About two hundred years ago, a rich and noble yangban lived in the village of Panjang, Hwanghae Province. And he had a son and a daughter. The daughter is smart and beautiful, and she also knew how to read and write. Year after year it becomes more and more beautiful, more and more intelligent.
I have mastered so many different sciences! Her fame spread far and wide. It's time to marry off a girl, but where can I find a worthy groom?
One quiet spring evening, a girl went out into the garden, sat down to read a book, then went into the field, and there the flowers bloomed. The girl bent down, touched the petals, read the verse, and suddenly heard an echo as if answering her.
The girl got scared and asked:
- Who's here?
Nobody responds. I looked around - not a soul around. Who responded to her with verse? It didn't seem like it!
The girl picked up her hem, got ready to go home, and suddenly heard:
— Zhagyn assi, it’s me, Yongir!
[Zhagyn assi is a polite way of addressing a girl.]
- Yongir? What are you doing here?
The girl calmed down. And Yongir took her hand. The girl pulled her hand back.
There is no doubt that Yongir is both strong and handsome, but the son of a servant is not a match for her. More than once the girl heard her father and mother praise the young man. They say he once tamed a horse. He broke free from his leash, and Yongir grabbed him by the hind legs, threw him to the ground, and put him in the stable. Another time, Yongir was sent on an urgent mission to Seoul, to an important official. He set off in the morning, returned by dinner, and ran a thousand miles in a day. And they also say that he has scaly wings growing under his arms. And his father even said that if Yongir had been the son of a yangban, he would have become a famous commander, but the trouble is, he was not born from a yangban - from a servant.
The girl knew better than anyone what kind of guy Yongir was, but she didn’t give vent to her feelings. And now, when he took her hand, she said:
- Don't you dare!
“Don’t blame me,” says the young man, “but it has long been known: if a hero is born, then enma, a magical horse-dragon, will be born; If a noble man is born, a girl worthy of him will be born. I was born, you were born. And even though I am the son of a despicable slave, who will forbid me, for example, from becoming a hero? What law? There is no king, no prince, no official or hero by birth - they are all the same. You read books, and they write about it.
The girl is silent, her head lowered. And what can I say?
- Assi, I have loved you for a long time. You are so good, kind.
Yongir took the girl’s hand again, and her hand was hot—it was burning with fire.
The girl was scared and trembling. They stand, looking at each other. They are silent.
All you can hear is knock-knock. It's their hearts beating.
- You better go home, what if someone sees you? “We’ll meet again,” the girl said quietly and ran to the side. Yongir stands, looks after her, smiles. Afterwards I went home.
The next day, just before evening, Yongir came to Chodan again.
He looks and a girl is walking towards him. The young man and the girl swore to love each other forever and began to meet in secret. At night. But everything secret becomes clear. The girl’s mother found out about their meeting. I told my husband and son. They got angry. The son says that Yongir must be killed and the shame washed away.
And his father:
[Chhodan is a small outbuilding.]
“It’s not so easy to kill Yongir, my son!” After all, he has wings, which means he is not an ordinary person, but a hero of Zhangsa. But you can’t kill Zhangsu until you cut off his wings. That's what they said in the old days.
And so the yangban called his servants and ordered them to cut off Yongir’s wings when he was sleeping. The servants crept up to the sleeping young man, tied him up, and cut off his wings. They tied a heavy stone to his feet and threw the young man into the lake. And the young man came out of the water and said to the girl’s brother:
“I don’t have long to live.” And why is it such a life? Just remember: if I die, your sister will die too, then throw her body into the lake. If you don’t quit, disaster will fall on your home.
The next day, the mother did not find her daughter in her room. She ran out into the yard and looked: her beautiful daughter had hanged herself - she went to get her Yongir. And before hanging herself, she wrote a letter:
“Let them throw my body into the lake, where my Yongir lies at the bottom.” My father and mother are angry: how can they bury the daughter of a yangban together with the son of a slave! And they buried their daughter in another place.
Ten more daughters were born to the yangban, but none survived. When a girl turns fifteen, she dies immediately.
From then on, they began to hand out girls earlier, until the age of fifteen was equal.
And they also say that in the old days, when they performed the kut ritual, the spirit of Yongir appeared and people made a sacrifice to him - they threw a bull’s leg into the lake.
[Kut is a religious ritual of sacrifice where shamans throw a sacrifice to appease a spirit.]
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru