Hwang Sok-Yong - The Guest

“Sister-in-law, what is it that you want from me?”

“I want nothing. Peace on earth, glory in heaven — that’s what’s on my mind. Even if the world is filled with sin, we human beings should just try to get rid of it a little at a time as we live our lives.”

“Sister-in-law, let me say a prayer.”

At his words, Yosŏp saw her slowly clasp her hands together and lower her head. Doing the same, he drew a deep breath and began.

“Our Father in Heaven, I have returned to my home. Father and Mother and Big Brother Yohan, one by one, have left me — they have gone on to the next world. Though our family left this place together, I have returned alone. Here is my sister-in-law, Thy faithful daughter. Daniel, who was named after one chosen by God, is here also, living with his own family. Those of us who left this place lived our lives without hope, believing that those we left behind had all passed away, and yet here they are, alive and well. I have seen with my own eyes that this land, too, is still a home for souls Thou hast not forsaken — I know this now. Please, Lord, help us to not resent the suffering we caused each other in days long past. Help us to forgive one another. Accept my sister-in-law’s faith, faith as precious and as fragile as a flower bud in midwinter. Help it to grow. Forgive my family for all their sins. Though I, too, am a great sinner with no redeeming qualities, I pray. In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.”

As Yosŏp finished his prayer, he just barely heard a faint amen come from his sister-in-law, her head still hanging low. Yosŏp reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and took out his Bible, turning to the page he had in mind. It was the beginning of the confrontation between God and Satan over Job.

Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!”

Yosŏp skipped ahead to the scene where Job, after he has lost everything, protests against his fate:

He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand, and you merely look at me. You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me. You lift me on the wind, you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

Yosŏp closed the Bible and turned to his sister-in-law.

“Here we are shown that God keeps a different godlike being near him, a being that acts as an enemy to human beings. God is presented with the temptation to make a wager by this enemy. This shows us that God, though he is omniscient and omnipotent, can also possess inner conflict. This is not a blasphemy — it simply means that the recognition of God as the perfect being that he is can only come to us when, and only when, a human being’s belief in him is absolute. In this mire of sin, a human being is born anew only when he truly repents before God, the perfect being.”

Yosŏp finished his brief sermon. The faintest of smiles hovered around his sister-in-law’s face as she whispered to herself, “I knew it all along. ”

She addressed him once more.

“Both the oppressors and the oppressed have suffered because of the test. Brother-in-law, do you know why I couldn’t go on believing in the same way I used to?”

“No. Why?”

“Well, what that thing, that so-called husband — what he left behind was not his family.”

“What was it, then? What did he leave behind?”

“Guilt. What else? It was because of guilt that I couldn’t bring my faith back to life.”

Only then did Yosŏp remember the pouch in his pocket. He brought it out, just as he had done with Tanyŏl. Untying the string, he took out the tiny bone.

“This is Brother Yohan. After he was cremated, I kept this to bring here with me.”

He held out the little sliver of bone to his sister-in-law. She stared at it for a moment before reaching for it, picking it up with her thumb and forefinger. The tips of her fingers trembled slightly. She examined it closely, holding it right up to her eyes, then suddenly clutched it with both hands and hung down her head — unlike his nephew, however, she didn’t cry.

“Why did you bring this here?”

“It just happened that way.”

Yosŏp decided not to tell her about seeing his brother’s phantom. Instead, he said, “I may pass through Ch’ansaem tomorrow. I’m thinking about burying it there.”

His sister-in-law was still holding the bone in her hands.

“Who asked him to come back like this, in this awful form?”

At the end of a long silence, she handed the thing back to Yosŏp. He took it quietly, putting it back in the pouch and fastening the string tightly. His sister-in-law said, “At least he’s back, thanks to you, even if it is like this. Now that that spirit full of sin has come home, the souls who have been waiting to greet him will cleanse him. Uncle Sunnam, Uncle Ichiro, Pak Myŏngsŏn’s sisters Chinsŏn, Yŏngsŏn, Insŏn, and Tŏksŏn, Uncle Chungson’s wife, the lady teacher at the elementary school, and well, the people from those things they did in that warehouse—”

To stop the flow of words spilling out from his sister-in-law, Reverend Ryu raised his voice.

“Enough!”

For a long moment, the two sat together in silence. Unable to get up and leave without seeming awkward and abrupt, Yosŏp remained seated, listening to the pattering of the incessant rain. At length, his sister-in-law whispered, “There’s no God of Israel, no God of Chosŏn. God. God is simply God.”

She looked at Yosŏp.

“You’re a minister, so you should know. do you think I, too, can go to heaven?” she asked.

Yosŏp answered, “Observe the law of the nation. And pray, even if it’s all by yourself.”

IN THE MIDST OF A DARKNESS that could have belonged either to the depths of night or the morning hours just before dawn, Yosŏp felt sleep slowly falling away — a vague, faraway sound reached his ears. It was still raining; he could hear the water as it fell endlessly from the rainspout.

Hey, hey, wake up.

With a start, Yosŏp looked around. Where am I? Ah, right. This is Daniel’s house. His family must be asleep now in their bedroom, and Sister-in-law is probably sound asleep in the next room. I see it’s still raining.

Yosŏp. Wake up, I say.

The sound was coming from the head of his bed. Slowly he sat up and looked behind him. Big Brother Yohan’s phantom had come to call yet again.

Big Brother. you’re back again. How long do you mean to follow me around?

Until you let me go.

Where’s Uncle Sunnam gone? Has he left you to yourself?

They’ll all find their way back eventually.

So. What brings you here today?

Listen, you have to bury me in Ch’ansaemgol.

Then you’ll leave — without any lingering regrets?

Yes, I’ll follow my friends, go wherever it is they’ve gone. I’m so relieved to see that Daniel is here.

Daniel hates you, Brother.

That can’t be helped. Everybody here hates me. But you know, it’s a brand-new world for those who’ve been reborn.

Well, the thing that inspires all the hate shouldn’t follow them into that new world, should it? You need to cleanse yourself and leave.