Nabi: Summaries with Excerpts, Vol. 5

[sohan]

Nabi: Summaries with Excerpts, Vol. 5

Chapter 10: Ryu Sang / 류상 (柳尚)
Chapter 11: The Road / 길 (道)*

* The Korean reading for 道 is "도" (do, pronounced "doe"), not 길 (gil), which is a Korean word with no hanmun attached to it. Since gil means 'road,' I would guess that the 道 here is the 道 of something like 正道 (chŏngdo) [jeongdo]), 'correct path'/'righteous/humane path' or whatever.


The volume opens with the narrator's reflections on Chŏk'yŏng—who has known Ryu Sang since the day Ryu Sang entered Mugiyŏn Academy, and have grown up alongside him—and Chŏk'yŏng's own thoughts about how different things are now, how fast everything seems to be changing—and how many times he himself may change before his life is over.

We then move to the moment when a young So'ryu, while being borne through the streets in a palanquin, sees Myo'un—or rather, Hong Ha'yŏng—for the first time. When her maid teases So'ryu about asking after the boy's identity, So'ryu says that it's not that she is particularly interested in him. She says to the maid: It's because when I become an empty vessel someday, that child will find me (언젠가 내가 공기가 되면 저 아이가 날 찾아줄 거니까).<sup>1

1</sup> Even though there is no hanmun given alongside it on the page, I take 공기 (kongki) [gonggi] to mean 空器, 'empty vessel,' but 공기 空氣 (air), which is pronounced the same way, would be plausible as well.


Everything that comes out of So'ryu's mouth is reported to her parents, no matter how trivial. This time, So'ryu's cryptic remarks greatly worries her father, Son Sŏkmyŏng, and her mother (not named). Son Sŏkmyŏng seems to find it disquieting that the child that So'ryu is referring to happens to be the first son of Hong Jinwŏn, but decides that this is nothing to worry about, for it also means that as long as he has that child in his grasp, there is no chance that he will lose So'ryu.

The flashback ends, and Ryu Sang can be seen running deeper into the Son house in search of Myo'un, who has managed to evade the guards so far. Meanwhile Myo'un is also retracing her steps in order to find Aru. She grabs some laundry hanging on a line to cover her head and appropriates a basket to try to look as much of a maidservant as possible to deflect the guards' attention.

Keeping close to the walls, Ryu Sang, drawn sword in hand, cautiously makes his way past a room in one of the inner buildings of the compound. Through an open screen window, he sees on a table the same jar, wrapped in a cloth, that 'Han'a' had been carrying when they got off the airship together. Ryu Sang recalls the conversation.

Pages 32-33:

Ryu Sang: What's up with that jar?
(뭐냐, 그 항아리는?)

Harim: [cheerfully] A present for my master. He made me promise to get it for him.
(우리 주인님 선물. 꼭 구해오라 하셨거든.)

Ryu Sang: What are you doing, carrying something as big as yourself? Want me to carry it for you till we get off the airfield?
(무슨 지 몸뚱이만한 걸 들고 다니냐. 비행장 밖까지 들어주랴?)

Harim: [looking straight ahead; the smile gone] No, it's all right.
(아니, 그러지 마.)

Ryu Sang remembers what Han'a said to him when he and the others arrived at the Son house.

"I'm afraid of disappointing you."
그 말을 실망시킬까봐 두려워.


Ryu Sang hears the shout of a guard, yelling at his comrades to go after a boy with a little girl seen going in the other direction, and realizing that they must be talking about Chŏk'yŏng and Aru, Ryu Sang runs toward the guards to head them off.

Pages 34-38:

[Ryu Sang's thoughts as he fights the guards]
...나는...
굴러먹을 대로 굴러먹은 녀석이다.
가장 근본적인 신뢰라 할 수 있는 모성(母性)조차
나는 믿지 않는다.
그런 내가
...기만 당하다니...

I've been around... seen a lot of things.
I don't have faith in even the basic fact of my existence.
That someone like me would be deceived...


Ryu Sang remembers Han'a's last words to him at their first meeting. [The story can be found in Nabi: The Prototype. Ryu Sang and Myo'un are escorting Han'a to safety when he is attacked by people who say that they are there to exact vengeance on the murderer of the second son of the Son family.]

