The Story of Hong Gildong (8 page)

He let out a sigh and spoke out. “Not even the Supreme King of Cho
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and Jegal Gongmyeong
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could match the strength and magical powers of this bandit. What wondrous skills does he possess that he can commit these acts in all eight provinces on the same day and at the same time? This is no ordinary criminal. Who will go forth and arrest this bandit, to relieve the country of its worry and to protect its people from harm?”

Someone stepped forth from the ranks of court officials and addressed the king. “He is but an insignificant criminal. He may go about the eight provinces causing trouble with magical trickery, but this is no matter for Your Majesty to be concerned about. I may be a person of modest talents, but if you will grant me command over a company of soldiers I will capture Hong Gildong and arrest all the other bandits as well. And so I will allay our country's anxiety.”

All those present before the king looked upon the speaker and saw that it was Yi Heup, Supreme General of the Police Bureau.

The king was pleased and quickly granted him hundreds of soldiers to command before addressing him. “I already know you to be a clever man, so I feel sufficiently unburdened of my worry. Take care of yourself as you go forth to apprehend the outlaw.”

Yi Heup went out and instructed his soldiers to scatter and travel individually to the city of Mungyeong in Gyeongsang Province where they would rendezvous on an appointed day. He then set off on the journey himself. He traveled fifty
ri
before it began to grow dark, so he went into a tavern to rest. Suddenly, a youth dressed in a blue robe appeared, riding a donkey and accompanied by a boy servant. When the newcomer came in, the general of the police stood up and exchanged polite greetings with him before they both found places to sit. After a while, the general heard the youth let out a sigh, so he questioned him. “What troubles such a distinguished youth as yourself?”

The youth answered, “They say that all things under heaven belong to the king, and that all people are the subjects of their sovereign. I may only be a rural scholar, but I too am a loyal subject of the country.”

The general spoke. “So what concerns you about our country?”

The youth replied, “An outlaw by the name of Hong Gildong is causing so much trouble across the eight provinces that high officials in every town can hardly sleep. The king has become so worried that he has sent word everywhere that he will grant an important post to anyone who captures the outlaw. I am too weak to do so by myself, and it saddens me that I cannot find someone to aid me on this quest.”

The general addressed him. “You have a valiant spirit and appearance, and you speak in an upright manner. I am a person of little talent, but I want to give you whatever help I can. The two of us should collaborate to achieve the goal of apprehending the criminal and so relieve the country of its worry.”

The youth replied, “They say that the bandit possesses
superhuman courage as well as the strength of many men, so we should combine our forces to catch him. Or else much harm could come to us.”

The general spoke. “As true men, once we swear loyalty to each other we can never go back on it, even in the face of death.”

The youth addressed him. “I have been trying to catch that criminal by myself, unable to find a courageous man to work with, so I have been feeling dejected. But now that I have met you, I am no longer concerned. I wish to test your strength, so please follow me.”

The youth led the general to a place where there was a lofty rock and they climbed up to its top.

He sat down and spoke to the general. “Kick me with full force, so that I may know your strength.”

As the general stared at the youth sitting on the edge of the rock, he thought to himself, “Even if this youth possesses the power to move a mountain, he will surely tumble down if I kick him.” And so he hit him with both legs, using all his strength.

But the youth merely moved his body to one side and spoke. “You are truly a mighty man. I have tested many people already, but none could move me from my position. But after you kicked me I could feel my organs vibrate and my body shiver, so I know that you are a man of tremendous power. There is no question that the two of us will catch Gildong. If you follow me again we are bound to succeed at the task. So come.”

The youth led him up to a place of many mountains. The general followed until he found himself in a rough terrain full of thickly growing trees, where he lost all sense of direction.

The youth spoke to him. “Over there is Gildong's lair. I will go in first and find out the enemy's strength, so wait here for me.”

The startled general objected. “We agreed to face life and death together before we came here, so why would you leave me alone when there are wolves about?”

The youth laughed and addressed him. “How could a true man like you be afraid of mere wolves? If you are truly frightened, go in yourself and I will wait for you.”

The general replied, “I like the confident way you speak. Go ahead and take account of the enemy's strength quickly. Do not forget that we will achieve greatness if we succeed at this.”

The youth smiled at him without responding and went swiftly into the mountain, leaving the general alone. As the sun set and the moon rose in the east, wolves appeared in all directions. The general became increasingly fearful, yet he could do nothing but embrace a large tree and wait for the youth to return. Suddenly, deafening noises reverberated through the air and tens of soldiers appeared, descending from the mountain. The general regarded them with terror as he saw that they were men of fearsome appearance. He tried to flee but soon found himself surrounded on all sides.

The soldiers addressed him. “Are you Yi Heup, the Supreme General of the Police Bureau? We were ordered by our general to capture you, so we were wandering about looking for you. But we did not expect to run into you here.”

They put him in chains and led him forward like the wind so that he could hear nothing but the sound of air passing by. Forced to run for tens of
ri
until they arrived at a stone gate, the general was utterly disoriented by his sudden fall into danger. Beyond the gate, he was taken through a vast land where sunlight shone, a place that had the appearance of a supernatural realm beyond the world of the living.

He thought to himself, “I have been captured by men who came out of nowhere and brought me to this strange place, so what hope do I have of getting out alive?” When he managed to regain some of his composure, he looked around and saw a beautiful palace illuminated by a serene light. Countless soldiers wearing yellow caps stood about in a dignified manner with serious expressions on their faces. The general could not tell whether he was present there in his body, or if he had died and it was only his soul that was in the wondrous world. Suddenly, a loud sound issued before him. Many soldiers grabbed him and made him kneel before a high throne. The general could do nothing but stay still and await his fate.

