I saw this in the Korea Times and thought to introduce his nice accomplishment. Sunjae Lim is a translator and teacher. He has translated 23 Korean Short Stories in Korea's early modern period. Each story has a moral and gives an insight into Korean culture.

Enjoy the read..


Sunjae Lim:

"To Whom It may Concern"

My profile:
* Born in 1947 in Korea, named Lim, Sunjae
* Majored in English Literature at The Teacher's College of Seoul National University.
* Spent the better part of my life teaching English to Korean high school students.

Lately I attempted to translate 23 selected Korean short stories in her early modern period.
What I want is to introduce Korean culture to the rest countries around the world.

Best regards.

Contents (in chronological order)

1. A Potato
Written in Korean by Kim, Dongin in 1925
Adapted and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

2. A Korean Mariners' Song
Written in Korean by Kim, Dongin in 1921
Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

3. A Crazy Artist
Written in Korean by Kim, Dongin in 1930
Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

4. His Toes Look Just Like Mine.
Written in Korean by Kim, Dongin in 1932
Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

5. A Woman's Honor & a Fee
Written in Korean by Hyun, Jingun in 1929
Edited and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

6. The Sudden Rain
Written in Korean by Kim, Yoojung in 1935
E야ted and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

7. The Camellia Flowers
Written in Korean by Kim, Yoojung in 1936
Edited and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

8. A Most Genuine Love Story
Written in Korean by Chae, Mansik in 1938
Edited and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

9. The Scene of A Weird Tree
Written in Korean by Chae, Mansik in 1939
Adapted and Translated in English by Lim Sunjae in 2007

10. A Mona Lisa Frozen to Death
Written in Korean by Chae, Mansik in 1925
Adapted and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

11. The House of A Wild Apricot Tree
Written in Korean by Lee, Hyosuk in 1937
Edited and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

12. A Tragic Story of a Mountain Valley
Written in Korean by Lee, Hyosuk in 1941
Edited and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

13. A Reunion
Written in Korean by Kim, Eesuk in 1964
Edited and Translated in English by Lim Sunjae in 2007

14. An Outgrowth
Written in Korean by Kim, Eesuk in 1964
Edited and Translated in English by Lim Sunjae in 2007

15. Yongchil, the Fool
Written in Korean by Choi, Taewoong in 1939
Edited and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

16. Springtime
Written in Korean by Choi, Taewoong in 1937
Edited and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

17. A Hobby & a Daughter
Written in Korean by Hyun, Jingun in 1929
Edited and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

18. Old Kim Is Mad
Written in Korean by Choi, Taewoong in 1961
Edited and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007


19. The Sun´s Legacy
Written in Korean by Yu, Juhyun in 1957
Edited and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

20. A Seaside Village
Written in Korean by O Youngsoo in 1953
Edited and Translated in English by Lim Sunjae in 2007

21. An Horrible Story in Hidden Valley
Written in Korean by O Youngsoo in 1961
Adapted and Translated in English by Lim Sunjae in 2007

22. Sorry Kim
Written in Korean by Song, Byungsoo in 1957
Edited and Translated in English by Lim Sunjae in 2007

23. The Black Kite Mountain Valley
Written in Korean by Song, Byungsoo in 1974
Edited and Translated in English by Lim Sunjae in 2007

1. A Potato
Written in Korean by Kim Dongin in 1925
Adapted and Translated in English by Lim Sunjae in 2007

Her name was Bokyeo. She was born and grown up as a daughter of a very poor peasantry household. However, her ancestry had been a good family of gentlemen and scholars. And then from a few generations ago, they began to gradually decline and just ruined into peasantry.

Like any other country girl, it was a matter of common that she took a bath in a little stream, stark-naked and ran around the neighborhood in short pants. However, Bokyeo harbored a kind of vague moral sense inwardly.

At the age of 16, she got married to a widower who was her senior by 20 years; in fact, she was sold for some petty cash. Her so-called husband turned out to be a born idler. He wasted a small inheritance in no time. He could not even get a tenancy; he was so ill spoken of; he was so unfaithful and unreliable. He made up his mind to earn wages as a day laborer in the city of Pyungyang. But he spent the whole summer just fooling around; mostly looking down on the river. By chance he once became a resident servant but got expelled right off. At last, a sad lot fell on the couple. In terribly reduced circumstances, they came to live in a slum area outside Seven Star Gate, where almost all kinds of social vices prevailed such as begging, stealing, practicing prostitution among themselves and so on. In short it was a quarter ridden by all kinds of fearful and dirty wickedness.

They were among the poorest even there. She begged and begged, making a plea that her husband was dying of hunger, nevertheless, nobody in the city extended his or her sympathy for such a young woman. Some women turned to be a streetwalker to earn the means to become a cigarette dealer. Bokyeo just had not the heart to do it.

