The Big Book of Classic Fantasy

by The Big Book of Classic Fantasy (retail) (epub)

  When the king looked up, he saw that it was none other than Jeon Unchi. He was greatly pleased.

  He questioned the other officials. “What do you think?”

  They all thought it was the right course, so the king spoke to Unchi, “How many soldiers do you need?”

  “They say that the bandits are very powerful, so I think it would be best if I went by myself and spied on them first. Soldiers could be deployed later.”

  The king assented and granted him a sword with permission to proceed according to his will. Unchi expressed his gratitude and left the court.

  The next day, Unchi rode a cloud and went southwest to visit his mother.

  When he told her that he received the command of the king and was on his way to assess the strength of the bandits, she cautioned him, “It would be dangerous to go there not knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your enemy. Be very careful as you fulfill the king’s mission.”

  Unchi returned to Gyeongseong, where he took ten or so police officers and set off at dawn. When they arrived at a provincial office, Unchi ordered the men to stay there for the time being. He then took up his sword and, with one shake of his body, turned himself into an eagle. He flew to Gadal Mountain, where he saw Yeom Jun riding a white horse beneath a large parasol. He was accompanied by many beautiful maidens in colorful dresses and about a hundred servants.

  Yeom gave out an order. “Today is the day that chieftains from all eight provinces return. Tomorrow, slaughter ten large cows and prepare a feast.”

  Unchi considered Yeom Jun and saw that he was a man of grand appearance with a reddish complexion, eyes that were like large water drops, and a beard that looked like needles tied together.

  Unchi came up with a stratagem and gathered leaves, which he transformed into so many spirit soldiers. He armed them with spears and swords and organized them in a well-defended camp with flying flags. He then put on a helmet with two phoenixes engraved on it and a red military coat, mounted a black-and-white horse, and proceeded to the enemies’ position. He burst through the entrance to their lair, where he found a firmly locked gate. Unchi cast a spell, which forced the gate to open up by itself, and rode through to find a bustling place full of brightly colored houses. After he looked around a bit, he turned himself into an eagle again and flew to an enclosed garden, where he found Yeom Jun sitting on a golden chair with his chieftains all around him and a hundred or so beautiful maidens standing behind them, serving them liquor.

  Unchi cast another spell, which brought countless eagles that covered the sky. They came down, picked up the tables in front of the chieftains, and bore them into the air. Then a great wind blew sand and pebbles all around, knocking down all the terrified people who could not even open their eyes. Canopies and floor mats flew into the sky as well. Yeom Jun became so disoriented that all he could do was climb up an incline and hold on to a tree stump while his soldiers tumbled through the air holding pieces of meat and cake, some of them vomiting in fright.

  Everything was in chaos from the Hour of the Snake*13 to the Hour of the Horse, until Yeom Jun regained enough composure to look around and see that snow was falling in great profusion. Before he knew it, the snow had accumulated to a full gil.*14 As none could move or see, they were on the verge of panic, but then the wind suddenly ceased, and all the snow disappeared without a trace.

  Yeom Jun went to the main hall of his headquarters and rang a large bell, summoning all his soldiers.

  They all spoke of the strange occurrences and argued over their meaning, until a soldier came and reported, “A general leading an army has broken through the east gate and is coming inside.”

  Yeom Jun, in shock, ordered his men to go and ascertain the situation before he picked up a spear and went forth on a horse.

  When Unchi saw him, he shouted at him, “What a lowly wretch you are, using your strength and ruthlessness to pillage villages and murder people. I mean to capture every single one of you ratlike bastards, so if you fear for your life, surrender at once and accept the will of heaven.”

  At that, Yeom Jun replied in rage, “I am following the will of heaven and the desire of the common people in seeking to topple the unrighteous king and save the multitudes who have fallen into misery. So how dare you get in my way!”

  And he charged forward.

  The two of them fought on horseback, exchanging blows of sword and spear in tens of rounds. Yeom Jun’s mighty spear blocked the light of the sun, while Unchi’s swift sword emitted light that produced a rainbow in the air. It was like a pair of tigers fighting over food in a mountain, or a pair of dragons over a pearl in the ocean. Both warriors became increasingly alert, so neither could overcome the other. Finally, it became so dark that gongs sounded from both camps, and the two of them fell back with their respective armies.

  When Yeom Jun returned to his camp, his chieftains praised him. “Despite the surprise of the calamity that fell on us, you fought well against that tigerlike warrior. Heaven must be on your side. But the enemy also seems to be a man of great courage, so we bid you to take care.”

  Yeom Jun laughed. “He may be courageous, but I have no fear of him. I will surely capture him tomorrow and march on the capital.”

  The next day, he opened the camp’s gate and went forth to shout out, “Come out quickly and face me and my blade. I swear that a victor will emerge on this day.”

  As he then dashed about, Unchi came riding out in fury, twirling his sword in a dance as he headed straight for Yeom Jun. Sword and spear clashed thirty or so times, Yeom Jun’s skill with the spear proving flawless.

  Unchi thought to himself, “I can’t beat Yeom Jun through combat alone.”

