Faithful Mo

Prince Ha had a slave who was a landed proprieter and lived in Yang-ju county. He had a daughter, fairest of the fair, whom he called Mo (Nobody), beautiful beyond expression. An Yun was a noted scholar, a man of distinction in letters. He saw Mo, fell in love with her and took her for his wife. Prince Ha heard of this and was furiously angry. Said he, "How is it that you, a slave, dare to marry with a man of the aristocracy?" He had her arrested and brought home, intending to marry her to one of his bondsmen. Mo learned of this with tears and sorrow, but knew not what to do. At last she made her escape over the wall and went back to An. An was delighted beyond expression to see her; but, in view of the old prince, he knew not what to do. Together they took an oath to die rather than to be parted.

ハ君には、楊州(ヤンジュ)郡に住む土地持ちの奴婢がいた。その奴婢には、美しいなかでもいちばん美しい娘がいて、奴婢は娘をモ(「誰でもない」)と呼んでいた。言葉にならないほどの美しさだった。アン・ユンは名高い学者で、文章で知られた人だった。アンはモを見て恋に落ち、妻にめとった。ハ君はこれを聞いて激怒した。君は言った。「奴婢の分際で、どうして両班の男に嫁ぐなどということをしたのだ。」君はモを捕らえて連れ帰らせ、自分の下男の一人に嫁がせようとした。モはこれを知って涙を流して悲しんだが、どうすればよいかわからなかった。とうとうモは塀を越えて逃げ出し、アンのもとへ戻った。アンはモに会えて言葉にならないほど喜んだが、年老いた君のことを考えると、どうすればよいかわからなかった。二人は一緒に、別れるくらいなら死のうと誓った。

Later Prince Ha, on learning of this, sent his underlings to arrest her again and carry her off. After this all trace of her was lost till Mo was discovered one day in a room hanging by the neck dead.

のちにハ君はこれを知ると、手下をやってまたモを捕らえて連れ去らせた。そのあとモの行方はすっかりわからなくなり、ある日、モが部屋で首を吊って死んでいるのが見つかった。

Months of sorrow passed over An till once, under cover of the night, he was returning from the Confucian Temple to his house over the ridge of Camel Mountain. It was early autumn and the wooded tops were shimmering in the moonlight. All the world had sunk softly to rest and no passers were on the way. An was just then musing longingly of Mo, and in heartbroken accents repeating love verses to her memory, when suddenly a soft footfall was heard as though coming from among the pines. He took careful notice and there was Mo. An knew that she was long dead, and so must have known that it was her spirit, but because he was so buried in thought of her, doubting nothing, he ran to her and caught her by the hand, saying, "How did you come here?" but she disappeared. An gave a great cry and broke into tears. On account of this he fell ill. He ate, but his grief was so great he could not swallow, and a little later he died of a broken heart.

何か月もアンは悲しみに暮れていたが、あるとき、夜陰にまぎれて成均館から駱駝山(ナクタサン)の尾根を越えて家へ帰る途中だった。初秋のことで、木々の梢が月明かりのなかできらめいていた。世界はみな静かに眠りに沈み、道には通る者もなかった。アンはちょうどモのことを恋しく思い、胸の張り裂けるような声でモの思い出に恋の詩を唱えていた。すると突然、松林のなかから来るような静かな足音が聞こえた。よく見ると、そこにモがいた。アンはモがとうに死んでいることを知っていたので、それが霊だとわかっていたはずだが、あまりにモのことばかり考えていて何も疑わず、駆け寄ってその手をつかみ、「どうやってここへ来たのだ」と言った。けれどもモは消えてしまった。アンは大声をあげて泣きくずれた。このためにアンは病になった。食べても悲しみがあまりに大きくて飲み込めず、しばらくして悲しみのあまり死んでしまった。

Kim Champan, who was of the same age as I, and my special friend, was also a cousin of An, and he frequently spoke of this. Yu Hyo-jang, also, An's nephew by marriage, told the story many times. Said he, "Faithful unto death was she. For even a woman of the literati, who has been born and brought up at the gates of ceremonial form, it is a difficult matter enough to die, but for a slave, the lowest of the low, who knew not the first thing of Ceremony, Righteousness, Truth or Devotion, what about her? To the end, out of love for her husband, she held fast to her purity and yielded up her life without a blemish. Even of the faithful among the ancients was there ever a better than Mo?"

わたしと同い年で特に親しい友の金参判(キム・チャムパン)は、アンのいとこでもあり、このことをたびたび話していた。アンの姻戚の甥であるユ・ヒョジャンもこの話を何度も語った。その者は言った。「モは死ぬまで誠実だった。礼法の門のなかで生まれ育った士族の女でさえ、死ぬのは十分に難しいことだ。それなのに、奴婢という最も卑しい身で、礼・義・信・忠のいろはも知らない者が、どうだろう。最後まで、夫への愛ゆえに貞節を守り、一点の曇りもなく命を捧げたのだ。昔の貞節な人々のなかにさえ、モにまさる者がいただろうか。」

Yi Ryuk.

李陸(イ・リュク)