Louise (3/4)

Louise (3/4)
by Somerset Maugham

It didn't kill her. She had the time of her life. There was no convalescent home in France that was more popular. I met her by chance in Paris. She was lunching at the Ritz with a tall and very handsome young Frenchman. She explained that she was there on business connected with the hospital. She told me that the officers were too charming to her.

그것(요양병원 차린것)은 그녀를 죽이지 않았다. 그녀는 그녀의 전성기를 보냈다[화자의 시각에서 볼때 그녀는 인생을 즐기는 중]. 프랑스에는 요양병원(convalescent home)이 없었다. (몬테칼로에 있는)그녀의 병원은 인기를 구가했다. 우연히 파리에서 만났다. 키크고 잘생긴 젊은 프랑스 남자와 리츠에서 점심을 하는 중이었다. 그녀는 (파리에) 병원 사업차 왔다고 했다. (병원에 있는)장교들이 그녀에게 아주 잘해주고 있다고[charming, 떠바쳐주고 있다고] 말했다.

* convalescent: 회복기의
* had the time of her life: 즐거운 시간을 보냈다, 전성기를 보냈다

They knew how delicate she was and they wouldn't let her do a single thing. They took care of her, well―as though they were all her husbands.

그들(병원의 환자 장교들)은 그녀가 아주 섬세하다고 알고있고 혼자 일하게 두지 않았다[주변에 남자들이 들끓는다]. 그들은 그녀를 잘 돌봤다. 마치 그들 모두 그녀의 남편이라도 된듯이! [전상자들인 장교들이 오히려 병원 주인을 돌본다니 이런 모순이 있나!]

She sighed. "Poor George, who would ever have thought that I with my heart should survive him?"

그녀는 한숨쉬며 말했다. "불쌍한 죠지(두번째 남편).... 그 없이 내가 살수 있을거라고 누군들 생각 했겠어?"

"And poor Tom!" I said.

"톰(첫남편)도 불쌍해", 내가 말했다.

I don't know why she didn't like my saying that. She gave me her plaintive smile and her beautiful eyes filled with tears.

* plaintive: 애처로운

그녀가 내 말을 좋아하지 않은 이유를 알 수 없었다[화자는 독설을 퍼붙고는 시침떼고있다.] 그녀는 아름다운 눈에 눈물을 머금고는 애처로운 미소를 지었다.

"You always speak as though you grudged me the few years that I can expect to live."

* grudged: 원한, 나쁘게생각하다, 뒤끝

"당신은 몇년 전부터 내가 살아남은게 언짢은 듯이 말하는 군요?"

"By the way, your heart's much better, isn't it?"

"어쨌든 당신 심장은 더 좋아지고 있잖소. 그렇지 않소?"

"It'll never be better. I saw a specialist this morning and he said I must be prepared for the worst."

"좋아지지 않을 거예요. 오늘 아침에도 전문의 (진료)를 봤는데 최악의 경우를 대비해야 한다더군요."

"Oh, well, you've been prepared for that for nearly twenty years now,
haven't you?"

*grudge: 아까워하다, 배 아파하다

"아 그래요, 20년동안 준비해온 것 아니었소?"

When the war came to an end Louise settled in London. She was now a woman of over forty, thin and frail still, with large eyes and pale cheeks, but she did not look a day more than twenty–five.

전쟁이 끝나고 루이스는 런던에 정착했다. 그녀는 이제 40을 넘긴 여자가 됐다. 마르고 여전히 큰눈과 창백한 뺨을 한 연약한 (여자)였다. 하지만 그녀는 25에서 하루더 이상 보이지 않았다.[25보다 하루도 더 먹어보이지 않다.]

Iris, who had been at school and was now grown up, came to live with her. "She’ll take care of me," said Louise. "Of course, it'll be hard on her to live with such a great invalid as I am, but it can only be for such a little while, I'm sure she won’t mind."

학교에 다니던 아이리스는 이제 다 커서 그녀의 삶을 살때가 되었다. "그애가 나를 돌봐주고 있어요." 라며 그녀(루이스)가 말했다. "물론 나처럼 크게 쓸모없는 사람과 함께 산다는게 힘들거라는 걸 알아요. 하지만 잠시 뿐일 겁니다.[나는 곧 죽을거야...] 그애가 개의치 않을 거라 확신해요."

Iris was a nice girl. She had been brought up with the knowledge that her mother's health was precarious. As a child she had never been allowed to make a noise. She had always realized that her mother must on no account be upset. And though Louise told her now that she would not hear of her sacrificing herself for a tiresome old woman the girl simply would not listen. It wasn’t a question of sacrificing herself, it was a happiness to do what she could for her poor dear mother. With a sigh her mother let her do a great deal.

* precarious: 불확실한, 위태로운
* on no account: 절대로 ~아니다

"It pleases the child to think she’s making herself useful," she said.

"Don’t you think she ought to go out and about more?" I asked.

"That's what I'm always telling her. I can’t get her to enjoy herself. Heaven knows, I never want anyone to put themselves out on my
account."

And Iris, when I remonstrated with her, said:

"Poor dear mother, she wants me to go and stay with friends and go to parties, but the moment I start off anywhere she has one of her heart attacks, so I much prefer to stay at home."

* remonstrate: 항의하다, 충고하다
* put somebody out: ~에게 폐를 끼치다

"불쌍한 엄마, 엄마는 나더라 밖에나가 친구들과 어울리길 바라죠. 연회에도 가고. 하지만 제가 어디라도 나갈라 치면 엄마는 심장마비가 오는거예요. 결국 저는 집에 있어야 하죠."

But presently she fell in love. A young friend of mine, a very good lad, asked her to marry him and she consented. I liked the child and was glad that she was to be given at last the chance to lead a life of her own. She had never seemed to suspect that such a thing was possible.

* lad: 청년, 젊은이

하지만 지금은 그녀(아이리느)는 사랑에 빠졌다. 내가아는 젊은 친구인데 아주 건실한 젊은이로 그녀에서 결혼하자고 청혼 했다. 나는 그 애를 좋게 봤고 그애가 그녀 자신의 인생을 스스로 인도할 마지막 기회가 주어진것에 기뻤다. 그애는 그런일이 가능하리란것 생각해본적도 없었다.

But one day the young man came to me in great distress and told me that his marriage was indefinitely postponed. Iris felt that she could not desert her mother. Of course it was really no business of mine, but I made the opportunity to go and see Louise.

하지만 어느날 젊은 친구가 큰 고민거리를 가지고 내게와서 결혼이 무작정 연기됐다고 말했다. 아이리스가 그녀의 엄마를 내버려 둘(desert) 수 없다는 것이다. 물론 이일이 나랑은 상관 없다. 하지만 루이스를 만나보기로 했다(make an opportunity..)

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