The Fog Horn (Angae Godong) - Chapter 2

The village head listened to the words of Dangol and the young shaman. And regardless of Nuri’s will, he became a lighthouse keeper.

Many people objected to the idea of Nuri being a lighthouse keeper during summer months, when he was supposed to help with the field work. This was because even though Nuri may be a limp, his hands were faster than most people.

“No! What would you do with a leg that can’t even climb a ladder?”

“You can’t even work in the fields, let alone climb that thing.”

“We are going to need a lot of hands for a long time, and even if a young man falls out, the whole year’s farming will be ruined.”

“It’s better to be dead than alive.”

At the village hall, there were loud voices about Nuri’s whereabouts. Nuri’s opinion was not necessary.

Nuri sat in a corner eating rice mixed with the soup prepared by an old woman of the village. The rice at the village hall was expensive.

He spent a lot of money on his mother’s funeral. As a result, there wasn’t much rice left in his rice jar.

Nuri was the one to follow whatever the consequences were. He didn’t want to rebel against it. No matter what he did, he just had to get paid.

But there was one thing holding him back. He couldn’t get the strangeness and voice of the young shaman holding his hand tightly out of his head.

Nuri picked up the iron spoon and remembered the young shaman’s voice. She had told him to follow the map for the fortune of his mother and him. Nuri fiddled with driftwood with his left hand. The words kept ringing in his ears.

“Are you eating rice?”

It was Ko Cheol-woong. Nuri glanced at him and put another large mouthful of rice. As if anticipating his reaction, Ko Cheol-woong sat down firmly in front of Nuri.

“That girl is bitch.”

“Is that so?”

Nuri answered while munching on his rice. Cheol Woong hit him for not answering, and also hit him for not liking the answer. Therefore, it was best to give an ambiguous answer.

“Didn’t you see the way she looked at my father? I wanted to poke her eye out, but I didn’t. How dare she?”

Nuri nodded. The village head was no different than a god in Chungdo Island. He knew all the important and trivial matters of every household, and made decisions for them.

The villagers obeyed him without any objection. The only reason they could talk like this now was because the village head wasn’t around. Soon, after the village head would come back, everyone would be silent like clams.

Nuri put more rice in his mouth, thinking he should hurry up and eat more.

“Hey, who’s taking it away from you? Even My dog won’t eat what you are eating.”

“I have to finish it before the village head comes here.”

“Do you think my father gives a damn about feeding the likes of you?”

Nuri nodded. But he didn’t stop his busy hands. The words of the village head’s family were as powerful as the words of the village head. No matter how forced it was, it would be absolutely right. No. He had to say it was right. That’s how you survive on this island. Cheol Woong kicked the Soban [1] as if he didn’t like the way Nuri was slurping his food.

“Oh, my God.”

The old lady in the corner of the hall stared at them in surprise. Then she smiled softly.

“Nuri, you should have eaten more carefully.”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up.”

No one blamed Cheol Woong. Nuri stood up, and took a dishcloth, as if he was accustomed to it. And, as if he was displeased with that too, Cheol Woong tried to kick Nuri with his feet, but lowered his feet, when the village head made a coughing sound.

“You’ve become the president of the Youth association. Can’t you fix your habit?”

“…..”

“Get a hold of yourself.”

The village head said sharply to Cheol Woong and headed to the place where the male adults in the village were.

“Oh, the village head is here.”

Everyone rose from their seats to greet him. All of those who were arguing about whether they were right or wrong, seemed to have disappeared. The village head nodded and sat down.

“I found out that the girl was Kang Shin-moo. She uses a knives [2] and does Gongsu [3] . Not everyone can do it.”

“She does Gongsu? That little thing?”

The village head nodded.

“ Bodman [4] said that there are fifteen people who have escaped a major accident since they were trance channeled by her. Some people who ignored it as child’s word have been in serious accidents.”

“Uh-huh!…”

The people who tried to use Nuri for field work were silent. Although agriculture was practised, the main livelihood of the people of Chungdo was fishing. The deaths of Five people died one after another before half of the year came, kept the haenyeo [5] from going out to sea, and the barges were also tied up along the shoreline.

“What are you going to do about his wages?”

“It should be borrowed from the village’s common funds.”

“It’s all about protecting the lighthouse, so I can give a little money.”

“Wouldn’t he not work hard if he didn’t get enough money? Let’s just give him the money. People from other regions don’t care about the prosperity of our village.”

Nuri sat there pretending to have no thoughts. At times like this, revealing thoughts and emotions was something he did only in his teens.

His mother would shut his mouth and beg him not to. She told him not to confront the village chief’s son, not to confront the village chief, not to get angry at being called a stranger/outsider, and not to get offended at being called a fatherless child.

Nuri did all that. The one thing that he didn’t do was to abandon the way of speaking he learned from his mother.

The people in the neighborhood were uncomfortable with Nuri, who seemed to speak a different language from them. However, Nuri knew that even if he spoke the same language, he could never become one of them, so it was better to have the traces of his father and the teachings of his mother in his arms. At least that’s what little Nuri thought. And now, at 25, he was convinced that his decision was not wrong.

Nuri tried to looked as foolish as possible, as if he would go along with any decision. The village chief glanced at Nuri and said.

