Nabi: Summaries with Excerpts, Vol. 10

[sohan]

Nabi: Summaries with Excerpts, Vol. 10

Chapter 18: The Dancing Sky / 춤추는 하늘(空)



Myo'un wakes up in the room. Ryu Sang has gone out and she is alone for a moment.

She remembers how she had said that recovering her memories didn't matter much since she was so young back then, that she liked the home and the name that her master gave her. Her memories of the time before she found herself in Sŏng Howŏl's care have completely returned by this point: Myo'un was an only child, and there were five people in her family, including herself, her parents, and grandparents. She is the only one left of this family.

When So'ryu let her escape, Myo'un had returned to her home, thinking only of how she would be scolded if her father found out that she was wearing a girl's clothes. During the long time she was crying, alone, locked up in her cell, she hadn't once dwelt on the fact that her family hadn't come for her. After she escaped, she had spent about half a month in a complete hell.

There is one thing that Myo'un can't remember: whether or not she had cried when she returned home and saw it in ruins. Ryu Sang returns to see Myo'un sitting up, looking blankly in front of her, tears falling from her face. The only thing that Myo'un can't remember is if she cried at that time or not.

Ryu Sang tells Myo'un to lay back down to conserve her strength.

Pages 24-30:

Ryu Sang: I thought you were dead.
(난 니가 죽은 줄 알았어.)

Myo'un: Sorry.
(미안.)

Ryu Sang: I thought you were dead when Master first brought you in, too. I guess you've got a talent for surviving.
(사부님이 널 처음 데려 왔을 때도)
(죽은 줄 알았지)
(소생하는 재주가 있나보네.)

…Is that story true? That you used to take poisons when you were little…
(…그 얘기, 진짜야?)
(어릴 때, 꾸준히 독을 먹었다고….)

Myo'un: An incredible family custom, isn't it?
(대단한 가풍이지?)

If I had grown up in this house, I would never have become a good person.
(난 아마 이 집에서 계속 자랐다면,)
(제대로 된 인간이 못 되었을 거야.)

But that's not to say that things worked out for the better somehow or anything like that. That would be wrong. You shouldn't speak about your… parents that way.
(그렇다고 해서 오히려 잘 되었다거나)
(아무렇지 않다는 게 아니야. 그런 식으로 말하는 건 잘못된 거야.)
(부모를… …그런 식으로 말하면 안 돼.)

…Ryu Sang, could you forget what I said today? I shouldn't… have said all that…
(...류상, 낮에 내가 여기서 했던 말은 잊어줄래?)
(난 너무나… …터무니없는 얘길 했어….)

Ryu Sang: I don't even remember any of it.
(난 기억도 안 나.)

Myo'un: …It's been… tough for you, huh…?
(…그동안…)
(…힘들었지?)

Closing her eyes and falling back asleep, Myo'un reaches out and lightly taps Ryu Sang's hand several times.

…you must've not wanted to…
(…하기 싫었을 텐데….)

…it must have been hard… on your own…
(…혼자서…)
(…고생 많았어…)


After Myo'un falls asleep, Ryu Sang holds her hand and sits quietly, waiting out the night.

When Myo'un wakes up, it's in the room that she shares with Wŏn in the Son house. She gets dressed and goes outside, where Wŏn and another servant are busily wiping dust from rows of jars (장독 changdok/jangdok, large ceramic jars with wide mouths used to store different kinds of items, oftentimes pickled vegetables and other foodstuffs).

Wŏn admonishes Myo'un for forgetting to take her antidote–Ryu Sang's bringing Myo'un back in the early morning hours, unconsciousness after losing a lot of blood, had really put her in a fright. When Myo'un asks her if she can help, Wŏn tells her to rest, since her face is still pale looking, so Myo'un goes to find Ryu Sang. The other servant remarks that not only is Myo'un very pretty, the way that she speaks is also very refined. Wŏn, not looking up from her work, retorts that being pretty is of no use to a slave girl–she would be lucky if she didn't end up being a nobleman's plaything.

