[Drama 2011] A Thousand Days' Promise 천일의 약속

[cgwm808]

Thank you Baduy-- I'm at GMT +10 and checked on Soompi to glean some wisdom from your comments as soon as I could get to a computer about 10 a.m. my tine, before I even downloaded the raw. I was disappointed to not find a "not to be missed" guide by you on Episode 17. When I watched Episode 17 in raw, I realized you were probably hard at work crafting an annotation and a lyrical translation. Thank you so much. Your memory is both encyclopedic and dictionary. How on earth do you recognize a German poem which has been translated to Korean?

[Guest wangyen]

how come 720p hanrel isn't working? it says invalid torrent?

[tendoclan]

Thank you Baduy-- I'm at GMT +10 and checked on Soompi to glean some wisdom from your comments as soon as I could get to a computer about 10 a.m. my tine,  before I even downloaded the raw.  I was disappointed to not find a "not to be missed" guide by you on Episode 17.  When I watched Episode 17 in raw, I realized you were probably hard at work crafting an annotation and a lyrical translation.  Thank you so much.  Your memory is both encyclopedic and dictionary.  How on earth do you recognize a German poem which has been translated to Korean?

I want to also add to this post

I am so impressed Baduy with your knowledge .....it just blows me away...thank you for all the work and posting you contribute. I for one love this drama...it makes you think and seems like it is the way in the real world would happen...so thank you once again

[Guest cococrust]

ep 17 c-sub

http://www.sendspace.com/file/xzglyk

[tessieroo]

Dramabeans recap EP 17 is up! (SPOILERS) 

http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/12/thousand-day-promise-episode-17/

[cgwm808]

I want to also add to this post

I am so impressed Baduy with your knowledge .....it just blows me away...thank you for all the work and posting you contribute. I for one love this drama...it makes you think and seems like it is the way in the real world would happen...so thank you once again

Darn-- for some Freudian reason I wrote "dictionary" when I meant to write "photographic".

[baduy]

girlfriday on dramabeans has a beautiful summary sentence at the start of her recap for ep 17: "Today’s episode is all about motherhood – the mother that Seo-yeon is to her brother, the mother who abandoned them, the mother who stepped in to take care of them, and the mother that she wants to be."

But there are a couple of places where I see things rather differently, and I want to bring them out in view of all those people who actually claim they read recaps instead of watching the drama. That never makes much sense to me, but in the case of a drama so exquisitely crafted in every way and every detail as this one it strikes me personally as absurd.

Girlfriday has SY saying to her Aunt, apropos her wish for a meeting with her mother: "More than wanting to see her, there’s something I want to ask her." Which rather makes it sound as though wanting to see her mother is indeed one of her motives, though not the most important one. But that's a bit misleading, because it's not what SY means. She's already said very emphatically half a dozen times in earlier episodes that she has no wish whatever to meet her mother (though she admits to wanting to know what became of her life) and she repeats that twice over in this episode, including right after their meeting.

The Korean particle behind this, ~보다 is tricky in several ways, and one of them kicks in here. It usually indicates a higher degree of something (= more than), but it can also indicate a preferred alternative (= rather than), and that's how SY is using it here. She's saying that if her Aunt is looking for an explanation of SY's request, the place to look is in her still unsatisfied curiosity about something, rather than any actual wish to come face to face with her mother. So I would translate this as "It's not so much that I want to see her. It's more that I've something to ask her."

Then, commenting on the intense scene between the siblings, girlfriday remarks: "God, her guilt at not being able to feed him when they were abandoned? When she was six? That turns me inside-out." But actually, there's more to it than that, and SY's guilt isn't altogether about not being able to feed him, or indeed about something solely confined to her six-year-old self. It is very much tied in with the real question she wants to ask her mother, which we hear later.

We first learn of what happened when the abandoned children ran out of food at three (or even four) removes, as JM, back in their student days, tells JY the story as his father once told it to him, having in turn gotten it from his wife who, we guess, was passing on what SY told her.

According to that account, the young SY went to the local store and asked if they'd let her have some instant noodles, but "she was turned away". Two episodes later we see SY's flashback to that actual incident, and it proves to be rather different. She nervously approaches the store, but as she does so, the owner bursts out, furiously shooing away a middle-aged woman who has dared to ask him for credit. Imagining she would face similar humiliating abuse if she asked for food she couldn't pay for, SY slinks off with a last longing glance at the bags of noodles stacked up on the shelves inside the store, and returns to tell her brother there's only water to drink, but there'll be meat when their mom comes back.

