Long ago there reigned in Korea a King called Zin-Zi, the 25th King of the Silla Dynasty. One day it came to his ears that in his realm there lived a lady of surpassing beauty, by name Do-Hwa. So he sent a messenger to invite her to attend the Court. The lady, however, would not come and sent a message to the King: ‘I am married, and I live with my husband. Therefore I cannot accept Your Majesty’s invitation.’

The King sent her another message. This time he asked whether she would have accepted his invitation if she had not had a husband. She thought that the King was joking, and replied, ‘Certainly if that were the case I should be delighted to come to the Court.’

Soon afterward the King died, and two years later the lady’s husband died too. Now that she was alone she found life very dull and wearisome, and often recalled the King’s pleasantry. Then one night the King appeared to her in a dream and said, ‘You once promised me that if you had no husband you would come to me. Now your husband has left you, and so there is no reason why you should not welcome me.’ The King stayed with her for some days and then went away. And she awoke, and found that it was just a dream. Yet, strange to say, she soon found herself with child. In due course she gave birth to a strong and healthy boy. She called him Bi-Hyong, and lavished all her care upon him.

The old King’s successor, Zin-Pyong, heard of the miraculous birth of the boy, and had him brought to the Palace. The King took him under his personal protection, and provided the best possible education for him. As he grew up it became apparent that he was the possessor of magical powers. When he was 14, he took to leaving the Palace every night by jumping right over the Crescent Tower and landing on the banks of the River Mun-Czon. There he used to play with a crowd of goblins. But he always came back when the Great Bell boomed at daybreak.

The King was rather alarmed at the boy’s strange behavior. One day he decided to test him to see what he could do. So he summoned him to appear before him and said, ‘I want a bridge just to the north of the Sin-Won Temple. Can you and your goblins build one there?’

 

To be continued …

 

 

Told by Song Sog-Ha, Onyang (1930). Taken from Folk Tales From Korea, pg. 127-128 (Published by Hollym International — www.hollym.com).