Sim Hyun, or Mr. Sim, was highly esteemed in the Korean village in
which he resided. He belonged to the Yang Ban, or gentleman class, and
when he walked forth it was with the stately swinging stride of the
gentleman, while if he bestrode his favorite donkey, or was carried
in his chair, a runner went ahead calling out to the commoners to
clear the road. His rank was not high, and though greatly esteemed as
a scholar, his income would scarcely allow of his taking the position
he was fitted to occupy.
His parents had been very fortunate in betrothing him to a remarkably
beautiful and accomplished maiden, daughter of a neighboring
gentleman. She was noted for beauty and grace, while her mental
qualities were the subject of continual admiration. She could not
only read and write her native ernmun, but was skilled in Chinese
characters, while her embroidered shoes, pockets, and other feminine
articles were the pride of her mother and friends. She had embroidered
a set of historic panels, which her father sent to the King. His
Majesty mentioned her skill with marked commendation, and had the
panels made up into a screen which for some time stood behind his mat,
and continually called forth his admiration.
Sim had not seemed very demonstrative in regard to his approaching
nuptials, but once he laid his eyes upon his betrothed, as she unveiled
at the ceremony, he was completely captivated, and brooked with poor
grace the formalities that had to be gone through before he could
claim her as his constant companion.
It was an exceptionally happy union, the pair being intellectually
suited to each other, and each apparently possessing the bodily
attributes necessary to charm the other. There was never a sign
of disgust or disappointment at the choice their parents had made
for them. They used to wander out into the little garden off the
women's quarters, and sit in the moonlight, planning for the future,
and enjoying the products of each other's well stored mind. It was
their pet desire to have a son, and all their plans seemed to centre
around this one ambition; the years came and went, however, but their
coveted blessing was withheld, the wife consulted priestesses, and
the husband, from long and great disappointment, grew sad at heart
and cared but little for mingling with the world, which he thought
regarded him with shame. He took to books and began to confine himself
to his own apartments, letting his poor wife stay neglected and alone
in the apartments of the women. From much study, lack of exercise,
and failing appetite, he grew thin and emaciated, and his eyes began
to show the wear of over-work and innutrition. The effect upon his
wife was also bad, but, with a woman's fortitude and patience, she
bore up and hoped in spite of constant disappointment. She worried
over her husband's condition and felt ashamed that she had no name in
the world, other than the wife of Sim, while she wished to be known
as the mother of the Sim of whom they had both dreamed by day and by
night till dreams had almost left them.
After fifteen years of childless waiting, the wife of Sim dreamed
again; this time her vision was a brilliant one, and in it she saw a
star come down to her from the skies above; the dream awakened her, and
she sent for her husband to tell him that she knew their blessing was
about to come to them; she was right, a child was given to them, but,
to their great dismay, it was only a girl. Heaven had kindly prepared
the way for the little visitor, however; for after fifteen years weary
waiting, they were not going to look with serious disfavor upon a girl,
however much their hopes had been placed upon the advent of a son.
The child grew, and the parents were united as they only could be
by such a precious bond. The ills of childhood seemed not to like
the little one, even the virus of small-pox, that was duly placed in
her nostril, failed to innoculate her, and her pretty skin remained
fresh and soft like velvet, and totally free from the marks of the
dread disease.
At three years of age she bade fair to far surpass her mother's
noted beauty and accomplishments. Her cheeks were full-blown roses,
and whenever she opened her dainty curved mouth, ripples of silvery
laughter, or words of mature wisdom, were sure to be given forth. The
hearts of the parents, that had previously been full of tears, were
now light, and full of contentment and joy; while they were constantly
filled with pride by the reports of the wonderful wisdom of their child
that continually came to them. The father forgot that his offspring
was not a boy, and had his child continually by his side to guide
his footsteps, as his feeble eyes refused to perform their office.
Just as their joy seemed too great to be lasting, it was suddenly
checked by the death of the mother, which plunged them into a deep
grief from which the father emerged totally blind. It soon became
a question as to where the daily food was to come from; little by
little household trinkets were given to the brokers to dispose of,
and in ten years they had used up the homestead, and all it contained.
The father was now compelled to ask alms, and as his daughter was grown
to womanhood, she could no longer direct his footsteps as he wandered
out in the darkness of the blind. [3] One day in his journeying he fell
into a deep ditch, from which he could not extricate himself. After
remaining in this deplorable condition for some time he heard a step,
and called out for assistance, saying: "I am blind, not drunk,"
whereupon the passing stranger said: "I know full well you are not
drunk. True, you are blind, yet not incurably so."
"Why, who are you that you know so much about me?" asked the blind man.
