Classic Poem

The origin of the Holy One is Heavenly God Mountain,
The abbot of a temple on Heavenly God Mountain,
The Thus Come One ┼ø─ükyamuni Buddha,
Yellow, white, and black holy images of buddhas.
The Holy One's mother is Prince Maŭl's wife,
His father is the scholar-prince Maŭl.
He proposed in the first year, then received a reply,
And in the third year they were married,
But grieved they had no child in the next three years.
One day a monk came to the east of a knotweed grove
And invoked the Bodhisattva Who Observes the Sounds of the World
And repeatedly recited the six-syllable prayer
Namo Amit─übha, Homage to Amit─übha.
Then the Holy One's mother looked out
And saw that he was no ordinary monk.
She went to the crock storing rice
And scooped up three toe and three hop of best-quality rice.
" O monk, listen to my story.
Please take this rice and officiate
At the feast of land and water and
In your prayer remember especially the one
Who cannot have a child. "
The monk replied:
" If one could have a child with this puny offering,
No one in the world would be childless.
Please, go up to Heavenly God Mountain
And offer sincere prayers for a hundred days. "
So she decided to garner merit, and
With thirty-three mal , three toe , three hop of rice,
Dishes fried with oil and made of radish,
Climbed the mountain and began her prayers.
Days she offered the feast of land and water,
Nights she lit candles and lanterns.
Thus she lit lanterns for a hundred days,
But even after ninety-nine days no response came.
So Prince Maŭl and his wife conferred:
" Our prayers have brought no result.
Let's descend after tonight's sleep. "
At the first watch they fell asleep,
At the second watch they had a dream,
At the third watch they realized that
A red pearl came down from heaven
And landed on the princess's skirt.
The princess spoke to her husband:
" A red pearl from heaven landed on my skirt.
I don't know whether it's a good or bad dream. "
The prince answered, " I don't know either. "
So they returned home.
From that month on she had signs of pregnancy —
One month, two months, three and four months . . .
Blood gathered in the fifth, after nine months
The gates were closed, and in the ninth month
She gave birth to a son.
The baby spoke from inside the womb:
" I cannot emerge from your bottom.
Please take your gold hairpin with phoenix design
And draw a line across your belly
So that I can come out to the world. "
She did so and the child emerged.
He looked earnestly for his father and mother
But could not speak from that day
Until he reached the age of thirteen.
He said, " Please make a knapsack from your skirt,
A monk's cap from your inside sash,
And a monk's robe from Father's gown.
Then I will climb Heavenly God Mountain
And obtain my family name. "
The princess was delighted that he spoke
And made a cap and robe for him.
Cap and robe on, shouldering a knapsack,
When viewed from front, he is a monk,
But from behind, he is a transcendent.
He reached the mountain and saw
Three buddhas sitting,
White buddha above,
Black buddha below,
And yellow buddha in the center.
The abbot on Heavenly God Mountain asked the buddhas,
" Please, give him his real name. "
The white iron buddha answered,
" What shall I give for the family name?
I will give a knapsack for alms. "
The black iron buddha asked " What shall I give?
I'll give a six-ring staff. "
The yellow iron buddha asked, " What shall I give?
I'll give a wooden bell with a clapper. "
When the abbot on Heavenly God Mountain
Came down with his real family name,
He heard a rumor about a certain man
Who lived well but was greedy,
Who would box the ear of a monk and drive him out,
Or smash the beggar's bowl,
Loan a grain with the outside of the measure,
And make one pay with the inside.
Intoning the six-syllable prayer,
The abbot asked him to offer rice.
The man spoke:
" That monk is no ordinary monk.
Wife, go out and offer him some rice. "
Look how the wife behaved:
She carried a broken dipper and stumped broom,
Entered a storehouse three years old
And swept this corner and that
And gathered and offered a bowl of dust.
The abbot on Heavenly God Mountain
Received it and let a whirlwind remove straws,
Leaving only four mouse droppings.
