washington Irving

Washington Irving (1783~1859=享年76) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and His historical works include biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad and George Washington, as well as several histories of 15th-century Spain that deal with subjects such as Alhambra, Christopher Columbus and the Moors. Irving served as American ambassador to Spain in the 1840s.

Born and raised in Manhattan to a merchant family, Irving made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. He temporarily moved to England for the family business in 1815. He continued to publish regularly throughout his life, and he completed a five-volume biography of George Washington just eight months before his death at age 76 in Tarrytown, New York.

Irving was one of the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe, and he encouraged other American authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe. He was also admired by some British writers, including Lord Byron, Thomas Campbell, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, Francis Jeffrey and Walter Scott. He advocated for writing as a legitimate profession and argued for stronger laws to protect American writers from copyright infringement.

2025-11-28, 오후 22:00 16回 최정규 作成