The Story of Hong Gildong (5 page)

He addressed her. “This is not a difficult task for me. Set aside your worry.” He then left to wait for the night.

After Chorang sent Teukjae away, she immediately returned to the inner chamber of the house and explained what she had set in motion.

The minister's wife heard her out before she let out a sigh. “I do this not because I have any animosity toward Gildong but because it was a necessary thing to do for the sake of the family. But how could I be honored by my descendants when I have committed such a heinous act?” And she wept without restraint.

The assistant section chief sighed and consoled her. “Mother, please do not be so sad. We did what was necessary, so there is no use regretting it. I will take good care of Gildong's body and dress it in the finest silk, and I will also treat his mother with generosity. After Father finds out what happened, he will eventually come to accept it and he will surely recover his health. So please do not grieve so much.”

But the minister's wife could not sleep at all that night because her mind was full of regret and anxiety.

Meanwhile, Gildong sat forlornly in his cottage, studying the
Juyeok
by candlelight, until the night reached the third watch. Realizing how late it was, he was about to set aside his reading table and go to sleep when he saw a raven come flying from the south, caw three times in front of his room, and then fly north.

Gildong considered its cries and thought, “That bird does not like to venture out at night, so it is very strange that it should fly from the south at this time and head north.” He quickly cast his fortune by consulting ancient ideograms and discovered that the raven's cries spoke of the approach of a killer. “Who could be so reckless as to come to harm me?” he wondered and cast another divinatory spell, which produced a piece of paper with a magical symbol that he pulled out of his sleeve. It denoted an aspect of great evil, so Gildong pondered it before saying to himself, “Whatever happens, I must prepare a defense against an intruder.” He then unleashed his sorcery
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and attached the fire trigram of the southward direction to the northward direction, the water trigram of the northward direction to the southward direction, the thunder trigram of the eastward direction to the westward direction, the lake trigram of the westward direction to the eastward direction, the heaven trigram of the northwestward direction to the southeastward direction, the wind trigram
of the southeastward direction to the northwestward direction, the mountain trigram of the northeastward direction to the southwestward direction, and the earth trigram of the southwestward direction to the northeastward direction. And so he used his magic to change all the directional orientation inside the cottage. He then summoned a supernatural spirit and ordered it to await his command in the middle of the room. Such were the marvelous powers Gildong possessed.

Meanwhile, Teukjae waited until it was third watch before he took up his dagger and went forth. He used his martial prowess to leap into the air and jump over the wall of the Hong family compound into the rear garden, where he spied upon Gildong's cottage. The view inside the silk-covered window was obscure and there was no sound of anyone about, so he waited for Gildong to fall asleep. Suddenly, a raven came flying from the south, cawed in front of the house, and flew north.

Teukjae talked to himself in astonishment. “It is true that Gildong is no ordinary person. That bird came to tell him something. If Gildong has received a warning of what is about to happen, this could go terribly wrong.”

And so he waited for Gildong to retire, but the light inside never went out. He finally opened the door and peeked within to see a noble youth sitting upright by the light of a candle. Teukjae decided to kill him right then and there, so he gripped his dagger and slipped into the chamber. Gildong remained still as he cast spells using the eight trigrams, raising a dreadful wind that confused Teukjae's mind.

The assassin spoke to himself in bewilderment. “I have never felt fear even in the direst situation, so why am I filled with terror now?” He tried to recover his composure by thinking, “Ever since I became a master of my skills, I have never made a single mistake. How could I retreat now, fearing a small boy?”

And so he raised his dagger and cautiously went forth to commit his act, but then he found that Gildong had disappeared without a trace. Suddenly, a fearsome wind blew and thunderclaps shook heaven and earth. The room then transformed itself
into an immense field filled with countless rocks, layers of green mountains that soared into the air with intimidating grandeur, and rivers that flowed gently through valleys. An abundance of blue pine trees made the scenery all the more fair.

Teukjae tried to orient himself in the strange environment as he thought, “A moment ago I went into Gildong's room to kill him, so how did I come to this mountainous place?”

He looked around and found a path stretched out before him, but because he had no idea where to go and had lost all sense of direction, he ended up falling over himself. After he wandered about for a while, he sat down by a stream and lamented. “I am in this situation because I underestimated Gildong. I have no one to blame but myself. All this is undoubtedly the work of his uncanny powers.”

He then put away his dagger and followed the stream until the path ended at a rocky cliff that fell precipitously into a void. As he could go no farther, he rested on the rocky ground. Suddenly, he heard a melancholy tune from a jade flute reverberating in the wind. He looked around for the source of the eerie sound until he saw a young boy playing the instrument.

The youth stopped to reprimand him in a loud voice. “You ignorant, wicked, lowly wretch, listen to me carefully. Holy men have said, ‘A human life is so precious that even if you destroy a wooden object in the shape of a person that counts as an evil act that deserves punishment.' So what kind of a person are you that you would proceed so recklessly to murder an innocent person, all out of greed for wealth? I may only be a boy of three
cheok
,
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but I will never allow someone like you to end me. In ancient times, for all the courage the Supreme King of Cho
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possessed, he failed to cross O River and ended up a ghost beneath a lonely mast. And for all the swiftness of Hyeong Gyeong's sword,
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he ended up floating on the cold water of Yeok River. So how did such an insignificant creature like you imagine that you could leave my room alive? You value only money and think nothing of taking a person's life, so you bring doom upon yourself. Pitiful man, do you not fear the judgment of Heaven?”

Teukjae looked at the boy with trepidation and saw that it was none other than Gildong. He thought to himself, “Because of him I may end up losing all the strength I have accumulated throughout my lifetime. But even if I should meet my death tonight, how could a true man surrender himself to a child?”