He rubbed one dropping into a horse,
Another into a millipede,
The remaining two into a backpack frame
And loaded them on the horse and came out.
The rich man looked out and saw that
The abbot was stealing all his fortune.
He asked his son to get them back,
But the son returned with four mouse droppings.
" If we leave them we will lose them,
So let's swallow them. "
So the rich man's family sat around —
He swallowed one, his wife another,
His son the third, and daughter-in-law the fourth.
When the abbot was about to leave,
The daughter-in-law went to the crock
And scooped out three toe and three hop of rice.
The abbot took it and said as he left,
" Tomorrow at the Hour of the Horse,
Your house will turn into a lotus pond. "
" How sad! " The daughter-in-law asked,
" O monk, is there a way for us to survive? "
The abbot replied, " If you trace my path, you'll live. "
" How could I know where you went? "
" The path I take is where stones broke,
Soil was dug, trees fell — these will indicate the road I took.
Even if lightning strikes, never look back! "
" I'll abide, " replied the daughter-in-law.
Then the abbot left. The following morning
The daughter-in-law went to the kitchen to cook.
From the four corners water gushed out,
The iron ridge of the roof gathered rust,
A six-yard-long snake crawled in,
Looking back at the adjoining vegetable field.
So she went to her mother-in-law's bedroom and said:
" Mom, water is gushing out from the kitchen corners. "
Mother-in-law answered:
" Don't scoop up the water on the surface,
But from inside, and cook rice and serve Dad. "
" I found a pair of goldfish in the crock. "
" When we set up our household,
Whenever we saw side dishes
We would call them thieves;
But now that I'm getting old,
Catch and cook them as a side dish. "
" The snake glancing at the field came in. "
" Ah, when it's hot, you cannot go outside;
Maybe the heat drove it in.
A commoner became a daughter-in-law
Of a literary family, and
You chat with me instead of cooking.
Go to the kitchen and prepare the meal. "
The stream water from the kitchen corners
Now flooded the floor, stones supporting the stove,
And the outer room. " We must leave. "
A baby on her back and with a dog and cat,
A sewing basket on her head,
She traced the path taken by the abbot
And climbed the rear hill.
Suddenly lightning struck with heavy rain.
The abbot warned not to look behind
No matter how deafening the sound.
But she could not help peeping under her armpit,
And her whole house became a lotus pond;
Willow sprouted in the middle,
Her mother-in-law turned into a hen,
Her father-in-law into a cock;
They fluttered their wings and crowed
But fell from the tree and died.
They then became frogs, green and yellow,
And fought with each other.
From then on the frog's hand resembled the human's,
All because of the daughter-in-law's peep.
She then turned into a stone buddha.
From then on, rocks in the shape of a baby,
A basket, a dog, and a cat — these received food
Cooked with oil used on the eighth day of the fourth month,
And dishes made of turnip.
Leaving the place, the abbot came down to Sojang-aegi's;
And when he reached her home with ninety-nine gates,
He opened the first, then the second,
And then the twelfth gate.
He opened it and entered the garden,
Reciting from the scriptures and
Offering the six-syllable prayer.
Sojang-aegi looked out and ordered the servant to offer rice.
The abbot said, " I'll refuse it if offered by the servants
But accept it only from Sojang-aegi. "
Aegi said, " What a strange monk! " and herself scooped up
Three toe three hop of rice from the crock
And emptied it into the abbot's knapsack.
But the knapsack had a hole
And rice scattered all over the garden.
Aegi called the servant to bring a broom and winnow.
Then the abbot spoke:
" I can't eat rice swept from the yard and winnowed.
If Aegi herself gives it to me, I'll depart. "
So Aegi and the abbot both gathered the rice —
Aegi two toe two hop and the abbot one toe one hop,
And the work was finished by sunset.
The abbot then said because it was getting dark
He would like to spend the night there.
