The woman was emaciated / The sign hung from her neck / "Selling my daughter for 100 won" / With the little girl standing next to her / The woman stood in the market place.
The woman was a mute / She gazes at her daughter / Her maternal feelings are being sold / Cursed at by passers-by / The woman stares only at the ground / The woman has no more tears.
Clutching her mother's skirt / "My mother's dying," cries the daughter / The woman's lips tremble / The woman knows no gratitude / The soldier gave her 100 won, saying / "I'm not buying your daughter, I'm buying your motherly love" / The woman grabs the money and runs off.
The woman is a mother / With the 100 won she received for the sale of her daughter / She hurries back, carrying bread / She shoves the bread into her daughters mouth / "Forgive me," wails the woman.
Jang Jin-sung poem translated by Kevin Kim; 100 won is roughly equivalent to 73 US cents or 47p
No comments:
Post a Comment