Two Brothers: Part One

Acknowledgements

This play is based on the traditional Korean tale ‘Heungbu and Nolbu’, with additional material adapted from classical and folk Korean poetry.

Cast of Characters

SONHWA, the Narrator.
Gentle goddess of the pumpkin, her name means ‘Fairy Flower’. She wears a traditional high-waisted Korean dress in shimmering white, bound with a blue and orange sash, and an elaborate orange head-dress that represents the pumpkin.

HEUNGBU
NOLBU, older brother to Heungbu
BO BAE, or ‘Treasure’, wife to Heungbu
TAEKWON, or ‘Sour Pickle’, wife to Nolbu
JOO EUN, or ‘Silver Pearl’, Heungbu’s baby daughter

1st SWALLOW
2nd SWALLOW
SWALLOW KING
SWALLOW COURTIERS, MAID SERVANTS & CHILDREN
A SERPENT

TWO SMALL BOYS
TWO MOON MAIDENS
TWO GOBLINS

A SWALLOW PUPPET

NOTE: Downstage right is a small tree, about 5 feet in height, which occupies the same place throughout and indicates the change of seasons. In spring it is covered in white blossoms — it is a plum tree. In winter it is a snow-covered pine. In autumn it is a maple covered in bright red leaves.

1. PROLOGUE

[The story takes place in a small Korean village, long ago. Centre stage is a snug and comfortable house set in a garden. Downstage right the plum tree. Rosy dawn light and the morning chorus of birds. Enter Sonhwa.]

SONHWA I am Sonhwa, the Flower Fairy of the Pumpkin
Every spring I bear a white blossom
Every fall I yield a big bright pumpkin
Tasty to eat, also useful for drinking gourds
or fine hat!
[Taps her head-dress.]
In this house live two brothers.
Their names are Heungbu and Nolbu.
Nolbu is the older brother.
I’m afraid to tell you about him —
You won’t like hearing it. He’s not a nice man at all.
What’s he like? Well!
Eats a lot, drinks a lot, curses a lot
Beats people up a lot
Has his own way a lot
Slaps his own wife a lot
Slaps crippled man, pinches baby
Speaks rough words to father and mother
Pulls a dog’s tail
Drowns a cat
Spits in the rice pot
And rubs pepper in people’s eyes just for fun.
His heart is crooked like a kudzu vine, grown all in a tangle.

His wife Taekwon is named after the sour yellow pickle which she resembles very much. She’s so greedy she wants the best of everything for herself. If she went to the market and saw some fine new thing for sale, she’d fall down in a faint if she couldn’t have it, and wouldn’t get up for maybe one hundred days.

Now Heungbu is not like that at all. Heungbu, the younger brother, is good-natured and loyal. His heart is straight as a flying arrow. He loves his wicked brother Nolbu, and sighs to see him do wickedness every day. Still, he says nothing, he bites his lips. Even when Nolbu beats him he tries to bear it without complaining. His wife Bo Bae is named after a treasure, but she’s only a poor farmer’s daughter. Still, she’s a simple, good-hearted girl. Whether she will be a treasure to Heungbu we must wait and see.

Now father and mother have died, and the house, and the rice fields, and the horses, and the cattle and the money all belong to Nolbu. I wish he would share a little of this wealth with his brother! Are they not sons of the same mother? But no, Nolbu has told his brother to leave the house where he was born, immediately — right now — this very morning.

Surely in the western paradise she weeps
To see such cruelty from brother to brother.
How can you put him out of the house?
Are you not both children of mine?

See in the garden these tears of dew
A mother is weeping for her children.
One for his wicked heart
The other for his sorrow.

The little leaves are wet with mother’s tears
The morning sky is wet with her tears.

[Exit Sonhwa]

2.

[Now it is bright morning. The house door flies open and Heungbu and his wife, Bo Bae, tumble out, propelled by heavy blows from Nolbu. They lie on the ground, dazed and shaken. Nolbu stands in the doorway and behind his back we see his wife Taekwon, who shakes her fist at them.]

