A long time ago, the beautiful Tohwaran lived in the capital of the ancient state of Silla; she really was as beautiful as a peach blossom.
[Tohwaran - peach flower]
She was born from a concubine, and she would not have escaped human contempt if she had not become a devoted and faithful wife.
The fame of her virtue spread far and wide. Day by day, Tokhvaran treated her husband more and more respectfully. The couple lived in complete harmony, truly a pair of Mandarin ducks.
[A pair of Mandarin ducks is a symbol of marital consent]
The rumor about Tokhvaran reached the king. King Dindivan praised his virtuous wife. And from that day on, people talked about her more and more often.
[Dindiwan is the 25th King of Silla.]
So it was at the merry feast in the palace. And the king, I must tell you, couldn’t get this woman out of his head.
He wanted to convince himself of her virtue.
He looked around at those close to him and asked:
-Who can bring this woman to me?
The courtiers realized that the king was not joking, and apparently planned to take Tokhvaran to the palace.
They are all silent, they don’t know what to say, they look at each other as if they had been doused with cold water. But then the voice of the old dignitary sounded in the silence:
“May Your Majesty forgive me generously.” They say that many tried to seduce Tokhvaran, but she never succumbed to temptation or violated marital fidelity. How will you bring her here?
The king burst out laughing and asked:
- Will he really refuse me too?
“May your Majesty forgive me, but it is unlikely that the royal command will force her to break her vow.”
- Rather than persist, it would be better to send someone to her on behalf of the king.
Then we'll see whether she comes or doesn't come.
The messenger conveyed the royal command to Tokhvaran, but returned to the palace alone.
- Allow me to report, Your Majesty. This is what Tokhvaran asked me to tell you. She greatly regrets that rumors about the despicable slave penetrated all nine gates of the palace and desecrated the royal ear. She will not dare to appear before the royal eyes. And because she dared to violate the highest command, she is ready to die a hundred times. Tokhvaran does not believe that a just king could be so cruel to his slave. She would rather die than break her vow of fidelity.
The king listened to the messenger and said:
“Now I see how virtuous Tohvaran is.”
The king is annoyed, but he fell in love with the beauty even more and asks:
“And if Tohvaran didn’t have a husband, would she still resist?”
Again the messenger rushed to Tokhvaran. Tokhvaran was confused, didn’t know what to say, and then she found herself and said:
“If I didn’t have a husband, I would submit to the king and become his wife.” Who would dare to judge me?
The messenger returned and told the king word for word what Tokhvaran had said.
The king fell in love with Tokhvaran even more, although he had never seen her.
We should get rid of her husband. But you can't just kill him.
Never before in the kingdom of Silla had there been such an indecisive and cowardly ruler as Dindiwan.
Whether from longing for the beauty or for some other reason, the king soon fell ill and died. His husband Tokhvaran also survived him briefly.
There was a rumor among the courtiers that it was the king who had summoned him.
Tokhvaran remained a widow. The beauty cries day and night. But there is nothing to do. I buried my husband and held a wake.
And then one evening, when Tokhvaran lamented her bitter lot, recalled happy days and prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased, Dindivan appeared before her wearing a golden crown.
Tokhvaran is neither alive nor dead from fear. And the king says to her:
- I am the spirit of Dindiwan. Remember, you said that you would submit to me, but your husband is in the way. Now your husband is dead and you must fulfill your promise.
“I haven’t forgotten my words, but now I submit to the will of my parents.” How are they
they will say, so I will do it.
“Well, then, let’s ask for parental blessing.”
Tokhvaran had to tell her parents about everything.
- Is it really possible to disobey the king? - they said and blessed their daughter.
They say that the king’s bedchamber, when Tohvaran entered it, was filled with a wonderful incense, and the roof shone with all the colors of the rainbow.
Soon Tokhvaran was pregnant, and ten months later she gave birth to a son as beautiful as jasper. She named her son Pi Hen. The boy is growing, his strength is increasing by leaps and bounds, everyone is amazed and whispering: this is not without reason, the boy was born from evil spirits.
The fame of Pi Hen spread far around and reached the palace. Took the king
Dinpyewan brought the boy to the palace and began to raise him as a royal offspring, after all.
Pi Hen knew all kinds of sciences at the age of fifteen, and he was already granted the position of dipsagwan.
[Dipsagwan - position of the ruler of the royal office]
Suddenly a rumor spread throughout the palace that at nightfall Pi Hen left the palace gates and returned in the morning, straight to the reception of the king.
[The subjects visited the king twice - in the evening and in the morning and wished him health.]
The king did not believe it, sent fifty of his strongest guards and ordered not to let Pi Heng out of the palace. But he still disappeared.
