여수 바닷가 통발에 갇힌 고양이…물 차오르기 직전 구조
A Cat Trapped in a Fishing Trap in Yeosu Is Rescued Just Before the Tide Comes In
Part of the October 4, 2026 daily edition
전남 여수에서 바다에 맨몸으로 잠수해 일하는 어민이 통발에 갇힌 고양이를 구해 냈습니다. 바닷물이 밀려 들어오는 ‘들물’ 때여서, 조금만 늦었다면 고양이는 통발 안에서 물에 잠길 뻔했습니다. 통발은 입구가 안쪽으로 좁아져서, 게나 물고기가 들어가기는 쉬워도 다시 나오기는 어렵습니다. 어민은 배를 타고 나가기 3시간쯤 전에 같은 통발을 확인했을 때는 안에 돌게 몇 마리만 있었다고 했습니다. 30년 넘게 바다 일을 한 어민도 돌게를 먹는 고양이는 듣도 보도 못했다고 했습니다. 고양이가 어떻게 통발에 들어갔는지는 아직 알 수 없습니다.
Translation
In Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, a fisher who works by diving into the sea without equipment rescued a cat that was trapped in a fishing trap. It was the time of the rising tide, when seawater comes in, so if the fisher had been a little later, the cat would have been under water inside the trap. A fishing trap narrows toward the inside at its entrance, so it is easy for crabs or fish to get in but hard to get back out. The fisher said that when they checked the same trap about 3 hours before heading out, there were only a few rock crabs inside. Even the fisher, who has worked at sea for more than 30 years, said they had never heard of or seen a cat that eats rock crabs. How the cat got into the trap is still not known.
Vocabulary
- 통발명사 (noun)fish trap, crab trap (cage-like)
- 갇히다동사 (verb)to be trapped, to be locked in
- 구하다동사 (verb)to rescue, to save
- 어민명사 (noun)fisher, fishing people
- 잠수하다동사 (verb)to dive
- 들물명사 (noun)rising tide, flood tide
- 잠기다동사 (verb)to be submerged
- 입구명사 (noun)entrance
Grammar points
-았/었다면 -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다if ~ had happened, (something) would almost have happened
-았/었다면 sets up a past condition that did not happen, and -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다 says something nearly happened but did not: 늦었다면 ... 잠길 뻔했습니다, if (the fisher) had been late, (the cat) would almost have been under water.
Example: 바닷물이 밀려 들어오는 '들물' 때여서, 조금만 늦었다면 고양이는 통발 안에서 물에 잠길 뻔했습니다.
It was the time of the rising tide, when seawater comes in, so if the fisher had been a little later, the cat would have been under water inside the trap.
-기는 쉬워도 -기는 어렵다easy to ~ but hard to ~
-기는 turns a verb into a topic so two actions can be compared: 들어가기는 쉬워도 나오기는 어렵습니다, getting in is easy, but getting out is hard.
Example: 통발은 입구가 안쪽으로 좁아져서, 게나 물고기가 들어가기는 쉬워도 다시 나오기는 어렵습니다.
A fishing trap narrows toward the inside at its entrance, so it is easy for crabs or fish to get in but hard to get back out.
-(으)ㄴ지whether, how (indirect question)
-(으)ㄴ지 / -았/었는지 turns a question into part of a sentence: 어떻게 들어갔는지는, how (it) got in.
Example: 고양이가 어떻게 통발에 들어갔는지는 아직 알 수 없습니다.
How the cat got into the trap is still not known.
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