It was late morning, and the lodgers who'd fished through the evening had finished their hot suppers, washed up, and gone to bed. Hoonie's mother poured te matchmaker a cup of cold barley tea but didn't break from her own work.
Naturally, the mother guessed what the matchmaker wanted, but she couldn't fathom what to say. Hoonie had never asked his parents for a bride. It was unthinkable that a decent family would let their daughter marry someone with deformities, since such things were inevitable in the next generation. She had never seen her son talk to a girl; most village girls avoided the sight of him, and Hoonie have known enough not to want something he could not have - this forbearance was something that any normal peasant would have accepted about his life and what he was allowed to desire.
The matchmaker's funny little face was puffy and pink; black flinty eyes darted intelligently, and she was careful to say only nice things. The woman licked her lips as if she was thirsty; Hoonie's mother felt the woman observing her and every detail of the house, measuring the size of the kitchen with her exacting eyes.
The matchmaker, however, would have had great difficulty in reading Hoonie's mother, a quiet woman who worked from waking until bed, doing what was needed for that day and the next. She rarely went to the market, because there was no time for distracting chatter; she sent Hoonie for the shopping. While the matchmaker talked, Hoonie's mother' mouth remained unmoving and steady, much like the heavy pine table she was cutting her radishes on.
The matchmaker brought it up first. So there was that unfortunate matter of his foot and broken lip, but Hoonie was clearly a good boy-educated and strong as a pair of oxen! She was blessed to have such a fine son, the matchmaker said. She deprecated her own children: Neither of her boys was dedicated to books or commerce. but they were not terrible body. Her daughter married too early and lived too far away. All good marriages, the matchmaker supposed, but her sons were lazy. Not like Hoonie. After her speech, the matchmaker stared at the olive-skinned woman whose face was immobile, casting about for any sign of interest.
Hoonie's mother kept her head down, handling her sharp knife confidently - each cube of radish was square and certain. When a large mound of white radish cubes formed on the cutting board, she transferred the load in a clean swipe into a mixing bowl.
fathom : a linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth
I. come to understand
penetrate, bottom
II. measure the depth of (a body of water) with a sounding line
1. 깊이를 재다 2. 바다나 광산에서의 길이의 단위이며 6피트 3. 알아내다
1. 바다나 광산에서의 길이의 단위이며 6피트(약 1.83m)
five fathom(s) deep 5패덤의 깊이.
2. (영) 절단면이 6평방 피트인 목재의 양.
1. [바다 등의] 깊이를 재다.
2. fathom＋[목적어]/fathom＋wh-절 (보통 부정문) …을 알아내다, 간파하다[out]; …을 추측하다
I can't fathom your meaning[＝what you mean]. 무슨 뜻인지 짐작도 못하겠다.
forbearance : good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
1. 인내 2. 자제 3. 용서 4. 삼가기, 조심, 자제; 참기, 인내; 용서, 관용.
show forbearance for ~을 참다
puffy : 1. 한 바탕 부는 2. 휙 부는 3. 부푼
And you know what it makes me think of, is it's sort of snug and puffy; it's like a duvet spread over a bed. 그 조화는 제게 일종의 아늑하고 푹신한 침대위의 이불을 생각나게 합니다.
flinty : showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings
1. 냉혹한 2. 부싯돌로 된 3. 완고한
exacting : having complicated nutritional requirements
I. having complicated nutritional requirements; especially growing only in special artificial cultures
certain highly specialized xerophytes are extremely exacting in their requirements
fastidious
II. severe and unremitting in making demands
an exacting instructor
stern, strict
III. requiring precise accuracy
an exacting job
exigent
We have to be extremely exacting about figuring out the provenance and where did this stuff come from and is it authentic? 출처를 알아내는 것과 어디서 가져왔는지, 믿을 만한지에 대해 매우 까다로워야 합니다.
an exacting professor 엄격한 교수.
an exacting work 힘겨운 일.
distract : draw someone's attention away from something
I. draw someone's attention away from something
The thief distracted the bystanders
deflect
II. disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed
perturb, unhinge, disquiet, trouble, cark, disorder
With self-control, people are less distracted and are more successful in achieving goals. 자제력을 가지고 사람들은 정신이 덜 산란해지고 목표를 달성하는데 더 성공적이다.
On the other hand, many coaches and sports organizations say that SNS are distracting. 반면, 많은 코치와 스포츠 기관들은 SNS가 집중을 방해한다고 말한다.
They came to discover how distracting and time-consuming smart phones can be. 그들은 스마트폰이 얼마나 주의를 산만하게 하고 시간을 낭비하게 하는지 발견하게 됐다.
deprecated : express strong disapproval of
"""To graduate, you shouldn't study."" So goes one of the self-deprecating jokes among university students here, alluding to their dire financial straits forcing them to take out loans and work up to three part-time jobs." """졸업하려면 공부하지 말아야 한다."" 이것은 국내 대학생들 사이에서 오가는 자조적인 농담 중 하나로서 대출을 얻고 아르바이트를 세 가지씩이나 해야 하는 자신들의 경제적 곤란을 빗댄 말이다."
swipe : a sweeping stroke or blow
1. 카드를 긋다 2. 훔치다 3. 강타 4. 밀다