AFTER meeting with the fairy, Yang no longer kept company with his friends nor received guests. He lived quite by himself in the park pavilion and gave his thoughts to this one thing only. When night came he waited for her footsteps, and while day dragged on its way he waited again for the night. He hoped to persuade her to more frequent visits, but she refused to come often. Thus his mind became more and more consumed with thoughts of her.
Some time later two persons came to visit him by the side entrance of the park. He noticed that the one in front was his friend Thirteen, while the other was a stranger whom he saw for the first time. Thirteen presented the stranger to Master Yang. “This is Professor Too Chin-in,” said he, “from the Temple of the Absolute. He is as well versed in physiognomy and fortune-telling as were the ancients. He would like to read your Excellency’s face, for which purpose he has come at great effort.”
Yang received him with open-handed welcome. “I have heard your honourable name for a long time,” said he, “but we have never met before. Our coming thus face to face is beyond my highest hopes and expectations. Have you ever read our friend Thirteen’s fortune? What do you think of it, pray?”
Thirteen replied for himself, saying: “The professor read my face and greatly praised it. ‘Within three years,’ said he, ‘you will pass the examination and become a magistrate of the Eight Districts.’ This satisfies me and I know it will come to pass. Brother Yang, you try once and have him read yours.”
“A good man,” said Yang, “never asks about the blessings he has in store, but only of the troubles that await him, and now you must tell me the whole truth.”
After Professor Too had examined him for a long time, he said: “Your eyebrows are different from those of anyone I have ever seen. You have almond eyes that are set slantwise across the cheekbones. They indicate that you are to rise to the rank of a minister of state. Your complexion is as though powdered with rouge, and your face is round like a gem. Your name will assuredly be known far and wide. Across your temples and over your face are indications of great power. Your name, as a military officer, will encompass the Four Seas. You will be made a peer when three thousand miles away, and no blemish will ever tarnish your fair name. One danger only I see, a strange and undreamed of one. If you had not met me I am afraid you might have come to an untimely end.”
“A man’s good luck,” said Yang, “or evil fortune all pertain to himself if they pertain to anything. Sickness I accept as something that I cannot of myself escape. Are there any signs that I am to fall seriously ill?”
Professor Too replied: “What I refer to is a wholly unexpected evil. A bluish colour is evident on your upper brow, and an unpropitious expression has got itself fastened on to the rims of your eyelids. Have you any serving man or maid in your employ whose origin you are doubtful of?”
The Master thought in his heart of the spirit Chang-yo, and guessed that this must be due to her, but he suppressed his feelings and replied without a quaver: “There is no such person as you suggest.” Then Too said further: “Have you passed an old grave or anything of the kind that has upset you or given you a fright? Or have you had any intercourse with disembodied spirits in your dreams?”
“I know nothing of that kind,” said the Master.
Here Thirteen broke in to say: “Professor Too’s words never miss the mark to the fraction of a hair. Think well, Yang, please,” but Yang made no reply.
The Professor then went on: “A mortal has his being from the yang or positive principle in nature, while a spirit has its from the negative or eum. As it is impossible to change day for night or night for day, so the difference between the two remains for ever fixed, like that of fire and water. Now that I see your Excellency’s face, I can read that some spirit has got its hold upon your body, and that in a few days it will get into your bones, in which case I fear that nothing can save your life. When this comes to pass please do not complain against me or say that I did not tell you.”
Master Yang thought to himself: “Even though Too’s words are true, still Chang-yo and I have long had to do with each other, and have sworn a solemn oath to live and die together. Our love increases day by day, why should she do me harm? Yang Won of Cho met a fairy and they were married and shared the same home, and Nyoo Chon had for wife a disembodied spirit, and they had children. If such things happened in the past, why should I be specially alarmed?” So he said to the Professor: “A man’s length of life and good or evil fortune are all decreed and appointed for him when he is born. I have proofs already of becoming a great general and minister of state, with riches and honour to my name; how could an evil spirit upset such a fortune as this?”
Too replied: “The shortening of life rests with yourself; the lengthening of life rests also with yourself. But this is no concern of mine.” So he gave his sleeves a shake and was gone, the Master no longer urging him to stay.
