A Single Shard

The morning Tree-ear leaves, Min gives him a string of coins to buy food and touches his shoulder momentarily, startling Tree-ear. Ajima gives him a bag of rice cakes as well as treats in the form of dried fruit. For six days, Tree-ear walks from village to village, often receiving food and hospitality from villagers. But then he has to spend the night in a mountain forest, away from other people. He beds down by two large boulders and builds a fire. After he eats, he forms a little piece of clay into a turtle until it gets dark.

In the night, a strange noise wakes Tree-ear. Assuming it’s a wild animal, he shoves his pack into an opening between the two boulders and struggles in after it to hide. There he waits, terrified. When a fox comes into view, Tree-ear is convinced that the fox will enchant him out of his hiding place and eat him. He shuts his eyes to protect himself from the fox’s magic gaze. When, after a long time, he opens them, the fox is gone—but he decides the fox might be lying in wait, so he stays cramped in his hiding space. When he awakes the next morning, he realizes that he fell asleep in hiding and survived the fox. He laughs joyously, thinking that people are afraid of the unknown and wanting to discuss this idea with Crane-man.

Crane-Man suggested that Tree-ear stop in a city called Puyo to see a landmark called “Rock of the Falling Flowers,” where the concubines of the king of the Paekche kingdom, along with their female servants, jumped off a cliff rather than be taken captive and tortured by the invading T’ang Chinese army. Now the cliff from which they jumped is a monument inspiring people who need bravery. Tree-ear, admiring the women, wants to go see the rock and tell Crane-man about it when he gets home.

When Tree-ear reaches Puyo, he sees a pottery stall selling celadon ware with inlay work. Shocked to realize that Kang’s innovation has already reached Puyo, Tree-ear thinks that he needs to get Min’s vases to Songdo as soon as possible.