Translation:Studies on Korean Shamanism, Volume I/Hymns of Jeju Island/Wontyeon'gang bon-puri
IX. WONTYEON'GANG BON-PURI
A girl who was like jade appeared lonelily on a desolate field.
The people of this world who discovered her
Asked, "What child are you, and from where?"
"I emerged on the field of Gangnim."[1]
"What's your surname? What's your given name?"
"I don't know my name. I don't know anything at all."
"So how have you stayed alive until now?"
"From the day I emerged on the field of Gangnim
"One crane came flying to me
"Laying one wing out for me, cradling me with the other,
"Suckling me from a pearl that shines at night, keeping me alive this way and that,
"So I've been safe and sound until today."
"What's your age?" "I don't know how old I am, either."
As things were like this, everybody said, "Since you don't know how old you are,
"Let's say you were born today. So your name is Today."[2]
Having been named by this crowd of people
She wondered about hither and thither
And [one day] went to Lady Baek, the mother of Bagi-wang.[3]
"Aren't you Today?" "Yes ma'am, I'm Today."
"Do you know where your parents are from?"[4]
"I don't know, ma'am." "Your parents are from Wontyeon'gang."[5]
"How do you go to Wontyeon'gang?"
"So you would go to Wontyeon'gang.
"A boy is sitting high on a special-floored pavilion in White Sand Town.
"He's reading books. Go find that boy
"And ask him, and you'll achieve your dreams."
She found the special-floored pavilion in White Sand Town, by the River of the Western Sky.
After standing all day long outside the door
She finally said, "I'm a journeyer passing by."
One green-clad boy came out and asked, "Who are you?"
"My name is Today.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Jangsang, and orders from Jade Heaven[6] are that
"I have to sit here and be reading books, no matter what time it is.
"But what did you come here for?"
"My parents are from Wontyeon'gang
"So I'm on my way there," responded Today.
The green-clad boy said warmly,
"The sun has all but set today,
"So why not come up here and stay the night?
"You can leave when the dawn is here." She went up and thanked him
And explained how she had met Lady Baek
And pleaded him to show her the way onwards.
"If you keep going, there'll be a lotus tree.
"Go ask that lotus tree, and you'll find your way.
"Oh, and when you go to Wontyeon'gang
"Could you ask them and tell me the reason why
"I have to be reading books day and night
"And why I can never leave these walls?"
Day had come and she was on her way.
There really was a lotus tree next to a lotus pond.
She looked at the lotus tree. "Hey, lotus tree, could I ask you something?
"Which way is the way to Wontyeon'gang?"
"What are you going there for?"
"My name is Today,
"And I'm going to Wontyeon'gang [because that's] where my parents are from."
"What welcome words!
"So could you ask them about my fate for me?"
"What's your fate like?"
"My growth is in my roots during winter.
"In the first month, it's in my stalk.
"In the second month, it goes to my branches. In the third month, it should blossom as my flowers[7]
"But only my topmost branch has flowered, and not any other branch.
"Please ask them about this fate of mine.
"As for Wontyeon'gang, keep going until the Blue Water Sea.
"There'll be a gigantic snake lying there and rolling about.
"If you ask that snake, you'll find a good way."
They bid farewell, and by the Blue Water Sea
She found the giant snake rolling about here and there.
They greeted each other and names were exchanged; she told the snake what had happened so far.
"What do I need to do to go to Wontyeon'gang?
"Could you give me directions?" said Today.
"It's nothing difficult to give you directions.
"But could you do me a favor, too?" said the snake.
"What kind of favor would that be?"
"It's just that for all the other snakes
"Having just one pearl in its mouth is enough
"To transform into dragons and rise into heaven. When it comes to me
"I have three pearls in my mouth, but I'm still not a dragon yet.
"Could you ask them what I'm supposed to do?"[8]
Today agreed to the snake's request
And she climbed up and sat on its back.
With Today on its back, the snake
Swam across the Blue Water Sea.
"Keep going, and you'll meet somebody named Everyday.[9]
"You should ask her next."
The two bid farewell, and she kept going.
Like the green-clad boy Today had met before, Everyday
Was sitting on a special-floored pavilion and reading books.
They greeted each other, and Today asked directions
To Wontyeon'gang, where her parents were from. Everyday gladly agreed to help
And asked Today a favor:
To go to Wontyeon'gang and inquire of her fate
Which was to do nothing but constantly read books.
Today stayed there the night, and they bid farewell.
"Keep going, and there'll be court ladies shedding tears.
"Ask them, and you'll achieve your dreams."
So said Everyday.
Today went on and on and on.
Just as Everyday had said, court ladies were weeping away.
She asked the reason, and the reason was only that
In bygone days, they had been servants of Jade Heaven
But by chance they had sinned, and now they were scooping water.
Until they had scooped out all the water
They could not go up to Jade Heaven
But no matter how often they scooped, the bowl that they were scooping with
Had a big hole bored into it
And could not scoop out even the slightest bit of water.
So they asked Today
To lend them help. Today declined and stepped back, asking
How she could scoop out, when she was a foolish human,
The water that Jade Heaven's gods could not scoop out.
But then she had jeongdang grass[10] cut and gathered, shaped into a bung,
And plugged the hole in the bowl. Then she melted pine resin
And smeared it around the plug, and made it set solid-hard.
With devotion she prayed to the Jade Emperor
And scooped the water; at an instant, all the water dried away.
