- A Forty-Nine-Day Work of Renewal
- 1 While staying in Seoul, conducting the work of renewal for the emperor floats upon the sea, Sahng-jeh-nim gave an order to Gim Gahp-chil.
- 2 “Go back to Gu-rit-gohl Village, to Hyung-yul and Sung-baek. Every day for forty-nine days, you three must together make one paper lantern and each make a pair of straw shoes.
- 3 With those shoes, I will provide shoes for the people of the world; with those lanterns, I will light the dark way for the people of the world.”
- 4 Gahp-chil returned to Gu-rit-gohl Village and did as he was told. In May, Sahng-jeh-nim returned to Gu-rit-gohl Village and had Gahp-chil sell the shoes at the Wun-pyung market.
- 5 Also, Sahng-jeh-nim wrote the words yin and yang on each of the paper lanterns and then burned them all. Then, He said to Gahp-chil, “Bring Me two ginkgo nuts.”
- 6 Gahp-chil looked everywhere, but could not find any. Eventually, he discovered that his elder cousin had two of them.
- 7 Gahp-chil brought them to Sahng-jeh-nim, who placed them in the ashes of the paper lanterns and said, “Gather the ashes and scatter them a handful at a time in the stream in front of the house. Then, look up at the sky.”
- 8 Gahp-chil did, and when he looked up at the sky, he saw clouds moving just like the ashes floating down the stream.
- 9 After this work of renewal, Gahp-chil kept the ginkgo nuts.
- (JSD Dojeon 5,109)
