이호철 : 판문점 Panmunjom

판문점 007
Panmunjom
해설 133
Afterword
비평의 목소리 143
Critical Acclaim
작가 소개 150
About the Author

“이것 보세요.”
그녀가 마지막 안간힘을 쓰듯이 불렀다.
“왜?”
“전 지금 할 일이 있어요. 해야 할 일이 있어요. 도와주세요, 네? 이건 분명히 우리 차지요. 그렇죠? 작정하세요. 어떻게 하실래요? 난 설득을 해야 해요. 어떻게 하실래요?”
“그래, 설득시켜 봐라. 어서 설득시켜 봐.”
“우선 본인이 결정하세요. 그게 선차예요.”
“지금 넌 놓여난 기분을 느끼지 않나? 너나 나나 마찬가지야. 놓여난 기분을 느껴야 돼.”
“그런 얘기를 할 때가 아니야요, 지금은.”
“이런 것이 우리 경우에서의 자유라는 거다, 겨우 이런 것이. 무엇인가, 고삐를 풀어 팽개친 연후에 겨우 남는 것이 이런 거야. 그렇게 느끼지 않나? 이런 말은 여전히 썩은 소리라고만 생각하나?”
“이건 썩은 냄새야요. 분명히 썩은 냄새야요. 이런 건 끝까지 경계해야 해요. 전 그래야 해요.”
“I?I would like to tell you something,” she stammered, as if mustering all of her remaining courage.
“What?”
“I have a duty to perform here. It’s something I have to do. You can help me, can’t you? This is our car, right? Please make a decision. What would you like to do? Tell me and I’ll help you make up your mind. What do you want to do?”
“Sure, go ahead and try to convince me. Give it your best shot.”
“You have to decide for yourself first.”
“Don’t you feel a sense of liberation? It has to be the same for both of us. You must feel it.”
“This isn’t the time.”
“It is the time, and the opportunity, for us, for freedom. This is what freedom means for us. How can I put it?it’s the feeling you get when you break free, when you cast off all restraints. You don’t feel it? You still think I’m talking like a depraved man?”
“It is depraved. And it is totally rotten. This is what one has to guard oneself against at all costs. I can’t allow it to get to me.”