My frugal wife

 Potatoes

Before coming to the slums outside Chilseongmun Gate, which was the source of all the world's tragedies and dramas—fighting, adultery, murder, theft, begging, and imprisonment—Boknyeo's husband had been a peasant (the second tier of Joseon* societal class - in the order of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants). 

Boknyeo had originally been a girl raised under discipline in an honest farming family, even if impoverished. It's been said that these strict disciplines are usually diminished from scholars class to farmers class, but for some unknown reason, a certain discipline, a bit more intelligent and stricter than other peasants, remained in her family. Growing up among them, Boknyeo, like other girls, was accustomed to bathing naked in the stream in the summer and wandering the village in her trousers. Yet, deep within her, she harbored a vague, if somewhat unsettling, yearning for morality.

At the age of fifteen, she was sold to a widower in the village for eighty won and married. Her husband (perhaps her elderly husband? ) was twenty years older than her. In his father's time, his father was a skilled farmer, owning several plots of land. However, as he inherited his father's fortune, he began to sell one plot after, and the eighty won he spent on Boknyeo was his last remaining fortune. He was extremely lazy. When the village elders arranged for him to borrow a field, he simply sowed the seeds, neglecting to till or weed. In the fall, he would harvest whatever he could, declare, "This year is a bad year," and eat it all by himself, without paying portion to the landowners. As a result, he couldn't continue farming a single field for two years in row. Over the years, there was any trust remained among the villagers, to the point where he could no longer borrow a field at all.

After Boknyeo got married to him, three or four years passed by one way or another thanks to her father. However, her father had a pride that his class belonged to the fringe of scholars class, gradually began to hate his son-in-law. Eventually her husband even lost the trust of his in-laws.

After discussing various options, Boknyeo and her husband settled on a day job within Pyongyang Castle. However, even day labor was not an option for him, who was too lazy. All day long, having a load carrier on his back at the Yeongwangjeong pavilion, he just gazed out at the Daedong River. Being a day laborer wasn't a suitable job for him again. After three or four months of laborer, fortunately they were able to find a place to live in a servant's quarters.

However, they were soon kicked out of that house too. Boknyeo diligently attended to the household affairs, but her husband's laziness was helpless. Every day, she harassed him with a sharp eye, but his lazy ways were unbearable.

"Please clean up the rice sacks."

"I'm getting sleepy. You clean it up."

"Should I clean it up?"

"You are twenty years old now, and you're good enough to do that much!"

"Oh my, I'd rather die."

"What the hell, you bitch."

This sort of fighting continued, and finally they were kicked out of that house.

Where would they go now? They were forced into the slums outside Chilseongmun Gate, with no other choice.

The area outside Chilseongmun Gate was a village, and everyone there lived as beggars. Their sidelines included theft, prostitution (even among themselves), and all the other terrible and filthy sins of the world.

Boknyeo also became a beggar.

*Joseon: The old name of Korea

But who would feed a nineteen-year-old woman, who's in the prime of her life?

"Why are you begging? You're so young."

Every time she heard such things, she would make excuses, like her husband was dying from an illness or something else. But such excuses failed to win sympathy of the hard-hearted citizens of Pyongyang.

They were the poorest even among outside Chilseongmun Gate. Among them, those with good earning were the people who returned home with one won seventy or eighty jeon** in cash, even though consisted of only five ri*** coins in a day. 

The extreme cases, some who went out at night to earn money and returned with four hundred won the same night and started selling cigarettes business with that money.

Boknyeo was nineteen years old. She had quite a cute face. She could have earned fifty or sixty jeon a day by following the example of the village women, visiting the homes of wealthy people. But having grown up in a scholar's household, she couldn't do that. They still lived in poverty. Starvation was common.

**jeon: the old currency of Joseon. 100jeon equals to 1won

***ri: the smaller currency of coin

The pine grove at Gijamyo**** was teeming with pine caterpillars. At that time, the Pyongyang city hired women from the slums outside Chilseongmun Gate as laborers to catch the pine caterpillars to offer them job opportunity as a benefit.