Myo'un reaches the guards' quarters, and as she is passing by a window it opens with Ryu Sang behind it. He asks her where she's headed, and Myo'un, taken by surprise, doesn't manage to form an answer before noticing that the other guards are also inside, apparently in the middle of a discussion. Sitting next to the window and his chin propped up on his hand, Ryu Sang seems oblivious to the fact that he's just interrupted the meeting. He leans down and whispers into Myo'un's ear to wait for him outside the rear gate–he'll buy her some meat. Flustered, Myo'un can only look up at Ryu Sang's unreadable face as he reaches out and pulls the window shut. He turns back to the other guards.

Pages 40-41:

Ryu Sang: Please continue.
(말씀 계속 하십쇼.)

Captain of the guard: Thank you!
(고맙다!)

…as I've said, because weapons are not allowed at this gathering…
(…말했듯이 본 연회장에선 무기를 소지할 수 없기 때문에…)

Guard: That-that little…
(저 자식, 저거….)

Long-haired guard: Think the rest of us don't have wives?! Watch me bring mine over from the countryside!
(누군 마누라 없나! 시골에서 확 데리고 올까보다!)


As the captain goes on to explain that the number of people who can attend will also be restricted and that he'll be giving out their assignments, Harim watches Ryu Sang, who just seems to be listening.

Ryu Sang goes to meet Myo'un outside the gate where they first met So'ryu. Ryu Sang tells Myo'un that there's something he wants–has–to do. He asks her to act as though nothing has changed and to keep pretending to take the antidote for three days, and after three days, take Chŏk'yŏng and Aru to her old house, adding that even if So'ryu figures it out, he doesn't think that she would do anything about it.

When Myo'un demands to know what's going on, Ryu Sang simply says that he told Chŏk'yŏng the basic details that morning. Myo'un again demands that Ryu Sang explain.

Pages 44-49:

Ryu Sang: I didn't say anything all this time because of your situation, but do you think our master is still alive?
(그 동안은 니 상황도 그래서 말 안 했는데,)
(너,)
(사부님이 살아계시다고 생각하냐?)

Myo'un: What?
(뭐?)

Ryu Sang: The feeling I get from staying here is that these guys don't do things that way. Even though the border between Su and Mun is closed, they wouldn't do things that way.
(여기 있으면서 느낀 건데, 얘들은 그런 식으론 일 안 해.)
(아무리 수와 문의 국경이 막혀 있다고해도 그런 식으로 일 안 하지.)

I… still regret it. Running away from our master all those times when I was little…
(…난…)
(지금도 후회해.)
(그때, 줄곤 사부님을 피해다녔던 걸….)

I still regret it. I could have lived with her more… even for just one more day…
(지금도 후회해.)
(하루라도 더 많이…)
(…그분과 살 수 있었는데….)

I'll probably regret it for the rest of my life.
(난 아마 평생 후회할 거야.)

We're probably the only ones here. The borders are sealed, and if our master said not to go to Su, the other kids would have…
(이 나라에 있는 건 우리뿐일 거야.)
(수와 문의 국경은 막혀있고,)
(사부님이 여기론 가지 말라고 하셨다면 무기연 서원의 다른 녀석들은….)

Myo'un: I want to do it, too.
(나도 할래.)

Ryu Sang: You can't.
(넌 안 돼.)

You can't kill people.
(넌)
(사람을 못 죽이잖아.)

Ryu Sang (looking back over his shoulder): I don't want you to be able to do such a thing, either.
(니가 그럴 수 있길)
(바라지도 않아.)

At Ryu Sang's words, Myo'un goes silent. As he walks away, she tries to remember how many people she killed on that night.



In the women's quarters at the Son house (specifically the sitting room of the mistress of the house), So'ryu is being fussed over by a servant, who is dressing up her hair and adorning it with jewelry (assisted by Wŏn) as So'ryu's mother watches with a disgruntled look on her face. [Although this isn't accurate, as she wouldn't have changed her name when she got married, I'll use 'Lady Son' to refer to her from here on in addition to 'So'ryu's mother' for convenience's sake unless there's more information given later.] The servant braiding So'ryu's hair asks her if there is anything amiss. In reply, Lady Son, a hand pressed against her forehead, exclaims that her daughter is extremely pretty.

Miok (the guard assigned to So'ryu), watching from the sidelines, quips that that's because she resembles her mother–to which Lady Son says, 'so I have no one else to blame, I know.'

The servant declares that since this is the first time So'ryu will be introduced to the emperor in person, she has gone to great lengths to make sure that So'ryu will look her best, wearing the latest fashions. Lady Son, after gazing at So'ryu for a moment, makes the servant re-do So'ryu's hair over and over again. With each hairstyle, the servant becomes increasingly nervous. Finally snapping, Lady Son grabs a razor.

