Gardening

"It was a masterly piece of work.  But once you began admitting explanations in terms of purpose--well, you didn't know what the result might be.  It was the sort of idea that might easily decondition the more unsettled minds among the higher castes--make them lose their faith in happiness as the Sovereign Good and take to believing, instead, that the goal was somewhere beyond, somewhere outside the present human sphere; that the purpose of life was not the maintenance of well-being, but some intensification and refining of consciousness, some enlargement of knowledge.  Which was, the Controller reflected, quite possibly true.  But not, in the present circumstance, admissible"--Brave New World

My memoir group had to move to Palmerston library because Lilian Smith is undergoing renovation.  The only disadvantage of the new place is that we can sometimes hear the rumble of subway trains below!

I finally got started digging our garden.  John wants to expand it considerably.  I've made a start on digging up the sod for the expansion and he's willing to finish it, but he's already so busy renovating our house that I don't want to add to his workload!  Unfortunately, it's the sort of thing I do slowly.

The group reading Dracula just went through the part set in Yorkshire, with one character being an old salt speaking in a North British dialect.  At the end of last week I was reading some of that character's lines, and the others thought I did it so well that this week they had me start so I could do more of him!

Just finished Brave New World. (Bernard Marx reminded me of Peewee Herman!) Now I can focus on the Istanbul book.

I finished translating that Korean folktale "O^nuli." It's based on the folklore of Jeju island off the Korean mainland.  Here's the whole story! (Too bad I can't figure out how to attach my scan of the beautiful book cover!)

Once upon a time, somewhere far away, there was a tiny girl who lived in the magical forest of Ganglimdul.  This child lived alone, with no parents or brothers or sisters.  She didn’t have a first name or a last name, and she didn’t even know how old she was!

When she was hungry  the birds would share their food, and when the day was cold the beasts would cover her with their warm breaths.  Those who passed by the girl called her “O^nuli” because they’d met her “today” (o^nul).  Every day O^nuli would play with the birds and the beasts.  She’d dance with the cranes, sing with the hornbills, and run with the roe deer.

One day Grandmother Ba^kju^ was passing east of Ganglimdul. “Hello, O^nuli.  Your mother and father are living in Bu^mo^gu^ng (Parental Palace) at the town of Wonchon’gang (Wellspring River).  If you seek out the Pavilion of Virtue on Pine Tree Hill, in the White Sands north of Ganglimdul, there will be someone who can show you the way there.”

When O^nuli heard this, she decided to go find her mother and father.  So right away she said goodbye to the birds and beasts and departed from Ganglimdul.

After leaving Ganglimdul, O^nuli walked further and further northward.  She passed through the wide, wide Plain of the White Sands, and after walking days and days, she saw the Pavilion of Virtue on Pine Tree Hill.  She called out to a solitary young man reading scrolls in the Pavilion.

“Master, Master reading scrolls!  How can I get to Bu^mo^gu^ng at Wonchon’gang?”

“If you go east through the Packed Sands to a pond as clear as a mirror, there will be a lotus flower to show you the way there.”

“Thank you very much!”

“You know, there’s a favour you can do for me in return.  I’m Jangsang (priest), and when you get to Wonchon’gang you can ask how long I must stay here reading these.”

“I’ll do that for you!”

O^nuli left Jangsang’s hill and went further and further east.  After days and days, she found herself in another wide, wide stretch of sands.  Just as she’d expected, she found a pond as clear as a mirror.  She addressed the lotus blooming on the pond’s surface. 

“Mr. Lotus, great Mr. Lotus!  How can I get to the Bu^mo^gu^ng at Wonchon’gang?”

“You can go north from here through the Black Sands to the Bottomless Blue Sea, where a sea serpent will tell you the way.”

“Thank you very much!”

“And there’s one favour you can do for me.  When you reach Wonchon’gang, you can ask why flowers only bloom on my middle stem and not elsewhere.”

“That I will do.

O^nuli left the Lotus and continued northward.  After days and days in the broad Black Sands, she reached the Bottomless Blue Sea.  She walked about the shore, and spoke to the Sea Serpent.

“Mr. Serpent, long Mr.  Serpent, how can I get to Bu^mo^gu^ng at Wonchon’gang?”

“If you take the boat moored over there across this sea and seek out the Pavilion on Peach Tree Hill, you’ll find someone who’ll tell you the way.”

“Thank you very much!”

“And there’s one more thing you can do for me.  When you get to Wonchon’gang, you can ask why I’ve been unable to become a dragon for  the last three thousand years, I who have three precious beads!”

“Will do!”

O^nuli left the Serpent, unmoored the boat and rowed it across the waters.  

After rowing for days and days through the wide, wide sea, she reached the opposite shore.  Just as she expected, there was a  pavilion on a hill of peach trees.

