Greenroom

A Poor Man's Wife

Hyun Jin-geon, 1921 · Original title: 빈처

Seoul, around 1920. K, a young writer nobody has heard of, has not earned a single coin in two years, and his wife keeps them fed by quietly pawning her clothes and furniture one piece at a time. On a rainy spring night, as she searches for the last silk jacket left to pawn, K thinks back over the day's visit from a well-off cousin and over what his poverty is costing the two of them.

material values versus spiritual valuesan unknown artist's pride and self-doubta wife's quiet, devoted love

Read the original text ↗

Public domain: the author died in 1943 and the work was published in 1921, so its copyright has ended in Korea, the US and the EU. Everything written here is our own; no translation is copied.

How far have you read?

Characters only talk about what happens up to here, and the parts below open as you go.

Characters

Ask them about their choices. They remember only what you have read so far.

  • 나(가난한 작가 K) I (K, the poor writer) A 22-year-old unknown writer who hasn't earned a coin in two years, yet still believes his name will shine someday. Main character Appears in part 1
  • K의 아내 K's Wife She pawns her clothes and furniture one by one to support her husband, an unknown writer. Main character Appears in part 1
  • T K's cousin, a bank clerk, always held up by the relatives as the sensible young man. Appears in part 1
  • 처형 Wife's Elder Sister First appears in part 2. Read up to part 1 to meet them without spoilers.

Part by part

Part 1

처음 ~ 아내와 울며 화해하기까지

Opens when you have read this part. Set your progress above.

Part 2

이튿날 처가 할멈이 오는 장면 ~ 처형의 멍 이야기까지

Opens when you have read this part. Set your progress above.

Part 3

이틀 뒤 처형이 찾아오는 장면 ~ 끝

Opens when you have read this part. Set your progress above.

← All classics