One summer day, the city government, by way of a relief work, determined to hire the poor women from the slums as laborers to clear a royal mausoleum of pine-eating caterpillars. Bokyeo applied herself closely to her work. Then, she came to know that there were some young and pretty women who were just romping about, chattering, and cracking jokes. Nevertheless, they were much more highly paid. One day during the noon recess, at last, Bokyeo was summoned to a taskmaster. She followed him into the woods, blushing and lowering her head.

From that day on, Bokyeo also became 'a laborer of no work but high pay'. From that time on, she also became no better than she should be. She had thought that it was nothing but an animal to make ove with a man other than her own husband. And now she, did it herself; a human being, not an animal. She got not only paid for it but also felt an indescribable pleasure with a thrill. She was reborn, glowing with pride. Since then, she began to make up her face.

About a year passed, Bokyeo became more and more lovely and attractive. They were no long in needy circumstances. Her husband almost always lay himself down comfortably, laughing contentedly. Bokyeo readily sold herself to somewhat rich beggars and tramps for money.

When summer lengthened into autumn, women in the slums customarily broke into a Chinese man's field to steal vegetables such as cabbages and potatoes and the like. One night, Bokyeo was caught by Mr. Wang, the Chinese landlord himself and she followed at his heel into a room. About an hour later, she returned home with quite a sum of money. She showed the cash to her husband with pride and told the affair with the Chinese man to him laughingly. Since then, Mr. Wang visited Bokyeo's occasionally. When Mr. Wang was too busy to come, Bokyeo herself went to his house. Now Bokyeo and her very idle husband became one of the most prosperous in the quarters.

Spring followed winter. Mr. Wang bought a girl in virginal bloom for a large amount of money to marry her. Bokyeo just sneered at the event. On the day when the bride arrived, some Chinese living in the vicinity gathered together at the Wang's and they were off on a boisterous spree far into the night. They returned home at dawn. Bokyeo was hiding herself at a corner of the house, peeping in at the room. And in time she showed herself before the new bridegroom in his room. There was a murderous spirit in her eyes and a hysterical laugh in her mouth, her face thickly powdered. She caught Mr. Wang by the arm and badgered him to go to her house together. Seized with fear, he shook his head in silence. Suddenly she kicked down the new bride on the head.

The Chinese man shook off Bokyeo's hands and pushed her violently. She stumbled and fell, but promptly sprang again to her feet. She bawled at the man furiously and suddenly pulled out a sickle. A horrible fighting scene was being enacted. In the vortex of the scuffle, the sickle fell into the man's hands. Finally, Bokyeo dropped down, spilling blood; her throat had been cut.

Thereafter, Mr. Wang and Bokyeo's husband met several times. One night after four days passed, the dead body of Bokyeo was handed over to her husband. Mr. Wang silently took out two bank notes of large denomination from a purse and divided them between Bokyeo's husband and a medical doctor. The very next day, her body was buried under a medical certificate saying that the woman died of cerebral hemorrhage. (The End)

2. A Korean Mariners' Song
Written in Korean by Kim Dongin in 1921
Translated in English by Lim Sunjae in 2007

One afternoon on a mild day of springtime, I was idling my time away on the grass at the top of a famous hill in PYungyang. Heaven and earth was full of romantic touch and flavor of spring. Some happy folks were enjoying a boat ride in the river far below. A piece of Korean classic music from there was dimly heard. At that moment, suddenly another singing voice was heard from nowhere. I knew that it was a version of Korean mariners' song well known in the district of Y--. It sounded unusually sad and mournful. I managed to find and meet the man who had sung the song. He proved to be a mariner who went through all sorts of troubles and tasted the bitters of life thoroughly. Saying, "Fate is the most powerful force in human life.", he told me an awfully tragic story as follows:

He lived at a fishing village not far from the province of Y-- in western Korea. He, along with his younger brother, was a most influential and public-spirited man of the locality. His wife was a rare beauty, always cheerful and lively. In short she was fascination plus charm personified. He loved his wife passionately. As much again, he was a very jealousy man, keeping a jealous eye on her. On occasions such as festival days and big holidays, many village folks, especially young men, habitually gathered into his house. And the good hostess gave them a cordial reception. She spent a lot of time with the young guests, laughing cheerfully, exchanging pleasantries. They always had a good time. However, when the party broke up and all the visitors were gone, the green-eyed man found fault with her and beat her. The man, who lost his senses, even took back away all the valuables he had bought for her.

On the other hand, his younger brother was a noble-looking man having a fair complexion and a fine physique unlike ordinary fishing village folks.