Pages 57-60:

Lady Son: Shall I shave it off? Would that kill off some of this beauty?
(밀까? 밀어야 이 미모가 좀 죽을까?)

Alarmed, the servant grabs So'ryu by the shoulders, and Lady Son falls back onto her pillow, sobbing dramatically.

Servant: My lady, what's gotten into you! Someone seeing this would think you were an evil stepmother!
(마님, 아씨께 왜 이러십니까?)
(누가 보면 못된 계모인지 알겠어요!)

Lady Son (trembling with rage): Do you think I painstakingly raised my daughter to become not even an empress, but some concubine?!
(황후도 아니고 후궁 따위나 시키려고 내 딸은 고이 키워왔는지 아는가!

Where did that bastard hear about my daughter and how dare he summon her when all he knows is how to rut! Did that lecherous emperor hear about her marrying his cousin and decide to take a look?!
(할 줄 아는 건 씨뿌리는 것밖에 없는 자식이 어디서 감히 우리 소류 이야기를 듣고서 오라마라야!)
(지 사촌과 정혼한 이야길 듣고 호기심이라도 동한 건가, 이 발정난 황제새끼 같으니!)

You had better take what I just said to your graves.
(지금 내가 한 이야긴, 무덤까지 갖고가야 할 걸세.)

Servant: I wouldn't dare dream otherwise.
(여부가 있겠습니까.)

But my lady, no matter how much His Highness likes beautiful women, he wouldn't do anything to his own cousin's fiancée, considering Lord Yisana's family, and Lady So'ryu's, too, most certainly.
(하오나 마님, 폐하가 아무리 미인을 좋아하신대도 사촌의 정혼녀를 어찌하진 못하실 겁니다.)
(진도련님의 가문을 보아서도 그렇고, 우리 아씨의 가문도 보아서도 분명.)

Lady Son: I wouldn't be this anxious if he was someone who had an ounce of discretion. If he had any propriety, he would never have said he'd be holding his birthday celebration somewhere like that in the first place.
(그 정도의 분별력이 있는 인사라면 내가 이리 초조해하지도 않을 걸세.)
(그나마의 분별력이라도 있었다면, 애시당초 그런 곳에서 자기의 생인잔치를 열겠단 소릴 입 밖에도 못 꺼냈을 걸세.)

…Where is that child?
(…그 아이는 어딨는가?)

Servant: Who?
(네?)

Lady Son: That comely child.
(곱상한 그 아이.)*

A flower ought to be hidden among flowers.
(꽃은)
(꽃 속에 숨기는 게 정석일 터.)**

Bring her here.
(데리오너라.)



* 곱상하다 is the same as 곱살하다 (beautiful and well-mannered) but kopsanghada [gopsanghada] is softer/sounds nicer/is easier on the ears than kopsalhada [gopsalhada]. Antonym of kopsang is 밉상 (mipsang).

** 정석 chongsŏk/jeongseok: the right moves/strategy in baduk (C: weiqi; J: go).



On the day of the event, Ryu Sang is waiting outside the walls of the Son compound along with the guards and servants. Something grabs everyone's attention and Ryu Sang looks out from the pillar against which he has been standing (on the other side is Harim). Interspersed with these panels is dialogue from Ryu Sang's conversation with Sŏng from a few days before:

In a few days, Sŏng informs Ryu Sang, the emperor will be holding a celebration for his thirty-eighth birthday up in the sky–on a ship, which will have no entrances or exits once it is up in the air. All important Su dignitaries will attend the event.

Unimpressed by this piece of intelligence, Ryu Sang sarcastically comments on how great the Shan tribe must be to be after an emperor this time, not just some mere weapons dealer. For a tiny tribe from beyond the Hamatŭ Plains, they have some grandiose plans.

Pages 63-67:

Sŏng: You're not interested?
(관심없어?)

Ryu Sang: Should I be?
(가져야 되나?)

Sŏng: That girl just now,
(방금 그 여자애,)




"그 애가"
"너의 족쇄인 거지?"

"She's what's got you tied up, right?"

"구해줄게."

"We'll save her."




Sŏng: We'll save her.
(우리가 구해줄게.)

