Chapter 1_11p
Yeongdo, Busan,Korea
History has failed us, but no matter.
At the turn of the century, an aging fisherman and his wife decided to take in lodgers for extra money. both were born and raised in the fishing village of Yeongdo-a five-mile-wide islet beside the port city of Busan. In their long marriage, the wife gave birth to three sons, but only Hoonie, the eldest and the weakest one, survived. Hoonie was born with a cleft palate and a twisted foot; he was, however, endowed with hefty shoulders, a squat build, and a golden complexion. Even as a young man, he retained the mild, thoughtful temperament he'd had as a child. When Hoonie covered his misshapen mouth with his hands, something he did out of habit meeting strangers, he resembled his nice-looking father, both having the same large smiling eyes. Inky eyebrows graced his broad forehead, perpetually tanned from outdoor work. Like his parents, Hoonie was not nimble talker, and some made the mistake of thinking that because he could not speak quickly there was something wrong with his mind, but that was not true.
In 1910, when Hoonie was twenty-seven years old, Japan annexed Korea. The fisherman and his wife, thrifty and hardy peasants, refused to be distracted by the country's incompetent aristocrats and corrupt rules, who had lost their nation to thieves. When the rent for their house was raised again, the couple moved out of their bedroom and slept in the anteroom near the kitchen to increase the number of lodgers.
aging : growing old
They also have lots of vitamin A and protein, which prevents and delays skin from aging.
cleft palate : medical a split in the roof of the mouth that some people are born with.
hefty :
islets : a small island
Young students and people can learn about the history and culture of the Dokdo Islets.
hefty : possessing physical strength and weight
I. (of a person) possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful
a hefty athlete
Reference brawny, muscular, powerful, sinewy
II. of considerable weight and size
a hefty dictionary
III. large in amount or extent or degree
received a hefty bonus
Reference: goodly, goodish, healthy, respectable, sizable, sizeable, tidy
squat : short and thick
short and thick; as e.g. having short legs and heavy musculature
a little church with a squat tower
a squatty red smokestack
chunky,dumpy,lowset,squatty,stumpy
II. having a low center of gravity; built low to the ground
I. exercising by repeatedly assuming a crouching position with the knees bent; strengthens the leg muscles
II. a small worthless amount
III. the act of assuming or maintaining a crouching position with the knees bent and the buttocks near the heels
Verb I. sit on one's heels
In some cultures, the women give birth while squatting
crouch, scrunch, scrunch up, hunker, hun...
II. be close to the earth, or be disproportionately wide
The building squatted low
III. occupy (a dwelling) illegally
misshapen : so badly formed or out of shape as to be ugly
deformed, distorted, illshapen, malformed
nimble : moving quickly and lightly
as nimble as a deer ---> nimble fingers
agile, quick, spry
II. mentally quick ---> nimble wits
anteroom : a large entrance or reception room or area
There's an anteroom with photographs of children who perished and then you come into a large space. 거기엔 희생된 어린이들의 사진이 있는 대기실이 있고, 넓은 공간의 한 장소에 도착하죠.