The magistrate suddenly thought of an intimate friend who had been
dead for some time, and he said to her, "I had a friend of such and
such rank in Seoul; can you call his spirit back to me?"
The mutang replied, "Let me do so; but first you must prepare food,
with wine, and serve it properly."
The magistrate thought for a moment, and then said to himself, "It
is a serious matter to take a person's life; let me find out first
if she is true or not, and then decide." So he had the food brought.
The mutang said also, "I want a suit of your clothes, too,
please." This was brought, and she spread her mat in the courtyard,
placed the food in order, donned the dress, and so made all preliminary
arrangements. She then lifted her eyes toward heaven and uttered the
strange magic sounds by which spirits are called, meanwhile shaking
a tinkling bell. In a little she turned and said, "I've come." Then
she began telling the sad story of his sickness and death and
their separation. She reminded the magistrate of how they had played
together, and of things that had happened when they were at school at
their lessons; of the difficulties they had met in the examinations;
of experiences that had come to them during their terms of office. She
told secrets that they had confided to each other as intimate friends,
and many matters most definitely that only they two knew. Not a single
mistake did she make, but told the truth in every detail.
The magistrate, when he heard these things, began to cry, saying,
"The soul of my friend is really present; I can no longer doubt or
deny it." Then he ordered the choicest fare possible to be prepared
as a sacrifice to his friend. In a little the friend bade him farewell
and took his departure.
The magistrate said, "Alas! I thought mutangs were a brood of liars,
but now I know that there are true mutangs as well as false." He
gave her rich rewards, sent her away in safety, recalled his order
against witches, and refrained from any matters pertaining to them
for ever after.
Im Bang.