[It's Okay to Not Be Okay] The Boy Who Fed on Nightmares - English Translation, Interpretation & Korean Vocabulary Notes

October 20, 2020

[It's Okay to Not Be Okay] The Boy Who Fed on Nightmares - English Translation, Interpretation & Korean Vocabulary Notes

The Boy who Fed on Nightmares - the English Title of 악몽을 먹고 자란 소년 (literally translated as 'The boy who grew up eating nightmares'), is the first children's book (동화책) that appeared in the Korean Drama 'It's okay to not be okay' (사이코지만 괜찮아) which was written there by Go Munyeong (고문영) , Seo Ye Ji's character (서예지).

ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE STORY:

The boy was woken up again from a terrible nightmare. He suffers because the bad memories of the past that he wants to forget appear continuously every night in his dreams.

One day, the boy who is afraid of falling asleep, seeks on a witch and plead.

"Miss Witch, please... Make me not to dream these nightmares again... Please erase all of the bad memories in my head! I will give you anything that you want to have!"

As the time goes by, the boy who became an adult did not dream nightmares anymore but somehow he did not become happy, even a bit.

One night with a red full moon, finally the witch appeared in front of the boy to receive the cost of the wish, then the boy with resentment exclaimed.

"All of my bad memories are all erased but why! Why can't I become happy?"

Then as promised, the witched collected his soul and said.

"The painful and distressing memories... extremely sad and regrettable memories... the memories about hurting others and being hurt... the memories about being abandoned and turning away... With those memories embraced on the corner of your heart, your living self pride becomes stronger, becomes warmer, and it can be more flexible. Happiness is when your self pride wins.

So, do not forget. Do not forget and overcome it. If you can not overcome it, you are only a child whose soul never grows."

INTERPRETATION:

Just as the witch explained, all of the bad things that happened in our lives are essential for us to become a better person and eventually become happy. The story just want to remind us not to hide away from our problems (symbolically as nightmares in the story) but face it heads on instead. Your heart will not be truly happy unless you overcome these nightmares. So do not forget. Let those scars of the past remind you how strong you become after winning over those bad and painful memories.

VOCABULARY FOUND FROM THE KOREAN VERSION OF THE BOOK:

끔찍하다 - terrible

애원하다 - plead

세월 - time

어찌되다 - somehow

붉다 - scarlet red

보름달 뜨던 밤 - a night with full moon

대가 - cost, price

드러내다 - show, reveal

원망 - resentment, blame

외치다 - exclaim, yell, cry

영혼 - spirit, soul