"I am the old priest of the temple in the mountain fortress."
"Well, what is this that you say about my not being permanently blind?"
"I am a prophet, and I have had a vision concerning you. In case you
make an offering of three hundred bags of rice to the Buddha of our
temple, you will be restored to sight, you will be given rank and
dignity, while your daughter will become the first woman in all Korea."
"But I am poor, as well as blind," was the reply. "How can I promise
such a princely offering?"
"You may give me your order for it, and pay it along as you are able,"
said the priest.
"Very well, give me pencil and paper," whereupon they retired to a
house, and the blind man gave his order for the costly price of his
sight. Returning home weary, bruised, and hungry, he smiled to himself,
in spite of his ill condition, at the thought of his giving an order
for so much rice when he had not a grain of it to eat.
He obtained, finally, a little work in pounding rice in the stone
mortars. It was hard labor for one who had lived as he had done; but
it kept them from starving, and his daughter prepared his food for him
as nicely as she knew how. One night, as the dinner was spread on the
little, low table before him, sitting on the floor, the priest came and
demanded his pay; the old blind man lost his appetite for his dinner,
and refused to eat. He had to explain to his daughter the compact
he had made with the priest, and, while she was filled with grief,
and dismayed at the enormity of the price, she yet seemed to have
some hope that it might be accomplished and his sight restored.
That night, after her midnight bath, she lay down on a mat in the
open air, and gazed up to heaven, to which she prayed that her poor
father might be restored to health and sight. While thus engaged,
she fell asleep and dreamed that her mother came down from heaven to
comfort her, and told her not to worry, that a means would be found
for the payment of the rice, and that soon all would be happy again
in the little family.
The next day she chanced to hear of the wants of a great merchant
who sailed in his large boats to China for trade, but was greatly
distressed by an evil spirit that lived in the water through which
he must pass. For some time, it was stated, he had not been able to
take his boats over this dangerous place, and his loss therefrom was
very great. At last it was reported that he was willing and anxious
to appease the spirit by making the offering the wise men had deemed
necessary. Priests had told him that the sacrifice of a young maiden to
the spirit would quiet it and remove the trouble. He was, therefore,
anxious to find the proper person, and had offered a great sum to
obtain such an one.
Sim Chung (our heroine), hearing of this, decided that it must be
the fulfilment of her dream, and having determined to go and offer
herself, she put on old clothes and fasted while journeying, that she
might look wan and haggard, like one in mourning. She had previously
prepared food for her father, and explained to him that she wished
to go and bow at her mother's grave, in return to her for having
appeared to her in a dream.
When the merchant saw the applicant, he was at once struck with her
beauty and dignity of carriage, in spite of her attempt to disguise
herself. He said that it was not in his heart to kill people especially
maidens of such worth as she seemed to be. He advised her not to
apply; but she told her story and said she would give herself for
the three hundred bags of rice. "Ah! now I see the true nobility
of your character. I did not know that such filial piety existed
outside the works of the ancients. I will send to my master and
secure the rice," said the man, who happened to be but an overseer
for a greater merchant.
She got the rice and took it to the priest in a long procession of
one hundred and fifty ponies, each laboring under two heavy bags;
the debt cancelled and her doom fixed, she felt the relaxation and
grief necessarily consequent upon such a condition. She could not
explain to her father, she mourned over the loneliness that would come
to him after she was gone, and wondered how he would support himself
after she was removed and until his sight should be restored. She lay
down and prayed to heaven, saying: "I am only fourteen years old,
and have but four more hours to live. What will become of my poor
father? Oh! who will care for him? Kind heaven, protect him when I
am gone." Wild with grief she went and sat on her father's knee, but
could not control her sobs and tears; whereupon he asked her what the
trouble could be. Having made up her mind that the time had come, and
that the deed was done and could not be remedied, she decided to tell
him, and tried to break it gently; but when the whole truth dawned
upon the poor old man it nearly killed him. He clasped her close
to his bosom, and crying: "My child, my daughter, my only comfort,
I will not let you go. What will eyes be to me if I can no longer
look upon your lovely face?" They mingled their tears and sobs,
and the neighbors, hearing the commotion in the usually quiet hut,
came to see what was the trouble. Upon ascertaining the reason of the
old man's grief, they united in the general wailing. Sim Chung begged
them to come and care for the old man when she could look after him no
more, and they agreed to do so. While the wailing and heart breaking
was going on, a stranger rode up on a donkey and asked for the Sim
family. He came just in time to see what the act was costing the poor
people. He comforted the girl by giving her a cheque for fifty bags
of rice for the support of the father when his daughter should be no
more. She took it gratefully and gave it to the neighbors to keep in
trust; she then prepared herself, took a last farewell, and left her
fainting father to go to her bed in the sea.
