The Palanquin Ride

“Are we out of the town yet?”

The muffled voice from inside the enclosed palanquin startled the palanquin bearers. It was sweet and lilting – that of a young girl in her earliest spring, approaching the cusp of bursting into blossom.

The two bearers were brothers. The younger one in front, Dae-Ho, hesitated before finally answering: “Yes, mistress. We have left your town and are now on the main road to Seosan.”

The older, sterner brother, Dae-Hyun, who bore the palanquin from the rear, registered his disapproval in the way he ever-so-slightly altered the cadence of his loping stride, so that Dae-Ho’s own rhythm was jarred.

The voice spoke again: “Are there many people on the road? Are there warriors in shining armor marching? Are there merchants on caravans bearing wondrous cargo? Are there noblemen in silk robes and tall hats riding on horses?”

Dae-Ho glanced at the old man they were passing, who was shuffling forward slowly, bent over by the bale of hay on his back. In the distance, up the dusty road in front of them, were three or four peasants walking the opposite way, towards them.

Dae-Ho said, “No, mistress. There are not very many people traveling at this hour.”

“Oh,” the girl said, that one utterance freighted with disappointment. After a mile or so had passed, she spoke again, hopefully: “Are we passing groves of cherry trees with pink flowers? Can you see castle walls with banners waving? Are there snow-capped mountains in the distance?”

Dae-Ho’s eyes swept through the rice paddies that quilted the countryside, the farmers’ hovels huddled at the foot of the modest hills to the south, the spindly trees and brush that lined the road. “No, mistress. We are in a poor, quiet part of the country.”

From behind, Dae-Hyun’s gruff voice rumbled, “Dae-Ho, be quiet.” Then, in a softer, subservient tone: “Mistress, we beg your pardon. My brother is young and impertinent – and should know better than to address one of his betters with such familiarity.”

A cheerful laugh sounded from within the palanquin. “Oh, there is nothing to forgive. He was only answering my questions.” Then, in a more somber tone: “It’s just that I’ve never been outside of my father’s house, much less outside our town. This is the first time I am traveling anywhere. But I cannot see anything from inside here and only wished to know what there is in the world outside.”

Dae-Hyun looked at the swaying tassels of the fringe that lined the palanquin and obscured its air holes. He had not considered it before, but inside the box, the girl was in darkness, her legs doubled over and wrapped in the tight binding of the silk gown that someone of her station wore; she would barely be able to move. Inside, the air must be hot and stifling. For an instant, Dae-Hyun’s chest constricted, and once again, the brothers’ rhythm was interrupted with a slight jolt.

The girl continued to speak: “Once I am brought to the widow Lady Choe’s household, there I will likely remain for years – perhaps even for the rest of my life.”

A silence fell. Then, to Dae-Ho’s surprise, his older brother asked a question: “You are to be married into the Lady Choe’s house, mistress?”

“Perhaps someday. For now, I am to be her handmaiden and companion, to keep her company in her old age. She has sons, but she also has many handmaidens for her sons to choose from. I am sure all of them are prettier than me.” She went on: “She is very rich, you know. My mother said that her compound covers an entire city block in Seosan. And there I will stay, for as long as she wills it, just as I have always been confined in my father’s house.

“My father was once a rich merchant himself, but he has fallen into difficult times. He has had to sell off his property little by little to keep my family’s station. Most of his land, most of his warehouses and goods. And now me.”

Dae-Hyun thought back to when he and Dae-Ho had entered the merchant’s courtyard earlier that morning to pick up the palanquin. The merchant’s wife was weeping, the merchant himself was stone-faced. Their servants were shutting the palanquin’s hatch and the overseer was locking it up with an iron lock. The brothers had not even caught a glimpse of the girl; she was already inside the palanquin when they arrived. The overseer, who had hired them for the job of bearing the palanquin, went to them with instructions, warnings, threats: the brothers were to bring her to Seosan directly; they were not to stop on the road; they were to protect the cargo – the girl – with their lives. Any failure on their part would mean flogging and imprisonment – and eternal dishonor to their families.

Dae-Hyun ventured, “You must be sad to leave your family.”

She said quietly, “Yes.” And after a pause: “And afraid of going to live with strangers I have never even met. What – what if they are cruel?”

Then she said, wistfully: “If only I could see out. I have never seen anything outside of my father’s house and garden. All I know of the world comes from the stories I am told and the paintings on our walls. What wonders must be out there!”

