There is a large bell in the city of Gyeongju. They call it the Emille bell. This is the sad story they told us about him.
It was a long time ago. King Gyeongdeok, the thirty-fifth king of Silla, planned to cast a large bell in memory of his father, King Seongdeok. But it took so much time to cast that Kendok had to bequeath the task to his son Hegon to complete it. Determined to fulfill his father's last wishes, Hegon issued a decree to collect copper for the bell. Buddhist monks took on this. They went from house to house and in a short time collected a whole mountain of copper - ordinary people respected the Buddha's disciples and willingly gave as much as they could. And so they finally cast a huge bell and, by order of the king, installed it on the roof of the Pondox monastery. But a strange thing: the bell did not ring, no matter how much it was struck, it only made a faint crackling noise.
The king was saddened: isn’t this a bad sign? The abbot of the monastery became alarmed - maybe he had sinned, and that’s why the bell didn’t ring?
But one day the abbot had an amazing dream. An old man, white as a harrier, appeared to him and asked:
- Do you recognize me?
- No, this is the first time I’ve seen it.
- I am the spirit of the bell. Do you know why the bell doesn't ring?
- How can I, an insignificant one, know?
- Then listen. One woman, when a monk came to her for copper,
She told him: “I have nothing to give you, except perhaps this baby,” the woman was holding the girl in her arms. The woman, of course, was joking, but what is said is said: the child had to be taken. But the monk didn’t take it. So you have deceived Buddha. That's why the bell doesn't ring. You need to break it, melt it, throw the child in there, and then cast it again. Only then will the bell truly ring and weep. And the sooner you do this, the better.
The monk did not hesitate to tell his dream to the king. He was angry with the wicked woman and ordered the child to be taken away from her. The next day a monk came to the woman with a royal decree and said:
- Do you remember when I came to you to buy copper for the bell?
- Yes, I remember.
- Do you remember what you said then?
“She said that we don’t have anything that could be useful for a bell.”
- And what else?
- Nothing special.
“You said you couldn’t give anything, except maybe your child.”
- You're crazy, old man, I was joking! — the woman was indignant.
“They don’t joke with Buddha, so give back the child you promised,” the monk stood his ground.
- Of course, they don’t joke with Buddha, but there’s no point in making lies in vain! - the woman shouted.
“You must keep your promise,” the monk insisted.
- Get out of here, you monster! - the woman screamed, blaspheming the monk in every possible way. But that one
took the child away by force. The bell was broken, melted, a girl was thrown into the molten metal and a new bell was cast, just as big as the old one. And the bell rang protractedly, he cried and groaned. And in every moan one could hear
“emi-lle”, “emi-lle”.
[Emille - lit.: because of the mother.]
It was the girl who reproached her mother for ruining her.
That is why they began to call this bell Emille.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru