THE BLIND MAN

DAUGHTER
A very long time ago, there was a poor and blind man named
Shim. He lived only with his wife. They neither had daughter nor son
and there no day went past without praying to the spirits for the miracle
of a child. Then, their prayers were granted, and his wife gave birth a
gorgeous daughter named Shimchong. Unfortunately, their happiness
did not last long. His wife died after giving birth. Thus, Shim raised up
his daughter by himself. The days went by, and Shimchong grew into a
beautiful young woman, loved to her father.

One day, Shim was going to somewhere alone. When he walked

across a field, he fell into a deep ditch that was used as an irrigation
channel to bring water to the fields. He tried to climb into the surface.
But, still, the more he struggled, the more he slid back again into the
ditch. He was so sad and thought that he would die. The only thing he
could do was bemoaning for his blindness until a voice spoke to him
from the surface.

"Old man," said the voice, "You always complain about your
blindness. We monks will give you a good offer. If you will to be able to
see again, please send 300 sacks of rice as the offering to Lord Buddha
to the temple. Then we will pray for you to heal your blindness."

Shim cried out, "Alright monks! Please save me now and bring me
back to my daughter safely. I will give whatever you ask Lord Buddha."

As soon as Shim promised that thing, he felt gentle hands lift him
up to the surface. For the old blind man, it was like those hands came
from heaven only to bless him. Shim was so happy and he thanked the
monks many times. Then, he swore that he would send the 300 sacks of
rice to the temple.

His happiness soon turned into sadness. When he was already

home and dry, he realized that he had no chance to keep his promise to
the monks.

“Oh Shimchong my daughter,” he said, “What should I do? We

are so poor and I do not even could share a rice bowl for other. Then
now, I promise 300 sacks of rice for the temple. I cannot imagine what
will happen to us. It was my promise for Lord Buddha!”

Shim and her daughter, Shimcong, started to weep. Neither of

them had an idea to pay their debt to the temple. It was a tired day for
Shim that he fell asleep, but for Shimcong, it was the most difficult thing
she ever faced in her life. She could not sleep and stayed awake until her
mother appeared and said, “Go to the harbor tomorrow. There you will
find a merchant looking for a young girl. Go with him, and he will
provide the 300 sacks of rice.”

It did happen. Far from Shimcong home, there was an angry

Dragon King of the East Sea. He was mad with a rich merchant and sent
storms to sink the merchant’s ships on the way to China. Depressed by
the losing ships, the merchant came to the Dragon King’s temple. The
priest there said that he, the rich merchant, must find a young woman
and sacrifice her to the Dragon King.

Then, the merchant announced that he offered gold for those

family who was brave enough to sacrifice their young daughter.
Unfortunately, there was no one would do what he asked till Shimcong
came. In doubt, she went to the merchant, offered herself, and asked 300
sacks of rice as the return. It was not about the sacrifice worried her, but
the 300 sacks of rice did. She thought it was not a cheap request. On the
other side, it was a lucky shooting star for the merchant. He thought
nothing and granted Shimcong wish.

Meanwhile, on the other earth side, Shim got 300 sacks of rice and
sent it to temple. The monks kept their words and started to pray to
return the Shim's sight. But, nothing happened. It did not work. Poor
Shim, now not only he remained poor and blind, but he lost the only
daughter he had too. It was just like a nightmare for him. He was
completely alone.

Far from the old and sad Shim, Shimcong boarded the merchant'
ship, ready to sacrifice all she had in her life. There was nothing
happened on the sea. The waters were calm, but in the next second, it
became a nightmare for her. It was like a tsunami. The great waves
approached the ship and started to toss it. The Dragon King's tail
thrashed the water and created the waves.

The merchant then asked Shimchong to wear her fancy glamorous

wedding dress. Then he brought her out on the edge of the deck. In the
silence, Shimchong quietly whispered a prayer, and then jumped over,
sinking into the waves. After she disappeared, the waves gradually
decreased and the sea became calm again. It was a heartbreak moment
for the sailors on the ship, those who cried aloud realizing that they had
never seen a very beautiful woman died in youth.

Shimcong sank reaching the ground of the cold sea. As she came
to the ground, her eyes were opened and she was surrounded by fish that
led her to the Dragon King of the East Sea palace. Then, there she lived,
full of a smile at first, but ended in sorrow when she began to miss her
father a lot. Her tears were fell on the sadness.

It was a heartbreak for the Dragon King. His heart could no longer
tolerate seeing the lovely girl crying an crying again so sad. Her love to
her father touched the Dragon King's heart. As touched by her goodness,
the Dragon King sent Shimcong back to the land above. But, under one
case, firstly he transformed her into a lotus flower.

One day, a fisherman found the giant lotus blossom on the edge of
a river. It was so beautiful and the fishermen decided to make it as a gift
to the King of the land. The King himself was so currently desperate in
deep mourning after his queen death till finally stopped when he saw the
lotus flower. He thanked the fishermen for giving him a beautiful flower
and gave some gold to the fishermen. The flower was set in his room.
Thus, whenever he felt sad, he would look at the flower and admire it.

One thing the King did not know was that in everynight, when it
became so dark, Shimcong could go out from the lotus flower and walk
around the palace. But, at the first light, she would go back into the
flower.

The secret was not revealed till the King found a beautiful woman
in his room. It was the night when the King could no slept and he
decided to open the curtain to let the moonlight came and accompanied
him in the dark. When the curtain was opened, he turned back and met
the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Shimcong was shocked and tried to go back to the lotus blossom

but it had vanished. She said nothing and the King fell in love with her,
the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, at the first sight. Then they
married finally.

On their wedding day the King asked whether she had anything to
wish and he would grant whatever she asked. Shimcong said that she
wanted a great banquet to celebrate the wedding and all of blind men in
that land should be invited to dine together with them. It was so strange
for him, but, still, he kept his promise.
 On that day, there were so many blind men came from around the
land. Shimcong as the queen watched from behind the silk curtain,
wishing to see her father. More and more blind men came but none of
them was her father. She thought her father was dead until one last blind
man came into the banquet.
He was so skinny, old, weak, and hardly walk. His clothes were
dirty and covered with dust.

Shimcong shocked, cried and approached him quickly. She held

his hand and whispered, "Papa, it's me...". The old blind so surprised and
it was just like a miracle. By the time he heard his daughter voice, he
opened his eyes and got back his sight. That was the story of The Blind
Man's Daughter.