The Blind Man's daughter 2/2
- 2 -
Shimchong quietly said a prayer, and then leapt over the side of the ship and into the waves. As soon as she had disappeared the violent sea grew calm again. The sailors wept because they had never seen a girl at once so beautiful and so brave.
Shimchong sank deeper and deeper into the icy cold sea. And when she opened her eyes she was surrounded by bright fish of every colour and shape, and they lead her to the palace of the Dragon King of the East Sea. And there she lived, happily at first. But it was not long before she began to miss her father deeply, and she began to look sad, and sometimes there were tears in her eyes.
At last, the Dragon King could no longer bear to see the lovely girl looking so sad. Her devotion to her father touched his heart. And as a reward for her goodness, he sent her back to the world above, only first he transformed her into a lotus flower.
A fisherman found the giant lotus blossom in the mouth of a river, and he was so overcome by its beauty, that he decided to make it a gift to the king of the land above. His queen had recently died, and he was in deep mourning. When he saw the flower, his eyes lit up in wonder. He thanked the fisherman with gold, and set the flower up in his room, and every time he felt sad, he stood and looked at it, admiring its beauty.
What he did not know was that each night, when the palace was asleep, Shimchong would come out of the blossom and walk through the many beautiful chambers and halls, and at first light, she would merge back into the flower.
One night, the king could not sleep, and he got out of bed and drew the blinds to let the moonlight into his room. He turned around and was amazed to see the most beautiful woman he had ever beheld.
“Who are you?” he said, “Are you a spirit?”
The girl tried to merge back into the lotus blossom, but it had vanished.
She could not say who she was, for surely the king would not believe her story. But the king could not help but fall in love with her, and she was moved that so powerful a man could be so gentle and so sincere.
Not long after, they were married, and on their wedding day he said to her:
“My blossom. Now you are my queen. Anything you wish, I shall grant. All you have to do is tell me your desire.”
And Shimchong replied:
“There is only one thing I wish for. Let there be a great banquet to celebrate our marriage, and may all the blind man of the Kingdom be invited to dine with us.”
His bride’s wish was strange and unexpected, but the King gladly granted it. And they held a banquet, and blind beggar men came from all four corners of the land to feast at the table of the king. And the new queen watched from behind the silk curtains, hoping to catch sight of her father. But though hundreds and hundreds of blind men came into the banqueting hall - not one was her father.
And the queen had given up all hope of seeing him .
“He must have died of grief when I went away,” she thought sadly to herself.
But one of the king’s kindest and most faithful stewards called out: “Do not close the doors for there is one more beggar for the banquet.”
And an old man entered the hall, leaning on one shoulder of the steward. His clothes were ragged, he was covered with dust from the journey, and he was so weak he could hardly walk.
Shimchong came out from behind the curtain and held his hand.
“Father,” she said, “It is I.”
And when the old man heard that familiar and much loved voice of his daughter - he opened his eyes.
And that was the story of the Blind Man’s Daughter.
blind_mans_daughter.lite-02.lite.mp3