Ryu Sang: If you could do it, you don't think I could?
(니들이 할 수 있는 일을 내가 왜 안 하고 있다고 생각하냐?)

Sŏng (turning away): I thought so. That's all right. I didn't come here expecting anything, anyway…
(그렇지 않을까 생각하긴 했어.)
(됐어. 딱히 뭔가 기대를 갖고 찾아왔던 것도 아니니까….)

Ryu Sang: Hey, haven't you ever heard of persistence?
(너는,)
(삼고초려도 모르냐?)*

When you say important dignitaries–the minister of Su, Son Sŏkmyŏng, will he be there?
(고관대작이라 하면,)**
(이 나라의 재상, 손석명.)
(그도 포함이냐?)

Sŏng indicates that he will be.

Ryu Sang: Good. That's more like it.
(좋아.)
(그렇게 나와야지.)

So, what is it that you want from me?
(그래서, 나한테 원하는 게 뭐야?)



* 삼고초려 {三顧草廬} (samgoch'oryŏ) [samgochoryeo] is an expression that refers to the three times Liu Bei (유비•劉備) went to see the statesman and strategist Zhuge Liang (제갈량 • 諸葛亮) – two famous figures from ancient China popularized in the 14th century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義) – to try to convince him to become his military advisor (軍師), succeeding only on the third try. So the saying means something like 'the persistent effort you put into getting someone talented for the job.'

Yes, Ryu Sang just compared himself to Kongming…

공명/孔明 (Kongmyŏng) [Gongmyeong] / C: Kongming: Zhuge Liang's courtesy name [자 • 字])


** 고관대작 {高官大爵}: high officials and worthies. Antonym is 미관말직 {微官末職}: lowly officials and functionaries.



As Ryu Sang stares at Myo'un, walking a step behind So'ryu, the guards murmur among themselves about how pretty Myo'un looks–dressed more extravagantly than even So'ryu herself–and conclude that Myo'un must be a 'gift' being offered up to the emperor. There is no way that the master and mistress of the house would throw So'ryu in front of the emperor like a fish to a cat. After all, So'ryu has no chance of taking the empress' place, when she has already given birth to a male heir, so the best she could hope for would be becoming concubine* number ten–not much of a life at all. So'ryu is also not the type of person who would, simpering, jockey for favor (as that sort of low position in the imperial household would most likely require).

* 후궁 {後宮}

The long-haired guard, walking past Ryu Sang, comments that it's just too bad–two young lives wasted (literally, 'a dog chasing after a chicken,' that is, only to be bitterly disappointed for going after something beyond its grasp)–nothing in life really works out the way you want it to.

As So'ryu, her parents, and their entourage get ready to depart, the captain reminds the guardsmen that no weapons will be allowed at the celebration.

Myo'un, looking at Ryu Sang (who's carefully not looking at her), silently reaffirms her decision to be a part of his plan to get revenge.

On the ship where the celebration will be taking place, Ryu Sang runs into Chŏk'yŏng and asks him what he is doing on board, irritated to see him there when he even went to the trouble of drawing Chŏk'yŏng a map to the house. Chŏk'yŏng protests that he was planning to do as he was told, but that Yisana had told him that So'ryu wanted them all to come to the event.

Page 78:

Ryu Sang: Who's Yisana?
(이사나가 누구야?)

Chŏk'yŏng: Ryu Sang, do you by chance remember how many times you've said that?
(형, 그 대사 몇 번 했는지 혹시 기억해?)


Ryu Sang realizes that this means Aru is also on board. In a flashback, we see Ryu Sang confronting Sŏng somewhere below deck. He demands if Sŏng is planning on assassinating the emperor, perhaps by crashing the ship that they're on.

Unruffled, Sŏng remarks that this must mean Ryu Sang's seer didn't say anything about what would happen on this day. Does that mean, he asks Ryu Sang, we can put our plans in motion without worrying?

Sŏng adds that there's something off about the Son house–it seemed that the fight on the Hamatŭ Plains between the Shan tribesmen and the Son guards was never reported to the emperor, indicating that it was an independent action.

Pages 82-90:

Sŏng: I guess he's not particularly loyal?
(딱히 , 충성심은 없나봐?)

After a pause, Ryu Sang asks Sŏng the age of the heir to the throne.

