- Marriage
- 1 Reaching adulthood, Hahk-bohng assumed the name Sa-ohk.
- 2 Now that He had reached the age of marriage, His parents consulted matchmakers, but years passed without their being able to select an appropriate bride. Eventually, there were no more offers.
- 3 Realizing they had been too demanding in their selection, His parents resolved to accept the next proposal immediately and to leave the virtue of the bride in the hands of fate.
- 4 In the late autumn of 1891, when Sa-ohk was twenty-one, a request of marriage finally came from the Jung family of Nae-ju-pyung Village, and His parents accepted. Unfortunately, the future daughter-in-law lacked inner and outer beauty.
- 5 Following the will of His parents to spare them unnecessary anguish, He married her that same year on a snowy winter day.
- Sa-ohk Meets Su-wul at a Hermitage
- 11 Prior to His marriage, Sa-ohk continued to wander from place to place. In the autumn of His nineteenth year, He went to Nae-jahng Mountain.
- 12 He walked up the mountain, viewing the brilliant beauty of the autumn leaves waving in the light of the setting sun. He looked toward His parents’ home with tears in His eyes. Then, sitting on a rock, He went into deep meditation.
- 13 When the darkness of night fell upon the mountain, He could hear the wooden gongs of Buddhist monks from afar. He followed the sound and arrived at Chung-su Hermitage. There, a young woman was praying alone.
- 14 Sa-ohk asked her, “What brings you here to this secluded temple all alone?”
- 15 “I used to be a ghee-saeng and went by the name Su-wul. I became a rich man’s concubine two years ago, but I have been unable to bear him a child. For this reason, I have been praying here for two months.”
- 16 “If you venerate your ancestors’ spirits with utmost sincerity, your wish will come true.”
- 17 “Do ancestral spirits really exist?”
“What are you saying?” Sa-ohk said. “Of course they exist.”
- 18 Because it was so cold, Sa-ohk could not spend the night outside. Instead, He stayed in an unheated room of the temple.
- 19 Later that night, the woman came into the room and asked Him if He would have her. He gently refused, saying, “You will meet a good spouse in the near future.” The following morning, He left the temple before sunrise.
- (JSD Dojeon 1,18)
