Yom Sang-seop - Three Generations

Sang-hun often heard his father talk of such things when he was drunk, but it was the first time that the old man, stone sober in consideration of the rites, spoke of them in front of the entire crowd of young relatives. All of a sudden, Sang-hun felt betrayed, as if everyone were against him. No one in his own family would be on his side, let alone the extended family present in the room.

“You don’t care about your father and mother or even your wife and children. So I say you deserve a little hardship. I know the only reason you come to see me every month. What if I had nothing? You’d never visit me. You’d let me die in the woods somewhere. Now get out of here, you bastard! You’re no member of the Jo family. How dare you say that we’ve borrowed ancestors?” The old man suddenly jumped up and charged toward his son as if he were going to bulldoze him out of the room. The young people rushed over and blocked him.

“Sang-hun, I think you should go now. He’s a bit too worked up. ” Chang-hun pulled his cousin out to the veranda.

Sang-hun thought his father might be going senile, but he was embarrassed in front of all the younger relatives, including his own son. He couldn’t go into the main room in the inner quarters, nor could he move to the smaller room in the outer quarters, where the ones close to Deok-gi’s age sat together. He had no choice but to put on his hat and go down to the stone step. Deok-gi came out of the smaller room and stepped into the yard.

“Please join us in here,” Deok-gi stammered, but his father spun around and left without replying.

The old man woke up at the crack of dawn the following day, though he had gotten to bed at two in the morning after the rite and had slept in the main room in the inner quarters because so many visitors stayed on in the outer quarters. Before returning to the outer quarters, he had his usual three cups of morning wine. He was on his way to awaken the youngsters, who had stayed up most of the night. He knew it might not be easy. At that moment, the Suwon woman, who was sitting in the main room, heard doors slamming and raised voices. Deok-gi’s wife, startled by the noise while doing the dishes that had been piled high the night before, tried to listen carefully to what was happening. She told the maidservant, who was washing rice for the morning meal, to go see what had happened.

In the main room, too, the Suwon woman ordered her maid to go and take a look. She rushed out and returned right away, crying, “ Aigo, Madam, please go and see for yourself. How terrible! The master slipped on the ice on the shoe ledge and fell down!”

“What?” The Suwon woman, trembling with shock, ran out of the main room, slid her feet into her rubber slippers without looking down, and dashed to the outer quarters. The granddaughter-in-law and her maidservant trailed behind. The maid in the main room also rushed out. Amid all the commotion, the child woke up in the main room and began to cry.

It was only then that Deok-gi, still enjoying his sweet morning sleep, opened his eyes. Sliding open the door of his room, he asked, “What’s the matter?”

From the other room, his mother shouted, “Go to the outer quarters. They say your grandfather has slipped.” She wasn’t able to go herself because her daughter had slept with her the night before and as she was braiding the girl’s hair in preparation for school. The other women who had slept in the same room couldn’t come out immediately either; having lounged around gossiping so late, no one was properly dressed.

Only after Deok-gi had thrown on his shirt and pants and had rushed out did his mother and his sister, Deok-hui, manage to run to the outer quarters.

At the gate to the outer quarters Deok-gi’s mother met up with those who were coming back. The Suwon woman, wearing a scowl on her face, passed right by, ignoring her. Thinking that the younger woman was disturbed because she had taken too much time to come out, Deok-gi’s mother grew angry.

“How is he? Has he hurt himself?” she asked her daughter-in-law, who was walking behind her young grandmother-in-law. Deok-gi’s mother was indeed concerned about her father-in-law.

“He isn’t seriously injured. He’s resting in his room now.”

The old man, who was lying down, was troubled that his daughter-in-law had taken her time to check on him. Still, he preferred her to his own son, so he didn’t show his displeasure. When his daughter-in-law inquired about his well-being with her usual morning greeting, he said, “Yes, well, my back hurts a bit, but it should be all right.”

Turning to his granddaughter, he asked her kindly, “Are you going to school now? You look tired. Did you just get up?” He wondered what had kept them.

“No. We were just combing my hair. We heard you had fallen while Mother was in the middle of braiding my hair.” She smiled winsomely at the old man before turning to look up at her brother standing next to them. “Only a lazybones like my brother sleeps until this hour,” she teased.

“You spoiled girl!” the old man said. “At your age you don’t know how to braid your own hair?”

“I can, but I have so much hair. And when I braid it myself, I just can’t manage to capture that high-collar look,” Deok-hui answered, giggling.

“If you’re already worried at your age about looking high-collar. I don’t think I should send you to school any more.” Pleased with his granddaughter’s endearing ways, the grandfather continued the same line of conversation. Laughter and good feelings filled the room. At such times, the old man’s boyish features showed through in spite of his gray hair.

The grandfather tried to straighten up a bit, but he groaned from the pain in his back, and a scowl appeared on his face.

“Give your grandfather a back massage,” said the mother to Deok-hui, who obeyed and approached her grandfather.

“It’s all right. You’ll be late for school. They already went to fetch a doctor. He’ll be here soon.” The grandfather sent them back to the inner quarters and called for the Suwon woman. She came out with a change of clothes since the old man’s pants and jacket had been soiled.

“How could they just sit in their room without the slightest care when the whole house was in commotion?” Referring to Deok-gi’s mother and her daughter, the Suwon woman muttered loud enough for her husband to hear.

“She was braiding her daughter’s hair. What does it matter anyway?”

The Suwon woman didn’t like her husband talking this way. She wanted him to agree with her, and she didn’t appreciate the way he was siding with his daughter-in-law.

“How can you believe her? Braiding a girl’s hair when she’s already old enough to get married! When your wine was served, she ignored it and stayed in her room.” The Suwon woman had felt offended since early in the morning.

“Well, she probably went to bed late last night. It’d be different if her own daughter-in-law wasn’t around, but Doek-gi’s wife was already up and working in the kitchen.”

The old man was right, but the Suwon woman sulked even more.

He said he would change into his new clothes later because his back hurt, so she sat massaging him without a word.

Although in her opinion her stepdaughter-in-law should not have taken her time, she thought it equally bothersome to massage her husband’s back. She felt even less inclined to do it because he had refused to lend her a sympathetic ear. How worried she had been, rushing out after her husband’s fall! But how did she feel now? Why did she think it would have been better if he had been hurt more seriously? She couldn’t quite sort out her feelings.