For that "lie" (where the falsehood she's truly apologizing for is the claim that their mother will return, rather than the promise of meat, and a translation needs to be careful to convey that) she now apologizes to him, but she keeps to herself, maybe even from herself, what she should surely have long since realized from an adult perspective: that had she not been so fiercely independent and proud, even at that age, she would have asked for food and almost certainly been given it. Instead, she prefers to recall that she was "turned away", when in fact she never even gave the storekeeper the opportunity to do that. This is, of course, all of a piece with her subsequent extreme reluctance to accept help, or even sympathy, but on this occasion, had her Aunt and Uncle not intervened after getting her mother's call, her independent spirit might have caused the death of her brother, as well as her own. That's one of the powerful undertones in the regrets she expresses so intensely to her brother in this episode. It also explains why SY is so keen, later in the episode, to ask her mother why, beyond abandoning her children, she delayed before making that call to her sister-in-law which saved them from death. This is the key question she's been wanting to ask, and finally does. She gets no answer, but the suggestion is that SY knows already what it is. Her mother put their lives in jeopardy rather than swallow her pride and face her sister-in-law's fury, which is not a mile away from the motives that led the young SY to turn back from the store and face starvation rather than humiliation. That is the deeper reason why, just before asking her mother that crucial question about the delayed phone call, SY studies her mother's face and asks are they somehow alike. Her mother doesn't understand what she's getting at, but SY has a chilling sense that, in one respect, she knows that answer, and it isn't a comforting one.

BTW, since we're on the topic of those far off events, viewers with no Korean need to be warned that the WITHS2 subs for ep 1 are rather seriously misleading at the point where Jae Min, in flashback is telling JH the story of how SY and her brother were rescued. After JH has asked him rhetorically how any mother could do that to her kids, JM goes on, according to the WITHS2 subs

Even though she beat them in every sort of way a thousand times a day until she was exhausted, my mother says it's so fortunate that at some point she came to her senses briefly and called before the children died of hunger.

This wrongly takes JM to be saying that SY's mother physically abused her children before abandoning them, but in fact the "she" (which of course isn't explictly present in the Korean anyway) applies to HIS mother, SY's aunt, and her reaction to what her sister-in-law had done. My translation of those lines would be

To begin with, my mother said merely killing her wouldn't be punishment enough, and she wanted to watch her die in prolonged torment. But then she calmed down, and said the kids' mother had at least called her before they starved to death.

Alright, now here's the ep 18 text preview that went up little while back today.

JY's father still can't fully come to terms with his son's decision, but, accepting SY as his daughter-in-law, he urges her to look after her health despite the problems of her illness, and encourages her not to give up.

A few months later, SY has joined her whole family at her Aunt's house for a meal to celebrate her birthday when she starts to feel labor pains and heads for the hospital.

[71e]

[TRAN]

For whatever will happen to SeoYeon, if JiHyung is going reunite with HyangGi it would be so so stupid!!

Most memorable scene - JiHyung crying in the bathroom *more tears*

SeoYeon is not herself, something bad will happen *cry*

[tendoclan]

For whatever will happen to SeoYeon, if JiHyung is going reunite with HyangGi it would be so so stupid!!

Most memorable scene - JiHyung crying in the bathroom  *more tears*

SeoYeon is not herself, something bad will happen *cry*

I think that is where it is heading....a reunion....I am not going to lie it would be disappointing to me as then SY is replaced with the one person that SY felt guilty for affecting her life.....but the baby would be loved....  but  HG mom would never love the baby and if they had kids SY's baby would always be 2nd......can anyone tell us what SY told the coworkers?  and what happens in the preview?

[baduy]

.can anyone tell us what SY told the coworkers? 

On learning via the indiscreet chatter of the younger one that the older one had hopes of netting Jae Min (a revelation that caused Auntie to come in for a close-up-look at this daughter-in-law candidate and show signs of a favorable initial impression) SY said that she was a calculating schemer who was out of the question as a wife for Jae Min. (She also accused her of manipulating her way into her shoes at the company).

[Guest flydolesqueue]

This content has been removed by a moderator.

[tendoclan]

On learning via the indiscreet chatter of the younger one that the older one had hopes of netting Jae Min (a revelation that caused Auntie to come in for a close-up-look at this daughter-in-law candidate and show signs of a favorable initial impression) SY said that she was a caluclating schemer who was out of the question as a wife for Jae Min.

Well have to agree with SY on that one...I like the other younger coworker who put her shoes on her when she forgot them...she is so much nicer....Thank you for your help Baduy

[baduy]

As I hope all the eager and devoted readers of Baduy's World Poetry Corner will have realized, the Poetry Slot in today's episode was a repeat performance, though an interrupted one. But whereas what stopped SY from completing her recital of the poem in question at the start of episode 9 was the arrival of Jae Min's car (after she'd got a lot further than she does today, and stumbled over a couple of phrases, but then managed to recall them and carry on) this time she stops because she simply can't remember how it goes on, and has to go look it up. And when she does look it up, she apparently doesn't recognize what it is she's looking for.

Whereas in ep 9 we came in when SY had already reached the second stanza of 국화 옆에서 (Beside a Chrysanthemum) by Midang aka Seo Jeongju, this time we do hear her speak the first stanza in its entirety, but then she can't even finish the second.

So what we hear is

한 송이 국화꽃을 피우기 위해

봄부터 소쩍새는

그렇게 울었나 보다.