In due time the boat that bore Sim Chung, at the head of a procession
of boats, arrived at the place where the evil spirit reigned. She
was dressed in bridal garments furnished by the merchant. On her
arrival at the place, the kind merchant tried once more to appease
the spirit by an offering of eatables, but it was useless, whereupon
Sim Chung prayed to heaven, bade them all good-by, and leaped into
the sea. Above, all was quiet, the waves subsided, the sea became
like a lake, and the boats passed on their way unmolested.
When Sim Chung regained her consciousness she was seated in a little
boat drawn by fishes, and pretty maidens were giving her to drink
from a carved jade bottle. She asked them who they were, and where
she was going. They answered: "We are servants of the King of the Sea,
and we are taking you to his palace."
Sim Chung wondered if this was death, and thought it very pleasant if
it were. They passed through forests of waving plants, and saw great
lazy fish feeding about in the water, till at last they reached the
confines of the palace. Her amazement was then unbounded, for the
massive walls were composed of precious stones, such as she had only
heretofore seen used as ornaments. Pearls were used to cover the heads
of nails in the great doors through which they passed, and everywhere
there seemed a most costly and lavish display of the precious gems
and metals, while the walks were made of polished black marble that
shone in the water. The light, as it passed through the water, seemed
to form most beautifully colored clouds, and the rainbow colors were
everywhere disporting themselves.
Soon a mighty noise was heard, and they moved aside, while the King
passed by preceded by an army with gayly colored and beautifully
embroidered satin banners, each bearer blowing on an enormous
shell. The King was borne in a golden chair on the shoulders of
one hundred men, followed by one hundred musicians and as many
more beautiful "dancing girls," with wonderful head-dresses and
rich costumes.
Sim Chung objected to going before such an august king, but she
was assured of kind treatment, and, after being properly dressed by
the sea maids, in garments suitable for the palace of the Sea King,
she was borne in a chair on the shoulders of eunuchs to the King's
apartments. The King treated her with great respect, and all the
maidens and eunuchs bowed before her. She protested that she was not
worthy of such attention. "I am," she said, "but the daughter of a
beggar, for whom I thought I was giving my life when rescued by these
maidens. I am in no way worthy of your respect."
The King smiled a little, and said: "Ah! I know more of you than you
know of yourself. You must know that I am the Sea King, and that we
know full well the doings of the stars which shine in the heaven above,
for they continually visit us on light evenings. Well, you were once
a star. Many say a beautiful one, for you had many admirers. You
favored one star more than the others, and, in your attentions to
him, you abused your office as cup-bearer to the King of Heaven,
and let your lover have free access to all of the choice wines of
the palace. In this way, before you were aware of it, the peculiar
and choice brands that the King especially liked were consumed, and,
upon examination, your fault became known. As punishment, the King
decided to banish you to earth, but fearing to send you both at once,
lest you might be drawn together there, he sent your lover first, and
after keeping you in prison for a long time, you were sent as daughter
to your former lover. He is the man you claim as father. Heaven has
seen your filial piety, however, and repents. You will be hereafter
most highly favored, as a reward for your dutiful conduct." He then
sent her to fine apartments prepared for her, where she was to rest
and recuperate before going back to earth.
After a due period of waiting and feasting on royal food, Sim Chung's
beauty was more than restored. She had developed into a complete woman,
and her beauty was dazzling; her cheeks seemed colored by the beautiful
tints of the waters through which she moved with ease and comfort,
while her mind blossomed forth like a flower in the rare society of
the Sea King and his peculiarly gifted people.
When the proper time arrived for her departure for the world she had
left, a large and beautiful flower was brought into her chamber. It
was so arranged that Sim Chung could conceal herself inside of it,
while the delicious perfume and the juice of the plant were ample
nourishment. When she had bidden good-by to her peculiar friends and
taken her place inside the flower, it was conveyed to the surface of
the sea, at the place where she had plunged in. She had not waited
long in this strange position before a boat bore in sight. It proved
to be the vessel of her friend the merchant. As he drew near his old
place of danger he marvelled much at sight of such a beautiful plant,
growing and blossoming in such a strange place, where once only evil
was to be expected. He was also well-nigh intoxicated by the powerful
perfume exhaled from the plant. Steering close he managed to secure
the flower and place it safely in his boat, congratulating himself
on securing so valuable and curious a present for his King. For he
decided at once to present it at the palace if he could succeed in
getting it safely there.
The plan succeeded, the strange plant with its stranger tenant was
duly presented to His Majesty, who was delighted with the gift, and
spent his time gazing upon it to the exclusion of state business. He
had a glass house prepared for it in an inner court, and seemed never
to tire of watching his new treasure.