Before he runs off (leading the attackers away so that Ryu Sang and Myo'un will not get involved), Han'a looks back over his shoulder and says:

"있잖아, 류상...."
"앞으로도 날..."
"한아인 채로 기억해 줄래?"
"밝고 귀엽고 착한 한아로."

"Say, Ryu Sang.... Even from now on... will you remember me as Han'a? Han'a, who's cheery and cute and nice."


...Don't make me laugh, Ryu Sang thinks angrily as he cuts down a guard. As he is looking down at the fallen gaurdsman, Ryu Sang notices a well-dressed man watching him from the window that opens to the room with the jar. The man holds his gaze for a moment, then calmly shuts the window. More guards, drawn by the commotion, come after Ryu Sang, and he resumes his run.

Pages 42-43:

분노가 부족했다.
복수를 덧없다 말하는 성인군자도 아닌 주제에
그때 나는 눈앞에 복수조차 잊었다.
정말로 훌륭한 울타리 안에서 사부님 아래에서 나는 세상의 많은 역한 감정들을 잊은 채 그간 참 잘 살았던 모양이다.

I didn't have enough rage. Even though I'm not some saint who eschews revenge, I put even the revenge right in front of me out of my mind. **RT**

While inside that splendid enclosure under the tutelage of our master, I must have had led a really good life, having forgotten about all the repulsive feelings that exist in the world.


Ryu Sang is now nearing Myo'un's location. Myo'un is making her way towards the shouts when someone grabs her sleeve: Harim. Just then, Ryu Sang bursts out from around a corner, several guardsmen on his heels. He sees Myo'un captured by Harim and closes his eyes as he drops his sword arm.

Pages 47-48:

제기랄.
...왜 이렇게...
되는 일이 없냐.

Dammit.
Why... is everything going wrong.


Myo'un calls out to Ryu Sang as he is cut down from the back. When a guardsman steps in to finish him, Harim throws a knife, knocking the sword out of the man's hand. Myo'un pulls free of Harim's grip and runs toward Ryu Sang's sword, lying the dirt, but just as she is about to reach the hilt, the one-handed guardsman steps on her hand, trapping her, yelling: which one is it that I can kill?

But before he can say or do anything further, the one-handed guardsman is interrupted by the arrival of So'ryu and Son Sŏkmyŏng, unnoticed by everyone until that moment. That person, So'ryu tells her father, saw me as I was walking in the dream. Son Sŏkmyŏng seems quietly pleased by her words.

The one-handed guardsman moves to strike Myo'un's head from her shoulders, convinced that she's the one no longer worth keeping alive. Myo'un wonders why Sŏng Howŏl never made her learn the way of the sword, even by force, thinking that if she had, she would not be waiting for her own execution so helplessly.

Suddenly, the captain of the guard parries the blow, knocking the sword out of the one-handed guardsman's grasp. Ryu Sang is facing them with a knife held to his own neck.

Pages 66-67:

Ryu Sang: If you lay one finger on that girl I'll cut my own head off, just like this. I don't know the reason why, but if you want me, you'd better have something that I want, too.
(그 애에게 손가락 하나 건드렸다간 이대로 내 목을 날려버리겠다.)
(무슨 연유인지 모르겠지만 너희가 나를 쥐고 있으려면)
(너희 역시 내가 원하는 거 하나쯤은 쥐고 있어야 할 것이야.)


Son Sŏkmyŏng considers him with an expression of surprise on his face, and takes a long drag from his pipe. Lock them both up, he orders, and Myo'un and Ryu Sang are hauled away. That night, the guards hold a party with food and drinks that have been provided by Son Sŏkmyŏng in appreciation of their satisfactory work. The guards gossip about the strange turn of events—first they were after a boy, and then a girl, and now their master's is focusing on some mixed blood kid with blue eyes.