Sŏng: I hear he's ten years old this year…
(올해 열 살이라던가…)

(… ….)

Sŏng: Then… even if she knows… she might not interfere? What's loyalty, anyway.
(…알아도…)
(개입하지 않을 수도 있단 거네?)
(하긴, 충의 따위가 다 뭐야.)

Sŏng (walking towards a door): Anyway, the age of generals [or 'warlords'] searching for a lord [or 'master'] is already past…
(그러니,)
(주군을 찾아헤메던 무장의 시대는 이미 전설인데….)*

I can't tell you what we're planning.
(우리가 뭘 하려는지 말해줄 순 없어.)



* Sŏng's way of talking is enigmatic in the original, though hopefully I'm not adding anything extra to the effect in the translation.



Sŏng opens the door, revealing the ocean below and the small flotilla of ships accompanying the main airship. They're not yet too far from the surface of the water. Sŏng tells Ryu Sang to jump, since he would be able to swim, at least, if he's from Winok. (Otherwise–) Giving Ryu Sang his name {星}, Sŏng tells him that if it looks like things are going bad, Ryu Sang should survive by turning him in–even the emperor should be able to figure it out.

Sŏng stares down at the water for a while before shutting the door again. When asked if his name is that valuable, Sŏng replies that even though he might not look it, he's still a diplomatic envoy. Pensive, Ryu Sang says that he could just turn him in for a reward now instead of waiting to beg for his life from the emperor.

Page 95-96:

Sŏng: That girl is here, isn't she! You're really easy to read!
(그 여자애도 왔구나!)
(너 진짜 알기 쉽다!)

Ryu Sang: It's a little more complicated than that!
(그보단 좀더 복잡하거든!)

Sŏng: Here… there's an emperor but no empress.
(…여기엔…)
(황제는 있지만 황후는 없어.)

There's no empress, but he's brought along a bunch of concubines. And every one of them tributes from other countries.
(황후는 없지만 후궁들은 잔뜩 데리고 왔지.)
(그것도 가국게서 뎨려온 공녀들로만.)*


You can be sure, Sŏng notes, that the ministers and nobles who've been summoned to the festivities have left at least one or two heirs behind on the ground, and some of them might even have notarized some recent changes to their wills. In the midst of all this, the only one who's having a ball is the emperor, Sŏng says contemptuously. Leaving, he tells Ryu Sang that he should do whatever he wants as well–whatever he does, Sŏng won't fault him for it.

Another Shan envoy that has been waiting for Sŏng wonders out loud if it's all right to let Ryu Sang be, since he might turn out to be a problem later, but Sŏng tells him that he thinks it should be fine.



＊공녀{貢女} (kongnyŏ) [gongnyeo]: women given as tribute. For a (far from the only) historical example, Koryŏ to the rulers of the Yuan dynasty. Interestingly, the second empress of the last Yuan ruler, Toghan-Temür (원혜종 • 元惠宗), was Empress Ki (기황후 • 奇皇后 • Mongolian name: Öljei-Qutuq 完者忽都), a woman from an elite (but not that elite) Koryŏ family who was sent to China as a concubine and ended up becoming queen (reference/for more info in English: Empire's Twilight: Northeast Asia under the Mongols by David M. Robinson [2009]–it's mostly about the Mongol Empire, but includes some really interesting discussion of its relations with the kingdom of Koryŏ).




In another part of the ship in an anteroom, the captain of the guard asks his men if they've seen Ryu Sang. The long-haired guard jokingly asks him if he's in love with Ryu Sang, always asking after his whereabouts like that. The guard who was at the plains joins in, but rather by saying that their captain is just on edge lately because he doesn't trust So'ryu as he did before. When Ryu Sang returns, the captain asks him if he has seen So'ryu, to which Ryu Sang replies that he hasn't.

Page 101:

Captain (to all the guards as he heads out of the room): Let's go.
(가자.)

Long-haired guard (walking after the captain): See! You weren't even going to investigate anything but you're always doing that! What are you gonna do if there's something she's hiding? Are you gonna disobey orders? Would you dare?
(저거봐! 깊이 추궁할 것도 아니면서 만날 저래!)
(뭐 또 숨기는 게 있음 어쩔 건데? 항명이라도 할 거야? 그럴 배짱이나 계셔?)