She spoke to a young woman reading scrolls in the Pavilion.

“Miss, Miss reading scrolls!  How can I get to Bu^mo^gu^ng at Wonchongang?”

“See the Rocky Mountain over there in the clouds?  Cross over it to the Lofty Spring and you will find a magical fairy who will tell you the way.”

“Thank you very much!”

“And there’s something you can do for me in return.  I’m Miss Na^il (tomorrow), and when you reach Wonchon’gang, please ask how much longer I must keep reading these scrolls!”

“Will do!”

O^nuli left Miss Na^il and climbed toward the Rocky Mountain in the clouds.  After days and days crossing the high, high hill, just as she expected, she found the Lofty Spring.  She spoke to a fairy who had come to the spring to gather water.

“Madame, Madame gathering water!  How can I get to Bu^mo^gu^ng at Wonchon’gang?”

“Wonchon’gang is on the way to my home at O^khwanggu^ng (the Jade  Palace).”

“Thank you very much!”

“There’s something you can do for me.  I want to return to the Jade Palace to fill the basin there, but my ewer keeps leaking out.  Please fix its hole!”

“Will do!”

O^nuli covered the hole with grass, added sticky resin and dried the patch in the sun.  Now the basin would fill up quickly because the ewer stopped leaking.  The Fairy was pleased, and went back to fill the basin.  O^nuli followed her.

They walked for days and days, over mountains and across rivers, until a big town appeared, with houses and temples covering the hills and a castle piercing the sky.

“This is Wonchon’gang.  Bu^mo^gu^ng is here.”

“Thanks for your help, Madame.  Goodbye.”

O^nuli left the Fairy and went to speak to the sentry guarding the Castle gate.

“Sir Sentry, Sir Sentry guarding the gate!  Please tell my honoured mother and father that Onuli is here.”

The man went in and soon after came back out and escorted O^nuli into Bu^mo^gu^ng to see the King and Queen.

“Are you the real O^nuli who comes from Ganglimdul?”

“Yes.  That’s right.”

“How did you live in Ganglimdul?”

“When I was hungry the birds shared their food, and when it was cold the beasts snuggled with me.

“If that’s true, you must be our daughter!”

O^nuli spent twenty days with her mother and father.  Wonchon’gang had spring, summer, fall and winter together.  Straight ahead there were lush summer trees, on the left were spring flowers, on the right were fallen leaves, and behind there was snow everywhere.  

The twenty days passed like a dream, but now it was time for O^nuli to leave again.

“Mother and Father, I wish I could stay with you for a hundred years or a thousand years, but I must ask your consent to leave again.”

“Very well, go ahead.  Master Jangsang and Miss Na^il will stop reading soon, and enjoy blessings for a long time.  The Lotus  now produces blossoms on its main stem, and it will blossom on its other branches too after it provides someone with a fresh blossom from its center.  

The Sea Serpent has been unable to become a dragon, because of his greed for the three precious beads.  Now if he gets rid of two of them and keeps only one, it will be easy to make the change then.  And whoever collects the beads and the blossom will become a fairy at the Jade Palace.”

O^nuli said goodbye to her mother and father and left Wanchon’gang.  On the way back she saw Miss Na^il reading scrolls on Peach Tree Hill.

“Miss Na^il, I was told that if you stop reading the scrolls and come and marry Master Jangsang, you will be blessed for a long, long time!”

“Really?  But I don’t know who Master Jangsang is, or where he lives.”

“I know it, so you can follow me.”

O^nuli continued onward with Miss Na^il.

And soon she saw the Sea Serpent again.

“Mr. Serpent, I was told that if you get rid of two of your three precious beads, it will become easy to transform into a dragon!”

The Serpent gave O^nuli two beads, then changed into a dragon and soared into the heavens.

O^nuli picked up the beads and continued on her way.

And soon she saw the Lotus Flower again.

“Mr. Lotus, I was told that if you provide someone with a fresh flower from your main stem, your other stems will also produce flowers!”

“Then I will give you this flower.”

The Lotus produced a flower on its middle stem for O^nuli, and soon fine flowers came out on all its stems.

O^nuli picked up the flower and continued on her way.

And soon she saw Master Jangshang again.

“Master Jangsang, I was told that if you stop reading your scrolls and marry Miss Na^il, you will be blessed for a long, long time!”

“Really?  But I don’t know who Miss Na^il is, or where she lives.”

“Don’t worry.  Because she’s right here!”

Master Jangsang and Miss Na^il soon married and the two of them became one.

O^nuli returned to Ganglimdul and rejoined the cranes and hornbills and roe deer.

Singing and dancing and running with her friends, she had a long, happy life.

Then later, she was raised to the Jade Palace in the heavens and became a fairy.