[영어 원서 정복] 이솝우화(Aesop's Fables) - 002. Demosthenes and the Athenians

출처: Luara Gibbs trans., Aesop’s Fables, Oxford Univ Pr., 2008.

Fable 2

Demosthenes and the Athenians

They say that during an assembly in Athens, Demosthenes was prevented from making his speech, so he told the audience he wanted to say just a few words. When the audience had fallen silent, Demosthenes began his tale. ‘It was summertime, and a young man had hired a donkey to take him from Athens to Megara. At midday, when the sun was blazing hot, the young man and the donkey’s driver both wanted to sit in the donkey’s shadow. They began to jostle one another, fighting for the spot in the shade. The driver maintained that the man had rented the donkey but not his shadow, while the young man claimed that he had rented both the donkey and all the rights thereto.’ Having told this much of the story, Demosthenes then turned his back on the audience and began to walk away. The Athenians shouted at him to stop and begged him to finish the story. ‘Indeed!’ said Demosthenes. ‘You want to hear all about the donkey’s shadow, but you refuse to pay attention when someone talks to you about serious matters!’

[NOTE]

Demosthenes (d. 322 BCE) was a renowned orator of fourth-century Athens. Megara is a Greek city on the Saronic Gulf to the west of Athens. The ‘donkey’s shadow’ was an acient cliché for something of trivial importance (see, for example, Plato, Phaedrus 260c and Aristophanes, Wasps 191).

[어휘 풀이]

assembly: 의회, 집회

Demosthenes: 데모스테네스(고대 그리스의 정치가)

prevent from ...: ...할 수 없도록 만들다, ...을 막다

make a speech: 연설하다

(deliver a speech: 연설하다)

fall silent: 입을 다물어 버리다, 침묵에 잠기다

hire: (단기간) 빌리다[세내다], (사람을) 고용하다

Megara: 메가라(고대 그리스 남부의 역사적인 도시)

midday: 정오, 한낮

blazing: 타는 듯이 더운, 맹렬한, 격렬한

jostle: 거칠게 밀치다, 떠밀다

(jostle for ...: ...를 두고 다투다[경쟁을 벌이다])

one another: 서로(서로)

maintain: 주장하다, 유지하다

claim: 주장하다, 요구하다

thereto: (앞에 언급된) 그것[거기]에

turn one’s back on ...: ...에게서 등을 돌리다, 저버리다

walk away (from ...): (...로부터) 떠나 버리다

beg: 간청하다, 애원하다, 구걸하다

pay attention: 관심을 갖다

renowned: 유명한, 명성 있는

orator: 연설가, 웅변가

Sarnoic Gulf: 사로니코스 만(灣)(그리스 동남부 해안에 위치)

cliché: 상투적인 문구[생각], 클리셰

trivial: 사소한, 하찮은