  With a shake of his body, he raised himself into the air but left a phantom image of his body behind to keep fighting Yeom Jun.

  He shouted at his foe, “I have never killed anyone, but I see no choice to put an end to one who dares to defy the will of heaven. So don’t blame me for your demise.”

  Unchi was about to strike Yeom Jun with his sword, when he stopped to think. “I should not kill someone so casually. I should capture him alive.”

  From the air, he made his sword shine as he shouted, “Behold my power!”

  Yeom Jun looked up in surprise and saw a massive cloud bursting with lightning, which was actually light coming out of Unchi’s sword. Yeom Jun became pale with fright and tried to ride back to his camp but then found his way blocked by Unchi with his sword. Another Unchi chased him from behind, and two more Unchis appeared at his left and right to surround him. Yet another Unchi came flying down on a cloud, swinging his sword in a dance as he prepared to strike Yeom Jun in the head. When Yeom became so disoriented that he fell off his horse, Unchi came down from the cloud and ordered the other Unchis to bring up his soldiers to restrain Yeom Jun and take him to their camp. Unchi then rode into the enemy camp, where all the chieftains and soldiers, having witnessed Yeom Jun’s capture, surrendered by binding their own hands together.

  Unchi ordered them to prostrate themselves before him, but he spoke in a gentle manner. “Since you have engaged in acts of treason against the country, you deserve to be executed a hundred times. But I will grant you a special pardon, so go back to your hometowns, farm the land, and become good subjects.”

  The chieftains all bowed their heads twice and scattered. This was reminiscent of the time Jang Jabang, the meritorious official of the Han dynasty, scattered the enemy soldiers of the Kingdom of Cho at Gyemyeong Mountain.*15 On a moonlit night of autumn, he had the song of their homeland sung sadly, which made the Cho men from the Gangdong region homesick.*16

  Unchi went to Yeom Jun’s dwelling place and released the hundred or so beautiful maidens, allowing them to return home. He then returned to the camp, where he sat down on the commander’s chair and ordered that Yeom Jun be brought to him.

  He reprimanded Yeom in a loud v
oice. “With all your talents and courage, you should have served the king with utmost loyalty, thereby earning royal favor for generations of your family. That is the righteous way. But you dared to act in a treasonous manner by causing disturbances across the country. There can be no pardon for that.”

  Unchi ordered a soldier to take him outside the camp’s gate and behead him, at which point Yeom Jun begged plaintively for his life. “Mine is a crime that is deserving of the execution of three generations of my family, but if you would show benevolence and spare my life, I swear to mend my ways and follow you.”

  Unchi replied, “If you are truly repentant, that would be a good thing.”

  He ordered his soldier to unbind Yeom and consoled him before letting him return to his original home. He then gathered his spirit soldiers and sent a report to the king of his victory. When he returned to the royal palace and bowed down before the king, his sovereign questioned him on how he had defeated his enemy. After Unchi related everything to him, the king praised him profusely and gave him many awards.

  * * *

  —

  Upon Unchi’s return, all the government officials praised him for his achievement, except for those of the Office of the Royal Messengers, none of whom came to see him. This was because they still hated him for the humiliation he had inflicted on them at the party at the beach. So Unchi decided to trick them again.

  One day, at the fourth watch,*17 the moon was shining brightly and there was not a single cloud in the sky. Unchi rode on a many-colored cloud and summoned a warrior spirit known as the Yellow Turban Strongman as well as all kinds of goblins.

  He addressed the warrior spirit, “Go quickly and bring me all the royal messengers.”

  The spirit received the order and presently brought them one by one.

  The frightened officials prostrated themselves on the ground and looked around at the most terrifying sight of ghosts and goblins all over the place.

  Unchi reprimanded them in a loud voice. “I played a trick on you once by briefly humiliating your wives, but is that any reason to hate me so much as to treat me like dirt? I had planned a while ago to send all of you to the underworld, but I got busy fulfilling my duty as an official in the Heavenly Realm by night and an official of the earthly government by day, so I put it off. But now I feel obliged to send you down to suffer for your arrogance and contemptuous behavior.”

  Unchi then summoned the Yellow Turban Strongman. “Take these criminals and turn them over to the King of the Underworld. After they spend eighty thousand years there, they are to be reincarnated as animals.”

  When the royal messengers heard those words, they shook so badly in fright that it felt as if their souls were leaving their bodies.

  They begged sorrowfully. “Out of our ignorance, we have done wrong. But please consider our bond as fellow officials and pardon us.”

  Unchi thought for a long time before he replied, “It is the right course for me to send you to the underworld to suffer, but considering that we were close once, I will pardon you for now. But I may change my mind depending on what I see in the future. Send them away!”

  At that moment, all the royal messengers woke up from a dream. They had sweated so much that their blankets were all wet, and their minds were in a disoriented state. When they got together and spoke of their dreams, they realized that they were the same. After that, they all treated Unchi with utmost respect.

  * * *

  —

  One day, the king summoned the minister of taxation and queried him. “You told me before that all the money at the ministry was transformed into other things. What is the situation now?”

  The minister replied, “Nothing has changed.”

