<영어로 읽는 고전 _ 나다니엘 호손의 검은 베일을 쓴 목사>
“THE MINISTER’S BLACK VEIL”은 Nathaniel Hawthorne의 또 다른 단편 소설로, 1835년 그의 컬렉션 "Twice-Told Tales"에도 출판되었다.
이 이야기는 얼굴에 검은 베일을 쓴 채 살아가는 후퍼 목사에 관한 이야기다.
어느 일요일, 후퍼 목사는 검은 베일을 쓴 채 설교를 하러 나타난다. 모두가 충격을 받지만 정작 후퍼 목사는 평소처럼 설교를 진행한다. 이후 장례식과 결혼식에도 검은 베일을 벗지 않고 참석해 사람들을 놀라게 하기도 한다.
약혼녀 엘리자베스는 후퍼 목사에게 베일의 비밀을 묻지만, 후퍼 목사는 베일이 자신과 세상을 분리시키는 상징이며 결코 벗을 수 없다고 말한다. 갈등 끝에 엘리자베스는 후퍼 목사를 떠난다.
검은 베일 덕분에 후퍼 목사는 더욱 경건하고 영향력 있는 목회자가 되지만, 한편으로 그는 평생 고립되고 두려움의 대상이 되어 외롭게 살아가게 된다.
임종을 앞둔 후퍼 목사에게 동료 목사가 베일의 비밀을 밝히라 요청하지만, 그는 베일을 벗기를 거부한다. 그리고는 모든 사람의 얼굴에 검은 베일이 있다며 숨을 거둔다.
결국 그는 베일을 쓴 채 관에 묻힌다. 후퍼 목사가 베일 아래 숨긴 비밀이 무엇인지는 끝내 밝혀지지 않았지만, 그것이 상징하는 바는 여전히 두려운 생각으로 남아있다.
<A classic read in English_ THE MINISTER’S BLACK VEIL by Nathaniel Hawthorne >
“THE MINISTER’S BLACK VEIL” is another short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, also published in his collection “Twice-Told Tales” in 1835.
This story is about Pastor Hooper, who lives with a black veil on his face.
One Sunday, Pastor Hooper appears to preach wearing a black veil. Everyone is shocked, but Pastor Hooper continues his sermon as usual. He later surprised people by attending funerals and weddings without taking off his black veil.
His fiancée Elizabeth asks Reverend Hooper the secret of the veil, but Reverend Hooper tells her that the veil is a symbol that separates him from the world and that he can never take it off. After conflict, Elizabeth leaves Pastor Hooper.
Thanks to the black veil, Pastor Hooper becomes a more pious and influential pastor, but at the same time, he becomes isolated, feared, and lonely for the rest of his life.
As Pastor Hooper is on his deathbed, a fellow pastor asks him to reveal the secret of the veil, but he refuses to take it off. He then dies, saying there is a black veil on everyone's face.
In the end, he is buried in a coffin with a veil on. Although it is never revealed what secret Pastor Hooper hides beneath the veil, what it symbolizes still remains a frightening thought.
Summary
The sexton stood in the porch of Milford meeting-house pulling lustily at the bell-rope. The old people of the village came stooping along the street. Children with bright faces tripped merrily beside their parents or mimicked a graver gait in the conscious dignity of their Sunday clothes. Spruce bachelors looked sidelong at the pretty maidens, and fancied that the Sabbath sunshine made them prettier than on week-days. When the throng had mostly streamed into the porch, the sexton began to toll the bell, keeping his eye on the Reverend Mr. Hooper’s door. The first glimpse of the clergyman’s figure was the signal for the bell to cease its summons.