NOLBU [Shakes his fist at them.]
You good-for-nothing!
Now get out of my house and don’t show your ugly face again.
Don’t think you can live off me. What’s mine is mine.
You and your lazy wife clear off, double quick!

TAEKWON Yeah, that’s right — clear off!
No more getting fat on my rice!
Greedy little brother.
No more dressing up in my clothes!
Ugly sister-in-law.

NOLBU Wife, shut up — I’ll do the talking.
Now the two of you get out of here.

HEUNGBU Brother, don’t talk like that!
Brothers are like hands and feet.
If we two brothers part
Won’t we stumble on the road of life?
Won’t we miss one another’s helping hand?

NOLBU [grinning]
I think I’ll manage all right without you
And your free-loading wife.
Now shut your mouth and clear off!

[He goes into the house and slams the door. Heungbu gets up and helps Bo Bae to her feet. They brush themselves off and straighten their clothes.]

BO BAE [Gently arranging his clothes for him, brushing the dust from his hair.]
Never mind, my husband
If your brother says ‘go’, let us go.

HEUNGBU [dazed]
But where shall we go? Where?
We have no home now.
Nowhere to go.
Nolbu has given us nothing
Not even a water gourd, not even a shirt,
Not even a pair of straw sandals. Nothing.

BO BAE The swallows have their nests
And the foxes their holes.
We too can build a house for ourselves.
Let’s go up into the green mountains
There we can cut reeds enough
to make a small house.

3.

[Heungbu and his wife begin to walk. Behind them the scene changes to a rugged mountain landscape. Enter Sonhwa]

SONHWA They walked and walked till they came to a bare place under a mountain, that nobody wanted. There they cut reeds and, working all day, soon built a house for themselves.

[Light comes up on a tiny reed hut. Inside are Heungbu and Bo Bae.]

SONHWA But it was not much of a house.
That house was so small, when they lay down to sleep
Their feet stuck out of the door.

[Heungbu and Bo Bae’s feet appear under the door.]

That house was so small, when they got up in the morning
Their heads poked right through the roof!

[Heungbu and Bo Bae now stand and their heads appear, poking through the roof.]

At night they could see the stars shining over their heads.
When it rained the rain came in
And rained right into the house.
When the north wind blew it blew right through the walls
Right into the house
Where Heungbu and his wife shivered and shivered
And shivered with cold.

[Heungbu and Bo Bae shiver, clasping one another, and collapse onto the floor of the hut.]

What to do?
Hold tight, keep warm together
Soon they get a baby like that.

[Sound of a baby crying inside the hut. Now the tree is changed to the snow-covered pine.]

4.

SONHWA They call that baby Joo Eun, after the silver pearl, hoping she will bring good fortune to her parents. Poor Joo Eun! How should a baby bring good fortune? No sooner born, she is hungry and cold. Daughter of a poor man, she cries all day and all night. Heungbu works hard, ploughing in winter, planting in spring, still the rice pot is empty most nights. Bo Bae works hard, sewing clothes for rich ladies, pounding grain, picking herbs in spring, still too many nights the pot is empty, the chipped bowls stand upside down on the shelf. Poor Bo Bae! Wife of a poor man, her tears fall into the thin broth she is stirring, hoping to make it grow thicker. But stirring alone won’t thicken soup, and her tears only make it salty.

See them now, dressed in old rags, sitting in their ice-cold hut with nothing but broth for supper.

[Inside the hut. Heungbu and Bo Bae are seated on the floor at a low table. Bo Bae holds the child in her lap. Before them are two small bowls of broth. Bo Bae is trying to feed some broth to the child.]

BO BAE Come, Joo Eun, come my little silver pearl, just one mouthful. Oh! She only spits it out.

HEUNGBU No wonder. This broth tastes of nothing but salt. Pah! [spitting it out] Nobody can eat this stuff.

BO BAE [to the child] Come, my sweet girl, come now, my precious jewel, open your mouth … Oh! She simply won’t eat it. [Begins to cry softly] What are we to do? I’ve no more milk to give her, and she won’t eat the broth. Look how thin she is, poor little thing!

[The baby begins to cry piteously. Bo Bae croons to her, rocking her in her arms.]