The older brother got madly jealous whenever his wife treated her brother-in-law with kindness. It was the custom with him to save up a palatable dish to eat later. He thought that his wife was well aware of such habit of his. One day his younger brother called at his house and his wife was about to take out the delicious cake he kept and offer to her brother-in-law. He looked askance at his wife with glare in his eyes. Perhaps she didn´t get the message or failed to take the hint. Maybe she was just pretending ignorance. Anyway she served the food to her brother-in-law. While moving aside, she stepped on a foot of her husband. He kicked her butt hard and she fell. And then he overthrew the table. Later, however, he changed his mind. That evening, he came back home with a lot of rice cake fresh from the dresser. He was tipsy.

Then, word had been getting around that the younger brother was keeping a mistress in the Province of Y-- , where he frequented lately. His wife directly made a great disturbance about her brother-in-law's marked deviation. She made strong demands on the very author. She gave a good scolding to his wife, arguing that she was a foolish woman who failed to take good care of her own man. She even leveled criticism at her husband, who didn't prevent his brother's misconduct. At that, the man got enraged and beat his wife on the spot and turned her out of the house. His wife did not show up all through the night. At daybreak, he decided to kill both his wife and brother with a sharp knife. When he opened the gate to go out, he found his wife standing vacantly by the door. She looked very much worried. He pulled her by the hand, leading her inside. They made a passionate love on the spot.

He went to the marketplace to buy a toilet mirror good enough to catch his wife's fancy. He was lost in thought of his wife dancing with joy and hurried his way home. He even forgot to drop by at a pub. He entered the room to find his wife and brother standing very much confused. They were taken aback. Their faces expressed apparent perplexity. The string of his brother's jacket was partly undone. Her wife's skirt was stripped up to the waist. The three remained mute and silent for a while until the younger brother broke the ice, murmuring, "Where the hell has the rat gone, I wonder?" He slapped his brother on the cheek several times and threw him out of the room. Then he flew at the woman who was standing at a corner, trembling for fear. She yell out, "Please let me explain. We were really catching a rat. That's all." But He was not himself now. He shouted, "Look at you! What a shame! You think I'm a fool to believe you, eh?" and he trampled her down mercilessly. After he kicked out his wife too, he was standing blankly looking down on some pieces of bar rice cake on the table. As it became dark, he lifted a bundle of clothes to seek a match. At moment a mouse came out with a start and scurried off.
The next day he made a search for his wife. Nobody saw her. At last she was found at a seaside far away and she was no longer a pretty woman fresh and full of energy. Her body was entirely swollen and bloated. Her mouth, with no smile about it, was brimming with froths and foams.

A few days later after the funeral, the younger brother vanished away from the village. The bereaved husband also, feeling awfully sorry and guilty for what he had done, got on a ship and left in search of his brother.

While he was wandering about as if in a dream, 19 years flowed away. One autumn day, his ship wrecked on a sunken rock. When he had an indistinct consciousness, he found himself on a shore and saw his own brother nursing him by a firelight. After a good while, his younger brother who was standing by in silence, broke his silence and began to talk. "Brother, leave yourself to fate." He heard the words in a dreamy state and fell asleep again. When he awoke again, the firelight was still there but his brother was out of sight. He asked others nearby about his brother. They said that he gazed abstractedly at his older brother face for a long time and just walked away into the darkness without a word.

For the six ensuing years, he resumed his wandering in search of his brother. But he didn't know what had become of him. He was just a missing person whose fate was unknown.

When he finished his story, he sang the mariners' song one more time for me. Unredeemed repentance of his own sins mixed with an irresistible yearning for seafaring were overflowing in the mournful tune. When he finished singing, he sprang to his feet and walked away into the woods.(The End)

3. A Crazy Artist
Written in Korean by Kim Dongin in 1930
Translated in English by Lim Sunjae in 2007


I climbed up one of the famous mountains in Seoul named Inwang. There you could find and enjoy many a rocky cave and spring water. Then and there, suddenly, an idea of a story flashed on me and I made up a funny story as follows:

Once upon a time, in the capital city of Korea, there lived an artist called Solgu. He was an unusually ugly-looking man. When he was 16 years old, his teacher arranged at marriage between him and a daughter of a good family. But the girl fainted several time at the sight of the ugly man and just ran away to her home. After that, Solgu began to avert people´s eyes, especially a female's. He decided to enter the deep woods of the mountain and there he totally gave himself up to his work. When he was forced to be in the streets of the city, owing to an unavoidable business, he would wear a reed-hand and veiled his face.

As he could not find a vent for his energy and stamina in females' bodies, he gave vent to his art. He produced thousands of masterpieces. He was pleased and satisfied with them all. He satisfied himself with his present work proudly.