“Let’s think about wages after he starts working. First of all, let’s start boating/sailing. So, Let’s say that he will guard the lighthouse only while we’re working in the boat. Then, at dawn you will be able to go to any house you want.”

Everyone nodded in agreement as the village head came up with a clever solution. It was a solution that did not reflect Nuri’s opinion at all. But he didn’t argue and stood up. Meaningless rebellion would often return to violence. Nuri used to be helpless in the face of accumulated violence.

“May I go home now, sir?”

“Yes, you can go. You too, Cheol Woong, don’t wander around anywhere and go home quickly.”

“Yes.”

Nuri and Cheol Woong left the village hall together. The village hall made of soil using a whole log as a pillar was the pride of the village. It was also a social centre where everyone gathered. It was also a place where Nuri had always felt uncomfortable.

“Can you stay there all by yourself ? Even the ladders were all broken.”

“I’ll have to fix it. I’ll ask Seongjin hyung to do it.”

“Why would you ask Seongjin to do it? What about me?”

“Because Cheol Woong, you’re busy being president of the youth association, and you have to assist the village head.”

“I have to step forward as the president of the youth association, because it is important to the village.”

Cheol Woong said proudly. It would have been all right if he had asked for a new ladder. However, Ko Cheol Woong wanted to make a year of fuss in return for Nuri’s request. Nuri opened his mouth, thinking about his obvious mind.

“Then will the president of youth give me a hand? Because my legs are like this.”

“I will. I have to. If not me then who? Your legs…”

“…..”

“No, don’t go anywhere. Go inside and rest. I’ve brought you lot of mugwort rice cakes, so eat it.”

“Thank you.”

Cheol Woong lips twitched whenever Nuri praised him. He had a long scar across one side of his mouth from a childhood memory while playing with a fishing rod, which was not good to see because the scar seemed to move. However, Nuri didn’t say anything else and headed home.

The house at the end of the town, barely topped with a blue slate. On the cracked wooden floor, there were a bunch of mugwort rice cakes that Ko Chul Woong had thrown in a colander.

No matter what he gave, Ko Chul Woong always did this. He tossed it like dog food. He took the advantage of cracks in the floor, as if no one should see it.

Nuri brought the colander to the kitchen and went into his room. There was only one room. This was the living room and the bedroom. A small house that filled up when he and his mother lay down. Now he had to use it alone, but it didn’t feel big.

His mother was a small person. A small, skinny person who sat in a corner and spent all her life sewing. Nuri went and sat down where his mother used to sit. Only the place was exceptionally concave, and the blackened floorboard paper was glued to the ground. There he curled up with his back against the wall.

“Mom, the little shaman says she would offer a memorial service for you. She said she’ll do the Gut ritual for me, too.”

No one answered. Only Nuri’s voice hovered in the little house. Nuri pulled out the piece of driftwood from his sleeve.

What does she mean to follow a map? Was this little piece of driftwood a map? He couldn’t tell.

“Will it get any better?”

What does it mean by getting better? Nuri’s life had always been the same. A crippled life that continues as a outsider, working here and there. Nuri never dreamed of anything more. At least in Chungdo Island, it seemed that his place was already decided. No one would be able to change it.

After touching the driftwood for a long time, Nuri fell fast asleep. His face and clothes were still covered in dirt from the grave. That alone gave him an illusion that he was sleeping with his mother for some reason.

The room was warm and the size of the room felt just right. It was just like it had always been. Nothing has changed in his life yet. He couldn’t even feel his mother’s absence.

The real change would probably come after waking up. Nuri fell asleep, thinking that he was a little afraid of the morning that he would face alone when he opened his eyes.

He dreamed of swimming freely in the vast sea. His legs moved more freely than ever as he touched beautiful things and laughed.

Free.

Nuri laughed. His limp leg seemed to heal as if it was cured. Nuri was happy. He was happy to have a moment to live as he pleased. He didn’t want to wake up, he just wanted to stay like this.

Lots of tiny droplets of water poured down on his face. Like something exploding, but beautifully scattered. The biggest drop of water came to Nuri and popped with a pop.

‘I’ve been waiting for you.’

It was a very sweet voice. The voice that fluttered along with the water droplets was low and mysterious.

‘Who? Who’s waiting for me?’ Nuri thought.

As he looked around, the water drifted out. Nuri stood on the ground, dry as bone. It was as if his freedom had been an illusion. Nuri shook his head in his dream. He waved his hand asking to be taken back to the world of water.

‘I’m waiting for you.’

The voice was heard again. Nuri turned his head to the direction of the voice. But saw nothing. There was only a bright flash of light and the morning had arrived.

1. Soban (Korean: 소반; Hanja: 小盤) are small tray-like tables, usually wooden, used in Korea for carrying food and as individual dining tables
2. (An important weapon used by a shaman during exorcism.)
3. Gongsu(공수), refers to words of gods or oracles delivered through a possessed shaman in the course of shamanic ritual or fortune-telling session
4. Occupational name denoting a messenger or the servant of a messenger.
5. Haenyeo (also spelled haenyo) are female divers in the Korean province of Jeju. Haenyeo enters the sea and harvests a variety of mollusks, seaweed, and other sea life from the ocean.