The captain of the guard pours Harim a drink and ascertains that Harim has been spared by their master (presumably because the discovery and capture of Ryu Sang outweighs Harim's failure to deliver the Hong heir). The other guardsmen remark that Harim might be the luckiest slave ever—Harim smiles a little at this, but says nothing. They remark that even after having cut down the second son of the Son house (who had a very bad reputation) Harim was pardoned because he had been protecting So'ryu at the time. When the gossip drifts to the topic of So'ryu's future-telling, the guards change the topic (making a vague reference to Han'a's fate), saying that it's better not to know too much about their master's dealings.

Harim makes an excuse to leave the party and takes some food to Myo'un, who is being held in a room used for storage.

Pages 44-45:

Myo'un: Please tell me how I should address you.
(어떻게 불러야 하는지 가르쳐 주세요.)

Harim: Ju Harim.
(주하림.)

Myo'un: You have the same name as someone in this household I know. You share the same name, right?
(이 집안에서 제가 아는 분과 이름이 같아요.)
(동명인이죠?)

Harim: No.
(아니요.)

Myo'un: How is something like this possible?
(...그런 일이...)
(어떻게 가능하죠?)


Harim makes no reply. That she has been betrayed by someone strikes Myo'un with a cold like winter (사람에게 배신당했다. 그거은 겨울과 같은 매서움이였다). She asks Harim to take her to Ryu Sang so that she can share some of the food with him. Unlike Myo'un, who has only been locked up, but not fettered, Ryu Sang is being held in a cell. Myo'un passes the food to him through the grille—prompting Ryu Sang to eat out of her hand while still lying on the floor—and when the guard complains that he hasn't had a single thing to eat yet because of his duties, Harim agrees to watch Ryu Sang so that the guard can join the festivities for a little while.

Myo'un, bending down close enough to touch, carefully whispers the details of the escape route into Ryu Sang's ear. Harim looks away. When she pokes Ryu Sang to see if he got everything, she finds out to her chagrin that he has fallen asleep, and sits up to wait out the return of the guard.

In the quiet, Ryu Sang is visited by So'ryu—or rather, an apparition of So'ryu, that only he can see. When Ryu Sang starts talking, Myo'un is perplexed, but right away Harim asks if Ryu Sang can really see So'ryu (his question is ignored). Ryu Sang learns that the So'ryu that he is seeing at that moment inside the cell is actually still inside that moment on the bridge, at the time and place he and the others had seen her standing stock-still and seemingly unaware of the world. So'ryu is a time-traveler of a sort, able to go outside of her body into the future. This ability, she tells Ryu Sang, is something that her father covets at the same time as he fears its discovery by outsiders, such as the emperor of Su, who would surely have Son Sŏkmyŏng and his clan put to death if he found out.

The other thing that her father fears is that someday she will be lost in time, unable to return from some far future, but Ryu Sang has effectively presented him with a solution to this problem, according to So'ryu. The fact that Ryu Sang can apparently see her, and so perhaps save So-ryu from her own power, is what made Son Sŏkmyŏng spare his life.

Page 122:

So'ryu: You're locked up here because even though I kindly went out to the rear gate to run interference for you, you insisted on blatantly shoving your way in.
(내가 친히 뒷문까지 마중나가 문전박대해 주었는데도 꾸역꾸역 밀고 들어와서 결국엔 여기 갇힌 거지.)

Ryu Sang: Who the hell would be able to figure out your nonsensical behavior?!
(누가 그딴 앞 뒤 맥락없는 태도를 단박에 알아먹냐!)

If you'd really wanted to prevent something like this, you ought to have shown up beforehand and told us exactly what was going on!
(그리고, 니가 정말 이런 사태를 막고 싶었다면, 그전에 딱 나타나서 여차저차하다 알려줬어야지!)

So'ryu: If I had the power to control this, then no one would be worrying that I might become lost to time.
(그걸 조절할 능력이 있다면, 오늘날 내가 시간의 미아가 될 염려 따윈 안 하겠지.)

Ryu Sang: Then you can stop doing these kinds of things!
(그럼 이런 짓 그만두면 되잖아!)


How many people, do you think, So'ryu asks Ryu Sang, would refuse the good fortune that came their way and be satisfied with what they have?

Ryu Sang looks down at her seated form with contempt: Too bad for you, that that someone is me. (운이 없군. 하필 그게 나라서.)

