STEALING KOREAN GINSENG

It was early 18^th century in Korea. Sung Won, an 11-year old boy, was plodding along a busy street in the capital city of Hanyang. He was deeply depressed. He had walked for two hours to visit his uncle to ask him for some nourishing food for his sick mother, but he had only given the boy a few eggs.

“Sorry your mother’s sick, but my family is, you see, as poor as yours. I can’t afford to give you any more. How many times have I helped you? This is the limit. Say to your mother: ‘as long as you depend on me, you’ll become as lazy as a pig.’ So, don’t visit me again. OK? Now, go back, I am busy,” his uncle had said. He had a greasy face and was clad in nice clothes. When Sung Won was leaving his house, he heard a lot of chickens crowing and cows lowing.

Sung Won remembered what the doctor said: “your mother is suffering from malnutrition. Feed her well, such as meat and eggs. If possible, Korean ginseng. It is esparkially good for her health.”

Sung Won desperately wanted Korean ginseng. He knew it was the best nutritious food, but it was too expensive. So he had asked his uncle to give him some eggs or chicken. While going back home, he thought she would be disappointed to know of her brother’s unkindness.

The autumn sun was beginning to set coloring the sky red. He was walking a narrow mountain road, when heard a painful groan. Curious, he walked nearer to the noise, and found a middle-aged heavy-bearded man lying on the road, his whole body paralyzed. He was unable to speak; his mouth was trembling. He lifted his shaking hand awkwardly trying to point to his left leg. His face was all sweat.

Instantaneously Sung Won realized that the man had been bitten by a poisonous snake. He knew how to treat him, for his late father had saved him when he was poisoned by a snake. He rolled up the man’s trouser and discovered two bite marks on his leg.

Sung Won tore his clothes, made a string, and tied the upper part of his leg tightly, put his mouth on the wounds and sucked out the poisoned blood hard again and again, and went into the bush to find medical plants. Soon he returned with a bunch of herbs. He chewed it and pasted it on the wounds. He let the man drink some water from his flask.

Soon the man began to recover.

　　“Thank you very much. You have saved my life,” he said and began to open his bag of furoshiki cloth. There was a lot of Korean ginseng in it. He picked two and gave them to Sung Won.

“Thank you. Frankly speaking, my mother is sick in bed. The doctor said Korean ginseng was effective to help her recove,” Sung Won said.

“Is that so?  Then, I’ll give you one more, but don’t tell anybody, even to your mother, that I gave you these,” the man said with cunning eyes.

“Why?”

“No reason. Just follow my words. Do you understand?” the man said with a threatening voice.

“All right,” the boy said obediently.

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

When Sung Won returned home, his mother, Min Ji, was lying in bed.

“Oh, you must be tired. Did my brother give you any eggs?” she asked.

“Yes. Here,” Sung Won showed the few eggs and three Korean ginseng roots.

“What a surprise! Did he give you the ginseng, too?” Min Ji said.

“No, I found them on the mountain road on my way home,” he said.

“Is that true? I can’t believe such precious herb roots were left on the road,” she said.

“I was surprised, too. So, I looked around but there was no one and so, I picked them up. Even if I didn’t pick them up, someone else would have done so,” he said.

Min Ji was suspicious, but since his words sounded true and since she did not want to doubt him, she believed him.

One afternoon a week later, Min Ji was doing some sewing. She had recovered her health after drinking the ginseng decoction every day. Sung Won was absent. That morning he had gone to his uncle to help him harvest rice.

Suddenly Min Ji heard a strong knock on the door, followed by a man’s voice.

“Good afternoon. We are from the Hanyang Police Department. Open the door.”

Min Ji hurriedly did so and found two police officers.

“We are visiting houses one after another to get information concerning the criminal who stole a lot of Korean ginseng from the Noble Kim’s house a week ago. Did you see any suspicious people around his house, or have you heard anything about the theft? Any information would be helpful,” one of them said.

   Min Ji instantaneously thought of her son. He might have stolen them, she thought.

   “I’m sorry I don’t have any information,” she said trying to sound as natural as possible though her heart was beating hard.

   “Thank you, but if you remember anything that will help us, please let us know. Thank you for your cooperation. Good day,” he said and left the house.

   Min Ji was worried. She couldn’t breathe normally. Her son might have stolen the ginseng. He said they had been left on the road. Did he tell a lie? No, he was not such a bad boy. But they said the ginseng had been stolen just a week ago. Sung Won brought them just a week ago, too. He was beside the bed when the doctor said, “Korean ginseng is especially effective for your recovery.” He must have desired for my recovery so strongly that he must have stolen them. Oh, she was sorry for him. She must not let them arrest her beloved son. She should turn herself in and “confess” her crime. Min Ji hurried to the police department.

