영어로 읽는 SF고전 _ 에드가 R. 버로스의 미친 왕
"미친 왕"은 20세기 초에 쓰여진 에드거 라이스 버로우스의 소설입니다. 이야기는 가상의 왕국 루타를 배경으로 정치적 음모와 모험을 다룹니다. 서사는 10년간의 감금 생활 후 탈출한 미친 왕 레오폴드로 오인받게 된 미국인 바니 커스터를 중심으로 전개됩니다. 이야기가 펼쳐지면서, 커스터는 새로운 정체성이 가져오는 도전과 부패한 섭정과 그들의 충성스러운 군인들이 가하는 위험에 맞서야 합니다.
"미친 왕"의 도입부는 미친 왕의 탈출 소문이 민중을 동요시키는 혼란스러운 루타를 소개합니다. 섭정으로 통치하는 교활한 블렌츠의 피터 왕자는 자신의 권력을 두려워하며 레오폴드를 다시 잡으려 필사적입니다. 이런 혼란 속에서, 바니 커스터는 엠마 폰 데어 탄이라는 소녀를 태우고 도망치는 말과 마주치게 되고, 이는 그를 의도치 않게 왕족의 삶으로 이끄는 일련의 사건들의 시작이 됩니다.
커스터가 엠마와 왕국의 정치적 음모에 휘말리면서, 그는 자신의 정체성과 명예 의식에 도전하는 갈등에 휘말리게 되며, 이는 앞으로 펼쳐질 흥미진진한 모험의 씨앗이 됩니다.
Classics Read in English _ The Mad King by Edgar Rice Burroughs
"The Mad King" by Edgar Rice Burroughs is a novel written during the early 20th century. The story revolves around the themes of political intrigue and adventure, set in the fictional kingdom of Lutha. The narrative features Barney Custer, an American who finds himself mistaken for Leopold, the mad king who has escaped captivity after a decade of detention. As the story unfolds, Custer must navigate the challenges of his new identity and confront the dangers posed by corrupt regents and their loyal soldiers.
The opening of "The Mad King" introduces a chaotic Lutha, where rumors of the mad king’s escape stir the populace. The cunning Prince Peter of Blentz, who rules as regent, is desperate to recapture Leopold, fearing for his power. Amidst this turmoil, Barney Custer encounters a runaway horse carrying a girl, Emma von der Tann, leading him into a series of events that catalyze his unintended rise into royal life.
As Custer engages with both Emma and the political machinations of the kingdom, he becomes embroiled in a conflict that challenges his identity and sense of honor, planting the seeds for a thrilling adventure ahead.
Among the contents
All Lustadt was in an uproar. The mad king had escaped. Little knots of excited men stood upon the street corners listening to each latest rumor concerning this most absorbing occurrence. Before the palace a great crowd surged to and fro, awaiting they knew not what.
For ten years no man of them had set eyes upon the face of the boy-king who had been hastened to the grim castle of Blentz upon the death of the old king, his father.
There had been murmurings then when the lad’s uncle, Peter of Blentz, had announced to the people of Lutha the sudden mental affliction which had fallen upon his nephew, and more murmurings for a time after the announcement that Peter of Blentz had been appointed Regent during the lifetime of the young King Leopold, “or until God, in His infinite mercy, shall see fit to restore to us in full mental vigor our beloved monarch.”
But ten years is a long time. The boy-king had become but a vague memory to the subjects who could recall him at all.