Thirteen comforted him, saying: “Brother Yang, you are by nature a lucky man. The gods are on your side, why should you fear any spirit? This contemptible fellow likes to upset people with his miserable fortune-tellings and sleight-of-hand.”
So they drank together, spent the day happily and then parted. In the evening the Master, recovered from the effects of the wine, burnt incense and sat in silence waiting impatiently for Chang-yo to come. The night passed on into the morning watches, and there were no signs of her. He beat the table with impatient hand, saying: “The day is beginning to dawn and yet there is no Chang-yo.” He put out the lights and tried to sleep, when suddenly he heard someone crying outside his window, and then a voice speaking which was no other than Chang-yo’s. She was saying: “The Master wears upon his head a demoniacal charm, placed there by this woeful professor. I dare not approach him. I know it was not accepted of your own free will, but still it is done now, and it indicates that our destiny is finished, and this dire creature has found his delight. My one wish is that the dear Master may be protected safe and sound from all harm. I say my last and final farewell.”
Yang gave a great start of alarm, opened the door to see, but there was no trace of her. A piece of folded paper only remained on the doorstep. This he opened and read. Two verses that she had written on it ran thus:
“To fill our lot as God intends,
We rode the gilded clouds together,
You poured the fragrant wine as friends,
Before my grave upon the heather.
Ere you had time my heart to see,
We’re parted wide as gods and men,
I have no fault to find with thee,
But with a man called three and ten.”
The Master read it over in a state of woeful astonishment. He felt his head and there under his topknot was, sure enough, a charm against spirits. He roared out against it: “This miserable demon of a creature has upset my plans,” so he tore it all to pieces and flew into a towering rage. He again took up Chang-yo’s letter, read it through, and suddenly recollected, saying: “This word ‘three and ten’ indicates that her resentment is directed against Thirteen. He’s at the back of this, and while his part may not be the wicked one that Too’s is, he has interfered with what is good. The rascal! I’ll give him a piece of my mind when I meet him.” Then following the rhyme characters of Chang-yo’s verses, he wrote a reply and put it in his pocket, saying: “I have written my answer, but by whom shall I send it?”
It ran thus:
“You mount the speeding wind,
You ride upon the cloud;
Don’t tell my soul you dwell
In the gruesome, secret shroud.
The hundred flowers that blow,
The moonlight soft and clear,
Are born of you, where will you go,
My soul, my life, my dear?”
He waited till the morning and then went to pay a call on Thirteen, but Thirteen had gone for a walk and was not to be seen. On three successive days he went again and again, looking for him but failed each time to find him. Even the very shadow of Thirteen seemed to have disappeared. He visited Cha-gak Pavilion in the hope of meeting Chang-yo, but he found that it was a difficult thing to meet a disembodied spirit at will. There was no one to whom he could unburden his heart. Filled with distress, little by little his sleep failed him and his desire for food fell away.
Justice Cheung and his wife took note of this and in their anxiety prepared special dainties, had him called, and while they talked and partook together the Justice said: “Why is it, Yang my son, that your face looks so thin and worn these days?”
Yang replied: “Thirteen and I have been drinking too much. I expect that is the cause.”
Just at this point Thirteen came in and Yang, with anger in his eye, gave him a side glance but said nothing. Thirteen spoke. “Brother, is it because you are so taken up with affairs of state that you seem disturbed in heart? Are you homesick or feeling unwell? What is the reason, I wonder, for your dejected looks and unhappy frame of mind?”
Yang made an indefinite answer: “A man who is away from home, knocking about in strange places, would he not be so?”
The Justice then remarked: “I hear the servants say that you have been seen talking to some pretty girl in the park pavilion. Is that so?”
Yang replied: “The park is enclosed, how could anyone get in there? The person who said that is crazy.”
“Brother,” said Thirteen, “with all your experience of men and affairs, why do you blush and act so like a bashful girl? Although you sent off Too with such dispatch, I can still see by your face that there is something you have concealed. I was afraid that you would get yourself bemused and not see the danger ahead, and so I, unknown to you, placed Too Jin’s charm against evils under your topknot. You were the worse for drink and unaware of what I did. That night I hid myself in the park and took note of what passed, and, sure enough, some female spirit came and cried outside your window and then said her good-bye. She cleared the wall at a bound and was gone. I know by this that Too Jin’s words were true, and so my faithfulness has saved you. You have not thanked me for it, however, but on the other hand have seemed angry. What do you mean by such conduct?”