He calmed himself before replying forcefully, “For ten years now I have honed my fighting skills, and there is no rival who is my equal. I have come to kill you under the order of your father and older brother. You have no cause to reprimand or ridicule me. Do not resent me for your impending death, but rather obey your father and older brother and submit yourself to their will.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he ran toward Gildong in a sword dance with his dagger raised to strike. Gildong, in his fury, wanted to kill him right then and there, but he did not have a weapon in hand, so he quickly flew into the air in the embrace of a wind spirit. He then cast a spell that sent dirt and pebbles flying at Teukjae, who could not keep his eyes open or nostrils exposed. When Teukjae finally managed to look around, he found that Gildong had disappeared once again. Filled with awe at Gildong's power, he wanted to flee but did not know which way to go.

A moment later, Gildong suddenly addressed him in a booming voice. “There was never a cause for us to become enemies, so why are you trying to kill me? I gave you a chance to listen to reason and let me be, but out of greed you have chosen to bring death upon yourself.”

It was only then that Teukjae understood the full extent of Gildong's powers, so he approached him in a posture of surrender while pleading, “I am not the only one guilty of this transgression against you since this whole plot was conceived by His Lordship's young lady Chorang. She planned your death with a shaman and a physiognomist, slandered you to your father, and then told me, ‘If you kill the noble son and so prevent future calamity from falling upon our family you will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins.' But Heaven has decreed that all this should come to light. I beg you to forgive me, noble sir.”

Unable to suppress his rage, Gildong took Teukjae's blade away from him and scolded him bitterly. “You commit evil acts that involve murdering human beings. How did you think you could avoid the judgment of Heaven? If I spare you, many others will die. By killing you I will be saving lives.”

He then raised the weapon and cut Teukjae down, causing a line of rainbow to flash as the assassin's decapitated head fell in the middle of the room. Still filled with a fury that he could not allay, Gildong summoned the wind spirit again and sent it forth to grab the shaman and the physiognomist in a tempest and bring them to the chamber where Teukjae had met his death. The shaman and the physiognomist were disoriented in their sleepy state and wondered if they had fallen into the underworld.

Gildong scolded them. “Do you know who I am? I am Hong Gildong himself. I have done nothing to cause you to hate me. Why did you wretches utter such slanderous words to His Lordship, to cause disharmony in the natural bond between father and son? How could such a thing be forgiven?”

At first, the shaman and the physiognomist thought they were in a dream where their souls were lifted up and borne gently forth by a great wind to a far and unknown place. They were lost in bewilderment all the while. But when they heard Gildong's words, they finally realized that they were not in the afterlife but still in the living world, where they were brought before a human being.

They pleaded with him. “All this is the work of His Lordship's concubine Chorang. Now that you know this, we humbly beg you, noble sir, to forgive us and let us live out the rest of our sorry lives.”

Gildong replied in anger. “Chorang is His Lordship's beloved, and she is a mother to me as well. You lowly creatures dared to use wicked talk to instigate trouble. You toyed with the state of a high minister's household. How could you evade the judgment of Heaven? Heaven commands me to rid the world of the likes of you to prevent further mischief you may cause. Do not resent me for it.” And he cut them down with his blade.

It was a terrible scene indeed! Losing one's life as a result of committing an immoral act of greed, one incurs the shame of a thousand years. How pitiful that is.

After he killed the shaman and the physiognomist, Gildong still could not allay his wrath, so he started for the inner chamber of the house to kill Chorang. But then he thought to himself, “I may have been treated badly by another, but I will not reciprocate the deed. She may have condemned me to death, but I am better than her. I have already killed three people out of vengeance. And she is the beloved of my father and a mother to me as well.” So he discarded his weapon and looked up at the sky. The Silver River
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was tilted to the west and the moon shone faintly. “I will leave this world and spend the rest of my life in isolated mountains and forests,” he decided and walked calmly to the sleeping chamber of the minister to take his leave of him. The minister heard someone outside his room, which he thought strange, so he opened the window to find Gildong there.

Gildong addressed him. “It is I, Gildong.”

He then prostrated himself before the steps to the minister's room and addressed him. “I came into this life with your blood flowing through my veins, as you granted me the great favor of being born of your seed. The graciousness of the act is as boundless as the wide and deep heaven. I wanted nothing more than to spend my life repaying my father for giving me life and my mother for raising me, but an evil person within the household has conspired to make Your Lordship wary of me and to bring me harm. Fortunately, I uncovered the plot and preserved my life, but I fear that I will eventually come to an untimely end if I stay home. I must run away to save myself, so I cannot remain in Your Lordship's service any longer. I have come to take my leave of you, so I humbly wish Your Lordship good health and a long life.”

The startled minister spoke. “What are you saying? What terrible thing has happened that a young boy like you would leave his home in the middle of the night to wander the world?”

Gildong remained prostrate as he replied, “You will know everything once the day dawns. Please put this unworthy son Gildong out of your mind and set your household in proper order.”

The minister considered Gildong's words and thought to himself, “This child is not an ordinary person.” He realized then that Gildong could not be dissuaded from his course.

The minister addressed him. “Once you leave, where will you go?”

Gildong replied, “Because of my unfortunate fate, I will become like a cloud and float about the world with no destination. I beg Your Lordship to take good care of yourself.”

The minister thought in silence for a long moment before he spoke again. “You are my progeny. Even if you should leave, do not harbor an excessive ambition. Do not bring misfortune to our household by committing acts that would dishonor our ancestors. If that were to happen, our family's reputation for loyalty to the country and filial piety would come to a pitiful end. So do not bring about some calamity that I would have to witness as a white-haired old man at the end of my life.”