The Archer Born from an Egg
Wind, campfire and river sounds change with every scene, and the music follows the story.
Wanggeom Fortress, which had held out for nearly a year against the great Han army, fell in 108 BCE, and with it Gojoseon came to an end. But on the wide plains to the north, other kingdoms such as Buyeo lived on.
Characters
She tells this story
A fine archer
He took Yuhwa in
of the King of Heaven
Around the time Gojoseon fell, Buyeo lay on the broad plains along the Songhua River to the north.
well again this year!
The people of Buyeo loved to wear white. They farmed the land and raised horses and cattle.
In the twelfth month, people from all over the kingdom gathered to offer rites to Heaven, then ate, drank, sang and danced for days on end.
and welcome Heaven!
This festival was called ‘Yeonggo.’ On this day, even those locked in prison were set free.
In this land of Buyeo, there was a story handed down for ages.
The story of a child born from an egg,
and of his mother.
The Tale of Jumong
The story of Goguryeo’s founder, as told in the Samguk Sagi and Yi Gyu-bo’s “Lay of King Dongmyeong”
Long ago lived Haeburu, an old king who had no son. One day his horse looked at a great stone beside the pond and shed tears.
me a son!
Under the stone was a child who looked like a golden frog. The king named him ‘Geumwa’ (Golden Frog) and raised him.
Later, the chief minister Aranbul urged that the capital be moved, saying it was the will of Heaven.
Haeburu moved to Gaseobwon on the eastern coast and named his kingdom ‘East Buyeo.’ When he died, Geumwa took the throne.
And in the old capital they had left behind,
a man appeared who called himself the son of the King of Heaven.
the King of Heaven!
The “Lay of King Dongmyeong” says he came down riding a chariot drawn by five dragons.
YuhwaI am Yuhwa, daughter of Habaek, the water god. One day, when I went out to play by the water with my younger sisters, I met him.
the King of Heaven.
YuhwaHe lured me away to a house by the Yalu, below Mount Ungsim.
YuhwaThen he left, and never came back.
YuhwaMy parents scolded me for following a man without a matchmaker, and drove me out to Ubalsu.
YuhwaBy the waters of Ubalsu, I met King Geumwa of East Buyeo.
and why are you here alone?
daughter of Habaek.
YuhwaKing Geumwa thought me strange, and shut me away in a room deep inside the palace.
YuhwaBut sunlight came into the room and shone on me.
YuhwaWhen I moved away, the sunlight followed and shone on me again.
YuhwaAfter that I was with child, and I laid an egg. It was a huge egg, as big as a vessel that holds five measures of grain.
What unnatural thing is this!
the dogs and pigs!
YuhwaBut neither the dogs nor the pigs would eat it.
on the road!
YuhwaThe cattle and horses stepped around it rather than trample it.
in the fields!
YuhwaBirds flew down and covered it with their wings.
YuhwaBut the egg would not break.
YuhwaThe king gave the egg back to me. I wrapped it in cloth and kept it in a warm place.
keep you safe and warm.
YuhwaAt last, a baby boy broke through the shell.
YuhwaThe baby held my finger tight. That day, for the first time, I wept out loud.
The “Lay of King Dongmyeong” says the baby spoke before he was even a month old.
and I can’t sleep.
a bow and arrows!
YuhwaWhen I made him a bow of bush clover, the baby hit every fly on the spinning wheel that he shot at.
The child grew up fast and strong. At seven, he made his own bow and arrows,
and whenever he shot, he hit the mark a hundred times out of a hundred.
In the language of Buyeo, a fine archer
was called ‘jumong.’
King Geumwa had seven sons. The princes always spent time with Jumong, but none of them could match his skill.
of a human.
he will bring great disaster later.
The king did not heed him. Instead, he set Jumong to tending the horses.
tending another man’s horses…
I would be better off dead.
but because of you, Mother,
I can’t bring myself to leave.
YuhwaIt was the very thing I had been agonizing over day and night.
YuhwaA long journey needs a good horse. I took up a long whip and went to the stables.
Jumong deliberately underfed the swift horse to make it thin. The slow horses he fed well and fattened up.
Looking over the stables, the king was delighted to see the fat horses.
I will ride.
you may keep.
Your Majesty.
Without a word, Jumong took the reins.
Then he fed and cared for that horse with devotion.
In a post others would have called a humiliation,
Jumong trained his eye for a good horse.
At the hunt, Jumong was given only a few arrows.
a few arrows…!
Even so, Jumong caught far more game.
YuhwaOnce again the princes and ministers plotted to kill Jumong. I found out about it in secret.
be rid of him for good.
mean to harm you.
you can make a life anywhere.
and suffer disgrace,
and do great things.
YuhwaI bit my lip so as not to cry.
YuhwaMy son still could not bring himself to go. I wrapped up seeds of the five grains and pressed them into his hand.
till the land wherever you go.
YuhwaThat night was the last night I spent with my son.
barley seeds behind…
to my son.
According to the “Lay of King Dongmyeong,” Jumong was so grief-stricken at parting that he forgot the barley seeds when he left.
Jumong rode south with his three friends, Oi, Mari and Hyeopbo.
The torches of the pursuing soldiers drew closer and closer.
There’s no bridge to cross!
Ahead, a deep river. Behind, the hoofbeats of the pursuers.
Jumong cried out to the river.