Yang could no longer conceal the matter, and so said to the Justice: “Your unworthy son’s experience is indeed a very strange and remarkable one. I shall tell my honourable father all about it.” And so he told him everything. He said finally: “I know that Thirteen has done what he did in my interests, but still the girl Chang-yo, even though you say she is a disembodied spirit, is firm and substantial in form, and by no means a piece of nothingness. Her heart is true and honest, and not at all of evil or deceptive make-up. She would never, never do one a wrong. Though I am a contemptible creature, still I am a man and could not be so taken in by a devil. Thirteen, by his misplaced charm, has broken into Chang-yo’s life with me, and so I cannot but feel resentment toward him.”
The Justice clapped his hands and gave a great laugh: “Yang, my boy,” said he, “your taste and elegance are equal to that of Song-ok[25]. You have already called up the fairies; how can you fail to know the law by which it is done? I am not joking now when I say to you that when I was young I met a holy man, and I learned from him the law by which spirits are called up, and I shall now for the sake of my son-in-law call forth Chang-yo, have her forgive your sin, and comfort your troubled heart. I wonder if this would suit you?”
“You are making sport of me,” said Yang. “Even though Song-ok called up the spirit of Lady Yoo, the law by which he did so has been lost for many generations; I cannot believe what you say.”
Then Thirteen broke in: “Brother Yang called up the spirit of Chang-yo without making a single effort, and I drove her away by means of one small charm. When we think of this it surely proves that there is such a thing as calling up spirits; why do you lack faith so?”
At this moment the Justice struck the screen behind him with his fan and called: “Chang-yo, where are you?”
Immediately a maiden stepped forth, her face all sunshine and wreathed in smiles. She tripped gently forth and went and stood behind the lady Cheung.
Yang gave one glance at her, and lo! it was Chang-yo. He was in a state of inexpressible astonishment and entirely unable to understand.
The Justice and Thirteen looked at him in a questioning way, and asked: “Is this a spirit or a living person? How can it come forth thus into the broad light of day?”
The Justice and the lady Cheung laughed gently, while Thirteen simply rolled in fits of merriment. All the servants likewise were convulsed with laughter.
The Justice then went on: “Now I’ll tell you, my son, how it all came about. This girl is neither a disembodied spirit nor a fairy, but Ka See, who was brought up in our home and whose name is Choon-oon or Cloudlet. We thought of you living by yourself in the park pavilion, so lonely, and sent this girl, telling her to see to your home and to comfort you. This was a kind thought on the part of us two old people. But the young folks came in at this point and arranged a practical joke that has gone beyond all bounds and limits, and put you to no end of discomfort, and yet a laughable enough joke in its way.”
Thirteen, at last getting himself under control, said: ‘‘Your meeting the fairy twice was a favour accorded you by me. You have not been thankful to me as a go-between, but have, on the other hand, treated me as an enemy. Evidently you are a man with no gratitude of heart.”
Here Yang laughed and said: “My father it was who sent her to me, and Thirteen it was who played the trick between us; what possible favour have I to thank him for?”
Thirteen replied: “I am unmoved by your reprimand for the joke. The whole plan of it, and the directions for the carrying of it out, belong to another person. I bear only the smallest part in the blame.”
Then Yang laughingly looked at the Justice and said: “Can it be true, did you, my father, play this joke on me?”
The Justice said: “By no means. I am already an old, grey-headed man. Why should I indulge in the sport of children? You have made a mistake in so thinking.”
Then Master Yang looked at Thirteen and said: “If you are not at the back of it I’d like to know who is?”
Thirteen made answer: “The sage says, ‘What comes forth from me returns to me again.’ Think, brother, where this could come from. Who did you once play a trick upon and deceive? If a man can become a woman, why can’t a woman become a fairy, or again a fairy become a disembodied spirit? What is there so strange about it?”
