There was a man of Yong-nam, named Yoo, who lived in the days of
Se-jong. He had studied the classics, had passed his examinations,
and had become a petty official attached to the Confucian College. He
was not even of the sixth degree, so that promotion was out of the
question. He was a countryman who had no friends and no influence,
and though he had long been in Seoul there was no likelihood of any
advancement. Such being the case, disheartened and lonely, he decided
to leave the city and go back to his country home.
There was a palace secretary who knew this countryman, and who went
to say good-bye to him before he left.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the countryman said, "I have
long been in Seoul, but have never yet seen the royal office of the
secretaries. Might I accompany you some day when you take your turn?"
The secretary said, "In the daytime there is always a crowd of people
who gather there for business, and no one is allowed in without a
special pass. I am going in to-morrow, however, and intend to sleep
there, so that in the evening we could have a good chance to look the
Palace over. People are not allowed to sleep in the Palace as a rule,
but doing so once would not be specially noticed." The secretary then
gave orders to the military guard who accompanied him to escort this
man in the next day.
As the secretary had arranged, the countryman, on the evening
following, made his way into the Palace enclosure, but what was his
surprise to find that, for some reason or other, the secretary had not
come. The gates, also, were closed behind him, so that he could not
get out. Really he was in a fix. There chanced to be a body-servant
of the secretary in the room, and he, feeling sorry for the stranger,
arranged a hidden corner where he might pass the night, and then
quietly take his departure in the morning.
The night was beautifully clear, and apparently every one slept but
Yoo. He was wide awake, and wondering to himself if he might not go
quietly out and see the place.
It was the time of the rainy season, and a portion of the wall had
fallen from the enclosure just in front. So Yoo climbed over this
broken wall, and, not knowing where he went, found himself suddenly in
the royal quarters. It was a beautiful park, with trees, and lakes,
and walks. "Whose house is this," thought Yoo, "with its beautiful
garden?" Suddenly a man appeared, with a nice new cap on his head,
carrying a staff in his hand, and accompanied by a servant, walking
slowly towards him. It was no other than King Se-jong, taking a stroll
in the moonlight with one of his eunuchs.
When they met Yoo had no idea that it was the King. His Majesty asked,
"Who are you, and how did you get in here?"
He told who he was, and how he had agreed to come in with the
secretary; how the secretary had failed; how the gates were shut
and he was a prisoner for the night; how he had seen the bright
moonlight and wished to walk out, and, finding the broken wall,
had come over. "Whose house is this, anyway?" asked Yoo.
The King replied, "I am the master of this house." His Majesty then
asked him in, and made him sit down on a mat beside him. So they talked
and chatted together. The King learned that he had passed special
examinations in the classics, and inquiring how it was that Yoo had
had no better office, Yoo replied that he was an unknown countryman,
that his family had no influence, and that, while he desired office,
he was forestalled by the powerful families of the capital. "Who is
there," he asked, "that would bother himself about me? Thus all my
hopes have failed, and I have just decided to leave the city and go
back home and live out my days there."
The King asked again, "You know the classics so well, do you know
something also of the Book of Changes?"
He replied, "The deeper parts I do not know, but the easier parts
only."
Then the King ordered a eunuch to bring the Book of Changes. It was the
time when his Majesty was reading it for himself. The book was brought
and opened in the moonlight. The King looked up a part that had given
him special difficulty, and this the stranger explained character by
character, giving the meaning with convincing clearness. The King
was delighted and wondered greatly, and so they read together all
through the night. When they separated the King said, "You have all
this knowledge and yet have never been made use of? Alas, for my
country!" said he, sighing.
Yoo remarked that he would like to go straight home now, if the master
would kindly open the door for him.
The King said, however, that it was too early yet, and that he
might be arrested by the guards who were about. "Go then," said he,
"to where you were, and when it is broad daylight you can go through
the open gate."
Yoo then bade good-bye, and went back over the broken wall to his
corner in the secretary's room. When morning came he went out through
the main gateway and returned to his home.
On the following day the King sent a special secretary and had Yoo
appointed to the office of Overseer of Literature. On the promulgation
of this the officials gathered in the public court, and protested
in high dudgeon against so great an office being given to an unknown
person.