All the slum women applied, but only about fifty were chosen. Boknyeo was one of them.

Boknyeo diligently hunted pine caterpillars. She climbed up a ladder to a pine tree, picked up pine caterpillars with tongs, trapped them into chemical without a break, and her container soon filled up with caterpillars. Thirty-two jeon of daily wage came into her hands.

However, over the course of five or six days, she noticed a strange phenomenon. It was this: the young women of the slums, a dozen of them never caught caterpillars, instead just chatted, laughed, and played around down on the ground. Furthermore, these slum women were paid eight jeon more for their idle labor than for the working ones. Although there was only one supervisor, he not only connived their play, but sometimes even joined in the fun.

One day, it was lunchtime. Boknyeo came down from the tree, ate lunch, and was about to climb back up, when the foreman came looking for her.

"Bokne, Bokne (calling in the north provincial dialect tone), you."

"What's wrong?"

She put down the medicine bottle and tongs and turned around.

"Come  over here."

She approached the foreman without saying a word.

"Hey, you... um... haven't you been back there?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Well, you'd like to go..."

"...?"

"Let's go, dude."

The foreman turned and shouted to the gathered workers.

"You should go, too, bro."

“Nope. You two are having fun together. Why would I go?”

Boknyeo’s face turned bright red and she turned to the foreman.

“Let’s go.”

The foreman went to the other side. Boknyeo followed him with her head down.

“Good for you, Bokne.”

A shout was heard from behind. Boknyeo's bowed face grew even redder. From that day on, Boknyeo became one of those 'laborers who didn't do any work but received a lot of compensation.'

****Gijamyo: the memorial tomb for the Chinese St. Gija 

Boknyeo's morals or outlook on life changed from then on.

She had never even considered having a relationship with another man. She thought it was not a human thing, but something done only by beasts. Or perhaps she thought it would lead to her death.

But where else could such a strange thing happen? Seeing that even she, a human, had done it, it wasn't something a human couldn't do. Plus, it was getting paid more for nothing, a tensive, pleasant experience, and being more decent than begging...

This was the only good thing, like the Japanese saying "perfect three beats." Perhaps this was the secret to life. Moreover, after this experience, for the first time, she felt as if she had become a respectful human being really.

From then on, she began to put some powder on her face.

A year passed.

Her secret to life was progressing more smoothly. She and her household were no longer so poor.

Her husband, lying on the floor, grinned thinking that they were ultimately blessed. 

Boknyeo's face became even more beautiful.

"Hello, Mr, how much did you make today?"

Boknyeo would ask if anyone seemed to have made a lot of money.

"I didn't make much today."

"How much?"

"Just thirteen or fourteen nyang*****."

"That's a lot, so lend me a few nyang."

"Today, I..."

He would try to say something, and Boknyeo would immediately ran over and clung to his arms.

"Once I got you, you'll have to lend me."

"I'm always in trouble whenever I meet you. Okay, I will give you some. But in return, okay? You get it, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Hahahahaha."

"If you don't know, I won't give it to you."

"Well, I understand, of course."

She had been changed to this extent.

It was autumn.

In autumn, the women of the slums outside Chilseongmun Gate would go out at night with baskets to steal potatoes (or sweet potatoes) and cabbages from the Chinese vegetable fields outside Chilseongmun Gate. Boknyeo was also a good potato thief.

One night, she had stolen a basketful of potatoes, and as she was about to leave,

a dark shadow stood behind her and grabbed her tightly. It was Mr. Wang, the Chinese tenant farmer of the field. Boknyeo remained speechless, staring down at her feet.

“Come to my house.”

Mr. Wang said.

“Come to your house? Oh, well, do you think I would be scared?”

Boknyeo quickly turned around wrapping her buttocks with her skirt, putting her nose up in the air, and followed Mr. Wang, shaking her basket.

About an hour later, she left Mr. Wang’s house. As she was about to turn from the furrow onto the road, someone suddenly called out from behind her.

