The Moon Pearl by Ruthanne Lum McCunn

Author:Ruthanne Lum McCunn [McCunn, Ruthanne Lum]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-8070-8350-5
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 2000-08-25T04:00:00+00:00

Motes of dust hung in the shaft of sunlight pouring through the rain shelter’s one window. Yet the air seemed dank to Mei Ju. Breathing as shallowly as she could, she’d decreased the frequency of her sneezes. But she couldn’t stop sneezing altogether, and with each explosion, Mei Ju jounced Shadow, seated beside her on the hut’s narrow bench.

Shadow, sunk into gloom, didn’t seem to hear either the sneezes or Mei Ju’s apologies. Perched on a stool across the table from them, Rooster greeted each fresh assault with a bright, “Dai gut lai see, good fortune!”

Bobbing her head in acknowledgment, Mei Ju thought dolefully that they could certainly use every one of Rooster’s wishes and more. In truth, surveying the hut’s crumbling walls and festoons of cobwebs, Mei Ju couldn’t understand how Rooster could sustain her joy.

“Cheer up, you two,” Rooster urged. “I know talking to our parents was like chickens talking to ducks. But can’t you see my near escape is proof of Heaven’s approval?”

Mei Ju, wanting desperately to believe her, begged Rooster, “Tell us again what happened.”

Her eyes aglow and her voice so highly pitched with excitement it reverberated off the mud walls, Rooster obliged.

“Well, you know how Old Bloodsucker prides himself on squeezing cash out of people with none? He apparently forced my parents into negotiations with a matchmaker, and they’ve been meeting at Old Bloodsucker’s and had already picked out a groom and matched horoscopes and done everything except present betrothal gifts.

“So you see, if we’d delayed making our vows by so much as a day, it would’ve been too late for me. I would’ve been trapped into marrying.

“Hnnnh, if we hadn’t made our vows to Seh Gung and Gwoon Yum, my father would’ve ripped the pins out of my hair and combed it back into two plaits himself!”

Retrieving her statue of Gwoon Yum from the basket, Rooster held it tenderly against her cheek, and Mei Ju imagined the clay image cooling her own heated skin.

“The Goddess really saved me,” Rooster said, wiping off the rickety table with a broad sweep of her sleeve.

A cloud of dust billowed into Mei Ju’s nostrils, causing a flurry of sneezes.

“Good fortune, good fortune, good fortune,” Rooster crowed.

She set the statue on the table, rotated it so Gwoon Yum faced Shadow. “You bought her for me, remember?”

Mei Ju, wiping her eyes with her handkerchief, sensed rather than saw Shadow nod.

“Gwoon Yum hasn’t forgotten either,” Rooster assured softly.

Smiling, she began, “Gwoon Yum was born the daughter of a king. Yet she didn’t care about earthly riches or power. What she wanted was to remain pure. To shave her head and become a charity spinster, a nun. Her father, however, wanted her to marry, and when she wouldn’t, he ordered her beheaded.”

As Rooster paused for breath, Mei Ju eagerly took up the familiar tale.

“Of course, the executioner didn’t dare disobey the king. But when his sword struck Gwoon Yum, it shattered without hurting her. Then Gwoon Yum’s father ordered her suffocated, and when her soul left her body, it descended to Hell.

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