And yet, a strange habit presented itself and it grew up in his mind. He felt an intense desire to make up an unusual thing and became a slave to his passions. It flashed through his mind; even at this very moment, in almost every room, all over the world, a man and a woman were being lost in the rapture of a boisterous lovemaking. They were hugging each other tightly. They were experiencing the climax of the carnal desires. They were enjoying themselves.

Everytime such things burst upon him, he desired earnestly to draw a portrait of the most perfect and beautiful woman to be his own wife. He wanted to ridicule the world, who denied him a wife. However, the artist had never seen a real beauty closely and he just had no idea what the greatest beauty looked like. He grew angry with the tip of a drawing brush, which fell short of his expectation again and again. He closed his eyes and imagined hard but a good idea never suggested itself to him.

The artist began to wander about in the streets of the capital city, his face veiled. He would print the face in an instant on his mind in case he happened to see a woman after his heart.

As a matter of course at those days, most of those who would walk in the streets in broad daylight showing their face turned out to be all servants. Not a daughter of a good family was to be seen anywhere.

Now and then, he came across a nice-looking girl, yet her facial expression turned out to be so filthy. He roamed about every water well-side and marketplace, where many a girl and woman flocked together. When he happened to see a female who seemed to be somewhat on the pretty side, he managed to catch up with her and study her face only to no avail. Thus far, he couldn't find a woman after his heart.
It did not take a long time for him to realize that a beauty could not be found in an ordinary place. As a last resort, he decided to smuggle himself into a mulberry field of the royal palace and spy upon the court ladies' faces. What a break! It was the time the silkworms began spinning. For a whole month he did come there, awaiting the luck. As a matter of fact, almost all of them looked far more graceful and refined than those in the streets and marketplaces. They was all real beauties and yet not a maid of honor afforded the ambitious artist satisfaction. He wanted the fairest of the fair who were full of love and charm to the brim.

It was evening time of an autumn day. The sky was clean and clear. The artist was rinsing rice by the brook and suddenly noticed a girl sitting on a rock. With stealthy steps he approached her to get a closer view of her face. She turned out to be a rare and surprising beauty. She seemed to be in her sixteenth year and her facial expression was surprisingly beautiful. Something told the artist that he found out the beauty who could realize his long-cherished dream. He was buoyant with expectations. But he came to know that she was a mere blind girl who climbed up along the stream with no definite object. A charming expression vanished from her face all of a sudden.

The disappointed artist said to the girl, "You'd better go home before dusk falls." And then she asked him about the beauties of the world. Her beautiful expression began to appear again gradually.

The artist told her about the Sea King´s Palace and seduced the blind girl. She readily consented to it, saying that her parents would never care about their handicapped daughter. On returning to his cottage, he lost no time in drawing her face. On hearing the story about a magic pearl, her expressions turned wonderfully beautiful. At last he came to realize a long-cherished desire. He was very happy. Then it became too dark to do the very last finishing job; that was to draw the pupils of both eyes.

The artist drew nearer to her to have a closer look over her. Now they were close enough to get knee to knee with each other. She had strong body odor. The artist trembled. The girl's eyes were shining in raptures. She licked her lips burning with passion.

Day broke. They were no longer strangers. After the morning meal, the artist was about to do the last finishing job. But an aesthetic sense of the artist somehow discerned her eyes this morning from those last night. They were quite different. Though still lovable, her eyes were craving for passionate love. The woman who would be put out made love with a man for the first time and noticeably changed. She became a slave of passion and lust. He did not make such strenuous efforts for over ten years to draw such a common woman's face.

The artist started to tell her another story of the Sea King´s Palace with animation. But those beautiful eyes last night never returned. She pressed the artist to make her see with the magic pearl, saying that she earnestly wanted to see him as soon as possible. She seemed to firmly believe Solgu who, just before sleeping together last night, said that he was a 24-year-old very handsome man.

Eventually, the artist lost his temper and beat her. As he looked at the imbecile's eyes trembling for fear, he screamed a torrent of abuse, "You idiot! You are a big fool!" and caught her by the throat and shook it relentlessly. He saw a reproachful look in her very white eyeballs and shook it more violently. The crazy artist suddenly felt the blind girl's body heavy and let go his hold of her. She tumbled over and was no longer alive. By the force of impact, an ink-stone overturned and some Chinese ink splashed. The artist was not himself then. He was quite at a loss, not knowing what to do. He casually stared at the portrait and was taken aback. He cried out in consternation. The pupils of the eyes was completely finished and there was the very reproachful look in her eyes.

Since then, in the streets of the capital city appeared an old lunatic who carried a portrait of a strange-looking girl. He wandered from place to place for some years and died on the day when the snowstorm raged all through the night. He was still holding the scroll tightly in his bosom. (The End)

4. "His Toes Look Just Like Mine."
Written in Korean by Kim, Dongin in 1932
Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007


We were just bewildered to hear the quite unexpected news that our friend Mr. M, an old bachelor aged 32, engaged himself. Most of his friend thought that Mr. M was too badly off to get married a bit earlier and felt sorry for him. He worked as a salaried worker for a precarious position at a very unsteady company. But as a doctor in medical practice, I believed it was due to his physical defect.

