A Record of Manboksa Temple's Game of Jeopo
by Kim Si-seup
The owner finally stopped the horse he was riding and asked Yang-saeng where he had obtained the silver bowl.
When Yang-saeng recounted the facts exactly as he had promised the woman the day before, the woman's parents were greatly surprised and looked at each other. They remained silent for a long time before finally speaking.
"I had an only daughter. But she lost her life in battle during the Japanese invasion. We couldn't even hold a proper funeral and temporarily buried her near Gaeryeongsa Temple. Due to various circumstances, it was postponed until today, and today is the day of her Dae-sang (third anniversary of death). So, I am on my way to offer a memorial service and pray for her soul."
He paused for a moment and looked at Yang-saeng.
"If you truly intend to keep that promise, wait for my daughter and come together. Don't be surprised."
The nobleman finished speaking and left for the temple first.
Yang-saeng stood alone by the roadside, waiting for the appointed time.
Finally, when the time came, a woman indeed appeared, accompanied by a maidservant, walking with a light sway of her waist.
It was that very woman.
Yang-saeng was so delighted he forgot to breathe, and the woman also approached with a joyful expression.
The two held hands and headed to the temple together.
As the woman entered the temple gate, she first paid her respects to Buddha, and then entered behind a white curtain.
His relatives and the monks at the temple all disbelieved Yang-saeng's words, and only Yang-saeng alone could see the woman.
The woman quietly said,
"Shall we have dinner together?"
When Yang-saeng conveyed her words to the woman's parents, they, wanting to test him, had a meal prepared for them to share.
However, people could not see the woman's form; they could only hear the sound of her spoon moving. The sound of her eating was no different from that of a living person.
Only then did the parents express their surprise and sigh deeply.
They then urged Yang-saeng to sleep beside the curtain with her.
In the middle of the night, a clear voice was heard from inside the curtain.
When people secretly listened, the sound would suddenly stop.
The woman said to Yang-saeng,
“I know well that I have violated propriety. I read the 『Classic of Poetry』 and 『Classic of History』 when I was young, so I know a little about etiquette. It is not that I do not know how shameful ‘Jian Shang’ in the 『Classic of Poetry』 is, or how blush-inducing ‘Sang Shu’ is.”
Her voice was calm, but deep sorrow was embedded within it.
“However, having been buried for too long among overgrown mugwort and abandoned in the fields, once a loving feeling arose, I could not control it in the end.”
“Last time, I went to the temple to pray for blessings, burned incense before the Buddha, and was lamenting my short, unfortunate life alone when, unexpectedly, I encountered a karmic connection from three lifetimes.”
“I wanted to become a humble wife and dedicate a hundred years of fidelity. I wanted to brew wine and mend clothes, walking the path of a wife for life.”
She paused for a moment.
“But sadly, I cannot escape my karma, and I must embark on the journey to the underworld again. A sorrowful parting has come before I could fully enjoy my happiness.”
Yang-saeng could not say anything.
The woman spoke her last words.
“It is now time for me to depart. The clouds and rain will clear from the two peaks, and the magpies will scatter from the Milky Way. Once we part, it is difficult to meet again. As I prepare to leave, my heart feels distant, and I do not know what to say.”
As people sent off the woman's spirit, the sound of weeping was incessant.
Once the spirit left through the door, only a faint voice was gently heard.
The path to the underworld has a limit,
Though sad, it is now farewell.
I beg of my beloved,
Do not abandon me.
Alas, my dear parents,
Could not secure my spouse in the end.
In the distant abyss,
My heart will be filled with regret.
The voice gradually grew fainter, until it finally disappeared, indistinguishable from the sound of choked sobs.
Only then did the woman's parents realize that everything that had happened was true, and they no longer doubted it.
Yang-saeng also clearly understood that the woman had been a ghost, and he fell into even deeper sorrow.
He and the woman's parents put their heads together and wept for a long time.
The woman's parents said to Yang-saeng,
“Keep the silver bowl. And there are a few plots of land and some servants left for my daughter; take those as a token and do not forget our daughter.”
The next day, Yang-saeng prepared meat and wine and went to search for the old traces in Gaeryeong-dong.
Indeed, there was a spot where the woman's body had been temporarily buried.
Yang-saeng meticulously arranged the offerings and wept sorrowfully before them.
Then he burned the paper money and formally held a funeral for her.
Finally, he composed an elegy to comfort the woman.
Alas, O spirit.
From your youth, your nature was gentle, and as you grew, your face was clear and beautiful.
Her beauty was like that of Xi Shi, and her literary talent surpassed even Su Qin.
She grew up receiving instruction within the household, never venturing outside the women's quarters.
Even amidst the chaos of war, she maintained her fidelity to the end, yet she met her demise at the hands of Japanese invaders.
Buried alone among the mugwort, how heartbroken she must have been on nights when flowers bloomed and the moon shone bright.
When her heart broke in the spring breeze, the mournful cries of the cuckoo must have been sorrowful,
And when her gall bladder was torn by autumn frost, she must have sighed at the sight of a discarded silk fan.
Last time, I met you for one night and found great joy.
Though I knew this world and the next were different, I rejoiced as a fish finding water.
I thought we would be together for a hundred years,
How could I have known we would part so sorrowfully in just one evening?
My love.
You have now become a celestial maiden of the moon palace, a lady bringing rain to Mount Wu.
The earth is dark, making return difficult, and the sky is distant, making it hard to gaze upon.
When I enter my house, I am dazed and speechless,
When I go outside, I am lost and have nowhere to go.
Every time I see the curtain, I sob,
Every time I pour wine, my heart grows sadder.
Her beautiful form still seems to appear before my eyes,
Her clear voice still seems to echo in my ears.
Ah, how sorrowful!
Her character was intelligent,
Her demeanor was clear and proper.
Though her body may have dispersed,
How could her spirit also vanish?
Please descend and come into the courtyard,
Come to my side and look upon this sorrow.
Though life and death are different,
I believe you will surely respond to this writing.
Even after the funeral, Yang-saeng could not overcome his grief.
He sold all his fields and house and held memorial rites for three consecutive nights.
Then, the woman's voice was heard again from the air.
“Thanks to your kindness, I have already been reborn as a man in another country. Although the underworld and this world are far apart, I am deeply grateful for your grace.”
“You, too, should now cultivate good karma again and escape the cycle of reincarnation with me.”
After that, Yang-saeng never married again.
He entered Jirisan and lived by gathering medicinal herbs, and no one knew when he passed away.