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영어

The first part of the 16th‘Manyeopjip’seriescontainsalegend(伝説) and songs about two females named Sakurako(桜児) and Katsurako(蘰児). The word [Ko (児)] is assigned to both of these two females, as part of their names, to show and represent their status as weak ones and ‘not to have reached adulthood yet’. This is because the word [Ko (児)] generates the impression that they require the presence of their parents to protect them. Moreover, their weak status that signifies the need for protection is further emphasized by the fact that [Ko (児)] implies an unfortunate promise that a beautiful woman, whose name contains the word [Ko (児)], would face the tragic fate of having to choose death by receiving love from several men. The two women in this story also struggled with the feelings of love and jealousy in their situation. As a result, the women began to think deeply about their own lives, which they chose to take as a means to escape the reality they faced. Sakurako(桜児) hung herself to save her lover’s life and Katsurako(蘰児) committed suicide by drowning with grief, thinking of life as fleeting as the dew on the grass. These final decisions of the females to choose suicide as a means to overcome their situation are based on the idea of objectifying their status in a society in which the establishment of a legal system only happened in the 18thcentury. Moreover, these females were also motivated to make these decisions by the deadly longing for love that even led them to take their own lives. All in all, in the story, the death of Sakurako and Katsurako, as ‘an expression of the strong will to fight the destiny’, is re-created as a new tragedy (悲劇).

한국어

‘만엽집’ 16권 모두(서두)에는 사쿠라코와 가쓰라코라는 여성을 주인공으로 하는 전설(傳說)과 노래가 다루어지고 있다. 두 여성 이름에 [코(児)]자가 부여되어 있는 것은 그들이 아직 부모의 보호를 받아야 하는 연약한 존재라는 것을 인식시키지 위해서이며 [코(児)]는 여럿 명의 남성부터 사랑을 받게 되어 마지막에는 결국 죽음을 선택해야 만 하는 비극적인 운명이 약속되어있는 여성임을 암시하고 있다. 두 여성은 사랑과 질투투쟁에 서게 된다. 그 결과 여성들은 자신의 존재에 대해 깊이 생각하고 현실 타개 수단으로 자살을 선택한다. 사쿠라코은 사랑하는 남자를 살리기 위해 목을 매달고, 가쓰라코는 삶이란 초로 같이 덧없다고 비탄하여 투신자살을 택했다. 두 여성들이 이와 같은 결단을 선택하게 된 배경에는 율령제도 확립에 따른 자신의 사회적 입장의 객관화와 죽음을 선택할 만큼의 열애에 대한 동경심이 바탕이 된다. 즉, 사쿠라코와 가쓰라코의 ‘운명에 대결하려는 강한 의지의 표출’ 인 죽음은 비극(悲劇)으로 새 탄생하는 것이다.