His sexual desire was unusually strong. As a schoolboy, he frequented houses of ill fame. As a strongly-sexed man by nature, he just could not help but indulge in his burning sexual desires. He was said to have sexual relations with more than 200 females in his early 20s. Of course he suffered painfully from various kinds of venereal diseases. He often visited me with uncomfortable walking to get an injection. Needless to say, he was a man who lost his reproductive function. He was to spend his remaining life in lonely and miserable circumstances with no money and no offspring. I couldn't help feeling pity for him.

When he came to me to be consulted about the matter of generative function, I gave an evasive answer to set him at ease. Some of the friends spoke bitterly of him, maintaining that he made an engagement not for a love or the woman's dowry but just to curtail the expenses of the charge for a prostitute´s service. He got married in his own house in an old-fashioned way without his friends' knowledge.

"To have a woman to myself is a real pleasure." he talked joyfully and seemed to have a bit pleasant expression. I sincerely wished his wife to experience the joy of life as a wife if not as a mother. Anyway, she was reduced to make a tool of a man's sexual desire. Then, some time later, rumors came to my ears that Mr. M started to abuse his wife.

One day, after a couple of years passed since Mr. M got married, it happened that he and I dined together. He had a very pained expression and soaked up the booze. He asked me to check him up whether he had the generative function or not. He said that in case he had not the function, he'd like to give his wife the chance to improve her lot, when younger. Then, a few days later, I heard very surprising news that Mr. M's wife got pregnant. When he called at my place for a checkup, I wondered which one was true. Was it because he really wanted to give her the chance or just because he wanted to dispel his doubt? Was his wife, who didn't know of his man's physical defect, blowing her own horn?

In fact, Mr. M paid several visits to my office to get a checkup but he would slip out without an examination, while I was occupied. Actually I was in anguish myself. I was at a loss not knowing how I should deal with him. Then, one day, he called for me again and said that he received the checkup at another clinic to learn that he was all right. However, his voice sounded so mournful and his eyes was bloodshot. It was a manifest lie. From the very first, he gave up the idea of receiving a physical checkup.

One day. after about half a year passed since Mr. M's wife gave birth to a baby boy, Mr. M walked into my office holding the child in his arms. he made words unasked, "They say this boy is the perfect image of his great grand father." As I showed an interest, he added, "Hey, take a close look at my toes. As you see, the middle toe of mine is singularly big ad thick, which is a very rare and unique case. Now what do think...?" He was pulling out the child's toes silently and gently. I did not look at his toes but his face and said, "Not only his toes but also his face beared much resemblance to yours." (The End)

5. A Woman's Honor & a Fee
Written in Korean by Hyun, Jingun in 1929
Edited and Translated in English by Lim, Sunjae in 2007

Mr. Choi was a general practitioner, a specialist in traditional Oriental medicine. He won great fame, and people said that it was at the same time an honor and pity for the small village to have such a noted physician.

Everyone knew how Mr. Choi had saved the life of a woman, the wife of the grandson of one of a high-ranking official. This woman had suffered a heart attack and nearly stopped breathing after a hard childbirth. Then, Mr. Choi revived her, rescued her from death, with a few herbs he had prepared by himself.

There was also in the village a rich young man who had been suffering for years from a disease of the intestines. He consulted many a noted physician throughout the whole country, to no avail. Well-to-do, but suffering terribly, this young man even went up to the capital city to seek treatment in the hospitals there. He spent a fortune, but returned a mere bag of bones. Then, under the ministrations of Mr. Choi, he made a complete recovery. A wonder!

Mr. Choi was quite sought after. He frequently made a journey to and from the capital city.

He was a Hippocrates, indeed. His herb teas proved a good remedy for such and such troubles. The ointment he prepared worked wonders on such and such diseases. He quickly cured with a few acupuncture treatments the sick from an intestinal convulsion whose limbs were ice-cold.

His distinguished skill shone in women´s diseases, especially young ladies'. He cured them of such diseases as whites, urethral micturition and something like that very simply and quickly. The greatest wonder was that he often made barren women give birth to precious sons with a few cups of his herb tea.

He was barely fifty years of age and appeared to be in the prime of health; the hair on his head never came off, just lustrous with not a white one; a glowing complexion with a large ball-shaped nose.

Originally, he was born to the poverty and eked out a scanty livelihood. But he turned out to be very clever and greedy by nature. Needless to say, he required an exorbitant price for a fee. Since he became a big landowner, he refused or was reluctant to treat the patients who were not rich or respectable enough. However, he was very kind to pretty female patients all the same.

