<h2 class="label">XLVI</h2>
<h2 class="main">FAITHFUL MO</h2></div>
<div class="divBody">
<p class="par first">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 <i>Mo</i> (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.</p>
<p class="par">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 <span class="pagenum">[<SPAN name=
"xd21e3033" href="#xd21e3033" name="xd21e3033">218</SPAN>]</span>one day
in a room hanging by the neck dead.</p>
<p class="par">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.</p>
<p class="par">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 <i>literati</i>, who has been born <span class="pagenum">[<SPAN name="xd21e3042" href="#xd21e3042" name=
"xd21e3042">219</SPAN>]</span>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?”</p>
<p class="par signed"><span class="sc">Yi Ryuk.</span> <span class="pagenum">[<SPAN name="xd21e3048" href="#xd21e3048" name=
"xd21e3048">220</SPAN>]</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="ch47" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<SPAN href="#xd21e638">Contents</SPAN>]</span>
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