From the palace, a great king dressed in a silk robe and a jade belt appeared and sat on the throne before reprimanding him loudly. “How dare such a small and insignificant person as you presume to go after General Hong? You have aroused the fury of the mountain spirits of the eight provinces, who have ordered, ‘Send the wretch to the Palace of the Ten Kings,
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where he will be indicted for his crimes and cast into the underworld. He has deceived his monarch with his nonsense, so he must pay for the transgression and his progeny must be kept under watch.' So off to the underworld with you.” The king ordered those around him, “Take this criminal and imprison him in the underworld.”

Tens of soldiers rushed to obey his command and began to bind the general as he pleaded, “I am but an insignificant person who has been condemned even though I am innocent of any crime. So I beg you on my hands and knees to spare me from the underworld.” He began to weep. Those around him laughed with their mouths covered.

Another admonition came from the king. “You silly man, how can the Mansion of the Underworld, the Palace of the Ten Kings, and the House of Darkness
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exist in this world? Lift up your head and look at me. I am none other than Hong Gildong, the leader of Hwalbindang. In your ignorance, you thought presumptuously that you were capable of catching me. So I decided to test your strength by appearing to you yesterday as a youth in a blue robe. And then I brought you here.”

He ordered the general's restraints to be undone and invited him into the palace, where he sat him down and offered him spirits. “Ten thousand of the likes of you could not possibly capture me. I could kill you so that you would not see the world again, but there is no reason for me to harm such a lowly person as you. I will also let you live because you were acting under the king's order. But I will punish you if you tell anyone that you saw me. Do not speak of what you have experienced here, and appreciate the favor I am granting you by sparing your life. If you should encounter anyone who speaks ill of me, warn that person of his folly lest he also fall for my trickery.”

Three more people who had been captured were brought to the stairs of the palace and made to kneel.

Gildong reprimanded them. “Listen to me well. You blindly followed Yi Heup in trying to apprehend me. I could kill you all as a warning to others as foolish as you. But since I have already decided to spare your leader, I will do the same for you. I will let you live, but if you should ever act beyond your station again, I will find you and kill you without even moving from my seat. Do not forget this, and act sensibly from now on.” And he ordered his men to release the three captives from their restraints as well.

He offered them all spirits before consoling the general. “I give you this cup of spirits as a sign of my affection for you.”

It was only then that the general, moving himself to sit properly before Gildong, managed to gather his wits enough to see that he had been with the youth in the blue robe all along. As he finally realized how he had been fooled so thoroughly, he put his head down and could not say a word. He dared not refuse the spirits offered by Gildong, so he took them until he became drunk. As Gildong talked to him in a pleasant manner, the general could only marvel at his powers.

After a while, the general was suddenly awakened from his drunken state and felt a terrible thirst. He tried to get up but could not move his limbs. Puzzled by his strange predicament, he looked up and saw a tree with three leather sacks hanging horizontally from it. He opened them one by one and found the servants he had taken with him when he had left Gyeongseong.

“Am I dreaming or awake?” he said. “Did I die and go to the afterworld, or am I still in the living world? I was headed for Mungyeong to rendezvous with my men, but somehow I ended up in this place.”

He then looked around and realized that he was on top of Bugak Mountain
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in Jangan. As he could do nothing but wonder how he got there, it felt like he was lost in a springtime dream.

He addressed his servants. “I followed a youth in a blue robe, only to end up here. How did you get captured?”

The three servants replied, “We were sleeping at the tavern when there was a thunderclap, and a tempest enveloped us and took us far away. We had no idea where we were going, and we would never have guessed that we would end up here.”

The general spoke to them. “Everything that happened is so fantastic that we would hardly be believed if we told anyone about it. And we may end up being punished for it, so do not speak of these things. There is no doubt that even a supernatural spirit could not fathom Gildong's marvelous talents and uncanny powers. How could ordinary people hope to catch him? If we return to the city now we will surely be punished, so let us wait a few months before we go back.”

 • • • 

The order from the government to capture the outlaw went across the eight provinces, yet none could overcome Gildong's unlimited ability to transform himself. On the great roads of Jangan, he rode around on a one-wheeled cart
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as it pleased him, yet none thought to catch him. And in small towns he went about on a two-horse litter
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and left public notices, yet none knew his true identity. He also toured the eight provinces, and if he came across a corrupt official, he appeared in the guise of a government inspector
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and executed the unjust before sending a letter to the king, which read as follows: “Your subject Hong Gildong makes a hundred obeisances to Your Majesty. I report that during my tour of the eight provinces, whenever I came across a corrupt official who acted with injustice, who stole the property of the common people, and who lacked benevolence, I have executed him for his crimes.”

The king read the letters and spoke out in anger. “This wretch goes about committing such acts in every town. What is to be done about this?”

Reports from provincial governors continued to carry such news, so the monarch's concern multiplied. “Where did this wretch come from?” he asked.

No one in the court seemed to know the answer at first, but then someone finally stepped out of the ranks of officials and
spoke out. “I have heard that Hong Gildong is the son of the former state councilor of the right
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Hong
mo
, and the younger half brother of Hong Inhyeon, who is currently the third minister
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at the Ministry of Personnel. I have also heard that he committed murder in the household before he left home. Your Majesty should summon Hong
mo
to court and question him.”

The king listened and spoke out. “How is it that you knew this but did not tell me right away?” He then immediately ordered the Office for the Deliberation of Forbidden Affairs
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to dispatch an inspector to apprehend Hong
mo
and Inhyeon.