A SAD STORY ABOUT SAMNYEONSAN SEONG
A SAD STORY ABOUT SAMNYEONSAN SEONG
Introduce sultural sightseeing
of Boeun.
The Samnyeonsan Seong located in San 1, Eoam-ri, Boeun euo, has the following legend.
Once upon a time, brother and sister were living with their old mother in the mountain. The brother and sister were famous for their physical strength. The two were proud of their power enough to lift a mountain and a hugh rock. It was difficult to know which one was stronger than the other. If the brother lifted a hugh rock, the sister stroke it with her fist into pieces. They were very competitive.
Everyday, they tried to find out which one was stronger with various means. One day, angry at and tired of their unending competition, their mother called them and suggested, "Both of you are strongest in the world. You are so competitive, and it is impossible to decide which one is stronger. I will suggest the way of deciding which one is stronger at one try. You, brother, go to Seoul and come back, drawing a calf, and wearing high-heel wooden clogs. You, sister, build a stone wall along the ridge of this mountain while he go on the round trip to Seoul. The contest should start at sunrise and end at sunset. The winner should cut off the head of the loser." The mother suggested the game to make them to give up their competition.
The two, brother and sister, accepted the offer with hand clapping and shouting. "Brother, your neck is mine." "Don't be silly. Let's see at sunrise, tomorrow." At sunrise, next morning, the two started the contest. Brother left home wearing wooden clogs, driving the calf. Sister began to collect stones to build the wall fortress. Mother began to be embarrassed and worried. She had assumed that they would not risk their lives when she offered it. Now, at the end of the contest, one of her offsprings would be killed. She repented it, but now she had no choice but to wait for the result of the game.
Hot summer daylight withered away and the sun was sinking in the west. Daughter finished building the wall, and, if she put up the gate, everything would be over. Mother couldn't know where her son was. She became increasingly impatient. "If one of the two should be killed, that must not be my son," she thought. She devised a scary trick. She tried to make her daughter delay putting up the gate.
"Wow, you already finished building the wall." "Sure, if I put up the gate, I win the competition." "Then, he will lose the game." "Yes, I will win it." Mother was terrified, and suggested to daughter. "You must be hungry. I cooked really delicious red bean soup. You had better eat it before putting up the gate." "You will win the contest, anyway. Your brother must be taking a rest somewhere or has falled into sleep. Have the soup and put up the gate." The daughter could not refuse her mother's earnest offer. She entered the house and began to eat the soup.
Mother did her best to cook the red bean soup which might be her daughter's last meal as delicious as possible. The soup was really tasty. Since the soup was boiling in the bowl, daughter had to eat it slowly, cooling it down. When she almost finished the soup, son came back exhausted, soaked with sweat.
He looked around the wall his sister had built. "Hurrah, I won. Look, there is no gate. You haven't put up the gate." Mother was in a dilemma. She made her daughter be killed, even though she could win the competition. She entreated her son, "Son, even if the agreement is important, you should not kill your only sister. Considering me, be patient. If you want to kill her, kill me instead." But son became cold.
He thought that he was the strongest in the world, but his sister always challenged him. He wanted to be the real strongest person by eradicating his sister. Looking at her brother carrying ax from the warehouse, sister said, "Brother, I will not ask for a pity from you. Cut my neck as we made the agreement. And take care of mother after I die." Crying that she was sorry for not taking care of her mother much longer, she was killed by her brother with ax.
A similar legend to it surrounding the construction of a mountain fortress wall can also be identified in the Amisan Seong, located in Boosoori, Hwoein myeon in the same county. The only difference between the two stories is that, in the latter case, brother took a round trip to a place 500 ri (4km), and mother cooked glutinous rice.