Sometimes, his such mean conduct aroused great indignation among the refused. They said,"You bastard! Should you refuse to give a medical treatment to common folks, you should close the clinic!" Some poked fun cynically, "Then, by what means could he seduce a fair sex!"

One summer daybreak, Mr. Choi, who was diligent by nature, made a thorough survey of his rice fields and returned at a still early hour. Suddenly in the middle of his courtyard, a woman was found squatting herself down like a dog.

In his bewilderment, he cried out toward her, "Who on earth are you?" Being taken aback, she sprang to her feet, responded with tears, "Please come and see a patient at my house."

"It's another bother! Sorry, but lately I am too busy planting the rice to visit a patient", he said disdainfully and walked with long steps into a room.

He was about sick of such brazen requests. He hated the very sight of such a cheeky fellow who came to invite such a great physician as him on foot without a vehicle. He indignantly murmured to himself, "Now I am a splendid landlord. You, a pitiful sharecropper, have no right to be so cheeky as to make me come and go. It goes too far!

"You, nothing but a snob, don't deserve medication. It's shoeing a dog's paw!" Everytime he confronted such a beggar he would say such words to himself and felt sick spontaneously.

"Your honor, sir, it's a matter of great emergency. No matter how busy you may be... Please spare some time and pay a visit to the patient."

Mr. Choi shouted, "I said I am too busy to do that!"

"Please, have mercy on a pitiful person and save his life."

She was quite a nuisance as expected.

He was on the verge of losing his temper but restrained himself to maintain his dignity and said rather gently, "Life and death are providential. Such a matter is beyond my ability."

"You may be right, sir. Yet, how could you be so unfeeling and just sitting around as not to give a dose of medicine to a person who are lying on a sickbed?", she disclosed her real intention, while admitting the apparent excuse of his.

"You said a dose of medication? Tell me the condition of his illness. I will prepare a medicine." The clever physician acted generously. He hated to be bothered from early morning. He wanted to get out of trouble as quickly as possible. He was ready to give her a few packages of prepared herbs as if he was practicing charities to a beggar.

At length the practitioner began to open the window. The sun did not yet come up but summer morning light was bright enough and let in fresh air. The insistent woman unhesitatingly showed her face; she had a haggard face with pale complexion but turned out to be a surprising beauty. Her eyes was big and bright with black crescent-shaped eyebrows, The pretty mouth, young and fresh, indicated that she was not over twenty.

"Sorry, sir, but these meager packages of herbs are far from being satisfactory. The patient himself earnestly desires to meet you. I have to escort you to him by all means." It was so frank and straightforward a request, but her voice fell on the playboy's ears, so sweet and soft.

"By the way, how far is it from here?"

"It's not so far, about ten miles."

"About ten miles! It's quite a distance. Besides it is very hot today!"

However, a gentle smile broke at the corners of his eyes.

Somewhat assured and relieved, she gave out one sweet smile after another, saying, "That's why I made a night trip. I thought it would be so hard for you to walk in the heat of the daytime."

“It's a hard job, after all." He gave out a tut-tut of disapproval but at the same time threw his eyes upon the fair skin bared at the holes in places on her torn and worn out summer blouse.

After packing some medicines one by one, the medical man, cheerfully started on a journey.

A thin mist, being expelled by bright light, was sluggish around the waist of a mountain and along a footpath between rice fields. Early birds were chirping and twittering. The mooing sound of a calf seeking after its mother met the ear heavily. In the morning, a farming village moves slowly or busily and quietly or noisily. The young woman walked ahead hurriedly and the physician followed her unhurriedly. After a good while, they arrived at the foot of a hill.

While they crossed over a few mountain passes, the sun was radiating hot air. Dewdrops on a leaf of grass seemed to be glittering intently like silver dust just before their vanishment.

Since a while ago. Mr. Choi noticed that her blouse was thoroughly soaked with sweat and stuck fast to her back. He was giving it covetous looks. The part soaked with sweat was spreading and in no time a large round apricot blossomed upon her shoulders. A strong passion surged up in his heart. Obviously he got mostly aroused by the sight of the sweaty woman's blouse clinging to her shapely breasts.

Unaware of the perspiration streaming down her back, she hurried with quick steps. She did not once turn her face toward him.

When they arrived at a spot where not a shadow of human being was to be seen, the man treading after her panted out loudly, "Hey, my lady, let's have a rest at this point."

Only then, the one who walked ahead turned back for a while. Drops of sweat gathered on her ruddy face vividly. And now the contour of her full-bosomed bust was well defined. The slimness of her waist was just dazzlingly beautiful.