He will fly over the fortress wall - that’s all he’s ever seen.
The king realized that he could not do without evil spirits here, and ordered to trace where Pi Hen disappeared.
And then one night the guards hid in the forest and began to watch the young man.
Directly from the palace, Pi Hyun went to the Muncheon River. A river flowed along the western wall of the palace. Pi Hen gathered the devils there, and they began to have fun. And at dawn, at the first sound of the bell, the young man returned to the palace, so that no one would notice his absence.
The guards saw this and reported to the king. The king was overcome with curiosity, and he asked the young man:
- Is it true that at night you have fun with the devils?
“True, Your Majesty,” the young man replies.
- So, do they listen to you, these devils?
“They obey, Your Majesty,” the young man answers.
—Can you build a bridge on the Muncheon River? - asks the king. “People really need him.”
“I listen and obey, Your Majesty,” the young man answers. - Today
I'll try to build a bridge tonight.
All night there was a terrible noise by the river. Only devils can make noise like that.
They carry stones, cut them, then throw them into the water and say:
“We take stones, we cut stones, we throw stones into the water.”
People couldn't sleep all night because of this noise.
But with the first strike of the bell, everything became quiet. Only the river gurgled quietly. As soon as it was dawn, Pi Hen brought the king to the shore, and he saw a bridge made of huge stone slabs, like a gate.
The king cried out:
- What a bridge! I've never seen anything like this in my life!
The king began to inspect the bridge, praised and praised Pi Hen, and the king ordered to name the bridge “Tokebi taeri” - Devil’s Bridge.
People walk across the bridge, remember Pi Heng with a kind word, and say thank you to him. After all, in one night the young man built such a wonderful stone bridge.
Only soon the devils began to frolic again at the bridge. The traveler will be late, and they will play a joke on him, scare him to death. People have stopped walking across the bridge, they are afraid of the devils.
The king heard about this, called Pi Hena again and said to him:
“Can’t you keep the devils away from the bridge so that they can play their demonic games in another place and not bother passers-by?” And then the people complain, lament, - no, they say, there is no peace from the devils.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Your Majesty.” The devils are unlikely to agree to this, because they built the bridge themselves! But since this is the highest command, I will try to persuade them!
Pi Hen said this, and at night he went to the river and called out the devils.
“So and so,” he says, “the king ordered me to keep you away from the bridge, so that they don’t play games here and don’t frighten travelers.”
“Have you ever heard of this,” the devils answer, “that they wouldn’t allow us to play on a bridge that we ourselves built?” Let's move it to another place, then the king will not be angry.
- Let's! - the devils began to shout.
And that’s all Pi Heng needs. He realized that the devils couldn’t move the bridge in one night, and said:
“You can’t think of anything better.” Get down to business. Drag the bridge and never set foot here again.
The devils ran up to the bridge, strained themselves and began to swing it. They rocked it all night, but they couldn’t even lift it, let alone carry it away. It's too heavy! And then it began to get light, the bells were rung. The devils disappeared and no longer appeared in these places. People strengthened the bridge and began to walk on it again.
The king praised Pi Hen and said:
“Will you find me a devil for my office?”
“There is one,” the young man answers. — The name is Kiel Dahlem. He is the smartest and most savvy among the devils.
The king orders the devil to be summoned to the palace.
Kil Dal turned into a man and assumed the position of dipsagwan. He conducts his affairs regularly, pleases everyone at the court, and is praised by his courtiers. The devil is not a man, he can do anything.
There was a dignitary in the palace named Lin Zhong. He has neither sons nor daughters.
The poor fellow is grieving. The king heard about this and allowed the dignitary to adopt the devil.
Kiel Dahl was so happy that it’s hard to say. He ordered to build a pavilion near the Hynryunsa Temple, called it the South Gate, and settled there. They ask him to return to the palace. He doesn't care.
And people began to call the South Gate pavilion the Kiel Dahl Gate.
Kil Dal lived among people for a year, lived for two, lived a long time, and became bored without his devil brothers. Worldly vanity is disgusting. All he can think about is how to escape to his own people.
He turned into a fox and ran away. Pi Hen found out about this, got angry, caught Kil Dal, cut off his head so that other devils would be discouraged, and said:
- Anyone who turns out to be ungrateful will face the same fate!
The devils shook with fear. Since then, just the name of Pi Hen terrifies the devils, and they run without looking back.
That is why the custom arose in Korea of hanging a sign on the gate with the name of Pi Hyun, on the sign all his merits are listed, the devils are afraid of the signs and do not come near the house.
And the Devil's Bridge on the Muncheon River, which flows northwest of the Sinwonsa Temple, fell apart over time, leaving only huge stones. They have survived to this day.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru