Folk Tales from Korea by Zong In-sob & Translated by Zong In-Sob

Author:Zong In-sob & Translated by Zong In-Sob [Zong In-Sob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-60872-353-9
Publisher: Olympia Press
Published: 2016-02-17T00:00:00+00:00

59. The Legend of the Virgin Arang

ON THE HIGH BANK of the River Nagdong in the district of Miryang, in the province of South Gyongsang, there stands a lofty tower, called Yongnam-Nu. Just below this tower along the steep cliffs that border the river there is a dense grove of bamboos. In this grove there once stood a small memorial shrine, but to-day nothing remains but a tiny stone monument to commemorate the sad story of the virgin named Arang.

Her surname was Yun, and her personal name in childhood Zong-Og, or 'Chaste Jade'. Her father was a nobleman of Seoul who was appointed magistrate in Miryang, where these sad events took place. She came there with her father when she was eighteen years of age. She was very pretty, and advanced in the study of the classics, so that many suitors came to woo her. In her father's opinion, however, none of them was a suitable match for her, and she remained unmarried.

Among the officials of low rank there was a young bachelor named Beg Ga, whose duty it was to carry the magistrate's seal. Attracted by the beauty of the magistrate's daughter he devised a plan to win her love, for humble man as he was he could not speak directly to her, and marriage with her was out of the question. He therefore became friendly with her nurse and disclosed his secret to her.

One evening when Arang was reading in her room her nurse came to her and said with a smile, 'To-night the moon is full. Wouldn't you like to go for a stroll outside? The view from the tower of the river and the wide expanse of reeds would be delightful. Come with me and see it.'

Arang went out into the garden with her nurse. They stood for a while by the lotus pond admiring the pale moonlight shining through the stillness of the night. Anxious not to be too long because she had not asked her father's permission to go out, Arang said, 'It is very late, Nurse, I must be going back.' But her nurse paid no attention to her and insisted that she come and see the view from the Yongnam tower. Somewhat reluctantly Arang followed her to the top of the tower. There she sat on the balcony and looked down on the beauty of the night.

The young official Beg was already hiding behind one of the thick wooden pillars awaiting her arrival. The nurse now made some excuse to leave the lady, and as soon as she had gone the young man stepped out and whispered to Arang. 'Do not be afraid. You do not know me, but I love you to distraction.' Arang was terrified at this unexpected intrusion, and screaming loudly tried to run away. But there was no one there except the young man who rushed at her and tried to take her in his arms. She resisted strongly, and the young man drew his dagger to threaten her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.