In ancient times, there lived a boy. And he was the only son. In his birth of the ninth generation, only one child was born in each family, and fate weighed on him - hosik. The child was kidnapped and killed by a tiger. The grandfather's boy and father were not saved. And this happened on the month, day and hour when the child turned twelve years old. The boy went to the fortuneteller to ask for advice, and the fortuneteller said that the boy would overtake the boy when he was twelve years old.
The boy did not wait for the fateful day, said goodbye to his crying mother and set off to wander around the world. I walked from province to province until I came to Seoul. I found a famous fortune teller, gave him fifty yans - exactly half of what he had, and asked him to predict fate. The fortuneteller began to guess, fear overwhelmed him. The boy's unfortunate fate. And so he wondered, and so, and then he said:
- Doom weighs heavily on you. If you want to be saved, on the day you become twelve years old, go to Minister Kim, sneak into his daughter’s room, then you will remain alive.
The boy went to the minister’s house, walked around and around, but didn’t know how to enter. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an old woman, she lived in the house next door.
The boy promised the old woman a few coins, and she let him into the house. The boy told what sadness had happened to him, and told about the hosik. The old woman felt sorry for the boy, and she decided to help him. And it had to happen that the minister’s daughter was the old woman’s niece.
And so, when the fateful day came, the old woman stored up wine, prepared various snacks, and treated the guards who guard the twelve gates in the minister’s house. The guards got drunk, and meanwhile the old woman saw the boy off in peace, where the minister’s daughter lives. They came, but the girls didn’t, it was just dinner time. The old woman told the boy to hide behind a screen. The girl came, and the old woman said to her:
“I brought you some sweets and put them behind the screen.” If you want to eat it, take it! “The old woman said so and went home.” Nobody saw her. The girl lived in a separate house, far from the main house.
The minister’s daughter wanted to eat something, so she went behind the screen to get some sweets. He looks and there is a boy sitting there. The girl got scared, Zhuek began to read, and thought it was a ghost. He reads and reads, and the boy just sits and sits. Doesn't disappear. And so sad! The girl calmed down and asked:
[Zhuek – I Ching – the oldest Chinese treatise on natural philosophy. It was also used as a fortune-telling book.]
- Who are you - a ghost or a person? How did you end up here?
And the boy told everything from beginning to end. The girl took pity on him and hid him in the closet so that evil fate would not find him.
At that time, a friend of Minister Li’s daughter came to see the girl; she lived next door. They chatted about this and that, and then the girl asked her friend:
– What would you do if someone who needed help came here?
“She asked, opened the closet, took the boy out and said: “He is in danger of death!” We must save him at all costs! - And again she hid the boy in the closet. The girls began to wait for the tiger. Night had already come, a tiger came, approached the door, stood on its hind legs and began to ask:
- Girl, girl, please give me the boy, don’t hide him in your room!
The girl answered the tiger, followed by her friend:
- How dare you, bloodthirsty, break into the minister’s house without asking?!
There is no crime worse than killing a person!
But the tiger doesn’t even want to listen, there’s no way to calm him down.
“I,” he says, “ate ninety-nine boys, and if I eat the hundredth, I’ll turn into a man!”
The girls don't let the tiger in, they read Zhuek. The tiger roared here, walked around the house, and rushed away with the first roosters. The girls opened the closet and looked - the boy was lying unconscious. The girls gave him liquid rice gruel, and he woke up. He learned that the tiger had left, was happy, and began to thank the girls for their kindness. The girls started a conversation with him and found out that he could write poetry. And they advised me to take an exam to get a position. And this exam is scheduled for tomorrow. The girls came up with the theme and form of the poem, and together with the boy they composed it.
And this must happen! Ministers Kim and Lyo turned out to be examiners. They assessed the boy’s successes as they deserved, and after their daughters, they offered him a wife. The boy didn’t want to offend the girls, he took them both as wives and brought them home. The boy's mother couldn't be happier. So they lived together all their lives. And they gave birth to countless children!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru