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This is Korean novelist Yeungkwan Kim's fiction
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한국소설!! ----
||In Portuguese !! ||
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--- by Yeungkwan Kim(Korean Novelist)...
1.
( the end. 1996.)It was like dream life. I am 55 years old. My young days was full of lies. But I thought it was for goodness, that days........ I have not lived for other people, no, I have even not lived for my family, no, I've not lived for my body own. Here, the only virtual things left. Now, I am watching the vacuity only. I thought that days it was my action, but always languages, thoughts. I was not enough to do act, than anyone. And they did not speak so much than me. They did not be proud of goodness and knowledge. But they did good things, and they were kind people. But I have done bad things, unknown everyone. I have lived in the castle of me, by oneself, touched them in my castle too. As result the bad things are left to my family and everybody. But I do not say this again, because it is to do bad things two times, to hurt my heart, my mind again! I am going to tell a story just of Mr. jang and me, who are doing now sweeping up the street. ----------- 2.------- Me and Jang, we are working at night not to be seen by every people's eyes. The time to sweep up the street is always at dawn, and At night we swept up dirty rubbish and papers in front of every house. Me and Jang, we are always afraid of young people. when we meet them, we feel it is better to go in to mouse hole. Because they are young, rich, we are old, poor. Jang use to say that he is ashamed of his job. He hated his dirty poor job that smells up. That was me, too. But I was less than Jang. I hated to go into rich people's apartment and villa. I was afraid of it just like falling into the hell. I felt that there were full of gas which was not moving at all, there were no one mouse. Oh, yes I am afraid of such calm belt and no sound! To us, the worst apartment was Hankuk villa. The Hankuk villa was at the long calm lane which me and Jang always swept up everyday. I always put on my yellow cap deeply, when I go to the Hankuk villa. And I returned out fast in a sweat. In Hankuk villa, there was no smell to live. The people who live in Hankuk villa also hated to meet us. One day, an old woman who put on her sun glasses drove a deluxe car to me, like crashing against me, when I swept up. But she did not said one word. If she said "I am sorry.", I could say "that's all right." Insult. She added insult to injury. Yes, it was insult. Contempt..... Even, two guards who guard the Hankuk villa never say to me. They also think they are rich men as if they live in Hankuk villa. But they always said, "Rich people are just like fools. They can not fix a leak." And then, why are they not saying, "hello"? I do not know why. Seoul was such city. Korea in 1995 was so. And I hated to meet two men. They are young men, one is older than the other one. When I went to Hankuk villa to sweep, I always met them , because they were smoking in front of stairs. The younger one, looks like twenty, used to smokes in front of me(in front of old man just like his father), and to pitch a cigaret butt, and to go u p stairs, saying to me "hoohoohoo". Why does he say "hoohoohoo" to me? I don't know why. But I know it is contempt. And the other one, looks like being married, used to avoid me. Why? Dirty? Because I am a dirty sweep? Anyway, The Hankuk villa was too calm except two young men and two guards, so that, there was no one mouse seen. But there were only too many expensive cars. And when I meet that car, moving to me, I hung down my head because of shame, shameful job. The Hankuk villa is rich, small town. But there were so much rubbish. So my sweep waggon was always full of rubbish. So it was always dangerous to go down the steep hill with much rubbish. So dangerous like flying circus. We climbed the steep hill, and climbed down the steep hill from 10 o'clock at night to 5 o'clock at dawn. We are always tired out in winter or in summer, with rotten smell from our bodies. But there was no way except bearing. What can I do? I did not learn so much, I did not go to school...... But down the hill, near the construction working place, there was a place, where we can drink macgully(korean wine). There, construction crew and drunk always gathered. But it was so poor place, no ceiling. So cold winter wind gathered into too. An old woman boiled an egg and bean sprouts soup and haejangkuk(korean soup). Side dish was kimchi. And this old woman looks like 60 years old woman, but it is said that her real age is 50. Her face was dirty, than us, I wondered she washed her face. Her hair was white, under the ears, dirty. But it was the best place, where we could drink macgully(korean wine) and talk about our working, home, hope, and worm story. It was that time to drink macgully that we tied up our bloody hands with newspaper because of broken glass in the rubbish. And it was that time to clean out our lungs which were filled with dust. The giant sub-way train was running above the magully house. That train was so noisy, But we felt that noise like side dish. It was good noise to drink rough macgully. We felt the warmth, to that giant metals, train. The train was running everyday everytime, loading people who are leaving for somewhere. The moving giant metals... To move is the same with me....., To die can not move, just rotten smell. Though I am full of dirty smell, I am alive, and drinking macgully with side dish kimchi, hearing the noise of the train..... To be alive! To be lived! To live! The summer rain was pouring down, that day. When I climbed down the hill of Hankuk villa at deep night, I found Jang drawing his waggon with so much rubbish. He was too small to draw his sweep waggon full of rubbish, that day. He looked like an ant to draw a big insect. I said, "Ui-(Hi), Jang, hurry up, and let's go to drink, O.K?" He hung down his head to draw his sweep waggon, with deep hot breathing. "oh, why so much rubbish, today!" I said. We got a minute's breathing, smoking on the hill, to go down the steep slope. Mr jang could not smoke well because of his deep breathing. The rough summer rain was pouring down above our heads, following a street light. At that time. Jang said, "Let's go, hurry up..., and let's take a rest down the hill." He was already drawing his sweep waggon, but I was still smoking, so I said, "Um-, o.k... Be careful, Jang..." He looked very uneasily because of heavy waggon. I was watching him drawing waggon with breathless anxiety. I said, "Go slow, Let's go with me, I will help you." But Jang said, "Don't worry...." I could not hear his voice well because of pouring rain. At that moment, Jang's step was slid over, his waggon pushed him, it went down itself fast, left Jang under the waggon. "Ah!" I heard Jang's scream in the dark. "Jang! Jang!" I run down the steep hill. I could finger his hot bleeding head in the rain. He was no conscious. "Hei, Jang, Jang, Don't lose your consciousness!" I screamed out, but he was calm. I tied up his bleeding head with my yellow shirts, I carried him on my back, and run to the hospital. I was feeling his hot bleed on my back. "Hei, Jang! Jang! Don't lose your consciousness! That's hospital!" I screamed, to Jang with no answer. And I prayed and prayed for his living. 'Please be alive!'
South Korean writer Yeungkwan Kim Paper Grandmother
This is Korean novelist Yeungkwan Kim's fictionin Korean
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