At night, when all was quiet, Sim Chung was wont to come forth and
rest herself by walking in the moonlight. But, on one occasion, the
King, being indisposed and restless, thought he would go to breathe
the rich perfume of the strange flower and rest himself. In this way
he chanced to see Sim Chung before she could conceal herself, and,
of course, his surprise was unbounded. He accosted her, not without
fear, demanding who she might be. She, being also afraid, took refuge
in her flower, when, to the amazement of both, the flower vanished,
leaving her standing alone where it had been but a moment before. The
King was about to flee, at this point, but she called to him not to
fear, that she was but a human being, and no spirit as he doubtless
supposed. The King drew near, and was at once lost in admiration of her
matchless beauty, when a great noise was heard outside, and eunuchs
came, stating that all the generals with the heads of departments
were asking for an audience on very important business. His Majesty
very reluctantly went to see what it all meant. An officer versed
in astronomy stated that they had, on the previous night, observed
a brilliant star descend from heaven and alight upon the palace,
and that they believed it boded good to the royal family. Then the
King told of the flower, and the wonderful apparition he had seen
in the divine maiden. It so happened that the queen was deceased,
and it was soon decided that the King should take this remarkable
maiden for his wife. The marriage was announced, and preparations all
made. As the lady was without parents, supposably, the ceremony took
place at the royal wedding hall, and was an occasion of great state.
Never was man more charmed by woman than in this case. The King would
not leave her by day or night, and the business of state was almost
totally neglected. At last Sim Chung chided her husband, telling him
it was not manly for the King to spend all his time in the women's
quarters; that if he cared so little for the rule as to neglect
it altogether, others might find occasion to usurp his place. She
enjoined upon him the necessity of giving the days to his business,
and being content to spend the nights with her. He saw her wisdom,
and remarked upon it, promising to abide by her advice.
After some time spent in such luxury, Sim Chung became lonely and
mourned for her poor father, but despaired of being able to see
him. She knew not if he were alive or dead, and the more she thought
of it the more she mourned, till tears were in her heart continually,
and not infrequently overflowed from her beautiful eyes. The King
chanced to see her weeping, and was solicitous to know the cause of
her sorrow, whereupon she answered that she was oppressed by a strange
dream concerning a poor blind man, and was desirous of alleviating in
some way the sufferings of the many blind men in the country. Again
the King marvelled at her great heart, and offered to do any thing
towards carrying out her noble purpose. Together they agreed that
they would summon all the blind men of the country to a great feast,
at which they should be properly clothed, amply fed, and treated each
to a present of cash.
The edict was issued, and on the day appointed for the feast, the
Queen secreted herself in a pavilion, from which she could look down
and fully observe the strange assemblage. She watched the first day,
but saw no one who resembled her lost parent; again the second day
she held her earnest vigil, but in vain. She was about to give up
her quest as useless and mourn over the loss of her father, when,
as the feast was closing on the third day, a feeble old man in rags
came tottering up. The attendants, having served so many, were treating
this poor fellow with neglect, and were about to drive him away as too
late when the Queen ordered them whipped and the old man properly fed.
He seemed well-nigh starved, and grasped at the food set before him
with the eagerness of an animal. There seemed to be something about
this forlorn creature that arrested and engaged the attention of the
Queen, and the attendants, noticing this, were careful to clothe him
with extra care. When sufficient time had elapsed for the satisfying
of his hunger, he was ordered brought to the Queen's pavilion, where
Her Majesty scrutinized him closely for a few moments, and then,
to the surprise and dismay of all her attendants, she screamed:
"My father! my father!" and fell at his feet senseless. Her maids
hurried off to tell the King of the strange conduct of their mistress,
and he came to see for himself. By rubbing her limbs and applying
strong-smelling medicines to her nostrils, the fainting Queen was
restored to consciousness, and allowed to tell her peculiar and
interesting story. The King had heard much of it previously. But
the poor old blind man could barely collect his senses sufficiently
to grasp the situation. As the full truth began to dawn upon him,
he cried: "Oh! my child, can the dead come back to us? I hear your
voice; I feel your form; but how can I know it is you, for I have no
eyes? Away with these sightless orbs!" And he tore at his eyes with
his nails, when to his utter amazement and joy, the scales fell away,
and he stood rejoicing in his sight once more.
His Majesty was overjoyed to have his lovely Queen restored to
her wonted happy frame of mind. He made the old man an officer
of high rank, appointed him a fine house, and had him married to
the accomplished daughter of an officer of suitable rank, thereby
fulfilling the last of the prophecy of both the aged priest and the
King of the Sea.