Then it was that the Master understood. He laughed and said to the Justice: “I see it now, I see it now. I played a trick once upon the young lady of this house and she has never forgotten it.”
The Justice and his wife both laughed, but said nothing in reply.
Master Yang then turned to Cloudlet and said: “Cloudlet, you are indeed a bright and clever girl, but for you to undertake, first of all, to deceive the man you intend to serve, is hardly the law that governs husband and wife, is it?”
Cloudlet knelt down and made her reply: “Your humble servant heard only the general’s orders, not the commands of her king.”
Yang sighed and said: “In olden times fairies in the morning were clouds and in the evening they became rain, but, Cloudlet, you became a fairy in the morning and a disembodied spirit in the evening. Though clouds and rain differ they were one and the same fairy, and though the fairy I saw and the spirit differed they were one and the same Cloudlet[26]. Yang Wang understood it to be one and the same fairy in the trick of the rain and the clouds. I, too, understood it to be Cloudlet now, so why talk about fairy or spirit? Still when Yang Wang saw a cloud he didn’t call it a cloud but a fairy, and when he saw the rain he did not call it the rain but his fairy. I, when I met a fairy, did not call her Cloudlet but a fairy, and when I met a spirit I did not call it Cloudlet but a spirit, which shows that I have not yet attained to Yang Wang; and also that Cloudlet’s power to change is not equal to that of the ancient fairy. I have heard it said that a powerful general has no poor soldiers. Since the soldier is such as this, I can only guess at the nature of the general whom I have not seen.”
All joined in the universal merry-making, more refreshments were brought in, and they spent the day in feasting.
Cloudlet, a new person in the company, sat on the mat and took part. When night had fallen she carried a lantern and went with her lord to the Park Pavilion. He, hilarious from wine, took her by the hand and jokingly said: “Are you truly a fairy or a spirit?” Again he added: “Not a fairy, and not a spirit, but a living person. If I can love a fairy thus, and even a spirit, how much more a living person. You are not a fairy, and you are not a spirit; but she who made you a fairy, and again she who made you a spirit, surely possesses the law by which we turn to fairies and spirits, and will she say that I am but a common man of earth and not want to keep company with me? And will she call this park where I live the dusty world of men, and not wish to see me? If she can change you into a fairy or into a spirit, can’t I do just the same and change you too? If I turn you into a fairy shall I turn you into Han-ja who lives in the moon, or if I turn you into a spirit shall it not be into Chin-chin of Nam-ak that I turn you?”
Cloudlet replied: “Your dishonourable wife has done a bold and terrible thing, and my sins of deception are without number. Please, my master, will you ever forgive me?”
The Master replied: “Even when you changed into a spirit I did not dislike you. How could I now bear any fault in mind toward you, my Cloudlet?”
She arose and bowed her thanks.
After Yang Hallim had won his honours he entered the office of the graduates, where he had his official duties assigned him. Till the present he had not yet visited his mother, whom he greatly desired to see and bring up to the capital, so that she might be present at his wedding; but just at this juncture a mighty event happened that changed all his plans. The Tibetans arose in revolt and marched into the western part of the kingdom. The three governors also of the territory north of the river, in league with their stronger neighbour, arose likewise, calling themselves the Kings of Yon, Cho and Wee. The Emperor, in a state of anxiety, discussed the whole situation with his ministers and made preparation to send troops to put them down, but the various officials could not agree on a plan of action, till at last the graduate Yang So-yoo stepped forth and said: “In olden times Han Moo-je summoned the king of southern Wol, and remonstrated with him. Let your Majesty do the same. Have an imperial order written out and reason with these men. If after that they do not yield, then let troops go against them with all the force possible.”
The Emperor, pleased with this, commanded So-yoo immediately to write out such an order. So-yoo bowed low, took the pen as commanded, and wrote it.
Delighted with him, the Emperor said: “The form is splendid and preserves our dignity, at the same time demonstrating our favour. So reasonable is it, too, that the foolish rebels will be won over I am sure.”
Thus was it sent to the three armies in insurrection. Cho and Wee at once laid aside their claims to kingship, submitted, and sent humble memorials confessing their sins. Along with these came ten thousand horses and a thousand rolls of silk as tribute. Only the King of Yon refused. His district was far distant from the capital, and he had under his command many well-trained troops.
