This week’s Translation Tuesday transports us to sixteenth-century Korea in this excerpt from Hong Sŏkchung’s historical novel Hwang Chini. In this particular passage, our titular protagonist dons a disguise and explores the common neighborhoods of her city. Raised within an aristocratic family but soon to be made aware of her mother’s outcaste status, Chini is shocked and frightened by this formerly hidden underbelly of society. The legendary figure’s wit and daring are outpaced only by her curiosity, but the more she sees and hears, the more she is overwhelmed and unprepared. In language that is comedic, anachronistic, and surprisingly transgressive, Hwang Chini offers a contemporary take on a legendary historical figure. The novel’s fame also breaks political precedents: author Hong Sŏkchung received the Manhae Literature Prize, marking the first time a major South Korean literary award was bestowed upon a North Korean writer.  

Part One, section 12

After Chini has offered greetings of the evening to her mother she visits the kitchen maid’s room. This room has been kept heated, even now in the dog days of summer, ever since the maid suffered a stroke. Granny is there trying to sweat out a cold.

Chini feels a blast of heat as she opens the door to the cavernous room. Granny has burrowed into her bedding on the warmer section of the heated floor.

“How are you feeling?”

“Well, look who’s here! You came by earlier, and here you are again?” But Granny, face streaming with perspiration, is happy like a child at the sight of Chini.

“I gave Igŭm some ch’ŏngshimhwan for you,” says Chini. “It’s supposed to work miracles—did you try it?”

“I did! And I’ve broken into a good sweat and feel much better. But I’m afraid you’ll have to sleep without me tonight. You’ll have Igŭm, though.”

“That’s fine. Just make sure to take care of yourself!”

Chini stops in the kitchen to ask the maid to look after Granny, then leaves for her quarters. The moment she sets foot in the rear gardens, her proper-young-lady persona evaporates and the seething vigor and bursting vitality of a curious teen reveal themselves in a naughty, sparkling grin. She scurries off. READ MORE…