Slow Version 12

당나귀와 소금
The Donkey and Salt

어느 더운 여름날이었어요.
It was a hot summer day.

소금 장수와 소금을 등에 잔뜩 실은 당나귀가 걸어가고 있었어요.
A salt seller and a donkey with a full load of salt on his back were walking.

당나귀는 등에 실은 소금이 너무 무거웠어요.
For the donkey, the salt that he was carrying on his back was too heavy.

‘날씨도 덥고, 등에 실은 짐도 너무 무거워.’
‘The weather is hot, and the luggage on my back is also too heavy.’

당나귀는 땀을 뻘뻘 흘리면서 걸어갔어요.
The donkey walked while sweating a lot.

그러다가 당나귀와 소금 장수는 냇가를 건너게 되었어요.
And then the donkey and the salt seller came to cross a stream.

냇가를 건너다가 당나귀는 중심을 잃고 물에 빠지고 말았어요.
While crossing the stream, the donkey lost its balance and ended up falling into the water.

그런데 신기하게도, 당나귀가 물에서 나오자 짐이 가벼워졌어요.
But as if by magic, when the donkey came out of the water, the luggage became lighter.

물에 소금이 녹아 버린 거였어요.
It was because salt had melted in water.

이것을 보고 당나귀는 정말 기뻤어요.
Seeing that, the donkey was really happy.

‘우와, 짐이 정말 가벼워졌네. 물에 빠지니까 짐이 가벼워졌어!’
‘Wow, the luggage really became light. When I fell into the water, the luggage became light!’

다음 날 당나귀는 또다시 등에 무거운 소금을 싣고 가게 되었어요.
The next day, the donkey came to carry heavy salt on his back again.

하지만 이제 당나귀는 어떻게 하면 짐이 가벼워지는지 알고 있었어요.
But now the donkey knew how to make luggage light.

‘오늘도 냇가에 빠지면 짐이 가벼워지겠지?’
‘If I fall into the stream again today, my luggage will be light, right?’

당나귀는 냇가를 건너면서 일부러 물에 빠졌어요.
The donkey fell into the water on purpose while crossing the stream.

그렇게 해서 당나귀는 그날도 가벼워진 짐을 가지고 돌아갈 수 있었어요.
Like that, on that day, too, the donkey could go back with luggage that became lighter.

그리고 그다음 날이었어요.
And then it was the next day.

짐을 등에 실은 당나귀는 이번에도 냇가에 일부러 빠졌어요.
The donkey, with luggage on his back, fell into the stream again this time.

그런데 이상한 일이 생겼어요.
But something strange happened.

이번에는 짐이 가벼워진 게 아니라 훨씬 더 무거워진 거예요.
This time, the luggage didn’t become light, but it became much heavier.

당나귀가 일부러 물에 빠지는 것을 안 소금 장수가 이번에는 소금 대신 솜을 실었기 때문이었어요.
It was because the salt seller, who knew that the donkey was falling into the water on purpose, had loaded cotton instead of salt.

물을 머금은 솜은 훨씬 더 무거워졌고, 당나귀는 훨씬 무거운 짐을 싣고 걸어가야 했어요.
Cotton that held water became much heavier, and the donkey had to walk with much heavier luggage.
 

Grammar point

Verb stem + -아/어/여지다

-아/어/여지다 is used with descriptive verbs to express the meaning of “to become” or “to get”.

Ex)
예쁘다(to be pretty) + -아/어/여지다 = 예뻐지다 (to become pretty)
좋다(to be good) + -아/어/여지다 = 좋아지다 (to become good)
느리다(to be slow) + -아/어/여지다 = 느려지다 (to become slow)