영어로 읽는 고전 _ 에델 M. 델의 사막의 등불
"사막의 등불"은 에델 M. 델이 20세기 초에 쓴 소설입니다. 이 책은 영국 식민지 인도를 배경으로 사랑, 사회적 기대, 그리고 개인적 딜레마의 주제를 탐구합니다. 주요 인물들로는 토미 덴버스와 그의 누이 스텔라가 있으며, 스텔라는 매력적이지만 무책임한 장교인 랄프 데이크르와 결혼을 준비하면서 사회적 따돌림과 개인적 갈등에 직면합니다.
소설의 시작은 인도의 뜨거운 밤에 영국 장교들이 축하하는 활기찬 장면을 소개합니다. 토미 덴버스는 그의 선장 에버라드 몽크에게 누이의 임박한 데이크르와의 결혼에 대한 우려를 나누는데, 그는 데이크르가 자격이 없다고 믿습니다. 우리는 토미의 젊은 감정과 몽크의 금욕적인 태도라는 대조적인 성격을 목격합니다. 이야기가 전개됨에 따라, 스텔라가 등장하며 엄격한 사회에서 새로운 이방인으로서 직면하는 시련과 데이크르에 대한 진정한 애정의 부재 속에서 결혼을 결정하는 데 어려움을 겪는 모습이 드러납니다. 이 부분의 내러티브는 이야기가 진행됨에 따라 인물들을 붙잡을 복잡한 감정적 거미줄을 설정합니다.
Classics Read in English _ The Lamp in the Desert by Ethel M. Dell
"The Lamp in the Desert" by Ethel M. Dell is a novel written in the early 20th century. The book explores themes of love, societal expectations, and personal dilemmas against the backdrop of British colonial India. The main characters include Tommy Denvers and his sister Stella, who faces societal ostracism and personal conflict as she prepares to marry Ralph Dacre, a charming but irresponsible officer.
The opening of the novel introduces a vibrant scene filled with the excitement of British officers celebrating in the heat of an Indian night. Tommy Denvers shares his concern with his captain, Everard Monck, over his sister's impending marriage to Dacre, whom he believes is unworthy. We witness the contrasting personalities: Tommy's youthful emotions and Monck's stoic demeanor. As the story unfolds, Stella emerges, revealing the trials she faces as a newcomer in a rigid society, struggling with her decision to marry amid a lack of genuine affection for Dacre. This portion of the narrative sets up the complex emotional web that will ensnare the characters as the story progresses.
Among the contents
A great roar of British voices pierced the jewelled curtain of the Indian night. A toast with musical honours was being drunk in the sweltering dining room of the officers' mess. The enthusiastic hubbub spread far, for every door and window was flung wide. Though the season was yet in its infancy, the heat was intense. Markestan had the reputation in the Indian Army for being one of the hottest corners in the Empire in more senses than one, and Kurrumpore, the military centre, had not been chosen for any especial advantages of climate. So few indeed did it possess in the eyes of Europeans that none ever went there save those whom an inexorable fate compelled. The rickety, wooden bungalows scattered about the cantonment were temporary lodgings, not abiding places. The women of the community, like migratory birds, dwelt in them for barely four months in the year, flitting with the coming of the pitiless heat to Bhulwana, their little paradise in the Hills. But that was a twenty four hours' journey away, and the men had to be content with an occasional week's leave from the depths of their inferno, unless, as Tommy Denvers put it, they were lucky enough to go sick, in which case their sojourn in paradise was prolonged, much to the delight of the angels.