The Emperor announced that the submission of Cho and Wee was due entirely to the merits of Yang So-yoo, and he wrote out the following edict:
“About a hundred years ago the three districts to the north of the river, each separated by wide stretches of territory, and trusting in its trained forces, raised an insurrection. The Emperor, Tok-chong, marshalled an army of a hundred thousand men and ordered his two best generals to the front. But they failed entirely to obtain the required submission. Now, however, by one word, written by Yang So-yoo, we have brought two armies of rebellion to terms, in which not a single soldier was killed or a person injured. The power of the Emperor has been demonstrated to a distance of ten thousand li. We view this with deepest gratitude, and send herewith five thousand rolls of silk and fifty horses to express our highest favour.”
He desired to raise his rank, but Yang So-yoo went into the imperial presence, thanked his Majesty, and declined the favour, saying: “The striking off of a draft of an imperial order is the duty of a minister; the submission of the two armies is due to your imperial prestige. What merit have I ever won to receive such bountiful gifts as these? There remains still one army unyielded. I regret that I have not been able to draw the sword and wipe out this disgrace. How could your humble subject receive promotion with pleasure under such circumstances? My office now is sufficiently high to display any merits that I have. Nothing would be gained by its being higher. As victory or defeat are not dependent on the number of troops engaged, I wish that I might have a single company of soldiers, and with the backing of your imperial presence go out to settle the matter with Yon for life or death. Thus would I make some little return for the ten thousand favours that your Majesty has conferred upon me.”
The Emperor gladly welcomed the suggestion, and asked the opinion of the ministers assembled. They replied: “Three armies in league with each other were against us, and now two have submitted. Mad little Yon will be like a piece of meat ready for the boiling pot, or an ant caught in a hole. Before the imperial troops he will be but a dried twig, or a decayed piece of wood ready to be broken. Let the imperial army try all other means before striking. Let Yang So-yoo be put in command, to try his skill for better or for worse. If after that Yon does not yield, then make the attack.”
The Emperor, deeming this wise, ordered Yang So-yoo to start for Yon with all the insignia of power, flags, drums and battle-axes, but his commands were to use persuasion first. So Yang So-yoo set out on his way after having said good-bye to Justice Cheung.
On parting, the Justice said to him: “Men are wicked in these far distant places, and rebellion against the state is a matter of everyday occurrence. I feel that you, a scholar, are going into danger. If some unforeseen misfortune should overtake you, it would not only be your old father-in-law who would be left desolate, but the whole house. I am old and out of the question, so I no longer have a share in the affairs of state. My desire is to send a memorial objecting to your going.”
“Please do not do that,” said Yang in reply, “and don’t be over anxious. These far-off peoples sometimes take advantage of a disturbed state of affairs in the government to rise up, but with the Emperor so great and powerful, and the Government so enlightened, there is no such fear. Also the two states of Cho and Wee have yielded. Why should we be anxious about the little isolated kingdom of Yon?”
“The Emperor’s commands,” said the Justice, “are supreme, and the matter is already decided, so I have nothing more to say. Only be careful of yourself, and let not His Imperial Majesty have any cause for shame.”
The lady of the house wept over his going, and in parting said: “Since we have won so noble a son we have tasted the joys and delights of old age. Alas for my feelings now as you start off for this distant region! To go and return quickly is my one wish for you.”
Yang withdrew, betook himself to the park pavilion, and made ready for his journey. Cloudlet shed pearly tears over him, saying: “When my lord went daily to his duties in the palace, your humble wife loved to rise early, make neat his room, bring dress and official robes; while you looked on with kindly eyes upon her, and delayed your steps as though you found it hard to go. Now you are starting for a thousand miles distant. What word of love could answer under such a circumstance as this?”
The Hallim replied laughing: “The man of affairs who enters upon a mighty question of the state, impelled by the commands of his Emperor, thinks naught of life or death. All the minor affairs of the day disappear from his vision. You, Cloudlet, bear up bravely now. Don’t be anxious or mar your pretty face. Serve your mistress well and in a little, if all goes right, I’ll finish what I have to do, win great renown, and come back with flying colours and a gold seal like a grain measure hanging at my belt. Be patient and wait for me.”