Guard to was at the plains (to Harim): Give ya ten cash if you sew his mouth closed when he's asleep.
(점마, 자는 동안에 입을 꿰매놓으면 열 냥 줄꾸마.)

Harim: Three's fine.
(세 냥만 줘도 돼.)


Breaking the informal atmosphere, Ryu Sang, as he walks ahead past the group, tells them that there is something that he has been wondering about all this time–without breaking his stride or stopping, Ryu Sang asks them which of them was the one who killed his master.

When they reach the large, high-ceilinged room where the emperor will be, the captain tells the guards that the rest of them have to stay just outside, and reminds them not to do anything to cause trouble, to which a guard answers that there's no way they'd do anything to attract the attention of the imperial troops, who are everywhere.

Ryu Sang and Harim accompany the captain inside, where Ryu Sang sees Sŏng in the entourage of a noble lady. It looks to Ryu Sang as though what Sŏng said about being a diplomat was true.

Further out in front, officials and nobles have gathered, and So'ryu and Myo'un seat themselves on wide cushions set on the ground with the other noblewomen. Yisana walks by, dressed in official robes.

Pages 110-113:

Myo'un: Lord Yisana.
(이사나 도련님.)

Yisana: You're here, too.
(묘운이도 왔구나.)

Myo'un: Yes sir. Have you been well?
(네, 그간 안녕하셨어요.)

Yisana: …You look very nice today.
(……예쁘게 하고 왔네.)

Myo'un: Ah… not really…
(…아….)
(…아니에요….)

So'ryu: Do you know my cousin? Although she's just returned from Jin.
(제 사촌을 아십니까? 얼마전 진에서 귀국하였습니만.)

Yisana pauses (his expression in this panel and when he was commenting on Myo'un's appearance is rather serious).

Yisana (exaggeratedly): That outfit, I knew it! You got married without my knowing! Congratulations!!
(역시 그 복장은! 저 몰래 시집 가신 거군요! 감축드립니다!!)

So'ryu (annoyed): I said cousin, not child.
(자식이 아니라 사촌이라 했습니다만.)

Yisana (suppressing a laugh): I can see what you are planning, but whatever shall we do? You're still just as beautiful.
(무슨 설정인지 짐작은 갑니다만,)
(어찌하면 좋습니까.)
(그래도 여전히 고우신걸요.)

I think you're the most beautiful woman here.
(이 곳에서)
(가장 고우신 분 같습니다.)


With this, Yisana goes to take his place as the emperor arrives. The emperor looks down from his raised throne and comments on how Yisana is looking for his fiancée before him, to which Yisana demurs. Turning his attention to Son Sŏkmyŏng, the emperor asks him if his daughter is named "So'ryu." He summons her to the front where the ministers and Yisana are standing, saying that he would like to see the face of this famous beauty whom he has been curious about for a while. She comes forward to stand beside Yisana and bows. After airing a couple of rote compliments, the emperor asks So'ryu if she is indeed 'that oracle.' Yisana looks to him in confusion while the others murmur among themselves–maybe the emperor called this maiden just to make a joke.

The emperor, ignoring Yisana and looking directly at So'ryu, asks her how much longer he will rule while enjoying his life to the fullest as on this day.

A silence descends on the court. Son Sŏkmyŏng, keeping his eyes down, has broken out in a cold sweat. Myo'un, who was kept back, is startled, as are the rest of the gathered people, confused as to what is going on.

Raising his voice, the emperor demands to be answered. Hesitating, Yisana replies that he will rule for a thousand years, surely (a conventional answer). The emperor snaps that he didn't ask him, and asks Son Sŏkmyŏng if he thinks what Yisana says is true.

Pages 124-130:

Emperor: …that is indeed so…
(…그러하옵니다…)

…why can't you speak?
(…왜 말하지 못하시오?)

Son Sŏkmyŏng: (!)

It would be such a simple thing to deny the talk of something like an 'oracle' – crazy talk from someone who is not even forty yet– so why doesn't he? the emperor asks, then adds that his daughter must not have told him about today

Emperor: Your Majesty, we must conquer Winok before Mok. Your Majesty, send the military official in charge of the north, Hong Jinwŏn, to that place. Your Majesty, I believe this is the time to buy wheat, not rice. You were so good at giving advice–your Majesty, your Majesty… that's why the minister of Su was always right.
(폐하,)
(목보다는 위녹을 먼저 정벌해야 합니다.)
(폐하, 그곳으로는 북방무관 홍진원을 보내시오소서.)
(폐하, 지금은 쌀보다 밀을 사들일 때라 생각하옵니다.)
(폐하, 폐하, 잘도 진언 올리더니….)
(그런 연유로 수의 재상은 늘 옳았던 거로군요.)