Hush, my baby, don’t cry!
Will you have sweets?
Will you have rice?
Mama has no more milk for you.
It’s all gone dry —
Hush, oh hush, don’t cry!

Hush, my baby, don’t cry!
I don’t want sweets!
I don’t want rice!
Papa shall fetch a bucket of milk
From the Milky Way in the sky —
Hush, my baby, don’t cry!

There, she’s sleeping now. But I’m afraid hunger will soon wake her.

[She lays the child on a pile of rags in the corner, covers her with her own shawl.]

BO BAE [Turns to Heungbu.] Something must be done. The child is starving.

HEUNGBU Let us pray once more to Heaven...

BO BAE No, Heungbu! Listen to me — Are you the father of this child or not? All your prayers aren’t enough to fill her tiny stomach even once. Go to the house of your rich brother and tell him how it is with us. Surely he’ll let you have something, if only a little rice, if only a handful of barley, to tide us over until spring,

HEUNGBU My brother? The only thing I’ll get from him is a knock on the head for my trouble.

BO BAE You could at least try, if only for the sake of our child. He is your brother, after all.

HEUNGBU Yes, he’s my brother. Very well, if you insist, I’ll go. Only please don’t expect too much. You know what he’s like.

5.

[Outside Nolbu’s house. The snow lies thick. Downstage right the snow-covered pine, downstage left, a wooden shelter filled with sacks of grain.]

SONHWA With a heavy heart Heungbu set out for the house of his brother Nolbu. Look at him — what a shame! With his patched coat, ragged trousers, his hat with a hole in it, and on his feet old straw sandals that are falling to pieces in the snow.

[Heungbu appears, approaching the house.]

Slowly, slowly, he draws close to the house
Slowly he circles it, afraid to speak to his own brother.
Tired and hungry, eaten up with fear
Perhaps it would be better, he thinks
To lie down in the thick snow and die.

But he remembers Bo Bae
Waiting patiently for his return.
He remembers Joo Eun, his tiny silver pearl,
Waiting for her father to bring her a bucket of milk
From the river in the sky.
He can’t fly up to that river of stars
And fetch down milk for his child
But he can at least try his luck
Here, with his older brother.

[Heungbu notices the pile of sacks under the wooden shelter. Cautiously he approaches and peeks into one of the sacks.]

HEUNGBU What’s this piled up
Sack upon sack in the courtyard?
Sack upon sack of rice!
Sack upon sack of barley!
What happiness for Heungbu —
My brother has so much grain
Surely he can spare one sack for Joo Eun.

[Meanwhile Nolbu is seen peering out the window at Heungbu. Heungbu goes up to the door and knocks, then steps back and bows very low. Nolbu opens the door.]

HEUNGBU [Bowed almost to the ground]
Most honoured older brother! I come to inquire about your health. Are you quite well, sir?

NOLBU Who are you?

HEUNGBU Who ... am I? Why, I’m Heungbu.

NOLBU Heungbu? Who is ‘Heungbu’? I don’t know anybody by that name.

HEUNGBU Oh, brother, how can you say such a thing? Don’t speak to me like that, brother, please don’t. I’ve come to your house, a shameless beggar, it’s true. I bow before you, here in the snow, and ask only a little rice, not for myself but for my hungry child.

Please, my brother
For the sake of love between brothers
Let me have just one sack of rice
for my baby girl.
I swear to you we are starving
There’s not a bite of food in the house.
If the child doesn’t eat something soon
She will die
and her tiny bones will scatter on the wind,
Her small spirit will soar away to heaven
Leaving her parents alone and desolate.

Pray, my brother
Let me have just one sack —
I’ll work hard on your farm when the spring comes
I’ll plough acres of fields for just one bag of rice.
Please, my brother
Remember the love between brothers
And let my child live.

NOLBU You shameless fellow!
If it’s heaven’s will to give me something
And you nothing — is that my fault?

HEUNGBU The fault is all mine, brother
I am truly shameless.
I stoop to beg for the sake of my child.

If you won’t give a sack
Give only one cupful —
A cup of rice that my child may live
If only for a day.