Mr. Choi, blinking his eyes, plumped down on the grass-covered ground. "Please come this way and rest." And then suddenly realizing that they were sitting by the wayside, he said, "It's awfully hot in here, isn't it?" Pretending to find the shade of a tree, he scrambled up a grassy place under a hill. A grass strip away from the haunts of men was beautiful. Various kinds of wild flowers were eye-catchers

Mr. Choi chanced upon an ideal spot; in the front lay a large rock covered with ivy; a pine forest backwards.

"Come on, this way, please. It is nice and cool here."

After some hesitation, she accepted the invitation.

She did not show the slightest sign of fear or distrust. But she seemed very sorry that they had to stop walking, while they still had a long way to go.

"Why! You are all in the sweat. Surely you overexerted yourself. Let me feel your pulse." saying this, he took her by the wrist and held it on his lap. She suddenly stumbled down, a lock of her hair brushing past his rosy cheeks. And then, both his powerful hands grasped her quivering hands. She was startled. It was too sudden to allow time for calm deliberation. It was such a horrible sight as if an eagle swooped down on its prey. His hands, which was as black as the lid of a kettle, wound her full breasts like a big snake did itself around a stick.

She pulled herself together, keeping her countenance. Her face did not show any emotion; there could be found not a look of surprise nor anger, nor shame, nor pain over her face. She just looked as splendid as sunshine filtering through new foliage, as peaceful as a butterfly flying in the windless sky, and as bright as a dewdrop glittering on a blade of grass. She just continued to walk with short and quick paces ahead of the man as she previously did.

It was Mr. Choi, not the young woman, who felt awkward. "She should have made just a little bit resistance ..." He grinned and bore it. "She had a very weak sense of virtue. She would give herself to any man shamelessly." Mr. Choi suddently felt unpleasant. "Such a wanton whore is beyond any remedy..." He seemed quite deplored inwardly. He, as often as not, teased her without hesitation, just for the fun of it; he grabbed her hand; patted her on the cheek; kissed her on the lips. She placed herself at the man's disposal remaining mute and silent. She just left the matter to take its own course like a floating weed drifting on the waves.

At long last they stood before a twig gate of a dilapidated grass hut. The physician, feeling guilty about what he did to the woman, was very reluctant to step inside All of a sudden, his hair stood up on end at the sight. The young woman poked him with her finger. It stuck into the man's wrist like a steel spit.

"Come on in. You must heal my husband until he regain his health. Otherwise, you will get into deep trouble with no impunity." Her subdued voice sent a cold shiver down his spine.

The physician was dragged along inside by force. As soon as he got into the room, the sourish stink assailed his nostrils. And He was attacked by flies swarming in clouds. A little naked girl about four or five years old cried out, "Mom!" and began to weep bitterly. Her body was as thin as a spider. She sat striving hard to cross her legs which were as thin as a couple of candlesticks. She was apparently fretful.

The patient himself, stripped to the waist, was lying down on the warmer part of an ondol floor. But for the ocular movements of his big keen eyes, everybody might have thought that it was nothing but a bag of bones.

Seeing his wife and the physician come in, he strained himself to sit up, but a soft hand of his wife made him lie down again.

"My dear, I am thankful to you for what you have done. By the way, you are all in the sweat. Hey, my son, go and get a fan quickly for your mother."

"I am all right," saying that, the wife wiped off sweat on her face with the hem of her skirt and started to rub her man' haggard face with her lovely face, sobbing.

"Don't cry, my dear. The great physician is here. I will be recovered from the illness and restored to health!", the patient himself also became choked with tears and started stroking his wife's dishevelled hair with his skinny hands.

"Please stop crying, my dear. I will never die. I will survive by all means, at all costs." They comforted each other again and again, trying hard to hold back their tears.

"By the way, Darling! I committed an unforgivable sin..." She cried more bitterly than ever.

At that, the physician, who was walking back and forth, uncertain what to do, felt a sudden prick at his conscience. Great beads of sweat stood on the tip of his nose.

"While escorting home this gentleman, I gave myself to him. I just wanted to save you from death for all the world. And I knew well that there is absolutely nothing to pay him as a fee for the treatment." she became choked with tears again.

For some time, the physician was feeling as if he had sat on pins and needles. These words from the woman gave him quite a start. He was all in a tremble. Just now the very skeleton itself seemed to spring to his feet abruptly, gnashing his teeth and fell on him to stab in the throat with a sharp knife. The gentleman was horror-struck.

Now the patience's response was a great surprise itself.

"You are the last to blame for this. Good for you!" With that, he held his dear wife in his arms as thin as a lath and clasped her to his bosom. He spoke with sobs, "My illness is the cause of all this. It's me, not you, to be blamed!"

