The Free Indirect Speech

[원문]:Hugel hated his rooms. The ceilings had the same disgusting brown-edged water stains he had to endure at his office. Hugel swore bitterly to himself. He was the coroner of New York City. Why did he have to live in such undignified quarters? Why did his suit have to be so shabby compared to the brushed and tailored cut of George Banwell's jacket? (The Interpretation of Murder, Jed Rubenfeld)


[원문역]:휴겔은 자기 방을 싫어했다. 천장에는 사무실에서 본, 둘레가 갈색으로 물든 얼룩이 져 있었다. 입에서 욕지거리가 튀어나왔다. 그는 뉴욕 시의 검시관이었다. 그런데도 이런 품위없는 곳에서 살아야 했고, 솔질이 잘 되고 마름질이 깔끔한 밴월의 재킷과 견주면 초라하기 짝이 없는 양복을 입고 다녀야 했다. (살인의 해석, 비채출판사)


[욕을 했다면서]:“...입에서 욕지거리가 튀어나왔다”면서 패러그래프의 어디에도 “욕”이라고 생각될만한 말이 없네요. 이건 무엇을 말하는 것일까요? 그것은 번역자가 사실은 이 단락이 이른바 “묘사화법” 또는 자유간접화법 (Free Indirect Speech)로 쓰여진 문장임을 간과한 때문일 것입니다. 따라서, 옮길 때에는 번역자는 그 내용을 직접화법 문장으로 치환하여 옮겨야 하는 것입니다.


[정역]:휴겔은 자기 방들이 싫었다. 방의 천장들은 그의 사무실에서처럼 누런 물얼룩이 져 있었는데 정말 역겨웠다. “젠장,”하고 휴겔은 혼자 욕을 했다. “뉴욕시 검시관인 내가 이런 더러운 곳에서 살아야 되? 씨브럴! 이게 뉴욕시 검시관이 입는 옷이야? 밴웰이 입은 재킷 한번 봐. 맞춤 양복을 반들반들 다려서 잘 차려 입었잖아?”

[comments]::1)The Korean translator is incoherent. So incoherent that he has no sense of coherence at all. Figuratively speaking, he is just curious about this awkward quiet of the audience of whom wild applause was expected.


2)The verb cohere means stick together. So, when I say that statements in a paragraph are incoherent, it means that they are not connected in a clear and logical way. The problem is that the previous statement in the Korean version refers to an epithet Protagonist Hugel uttered by himself but the translator does not mention its contents.


3)The translator has got it wrong. Utterly wrong in that he has failed in conveying the messages the author wants to deliver to his readers. In short, the translator should not have transcribed the version in the past tense as done in the original text. That's because the statements are those of the Free Indirect Speech (A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, Randolph Quirk and others)


4)I would like to propose one of a few desirable versions: Hugel hated his rooms. The ceilings had the same disgusting brown-edged water stains he had to endure at his office. "Shit," Hugel said to himself. "Fuck the coroner of New York City! Why do I have to live in this dingy place? This goddam shabby dress! Do you call this suit? Look at Banwell's! How well brushed with a tailored cut!"