NOLBU Listen, whatever-your-name-is —
Why should I open my rice sacks for your sake?
Why should I rob even my dog of his dinner
to feed your ugly brat?

Why should my pigs go hungry
So your little pig of a daughter
Can get fat at my expense?
Aren’t you selfish, coming here
To rob me of what’s mine?

HEUNGBU Even if it be so, spare me, brother.

NOLBU [Motions Heungbu to follow him and walks to the wooden shelter where the sacks are stored.]

Come here, brother, right over here —
Maybe I’ve got something for you after all.

[Heungbu follows him eagerly. Nolbu reaches behind the sacks and takes out an axe-handle. He wheels round and beats Heungbu with it mercilessly.]

HEUNGBU Oh, brother, stop!
Don’t beat me, brother, don’t!
You’re worse than a roaring dragon!
You’re worse than a greedy carp!
Why do you treat me like this, why?
If you don’t want to give, don’t give —
But why do you beat me?
Oh, if our mother could see you now
What would she say?
Will you beat me to death, brother?

[Nolbu, exhausted with beating him, throws down the axe-handle and stands there, panting heavily, looking down at Heungbu, who lies on the ground, badly hurt.]

NOLBU That’s my answer. Now get out of here, you good-for-nothing.

[Nolbu goes into the house and slams the door behind him. Slowly Heungbu gets to his feet, rubs himself all over, examines his many wounds.]

SONHWA Now Heungbu’s heart was so heavy within him, his only wish was to return home. But first he must say good-bye to his brother’s wife. And who knows? Perhaps she, being a woman, would prove to have a softer heart than her husband.

[Light comes up on Taekwon in the kitchen, stirring a pot of rice with a large ladle. Heungbu approaches her, limping badly.]

HEUNGBU [bowing deeply]
Most honoured sister-in-law!
My best wishes for your honourable health!

[Taekwon turns around from the stove, pretends to be astonished to see him there.]

TAEKWON What, you? What do you want?

HEUNGBU Only a handful of rice,
Dear sister-in-law,
Only one spoonful of rice
For my baby girl —
Joo-Eun, the silver pearl,
Beloved child of most unworthy parents.

[Overcome with desire, Heungbu approaches the rice pot. Taekwon hits him across the cheek with the ladle.]

TAEKWON How dare you come in here! You want to rob us? Help, husband! Help! It’s that brother of yours again!
[Heungbu rubbing his cheek finds a few grains of rice have stuck there. Unable to control his hunger, he swallows them.]

HEUNGBU Ah, generous sister-in-law,
Hit me again, please —
Here, on the other cheek!
Let me have just a few more grains of rice
To take home with me...

TAEKWON I’ll let you have something, all right!

[She puts down the ladle and takes up the poker from the kitchen fire and hits him with that. Heungbu retreats under her blows. He collapses in a heap under the snowy pine tree.]

6.

[Night has fallen. Heungbu comes to himself again under the pine tree. A bright moon has risen. He sits up and looks around him.]

HEUNGBU Now the bright moon shines on the world below
A Palace of Broad Cold everywhere glittering.
Snowy treasures, free for the taking
Property of everyone.

How can my heart be sad
in such a place as this?
Surely the simple life is best.

Poor and foolish me!
May I live like a bird
Trusting all to heaven.

Good fortune and bad
Let them come as they will
Truly a man’s path is not his own.

[Heungbu gets to his feet, brushes the snow from his clothes, and begins the journey home, limping painfully.]

7.

SONGHWA Meanwhile, in the little hut, Bo Bae is waiting anxiously for her husband’s return. As the thirsty earth waits for rain in a long drought, as the prisoner deep under ground waits for the day he will see the sun again, as the motherless child waits with a heart full of pain for the one who has gone away, so she waits for her beloved husband.

[Inside the hut. By the light of a single lamp, Bo Bae is working at a spinning wheel; her child lies in a heap of rags at her feet.]

BO BAE [sings]
O, my jewel! O my pearl!
In heaven, on earth
The best little girl!

Tiny gem under my jacket
Like a green leaf my daughter came.
If I had gold, if I had silver
I’d give it all for this child of mine.