So was it you, then, who caused our home to be destroyed? Ryu Sang asks.

Pages

So-ryu: It was I.
(내가 그리하였다.)


Ryu Sang: If you think I'm going to go easy on you because you're a girl, you've miscalculated.
(계집애라고 봐줄 줄 안다면 오산이야.)

So-ryu: It won't be easy. As I said, I'm a seer.
(쉽지 않을 거다. 말했듯이 난는 예지자니까.)


Ryu Sang: Have you ever seen me break your neck with that ability of yours?
(그 예지력으로)
(내가 그 목을 한 손에 부려뜨리는 것도 보았냐?)


So-ryu: I saw you... sacrifice yourself for my sake...
(...네가...)
(나를 위해 목숨을 바치는 걸 보았다.)


At this, Ryu Sang starts. So-ryu continues: If I were to say that, how free do you think you could be from the weight of my words?
(...라고 했을 때, 너는 내 말의 무게에서 얼마나 자유로울 수 있을까?)


I warn you not to dismiss my goodwill lightly. You may not take me as such, but there are a lot of people who covet me. You'll soon see....
(나의 호의를 가벼이 넘기지 말길 충고한다.)
(이래봬도 나를 탐내는 이는 아주 많아.)
(...이제 곧...)

(알게 될 거다.)



Ryu Sang: What...?
(뭐...?)


At that moment, a cry of "Fire!" goes out; the Son compound is under attack from quarters unknown. So'ryu disappears from view, and Ryu Sang asks Harim if it's true that there are a lot of people after her, and if attacks like this happen often. Harim doesn't seem to know what to say, and looks at Ryu Sang, and then Myo'un, before taking off without a word, causing Ryu Sang to remark that Harim is a person who's hard to predict. Ryu Sang tells Myo'un to take the opportunity to escape, but she refuses to leave without him.

Pages 150-152:

Myo'un: Anyway, you didn't even hear what I way saying because you fell asleep.
(게다가 넌 아까 자느라고 내 얘기도 제대로 못 들었잖아.)

Ryu Sang: No, I heard everything.
(아냐, 다 들었어.)

Myo'un: Ryu Sang, what's the point of lying right now?
(이 시점에서 거짓말하는 게 대체 무슨 의미가 있지, 류상 군?)

Ryu Sang: I'm serious. I heard you. I was just hungry. Two pieces of ddŏk really isn't that much....
정말이야. 다 들었어.
(다만, 배가 고팠을 뿐. 떡 두 쪼가리로는 채워지지 않은 공복감이랄까....)

Myo'un: So you were sleeping because you were hungry! I only had two pieces, too!
(결국은 배고파서 잤다는 거잖아! 그리고, 나도 두 조각밖에 못 먹었어!)

Ryu Sang: [under his breath] Also I was just pretending to sleep because I didn't know what to do....
(그냥 곤란해서 자는 척했을 뿐이고....)

Myo'un: What are you muttering about?
(뭐라고 중얼거리는 거야.)


What kind of person do you think I am, to leave you in a place like this? Myo'un says. Ryu Sang points out that the situation that they're now in is much more serious than the time when they came across that laughably childish wanted poster on the airship, and tells her to go without him. Myo'un refuses again, replying that this is a matter of what she wants to do, and that she doesn't have to listen to his reasons for wanting her to leave him behind.

But you would have parted ways with me someday, anyway, Ryu Sang says. He puts a hand on top of Myo'un's head.

Pages 155-156:

Ryu Sang: Even if nothing had ever happened and we'd just kept living at the school, you would have parted ways with me someday. It's just that that day came a bit soon, in a place like this.
(우리가 아무 일 없이 계속해서 서원에서 살았다해도, 언젠간 나랑 해어질 거였잖아.)
(그게 좀 빨리, 이런 곳이 된 걱 뿐이야.)

Don't put Chŏk'yŏng and Aru in any unnecessary danger and... before someone comes...
(괜히 적영이랑 아루까지 위험하게 만들지 말고...)
(...누가 오기 전에...)

Hurry up and go, Myo'un.
(어서 가, 묘운.)






Go to: Volume 6 Summary with Excerpts