한 송이 국화꽃을 피우기 위해

천둥은 먹구름 속에서...

So one Chrysanthemum can bloom,

A nightingale may have sung

With such sadness since Spring.

So one Chrysanthemum can bloom,

Maybe through glowering clouds...

The rest, as Midang didn't say, is silence.

[Guest seafan22000]

Torrent Link E18 (

Baros & HANrel & HANrel / 450p & Khai & OMG / 450p):

Thanks for your link download

[TRAN]

As I hope all the eager and devoted readers of Baduy's World Poetry Corner will have realized, the Poetry Slot in today's episode was a repeat performance, though an interrupted one. But whereas what stopped SY from completing her recital of the poem in question at the start of episode 9 was the arrival of Jae Min's car (after she'd got a lot further than she does today, and stumbled over a couple of phrases, but then managed to recall them and carry on) this time she stops because she simply can't remember how it goes on, and has to go look it up. And when she does look it up, she apparently doesn't recognize what it is she's looking for.

Whereas in ep 9 we came in when SY had already reached the second stanza of 국화 옆에서 (Beside a Chrysanthemum) by Midang aka Seo Jeongju, this time we do hear her speak the first stanza in its entirety, but then she can't even finish the second.

So what we hear is

한 송이 국화꽃을 피우기 위해

봄부터 소쩍새는

그렇게 울었나 보다.

한 송이 국화꽃을 피우기 위해

천둥은 먹구름 속에서...

So one Chrysanthemum can bloom,

A nightingale may have sung

With such sadness since Spring.

So one Chrysanthemum can bloom,

Maybe through glowering clouds...

The rest, as Midang didn't say, is silence.

Hi Baduy, next week will be the final, I'm so curious to know what you think it will be like? Do share! I'm sure we all like reading your posts.

Thanks 71e for the subs!

Thanks Middy for news about the little, at aleast is cuter than the one they've got for Star's Lovers....ha.

[scout]

girlfriday on dramabeans has a beautiful summary sentence at the start of her recap for ep 17: "Today’s episode is all about motherhood – the mother that Seo-yeon is to her brother, the mother who abandoned them, the mother who stepped in to take care of them, and the mother that she wants to be."

But there are a couple of places where I see things rather differently, and I want to bring them out in view of all those people who actually claim they read recaps instead of watching the drama. That never makes much sense to me, but in the case of a drama so exquisitely crafted in every way and every detail as this one it strikes me personally as absurd.

yea, i appreciate girlfriday's contribution to javabeans' site, but i've noticed she often makes translation mistakes whenever she writes summaries for dramas. either she's not fluent or doesn't pay full attention (which is understandable since she probably has to watch a lot of dramas).

btw, baduy, thanks so much for the posts on the poems. i love korean poetry b/c the korean language can be so lyrical, which is lost in translation to english (as is everything lol).

[Guest jdkk09]

Does it appear from the preview for next week that SY commits suicide?  I thoroughly dislike the idea of a JY/HG reunion. Yuck Yuck Yuck!  That's just too much self sacrifice for me.  Really would hate for the character of HG to end up there.  Really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  Hope not...

The scenes with her brother and her cousin oppa are the best.  That's where the real emotion and feeling seems to be.  The JH character just seems to be along for the ride.  His character seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle.

Thanks so much baduy for all your insights and comments.  I especially appreciate the clarifications in translations.  

Here's looking forward to the ending.  

[baduy]

and what happens in the preview?

JH's father is telling him that SY's condition has become so bad that it's time he called a halt to his attempts to care for her and should send her instead to a specialist institution. HG's father is also telling JH's father that that would be the best thing. But JH is saying no, he has promised to look after her himself till the very end. There's an obvious suggestion that SY decides that enough is enough and ends her own life while she still has the choice. Strangely, there is no sign of the child. So if it hadn't been for the apparently rather silly mother of that child actress (who I bet is in very hot water with the production company for showing off like that and breaching the otherwise tight security around the shooting of the final episodes) we would be assuming that the baby doesn't survive what is clearly shaping up to be a difficult labor.

[tendoclan]

JH's father is telling him that SY's condition has become so bad that it's time he called a halt to his attempts to care for her and should send her instead to a specialist institution.  HG's father is also telling JH's father that that would be the best thing. But JH is saying no, he has promised to look after her himself till the very end. There's an obvious suggestion that SY decides that enough is enough and ends her own life while she still has the choice. Strangely, there is no sign of the child. So if it hadn't been for the apparently rather silly mother of that child actress (who I bet is in very hot water with the production company for showing off like that and breaching the otherwise tight security around the shooting of the final episodes) we would be assuming that the baby doesn't survive what is clearly shaping up to be a difficult labor.

I bet the mother is also....thank you for the translation. I thought it looked like she did herself in also..Maybe that is why SY would not let JH totally cut HG out so that she could step into SY spot and know the baby would be loved and HG would be good to her brother and family also ....how sad but how unselfish both of JH's women are....