[sample translations]hae wang jeong, jumong, founder of goguryeo eng

Sample Translations

Hae-wang Jeong Jumong, Founder of Goguryeo E ng l i s h

Book Information

Jumong, Founder of Goguryeo (주몽) Hyeonamsa Publishing corp. / 2010 / 5 p. / ISBN 9788932372587 74810 For further information, please visit: http://library.klti.or.kr/node/772

This sample translation was produced with support from LTI Korea.

Please contact the LTI Korea Library for further information. library@klti.or.kr

Jumong, Founder of Goguryeo Written by Hae-wang Jeong, Illustrated by Tae-hee Han

One day, King Geumwa of Buyeo was walking along the river when he heard someone crying.

He saw a young woman standing by the river. She looked very sad.

King Geumwa went close to her and asked, “Tell me, O sorrowful one, why are you weeping?”

The woman was very surprised to see the king. She bowed her head as she replied, “I am Yuhwa, daughter of Habaek, the river god.

Long ago I fell in love with Haemosu, son of the sky god, and we ran away together.

But then he left me without so much as a word of goodbye, And my mother and father have banished me in disgrace.”

King Geumwa ordered Yuhwa to be locked up in an empty room in the castle and told his maidens-in-waiting, “There is something fishy about this woman’s story. I want you to keep an eye on her.”

Inside the room, a ray of sunlight came through the window and shone upon Yuhwa.

“How bright is this light! I cannot open my eyes.”

Yuhwa covered her eyes and moved her seat to another place in the room.

The sun, however, followed Yuhwa around all day.

Soon Yuhwa’s stomach began to grow big, and in a few months she gave birth to an egg.

It was an egg as big as a watermelon.

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One of the maidens-in-waiting ran to tell King Geumwa.

King Geumwa frowned and told his soldiers, “It is an evil omen for a human to give birth to an egg.

Throw it to the pigs this very moment.”

The soldiers went to Yuhwa and took her egg from her, despite her protests.

They threw the egg in a pigsty outside the palace.

But then the strangest thing happened.

The greedy pigs would not touch the egg at all.

King Guemwa ordered his soldiers, “Throw the egg in the streets.

Surely it will be smashed by the passing carts.”

The soldiers did the king’s bidding.

But then the strangest thing happened.

All the horses and oxen pulling carts walked around the egg.

King Guemwa ordered his soldiers, “Throw the egg in the fields, So the birds may peck it to pieces.”

The soldiers did the king’s bidding.

But then the strangest thing happened.

All the wild beasts and birds surrounded the egg to keep it warm.

King Geumwa was so angry he decided to break the egg himself.

He tried to smash it with a hammer, and then an ax.

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But the shell was so strong nothing could break it.

King Guemwa finally gave the egg back to Yuhwa.

“Do what you will, it is yours to keep.”

Yuhwa swaddled the egg in her coat, and lovingly placed it in the warmest place in the room.

3 Days passed.

Suddenly the shell of the egg cracked, and a very strong-looking baby boy came out.

Yuhwa hugged her baby and said in a trembling voice, “Haemosu has given me a gift.”

Months and years went by, and the boy grew bigger and bigger.

He was taller and stronger than any of the children his age.

And he was so good at archery he could shoot a hundred arrows and never miss a single one.

People started calling the boy Jumong, For in Buyeo that was the name given to good archers.

But some people were jealous of Jumong.

King Geumwa had seven sons, and they were all jealous because none of them was as strong or as clever as Jumong.

One day, Daeso, King Geumwa’s oldest son, knelt in front of the king and said, “Father, this Jumong must be killed before he does great harm to the realm.

He was born from an egg. Nothing good can come from this evil omen.”

King Gumwa shook his head and said,

“How could we sentence an innocent child to death?

Let him work in the stables and we shall see how he does.”

And so Jumong was ordered to work in the royal stables.

Jumong could tell the good horses from the bad horses at once.

He gave the good horses only a little hay, and the bad horses all the hay they could eat.

After a while the good horses became thin while the bad horses grew fat and glossy.

One day King Jumong came to the stable to see the horses. He told Jumong, “Saddle this fine horse for me. You may keep that sorry-looking one for yourself.”

And so Jumong became the owner of the best horse in the stable.

Not long after, Daeso and the six other princes gathered together.

They were plotting an evil deed.

The seven princes wanted to kill Jumong in secret and be done with him forever.

Fortunately, Yuhwa had noticed something was wrong and told Jumong, “My son, you must leave Buyeo immediately and run far, far away.

With your talents nothing in this world can stop you.”

Jumong bade farewell to his mother and quickly saddled his horse.

Three of his closest friends were leaving with him.

Jumong and his three friends rode their horses without a moment’s rest.

They had been running for a long time when a wide river blocked their way.

Behind them, Daeso and his soldiers were hot in pursuit, kicking up a cloud of dust as they galloped closer and closer.

Jumong stood in front of the river and shouted,

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“I am the son of Haemosu and the grandson of Habaek.

Shall I be slain by my enemies who pursue me to the death?”

At that moment something truly remarkable happened.

Countless fish and turtles floated to the surface of the river and lined up into a bridge.

5 Jumong and his three friends quickly stepped on the bridge and crossed the river.

Daeso saw what had happened and shouted to his soldiers, “Make haste! We must take that bridge, too.”

By the time Daeso and his soldiers arrived at the river, however, All the fish and turtles had already swum away.

Daeso had no choice but to turn his horse away.

Jumong had his friends rode a good deal further until they came to a place called Jolbon.

It was a good place to live, surrounded by the river Biryusu.

“My friends! I propose we stop here and build a new country in this land.”

News that a prince from Buyeo was building a country spread quickly.

More and more people arrived from near and far to live in the new realm.

Jumong called his kingdom Goguryeo, and it grew to become a very great country with many people and lands.