Round my heart the rain clouds gather
Spin by moonlight the moonlight silk.
Mama shall make you a moonlight jacket
Moonlight jacket white as milk.

You are a fairy bright as a moonbeam
You are a Princess come down from the sky.
If I had coral, pearls and amber
Still this child I never could buy.

[She pauses for a moment to listen for the sound of Heungbu returning, but hears nothing.]

BO BAE [to herself]
So late! And still no sign of him. How can people say ‘time flies’? Tonight it seems to stand still, just as if the cold had frozen it.

[Resumes her spinning and singing.]

Round my heart the darkness gathers
Snow is falling round the house.
Round and round the wheel is spinning —
Bring some rice for my little mouse!

[Again she leaves off spinning. This time she has heard someone at the door. It is Heungbu. She goes quietly to the door.]

BO BAE [Speaking softly so as not to wake the baby.]

There you are at last, my husband!
Come in, come in, and show me what you’ve got.

[Heungbu staggers into the house and collapses onto the floor.]

BO BAE I see the wine was good at your brother’s house. A few fine toasts to brotherly love, that’s all very well. But where is the rice for Joo Eun?

HEUNGBU Listen, my dear little wife, it happened like this:

[He motions to her and she kneels down beside him to listen.]

When I got to my brother’s house
The two of them, Nolbu and his dear wife
Came running out to greet me.
Laughing with joy, they brought me into their house.
‘Brother, why don’t we see you more often?’ they cried.
They served up the best of the wine
And a huge lunch of steamed rice and juicy meat dumplings.
Then they gave me a heavy sack of rice
And another, just as heavy, of red beans.
‘Take this home for your dear wife and little Joo Eun,’ they said,
‘And be sure to visit us again soon.’
They even offered me one of their servant boys
to carry the sacks. But I,
Shamed by their generous nature said,
‘No, it is enough, Brother!’
I put the sacks on my back and started for home.

Only listen what happened next!
I was nearly home,
Just crossing that narrow pass where the kites nest —
There I met a robber
He knocked me down in the snow
and took all I had —
I’ve come home empty-handed.
Not my brother’s fault!
All my fault —
Poor and foolish Heungbu.

[He covers his face with his hands.]

BO BAE [speaking softly]
That’s enough! I see how it is.
One heavy sack of rice
One big sack of red beans —
All lies!
Oh husband of mine, why do you lie to me like this?
Don’t I know your brother Nolbu?
Don’t I know his wife?

[Gently she pulls his hands away from his face — they are covered in blood.]

What’s this? Blood on your hands?
Blood on your face?

[She examines him more closely.]

Cuts and bruises everywhere!
Don’t tell me — there was never any robber.
Your own brother has done this to you.
Oh, my poor husband!
And it was I who made you go to him!

[She fetches a basin of water and gently washes his wounds.]

Oh, my husband, my heart!
You said that you hated to go
You said it was no use asking him
But I, foolish wife — I insisted!
You, kind and gentle, wouldn’t say ‘no’ to me.
Now you’re bruised all over like a rotten peach!
Poor dear husband!
How could your brother beat you like that
And send you away without even
a single grain of rice?
Wicked Nolbu! Wicked and cruel!
To treat a brother like that.

HEUNGBU Bo Bae, my sweet little wife
You are better to me than any treasure.
Never mind my brother —
They say even a king in his castle
Can’t feed all his hungry people.
How then should my brother
fare any better?
Let’s not be afraid of our poverty —
There’s no shame in a humble life.
We’ll work harder than ever.
With so many chores in the village —
With ploughing and sowing
Spinning and weaving
Matting and thatching
Fetching and carrying
We’ll manage somehow until spring.
If we skip a few meals, what does it matter?
We’ll give what we have to Joo Eun
And our hearts will grow fat, watching her eat.

Good times, bad times — neither lasts forever.
Winter soon will pass and spring —
The lovely spring will come
Like an emerald wave rushing over the whole earth
Filling every corner with sparkling green.
Let’s live in peace with our poverty —
Honesty and good faith are treasures too.

[Bo Bae helps him to the mat and they lie down together in one another’s arms.]

Part Two