Aegi answered, " Men are out, so you cannot. "
The abbot asked, " How about an open shed? "
Aegi answered, " You may sleep there. "
When in the shed the abbot said,
" I'm afraid of the fodder chopper. "
Aegi then suggested the servant's room.
The abbot opened the door, stepped one foot in,
But said he could not sleep there.
Aegi asked why he could not sleep there.
The abbot answered that it smelled of spittle.
" Then how about my older brother's room? "
The abbot opened the door, stepped one foot in,
But said he could not sleep there.
Aegi asked why he could not sleep there.
The abbot answered because of the sound of yelling.
" How about the veranda leading to your bedroom? "
Aegi replied it was out of the question.
The abbot suggested, " What if you seal the door
Of your bedroom from inside and lock it,
Seal it and lock it?
If I enter the room without unlocking the door,
Then would you let me sleep there? "
Aegi thought he could not possibly open a locked door,
So consented and sealed the door from both sides.
The abbot was gone, however, with no trace.
Aegi thought she had been harassed for nothing,
Opened the door, entered her room,
And found the abbot already inside.
He hung up his robe on a peg Aegi used for her skirt,
His cap where she hung her hairpiece.
When Aegi did not know what to do, the abbot spoke to her:
" Bring wet sand and a bucketful of water,
Place them between you and me,
You sleep on the spot nearest to the fireplace,
I on the farthest spot from the fireplace.
The river is a thousand tricents wide,
So there will be no problem. "
So they did as he proposed.
Both watched each other and dozed on and off.
The abbot then threw three fistfuls of sleep at Aegi.
At the first watch she began to sleep;
At the second watch she began to dream;
At the third watch she realized that
Three red pearls came down from heaven
And landed in front of her skirt.
She woke up — it was daybreak.
Emerging from her room she decided to divine
Her fortune with the shamans Chiha and Ch'onha.
The abbot spoke: " I'll solve your dream for you.
Three red pearls from heaven means
You will soon have three sons.
Aektu Bodhisattva sitting on your right shoulder
And Kŭmdu Bodhisattva on your left
Indicate babies dawdling, and when they're born,
They will come to me for their family name. "
The abbot gave Aegi a grain of rice
And asked her to prepare the morning meal.
Aegi wondered how she could cook a single grain
But thought, " He will find out if I add more. "
So she put it in a cauldron and lit the fire.
The rice cooked by itself, and
Aegi brought a cauldron full.
The abbot, however, did not lift the lid.
She asked why and the abbot answered,
" We receive offerings by smell and taste by light.
We do not eat, but you may. "
She found rice sweeter than any viands and dainties,
So she ate all but was not full.
She even ate scorched rice from the bottom.
While eating, the abbot was gone without a trace.
From that month on, Aegi showed signs of pregnancy.
Her rice and sauce began to taste bitter,
She asked only for wild grapes and garlic,
Began to be big with child,
And could not rise from the bed.
Aegi's father was on his way home
From his post in the province
And his return was announced with a gunshot.
Everyone but Aegi went out to greet him.
Her mom asked why Aegi had not come out,
And was told that the daughter was big with child.
Her mom scolded women servants
For slandering Aegi's good name
And herself went to find out.
Sure enough, she was big with child.
Aegi's dad exclaimed:
" What a calamity for a family of the ruling elite!
Go and fetch her at once! "
Servants went to bring her out,
But she said she would come by herself.
Look how she behaved:
Her right hand held a bamboo staff,
Her left hand a willow staff,
Her shoes worn wrong end up,
Her skirt upside down.
Aegi's dad ordered:
" Quickly put her head on the block! "
And to the executioner: " Behead her fast! "
The executioner's sword struck her neck
But broken into pieces, turning into
White and yellow butterflies
Fluttering among white clouds.
At this time the sword fell in front of the abbot,
Who examined it and said: " I must rescue her. "
So his power stopped her from being killed.