"Isn't it Bokne?"

Boknyeo turned around. There, her neighbor's wife was groping her way out of the dark furrow, carrying a basket.

"It was you? You were there, too?"

"Then, so were you?"

"Whose house were you in?"

"Me? At Nook's house. How about you?"

"I was at Wang's house... How much did you get?"

"That pathetic miser Nook, three heads of cabbage..."

"I got three won."

Boknyeo replied proudly.

About ten minutes later, she and her husband, having placed the three won in front of them, were laughing as they talked about Mr. Wang.

From then on, the Chinese Wang visited Boknyeo's place often.

If Mr. Wang sat there for a while without a word, Boknyeo's husband noticed and went outside.

Whenever after Wang left their house, the two celebrated their earning, placing one or two won in front of them.

Boknyeo gradually stopped trying to charm the village beggars.

When Wang was too busy to come, Boknyeo would even go to his house on her own.

Boknyeo and her husband were now one of the richest family in that slum.

That winter passed, and spring arrived.

At that time, Mr. Wang bought a girl as his wife for a hundred won.

"Huh."

Boknyeo could only snort.

"Boknyeo, she must be jealous."

When the village women said this, Boknyeo snorted with a laugh.

"Am I jealous?" She always forcefully denied it. But there was nothing she could do about the dark shadow that grew in her heart.

"You bastard, Wang, you'll just have to wait and see."

The day to bring home Mr. Wang's bride drew near. Mr. Wang cut his long hair he had always been proud of. At the same time, rumors spread that it was the bride's idea.

"Huh."

Boknyeo, again, just snorted.

Finally, the day came. The bride, adorned with seven treasures and riding a four-men carrying palanquin, arrived at Mr. Wang's house, nestled in the vegetable field outside Chilseongmun Gate. Deep into the night, Chinese people gathered at Wang's house, playing strange instruments and singing strange melodies, making a lot of noise. Boknyeo stood hidden in a corner of the house, listening to the conversation inside with a murderous glint in her eyes.

Chinese guests left home around 2 a.m. Watching them leave, Boknyeo entered Wang's house. Her face was white with powder makeup.

The bride and groom looked at her in surprise. Glaring at them with angry eyes, she walked over to Wang, grabbed his arm, and held onto it. A strange laugh escaped her lips.

"Come on, let's go my home."

Wang remained silent. His eyes darted aimlessly. Boknyeo shook him once more.

"Come on, hurry."

"I have something to do tonight, so I can't go."

"Nonsense. In the middle of the night?"

"Still, I have a work..." The strange smile that had been lingering on Boknyeo's lips suddenly vanished.

"This pathetic thing."

She lifted her foot and kicked the bride's head, which was adorned with a veil.

"Come on, let's go, let's go."

Wang trembled. He shook off Boknyeo's hands.

Boknyeo fell. But soon she got back up. When she did, she held a blade-flashing sickle in her hand.

"You bastard Chinese. Die, die! You hit me! You bastard, oh my, you're killing me!"

She cried out loudly and swung the sickle. Standing alone in a remote field outside Chilseongmun Gate, Wang's house erupted in a frenzy. But the action soon died down. The sickle in Boknyeo's hand had already handed into Wang's hand, and Boknyeo collapsed there, blood pouring from her neck.

Three days had passed, yet Boknyeo's body wasn't taken to the grave. Wang visited Boknyeo's husband several times. Boknyeo's husband also occasionally visited Wang. They both engaged in some sort of negotiation.

Three days passed.

During the night, Boknyeo's body was moved from Wang's house to her husband's.

Three people sat around the body: Boknyeo's husband, Mr. Wang, and a herb medicine doctor. Wang silently took out his money pouch and gave three ten-won bills to Boknyeo's husband. The herb medicine doctor also received two ten-won bills.

The next day, the herb doctor diagnosed Boknyeo as having died of a cerebral hemorrhage, and they took her to the cemetery.

Source: Joseon Literature 4 (January 1925)