이것 또한 지나가리라(This, Too, Shall Pass Away)

 

 

 

 

This, Too, Shall Pass Away
이것 또한 지나가리라

 
When some great sorrow, like a mighty river,
Flows through your life with peace-destroying power
And dearest things are swept from sight forever,
Say to your heart each trying hour:
"This, too, shall pass away."

 

거대한 슬픔이 노도의 강처럼

평화를 짓밟는 힘으로 그대의 삶으로 쳐들어오고

소중한 것들이 눈 앞에서 영원히 사라져 갈 때
매 힘든 순간마다 그대의 마음에 다짐해라
"이것 또한 지나가리라"고

 

When ceaseless toil has hushed your song of gladness,
And you have grown almost too tired to pray,
Let this truth banish from your heart its sadness,
And ease the burdens of each tring day:
"This, too, shall pass away."

 

끊임없는 근심이 즐거운 노래를 들리지 않게 하고
피곤에 지쳐 기도조차 할 수 없을 때 
이 진실의 말이 당신 마음의 슬픔을 줄여주고

힘든 나날의  무거운 짐들의 무게를 가볍게 하도록 하라

“이것 또한 지나가리라” 라는
 

When fortune smiles, and, full of mirth and pleasure,
The days are flitting by without a care,
Lest you should rest with only earthly treasure,
Let these few words their fullest import bear:
"This, too, shall pass away."

 

행운이 그대에게 미소 짓고 근심걱정 없는 나날이

환희와 기쁨으로 다가올 때

그대가 세속적인 보물들에만 안주하지 않도록
이 진실의 말을 그대의 마음에 깊이 새겨라  
“이것 또한 지나가리라”

When earnest labor brings you fame and glory,
And all earth's noblest ones upon you smile,
Remember that life's longest, grandest story
Fills but a moment in earth's little while:
"This, too, shall pass away."

정직한 노동이 그대에게 명성과 영광을 가져오고
지상의 모든 숭고한 이들이 그대에게 미소 지을 때
삶의 가장 길고 장대한 이야기도
이 세상사에서는 짧은 한 순간에 불과하다는 것을 기억하라
“이것 또한 지나가리라”

 

Lanta Wilson Smith
랜터 윌슨 스미스 (1856.7.19~1939.10.19)

 

유대경전 주석서인 미드라쉬의 '다윗왕의 반지'에 나온 이야기입니다.

 
어느날 다윗왕이 궁중의 보석 세공인을 불러 명했습니다.
나를 위하여 반지 하나를 만들되 거기에 내가 전쟁에서 큰 승리를 거두어 환호할 때 교만하지 않게 하고,
내가 절망에 빠져 낙심할 때 좌절하지 않고 용기와 희망을 얻을 수 있는 글귀를 새겨 넣으라."
이에 세공인은 아름다운 반지를 만들었지만 글귀가 생각나지 않아 고민 끝에 지혜롭기로 소문난

 솔로몬왕자를 찾아가 도움을 청했습니다.

솔로몬이 대답했습니다.
'이것 또한 지나가리라'

아주 교만할 때에도 지혜가 되고 아주 절망할 때에도 힘이 되는말.
'이것 또한 지나가리라.'를 마음에 간직합시다.

 

Theodore Tilton가 쓴 비슷한 내용의 또 다른 시를 한수 소개합니다.

Even This Shall Pass Away

-Theodore Tilton

 

Once in Persia reigned a King,
Who upon his signet ring
Graved a maxim true and wise,
Which, if held before his eyes,
Gave him counsel, at a glance,
Fit for every change or chance:
Solemn words, and these are they:
"Even this shall pass away!'"

Trains of camels through the sand
Brought him gems from Samarkand;
Fleets of galleys through the seas
Brought him pearls to rival these.
But he counted little gain
Treasures of the mine or main.
"What is wealth?" the King would say;
"Even this shall pass away.'"

In the revels of his court,
At the zenith of the sport,
When the palms of all his guests
Burned with clapping at his jests,
He, amid his figs and wine,
Cried, "O loving friends of mine!
Pleasure comes, but not to stay:
"Even this shall pass away.'"

Lady fairest ever seen
Was the bride he crowned his queen.
Pillowed on the marriage-bed,
Whispering to his soul, he said,
"Though a bridegroom never pressed
Dearer bosom to his breast,
Mortal flesh must come to clay:
"Even this shall pass away.'"

Fighting on a furious field,
Once a javelin pierced his shield.
Soldiers with a loud lament
Bore him bleeding to his tent.
Groaning from his wounded side,
"Pain is hard to bear," he cried,
"But with patience, day by day,
"Even this shall pass away.'"

Towering in the public square
Twenty cubits in the air,
Rose his statue carved in stone.
Then the King, disguised, unknown,
Gazing at his sculptured name,
Asked himself, "And what is fame?
Fame is but a slow decay:
"Even this shall pass away.'"

Struck with palsy, sere and old,
Waiting at the Gates of Gold,
Spake he with his dying breath,
"Life is done, but what is Death?"
Then, in answer to the King,
Fell a sunbeam on his ring,
Showing by a heavenly ray --
"Even this shall pass away."