The court servant ladies were giddy with joy, as if they had returned from the place of death.
They thanked her a hundred times, and said that up to Wontyeon'gang
They would give her company and show her the way.
After taking Today with them for some time
They saw a certain mansion. The court servant ladies
Went each on their way while offering the prayer
That Today might be happy at the place where she was going.
Today faced the mansion; it was enclosed by walls ten thousand leagues long.
The gatekeeper was keeping watch over the outer gate.
"Could you open the gate?" She said. "Who is that?"
"I'm a girl named Today, from the human world."
"By what cause have you come to this place?"
"They said that my parents are from here. I came looking for them."
"I cannot open the gate."
The gatekeeper's refusal was uttered so very coldly.
For poor Today, it was the final despair
As if the heavens were falling apart.
Today lost the last ounce of her courage
Saw darkness before her eyes, and collapsed before the gate where her parents were.
Today was kneeling on the ground. "From the human world a million leagues away
"One girl, just a girl, all alone and lonely, too,
"Crossed all sorts of hills and all sorts of waters and went through all sorts of suffering
"To come to this place because it was where my parents were from
"But they're as cold-hearted as this.
"My parents are going to be inside that gate
"And I've come all the way here, right in front of that gate
"And Everyday told me I'd achieve my dreams
"But the gods of Wontyeon'gang are so very pitiless."
This girl, this weeping girl, alone in a desolate field,
The girl who was lonely when she crossed thousands of rivers and hills,
The girl who is lonely before her parents' gate!
"Is this all of my parents that I'll ever see? Is this all that I was supposed to do?
"Should I go back to Gangnim? Why bother? I'll die here.
"But what about everything I promised to ask?
"Cold-hearted gatekeeper, pitiless gods,
"Mom, I missed you—Dad, I missed you."
Today spoke half-consciously, half-unconsciously
And wept on and wept on. Even in the gatekeeper's stony heart
The pity of tears sprang up.
The gatekeeper ascended to her parents' palace and reported the facts.
Her parents' palace was already aware.
The sound of Today's weeping
Had reached even her parents, yes.
So the gatekeeper said
"I could not open the gate for her, as such was my responsibility,
"But I came to report the facts."
"We already knew of all that has happened today. Let her come in."
Today had been at the depths of hopelessness.
At this most unhoped-for news she wondered if she were dreaming
And she went before her parents, and her father asked
"What sort of girl came to this place, and why?"
She told them of every little thing that had happened
From the days she had lived amid the feathers of the crane up to now.
Her parents complimented her and said she was admirable,
Then also explained to her,
"The day you were born, the Jade Emperor called us
"And bid us guard Wontyeon'gang.
"How could we disobey an order from such? So we came to be here
"But we were always watching over everything that you were doing
"And we were protecting you."
Today decided to see the place around.
In the land enclosed by ten-thousand-league walls
She opened this door and that;
Spring, summer, autumn, and winter were all gathered inside!
After finishing the sightseeing, Today
Was about to return on the road she had come
And she asked her parents everything they had asked her to. Her parents said
"If Jangsang and Everyday become husband and wife
"They will know glory for ten thousand years.
"If the lotus-child lets its topmost flower be plucked
"And gives it to the first person it meets,
"Every other branch will bloom in splendor.
"The giant snake should have had only one pearl
"But it was too greedy and insisted on three.
"That is why it could not become a dragon. If it gives away two of the pearls
"To the first person it meets, it will be a dragon soon.
"Once you have those pearls and that flower, you will be a goddess, too."
On the way back, Today met Everyday
And told her what her parents had said.
She asked her the place where Jangsang was.
Today said, "I'll take you there." While going together
They met the giant snake, and Today explained what she had learned.
The snake let two pearls drop from its mouth and gave them to her,
At once became a dragon, and rose to heaven with lightning and thunder.
Next, they met the lotus tree, and Today explained what she had heard.
Straight away it let its topmost flower be picked and gave it to her.
At each and every branch, beautiful flowers blossomed
And the lotus became a flower that boasts of its fragrant scent.
Next, they met Jangsang, and he and Everyday
Became husband and wife, and knew ten thousand years of glory in this mortal world.
Today met Lady Baek [again]
And offered her one of the pearls as a token of thanks.
Then Today became a goddess of Jade Heaven.
This girl, Today, descended[11] into the human world
Went from temple to temple, and made people transcribe the Wontyeon'gang.[12]
Footnotes edit
- ↑ In Korean shamanism, gangnim means "(for a deity) to descend into the human world."
- ↑ Korean onal "today"
- ↑ See Chyeonji-wang bon-puri
- ↑ Literally "Do you know the country of your parents?"
- ↑ Woncheon'gang in Standard Korean
- ↑ The realm of the gods in East Asian folk religion
- ↑ The months are in the East Asian lunisolar calendar. The first month is loosely analogous to February.
- ↑ In East Asian mythology, snakes are believed to transform into dragons by clutching a pearl in its mouth. While not explicitly mentioned as such, this snake is an imugi.
- ↑ Korean maeil
- ↑ Meaning unclear and given in transliterated form in the Japanese translation.
- ↑ Korean gangnim, as in the field where she emerged
- ↑ A divination text often used in traditional Korea. The book is actually named after its author, the seventh-century Chinese geomancer Yuan Tiangang. In Jeju it became associated with a mythical geographic location, possibly due to conflation with the Sino-Korean morpheme gang "river," which might have motivated the title to be interpreted as a place name.