Dae-Hyun scanned the poor landscape about him. “Well… there are no noblemen or castles presently, but we are coming to a bridge.” And indeed, they were approaching a small, wooden bridge that spanned across a small creek.

“Oh, oh!” the girl said excitedly. “What does it look like? Is it made of marble?”

Dae-Hyun hesitated. It was Dae-Ho who answered: “No, mistress. It is made of silver and gold. Oh, how it blinds me!”

They crossed the bridge. Dae-Hyun hoped that the girl did not know difference between the sound of footsteps on wood from that of footsteps on metal.

“What else do you see?” the girl said. “Oh, please be my eyes.”

Dae-Hyun looked up in the sky. A crow was making its way from one tree to another, cawing as it flew. He said, “An eagle, mistress, flying high in the air, with wings spread as wide as… well, as wide as a dragon’s wings.”

“Oh!” the girl said, her voice filled with delicious fright. “Are we in danger? Will it swoop down and snatch the palanquin and carry me away?”

Dae-Ho said quickly, to allay her fears: “Oh, no, mistress. This kind of eagle only eats barley.”

“Oh? I have never heard of an eagle eating barley.” She sounded confused – and a little disappointed.

After a moment, Dae-Hyun said, “My younger brother is trying to assuage your fears – or else he is ignorant. This kind of eagle can carry off cattle, if it can swoop on them unawares. Do not lie to the mistress, Dae-Ho.”

“But surely it will not swoop down on us?” The note of excitement and fear had returned to her voice.

Dae-Ho said, “Do not worry, mistress. Your father’s overseer gave us spears to protect you with. We will keep the eagle away if it flies near.” After a moment, he added, “Please excuse my misleading you before. I did not want you to be frightened.”

“Please, I quite understand. I trust that you will keep me safe. Please tell me: what else do you see?”

“Umm…” The two brothers cast about. They saw a rabbit start at their approach and turn and run into its burrow. Dae-Ho said, “Mistress, you must be quiet now. We are approaching a cave where it is rumored a dragon sleeps.”

Dae-Hyun whispered, “Even our spears would be useless against such a beast. Our only hope is to walk softly by.”

The palanquin closed into itself in silence, a heavy, palpable thing. After the brothers had carried the palanquin some distance, Dae-Ho said, “We are safely past the cave now, mistress.”

A loud gasp of relief came from the palanquin. The palanquin itself seemed to lighten with the release of fear. She said, “Oh, you must be such brave men to court such dangers.”

The two brothers smiled. Dae-Hyun said, “Oh, not so brave. Everyone faces such things daily.”

“What else is around us?”

After the dangers they had put her through, the brothers sought to describe to her more pleasant things: an enormous temple with sweeping roofs far away that thousands of people visited each day; a forest of mulberry trees, their branches heavy with black fruit; a river laden with boats carrying precious jewels and exotic spices; mountain peaks that reached almost into the clouds. And as they approached Seosan at midday and the traffic began to get heavy and noisy, they were able to give her the noblemen and warriors and merchants she had desired. Once in the city, they conjured through their words the castles and banners she had asked for.

In time, they came to the house of the Lady Choe of Seosan. The large wooden gates opened and they were admitted into the courtyard, where they were finally able to lay down the palanquin and stretch their sore arms and legs. The lady herself came out and stood on the porch entrance, accompanied by servants and her steward, who had the duplicate key to the palanquin’s lock. Dae-Ho and Dae-Hyun glanced at each other, then frantically looked around the courtyard. They saw a stack of bamboo off to the side by the wall. They went to the stack and each grabbed a pole. The steward looked at them in surprise, as if he thought they had gone mad, then went to the palanquin and proceeded to unlock it.

Servants swung open the latch and helped the girl out. She was a tiny thing; she could not have been more than twelve or thirteen. She swayed as she stood up and hung on to the servants for support. Even as she blinked in the sunlight, she looked not at the lady, who was smiling down at her from the porch, but around the courtyard, as if she was searching for something.

Despite their fatigue, Dae-Hyun and Dae-Ho straightened their backs and stood up their bamboo poles alongside their bodies – like flagpoles, like spears. The girl saw them standing at attention as if they were soldiers and smiled. Then the servants closed in around her and brought her up the steps to the lady, and they all went inside the house, leaving the steward to show the brothers out the gate.

(May 2013)