Mr. Choi beggared belief. "Of all things! Now that a woman has already given herself to a man, she should keep the matter dark but this woman confided it to her own husband! And now his own wife came back home in company with an adulterer with perfect composure and he comforted her! What a surprising couple!" Presently the man and his wife parted. Again the young woman turned to face the physician as if nothing special had happened.

The physician managed to calm himself down. He felt the patients' pulse and listened to what he said on how he fell ill. He had been sharecropping some limited size of rice paddy. There was a serious drought in the area. It lasted for several months and dwarfed the crops. To make matters worse, he was evicted from tenancy because he could not pay the rent in time.

He had to work hard as a day laborer to survive. He was faint with hunger. Eventually he fell ill and became reduced to such a fatal condition.

Obviously it must be symptoms of serious shortages through lack of nourishment and what was worse. he was critically depressed for a long time. Of course, the physician knew well, it was absolutely impossible to heal such a patient and regain his health with simple treatments using some meager medicines.

The physician bluntly explained to them that it was such a serious case with a chronic disease that some very special and expensive restoratives and tonics were necessary and that he had to go back to his office in order to compound some medicines using the proper materials. He determined to suffer a small loss; he would provide them with some amount of medicine. And it would also redeem himself from his misdeed and at the same time compensate the woman for the damage of her honor. Above all, he eagerly wanted to get out of this strange place and weird people. He just wanted to wash his hands of the scandalous mess as soon as possible, once and for all.

The woman, who looked so feeble and weak-hearted when she fell down in his muscular arms, now turned out to be so strong and powerful. At least she had an unexpectedly strong grip. She declared that he could not get out of there, not on his life, until her husband made a complete recovery. She made a pressing demand the physician to write down the names of necessary medicinal stuff and give the note to her. The physician distastefully wrote down and handed it over to her. Holding it tightly in her hand she went to the physician' office rapidly and came back to her home all too soon with the necessary materials. And such busy comings and goings repeated countlessly.

Night fell. "Now, my dear, may I attend on the kind gentleman?", the woman asked her husband unhesitatingly and casually.

"Oh, I forgot! Please lay down our son beside me and go over there to the kind gentleman and serve."

As soon as they concluded a show, the woman put it into practice without delay. Now it was Mr. Choi, the physician himself that shrank up. He behaved himself as if he were a find gentleman. He excused himself,"In the daytime I lost my wits for a while. How could I repeat such a misconduct? And how could you leave your sick husband alone and come over here to sleep with me!"

The husband encouraged his wife to do bed service to a strange man as if he was offering him some meal. At that the wife slipped off her clothes and lay down beside Mr. Choi. She clung to him and did her best to please him.

Mr, Choi had to undergo really terrible hardships for about ten days.

Luckily, the medicines Mr. Choi prepared had an excellent and immediate effect on the patient. The patient himself had never had a cup of ginseng or the young antlers of the deer in his stomach. And now such a wonderful remedy, so rare and valuable, did him good like a panacea. Meanwhile, in order to get out of this painful mess as soon as possible, Mr. Choi himself did his best; he completely left self-interests out of account. He began to feed his patient with boiled rice. He even treated his patience with chicken soup several times at his cost. The sick man made a very quick recovery. He was regaining his health day by day. In less than ten days he was up and around. A mere bag of bones just before gained some fat flesh all around his body.

At dawn of the last day, Mr. Choi awoke from his sleep to find that the woman was not beside him. The young couple was whispering in the other room. The sound was heard. "Oh, look! You grew fat and stout on the chest", the woman exclaimed while stroking over her husband's body

"I think I can start working this very day!"

"No way! Your are still just a recovering patient. You must take good care of you or I'm afraid you may have a relapse.", said the wife.

"I will never fall ill again, as sure as I am alive. I will survive at any cost. I will earn our living by all means. I will never suffer hunger again. I'd rather commit robbery than suffer hunger. No hunger, no illness." There was a pause and the couple seemed to embrace each other passionately.

"When I lifted you up in my arms, I felt my limbs strong and powerful. If I carry you on my back, I will be much more stronger."

"The things you say! You are sure not to feel leery?"

"I feel leery? About what?"

"You know I've been sleeping with a man other than my husband."

"What does it matter? I know you suffered greatly. I feel very sorry for you in the trouble."

Their exchanging words and actions were bright and cheerful like the twittering and chirping bird-songs in the early morning.

That morning, at long last, Mr. Choi, the noted physician got released and became free. His former patient, now a healthy man walked out of the door to see Mr. Choi off. At a distance, Mr. Choi turned back. Just in time, the rising sun was shining brightly on the faces of the happy and faithful couple.

"They are a couple of beasts who have no sense of chastity and no feelings of jealousy!", murmuring to himself, Mr. Choi turned around again, when the strong light dazzled his eyes.
(The End)