  As the king became concerned, Unchi stepped forward and spoke. “I bid you to allow me to thoroughly investigate the strange occurrence at the warehouses.”

  When the king assented, Unchi and the minister went to the warehouse and opened its door. There, they found all the money restored.

  The minister exclaimed in surprise, “I inspected the warehouse yesterday, and it was full of frogs. But all the silver has returned overnight, so how strange this is.”

  They opened another warehouse and found all the weapons restored, which surprised everyone once again. When Unchi reported this to the king, he was pleased and guessed that it was all the work of Unchi’s magic.

  At this time, a royal censor came to the king and spoke to him. “An informant told me that four or five people were planning a revolt in Hoseo province. So I have come to report that I have put the informant under custody.”

  The king replied, “It is due to my lack of virtue that there are such criminals in the kingdom. How sad this is.”

  He ordered the State Tribunal and the Police Bureau to arrest and bring the traitors. When they were arrayed before the king, he interrogated them personally.

  One of them spoke out. “We planned to make Jeon Unchi the king and so bring peace to the common people, but it has all come out. We deserve to be executed ten thousand times and more.”

  At this time, Unchi was working as the recorder of criminal investigations. He was standing at the king’s side, writing down the words of the interrogation when his name unexpectedly came up in the testimony of the criminal. The king became enraged.

  “I suspected that Jeon Unchi might plan treason one day, and now his name has appeared in this confession.”

  The king quickly ordered Unchi to be restrained and torture instruments to be brought.

  “I once pardoned you of your crimes and even granted you an official position. Yet, instead of serving me with loyalty, you committed an act that is deserving of the punishment of a traitor. I will hear no excuses but order you to die.”

  The king then commanded his servants, “Kill him with one blow.”

  One was about to hit him with all his strength, when his arm became beset with such pain that he could not proceed.

  Unchi spoke out, “I deserve to be executed ten thousand times over for my past crimes, but I am innocent of the charge of treason that is being laid upon me now.”

  He thought to himself, “This is surely the work of someone trying to frame me.”

  “Since I am about to die, it saddens me that I won’t be able to pass down a particular talent of mine. I beg Your Majesty to grant me the favor of displaying that talent.”

  The king thought to himself, “This wretch is quite skilled, so I should see this.”

  “What talent are you talking about?”

  Unchi replied, “I am so good at painting that when I depict a tree, it actually grows, when I depict an animal, it walks about, and when I depict a mountain, trees and other plants appear on it. They call such a thing a radiant picture. If I do not leave behind such a painting before I die, I fear that I will turn into a discontented ghost.”

  The king thought to himself, “If this wretch returns as a ghost, that might cause some problems.”

  So he ordered his restraints to be removed, and a brush, ink, and paper to be brought.

  Unchi drew mountains and rivers in layers upon layers of summits and valleys as well as a waterfall of ten thousand gil falling from a great height. Willow branches were arrayed on the bank of a stream where a donkey with a saddle was standing. Unchi threw away the brush and bowed four times to the king.

  “Why are you bowing to me when you’ve been condemned to death?”

  “I bid Your Majesty farewell as I mean to go into a mountain.”

  He then entered into the picture, got on the donkey, and headed for a mountain. He soon disappeared from sight.

  The king spoke out in anger, “I have been tricked by this wretch again! What must be done!”

  He ordered that the picture be burnt. He then interrogated the prisoners once more before they were beheaded.

  Unable to allay h
is anger over being tricked by Unchi again, he sent out notices to all eight provinces, announcing that whoever captures Unchi will be awarded a hundred gold pieces along with other prizes and an official position in the government.

  * * *

  —

  After Unchi used his magic to escape execution, he returned home and told his mother everything that had happened. She was shocked by what she heard.

  “From now on, hide yourself and do not go to court ever again. Since you tricked the king, you won’t obtain a pardon. How could you face your ancestors in the afterlife?”

  She reprimanded him severely, so Unchi spent his days quietly in the mountain, concentrating on his studies.

  One day, he was riding on a donkey and enjoying the scenery when he saw a young monk who was taking a pretty girl into the mountain. Unchi went on to drink some liquor at a country tavern, but on his way back, he saw the girl climb a tree and try to commit suicide by hanging herself. He quickly untied the noose and massaged her hands and feet to bring her back to consciousness. When she woke up, Unchi asked if she tried to kill herself.

  “That monk you saw me with was a good friend of my husband when he was alive. Although I became a widow at a young age, I maintained my virtue. Today is the day of my husband’s passing, so the monk came and said that we should perform a memorial ritual at the temple. I agreed to go with him without suspecting anything. But that bastard brought me to this place and raped me, violating my chastity. I saw no use in living on, so I tried to kill myself.”

  Unchi consoled her and sent her to his house. He then went up the mountain until he came to a large temple, where he saw the wretched monk. Unchi cast a spell and let out a strong breath, which transformed the monk so that he looked like Unchi.

  An investigator from the Police Bureau, who happened to be staying at the temple to scout the area, saw the monk and thought he was Unchi and reported the sighting to the local magistrate. The magistrate was pleased to hear this and sent soldiers to the temple, where they arrested the monk and transported him to Gyeongseong.