Bits and pieces of conversations fly through Myo'un's head at the emperor's words.





"소류는 늘 옳아."

"So'ryu is always right."

"너,"
"사부님이 살아계시다고 생각하냐?"

"Do you think our master is still alive?"





The emperor asks So'ryu again how long his reign will be.

So'ryu: Your reign will last until the sky breaks into pieces.
(폐하의 치세는)
(하늘이 조각날 때까지 이어질 것이옵니다.)





"내가 너를 그분께 보냈다."

"I sent you to her."






Realization dawns on Myo'un as the emperor laughs delightedly. If ruling for a thousand years is impossible, then the sky falling apart is even less likely, so this must mean that his good fortunes will reach the heavens. As he is laughing, glass shards suddenly fall down from above. One of the sharp pieces cuts across the emperor's throat, and screams ring out as a smaller ship crashes directly into audience room, throwing glass and debris everywhere. So'ryu moves closer to Yisana and grabs his arm to his surprise. Chaos breaks out, and So'ryu shoves Yisana out of the way of the propellers and falling pillars. Yisana's father rushes to his son and tells him that they all need to leave before the whole place collapses.

Dazed, Yisana looks at So'ryu, who is being ushered away by her father. He asks her if her being a seer is true, to which Son Sŏkmyŏng snaps that it's not unusual at all for the emperor to insist on such ridiculous things.

Page 145-155:

Yisana: But–
(허나….)

Yisana's father: Yisana, this isn't the time to be discussing–
(이사나, 지금은 그런 애기를 할 때가….)

They look up at the sound of Myo'un's voice from across the devastated hall.

Myo'un: Once, for my parents.
(한 번은)
(나의 부모)

And once, for my master.
(또 한 번은)
(나의 스승.)

I'm going to seek vengeance from you twice.
(앞으로 두 번.)
(나는 너에게 복수할 거야.)

Even if that means that my life descends into evil, I won't care.
(그로 인해 내 삶이 피폐해진대도)
(나는 개이치 않을 거야.)


She has already been to hell and back in her short life, Myo'un thinks, so she won't be afraid of taking revenge.

This is generally directed at you as well, Myo'un tells Son Sŏkmyŏng, which enrages him. He yells at his guards to bring him the head of this uppity slave girl, as the guards tell him that they really need to leave right away.

Myo'un continues: Sir. I'd like you to remember my name.
(재상님.)
(저의 이름을 기억해두세요.)

'Myo' for beauty, and 'un' for clouds. Kim Myo'un is my name.
(아름다울 묘 (妙))
(구름 운 (雲))
(김묘운이 저의 이름입니다.)

Remember this rare name that was given me by a rare person. **RT: rare/precious/honorable**
(귀한 분이 주신 귀한 제 이름을 기억하세요.)

You should know by what name that child crying in your cell has been brought back to life, and for what reason she's going to cut your throat. **RT**
(당신네 어두운 광에서 울던 아이가)
(어떤 이름으로 다시 태어나 어떤 의지로 당신 목을 긋게 되는지 아셔야 하지 않습니까.)

Son Sŏkmyŏng: What?
(뭐?)

Ryu Sang looks at Myo'un's back, stunned; calmly, So'ryu looks up at the disintegrating gallery above at her own self looking down at her.


Pages 157-160:

나는 당신네 차가운 광을 나와 가장 먼저 살생을 배웠습니다.

After I left that cold cell the first thing I learned was how to kill.

어린 아이가 휘두르는 검에도 사람은 죽습니다.

People can die even by a child's blade.

…사람은…
쉽게 죽어요.
…사람을 읺는 것은…
아주 쉬운 일이랍니다.

People… die easily. Losing someone is… is very easy.

…그것을 이제…
돌려드리겠습니다.

Now… I'll return that to you.

당신께 배운 것을 당신께 돌려드리러 내가 가겠습니다.

I'll come repay you with what I learned from you.



Go to: Volume 11 Summary with Excerpts