Her father then ordered:
" Bind her hands from behind and attach a stone
And throw her into the lotus pond. "
Aegi only kicked with her feet in the water.
The executioner pulled her out from the water.
" Our house is ninety-nine kan large,
Let's shut her up in a room and seal it
From inside and outside so that she'll die. "
So they imprisoned her and forgot about her.
When Aegi was on the brink of death,
A white and a blue crane came down from heaven,
Spread one wing to cushion her, and covered her with another,
And she gave birth to three sons.
She spoke to them:
" If you're truly the sons of the World-Honored One,
Break the lock, go out, and find your maternal grandparents. "
They opened the lock with their fingernails
And went out and greeted their grandparents,
Who now realized the boys were their grandsons
And sent them to a local school.
School children tormented them as fatherless.
One day three sons asked their mom to find Dad.
" I slept under the pine tree on the back hill
And conceived you, " Mom said.
So they went to the pine tree, bowed, and
Asked it in vain to give them their family name.
They returned and asked their mom again.
" I slept under the juniper and conceived. "
The sons went to the juniper and asked the same.
" If you burn incense after your dad's death,
I might become your dad. "
The sons returned and told their mom.
" A certain monk spent a night here and I conceived. "
The sons asked, " Where can we find our dad? "
Aegi replied: " Climb Heavenly God Mountain, find the abbot,
And ask him to give you your family name. "
The sons climbed the mountain and found three roads,
One red, one white, and one blue.
They asked the older which road to take.
He suggested the blue, but the third son objected.
The middle son suggested the red.
The third son objected again and chose the white.
When asked for the reason, he replied,
" To become a Holy One you must walk on the white. "
So they trod on and on and, sure enough,
They found Heavenly God Mountain,
Climbed to the temple with ninety-nine monks.
When they entered, the monks talked with the abbot:
" Your sons are here to request the family name. "
" What does it mean that the monk has sons?
What on earth are you saying? "
The sons entered and asked for the family name.
The abbot replied, " If you first remove ninety-nine caps
From the monks' heads, mix them, and choose the right one
For each monk, I'll grant you the name. "
So the sons did as they were told
And holding the abbot's cap asked,
" Please give us the family name. "
" If you go out and enter without leaving footsteps on the sand,
I'll give you your family name. "
The sons stepped on the sand and left footprints
But when they returned, a wind smoothed them out.
But the abbot still said he did not know.
" Go down there and bring me a flower
Blossoming on a cliff of folded rocks;
Then I will give you your family name. "
The sons went down but could neither scale nor descend.
The three stood on one another's shoulders,
And plucked the flower and brought it.
But the abbot still feigned ignorance.
" Then let's mix our blood and see. "
Into a basin filled with water,
Each son bit his finger and dripped blood.
When the abbot did the same,
His drop of blood circled around the sons'.
" Well, nothing can be done now.
I will give you your name.
The first was born at the first watch,
So his name shall be First Watch Son.
The second was born at the second watch,
So his name shall be Second Watch Son.
The third was born at the third watch,
So he shall be Third Watch Son. "
After naming them the abbot ascended to heaven.
The sons looked for their Father but lost him again,
So they looked for him where he went,
Riding on a paper horse, and climbed the high heaven.
The abbot looked down and saw them coming.
" No, it won't do! " He threw three fistfuls of shower.
The paper horse got wet and fell.
But the three became living buddhas and flew about.
Just then monks in Korea's eight provinces
Were in search of living buddhas.
They crossed the river and returned with the living buddhas.
The hunter asked what they were carrying.
They answered, " Living buddhas. "
The hunter wished to see them:
" If you see them, they will fly away. "
But the hunter insisted on seeing them.
So the monks opened the chest,
And the living buddhas flew out
And rested on top of the willow tree.
The monks were unable to retrieve them,
And finally the hunter shot and killed them.
From then on, calamities befell
Korea's hermitages and temples.
O three buddhas, please come to accept our offerings!