When she arrived there, she “confessed” to the department chief that she had stolen the Korean ginseng. Since she had worked for the Noble Kim’s house as a maid for 12 years until she was fired because of her illness, she knew the geography of the house. She made up how she had stolen them. Believing her, the chief sentenced her to corporal punishment. Usually theft was punished with 30 times of flogging, but since she “confessed,” she was to be flogged 20 times.

The police department announced the sentence on the bulletin board in front of the department office. It read:

   “Park Min Ji shall be flogged 20 times for stealing Korean ginseng from the Noble Kim house on October 4. The punishment will be executed in the execution ground at noon on October 13.”

  Reading the announcement, Min Ji’s neighbor, a woman around 50 named Ji Hyun, rushed to Sung Won’s house.

   “Sung Won! Terrible news! Your mother is going to be flogged,” she panted.

   “Jesus! Why?” Sung Won asked.

   “For stealing ginseng,” she said.

   “Oh, no! When is she going to be punished?”

   “At this moment!”

“Where?”

   “In the execution ground.”

Sung Won ran and ran shedding tears. “She sacrificed herself to save me,” he said to himself. He hoped he would reach the execution ground before she was beaten.

   When Sung Won got to the place, he saw a crowd. He pushed his way to the front and saw his mother bound on her stomach on the scaffold. Several officers and two men with a rod were standing on either side of the scaffold. Sung Won rushed to his mother.

   “Mother, I am sorry. I didn’t pick up the ginseng. A stranger gave them to me,” Sung Won said.

   “Then, why didn’t you say so first?” she said feebly.

   An officer grabbed Sung Won by the arm and said, “Don’t interrupt us, boy,” as he dragged him away from his mother.

“Because he ordered me to keep my mouth shut,” Sung Won said in a loud voice so that she could hear.

   “Thank God. I knew he was not a bad boy,” she said to herself.

   “Wait a moment,” the police department chief ordered and stepped up to the boy.

   “Is it true that a stranger gave you the ginseng?” the chief said.

   “Yes. A man gave them to me because I saved his life,” Sung Won said.

   “You saved his life?”

   “He was bitten by a poisonous snake. I sucked the bad blood out of his leg.”

   “Sounds true, but can you prove it?” the chief said.

   Sung Won did not know what to say. It was impossible for him to prove it. He looked at his mother and then at the onlookers waiting for the flogging.

   “Unless you prove it, we must execute the punishment because she herself confessed the crime,” he said.

   The crowd jeered.

   “Flog the bitch! Flog the bitch!”

   Sung Won did not know what to do. He stared at the chief and looked at the crowd in vexation, when suddenly he saw the man in the crowd, the man who had given him the ginseng. Sung Won rushed to him and grabbed him by the arm.                                      

“This is the man,” Sung Won screamed. “He gave me the ginsengs.”

Embarrassed, the man tried to pull back his arm away from him, but the boy was clutching him with all his might. People in the crowd were surprised and looked at them.

“Good God, get off me!” the man said trying to twist his arm to escape from him, but the boy grabbed it all the more tightly.

“Officer, this is the man! He gave me the ginseng,” Sun Won shouted at the top of his voice.

Three officers rushed to them.

“Do you know the boy?” one of the officers said to the man.

“No. I dunno,” he said.

“The boy says you gave him ginseng,” the officer said.

“I’ve never seen him before,” he said.

“Boy,” the officer said to Sung Won. “Aren’t you confusing him with someone else?”

“No, I am not. This is the man, I’m sure,” Sung Won said.

“Can you prove it?” the officer said.

“Officer, please let me go,” the man begged.

“Yes, I can. He has two bite marks on his left leg,” Sung Wong said. “Please roll up his left trouser.”

The officer rolled it up as the other officers held the man.

Two bite marks were on his leg.

“You are under arrest,” the officer said.

 

The next day, Sung Won and his mother Min Ji were invited to the police department. They were guided to the department chief’s room, where the chief was waiting for them. When they entered the room, he stood up.

“Welcome Sung Won, welcome Min Ji,” he said beaming a smile. “Thanks to your cooperation, we were able to arrest the thief. We would like to present you with a token of thanks.”

The chief ordered one of the men to bring the gift. Soon the man brought dozens of ginseng roots and a bale of rice. The chief gave them to the boy.

“Take care of your mother, good boy,” he said.

“Thank you very much,” Sung Won and Min Ji said.

After a moment of hesitation, Sung Won said, “Sir, may I ask a favor of you?”

“Yes. I rarely grant favors, but l'll permit you to ask,” the chief said.

“I would like you to reduce the thief’s sentence, for he gave us the ginseng,” Sung Wong said.

“Oh, I know. I was planning the reduction,” the chief said. “He is not a bad man through and through.”

Sung Won and Min Ji looked at each other. They looked relieved.

The end