He passed through the gate, mounted his palanquin, and was gone. When he reached the city of Nakyang he found once more the old landmarks. On his last journey he had been but a youngster in his teens, in his student’s dress, riding a hobbling donkey.
A few years only had passed and here he was with the banners and spears of office going before him, and he seated in a four-horse palanquin. The magistrate of Nakyang hastily repaired the roads, while the governor of the south of the river respectfully assisted him on his way. The glory of his progress lightened the world, while the vanguard of his march shook the towns like an earthquake. Country folk struggled for a place to see, and the passers by in the street shouted out their acclamations. So great was his splendour as he passed along.
General Yang got his boy servant to make inquiry first of all as to any news of Moonlight. He went to her home and inquired but the entrance gates were locked, and the upper pavilion closely curtained; only the cherry blossoms were in bloom, smiling over the wall. He asked the neighbours, and they answered that Moonlight had left the place a year and more ago. Some gentleman, they said, who was on his way to a distant part of the country had become betrothed to her, and after that she pretended to be ill, received no guests, went to no official feasts, and declined everything. A little later, in a fit of insanity, she threw away her jewels and head ornaments, donned the garb of a Taoist priestess, and went visiting the temples in the mountains. She never came back and no one knew where she had gone.
The boy returned and told his master, and Yang, who had been happy in the high expectation of seeing her, fell into a fit of gloom and sadness. He passed her home and thought of the happy experiences gone by, and with disappointed feelings went to a public guesthouse. Their mysterious meeting had now faded away into the distance, leaving him sleepless.
The governor sent him a score of dancing-girls to entertain him, all women of note in their world. As they sat about in their pretty dresses he recognised among them some who had been present at the Bridge Pavilion. They vied with each other in their attempts to please and win his attention, but he would have nothing to do with any of them.
He composed these two verses and wrote them on the wall:
“The rain sweeps by the Bridge Kiosk,
And o’er the catkins fresh and green,
Its music calls me through the dusk,
Back to its flowery silken scene.
Behold me now dressed out in state,
Returned to greet my chosen one,
But I have come, alas, too late,
And she, who stirred my heart, is gone.”
When he had finished, he tossed aside his pen, mounted his palanquin and rode away, while all the dancing folk seeing him thus leave untouched by their influence held down their heads in shame.
The dancing-girls copied the verses and gave them to the governor, and he scolded them soundly. “If you had won General Yang’s attention your names would have been enhanced a hundred-fold,” he said. “But with all your finery you did not even win a glance from him, and have caused Nakyang to lose face.”
He asked them who the General meant by his reference, and when he learned who it was, he advertised for Moonlight far and wide in the hope of finding her before the General’s return.
Yang finally reached the land of Yon. The people living in that distant region had never dreamed of the power or splendour of the capital. Now when they beheld Yang Hallim he seemed like the fabled unicorn that steps down upon the earth, or the phoenix that appears among the clouds. They jostled each other to get close round his palanquin, and blocked his way in their desire to see.
The General in his power of execution was like the swift thunder, and in his readiness to bestow favour like the spring rain; so that these rude people were overcome by his presence, danced and sang with delight, and said to one another: “His divine Majesty the Emperor, will indeed spare us.”
When Yang met the King of Yon he spoke so boldly of the power and prestige of His Majesty; praised the attitude of the Government, and explained so fully the difference between submission and opposition, assistance and resistance, that his words were as irresistible as the lift of the sea, or the falling of autumn frosts. The King of Yon, greatly moved and impressed, was won over. He bowed down to the earth and confessed his faults, saying: “We, in this benighted district, are so far away from the great centre of things, and so out of touch with imperial blessings and favours, that we dared to offer resistance to the state. We have made light of life, and have been ignorant whence our blessings and favours come. And now having heard the convincing words of your Excellency, I see that I have done a great wrong. No more shall such mad thoughts possess me, but I shall sincerely do the part of a loyal and faithful subject. Please, on your return, make my statement for me and let this tributary land find peace instead of war; and blessing and life instead of calamity. This indeed would be for