King Talhae, the Fourth King第四脫解王

He was Talhae Chijilgeum (脫解齒叱今).〔Also called Tohae Isageum.〕

In the time of King Namhae〔Old books say he came in an imin year, but this is wrong. If it is set late, it would fall after the start of King Norye's reign, and there would have been no yielding of the throne. If it is set early, it would fall in the age of Hyeokgeose. So it is clear that imin is not right.〕 a boat came and anchored in the sea off the state of Garak. King Suro of that state, with his ministers and people, beat drums and welcomed it, wishing to keep it there. But the boat sped away as if flying and reached Ajinpo (阿珍浦) in Lower Seoji Village, east of Gyerim.〔Even now there are village names Upper Seoji and Lower Seoji.〕

At that time there was an old woman by the harbor named Ajin Uiseon (阿珍義先). She was the mother of a fisherman in the time of King Hyeokgeose. She looked out and said, "There is no rock in the middle of this sea. Why are the magpies gathering and crying?"

She rowed a boat out to look, and the magpies were gathered on top of a boat. In the boat was a chest, twenty cheok long and thirteen cheok wide. She pulled the boat in and set it beneath a grove of trees. Not knowing whether it was ill or good fortune, she faced heaven and made a vow. Soon she opened it and found a handsome man, with seven kinds of treasure and slaves filling the chest.

She fed him for seven days, and only then did he speak.

"I am a man of the state of Yongseong (龍城國).〔Also called the state of Jeongmyeong, and also the state of Wanha. Wanha is also written the state of Hwaha. Yongseong lies a thousand li northeast of Wa.〕 In my country there were once twenty-eight dragon kings. They were born from human wombs, and from the age of five or six they ascended the royal throne in turn and taught the people to rightly cultivate their inborn nature and life. There were eight ranks of bone lineage (姓骨), but without being chosen they all rose to high position.

At that time my father the king, Hamdalpa (含達婆), took the daughter of the king of the state of Jeongnyeo (積女國) as his queen. For a long time they had no child. They prayed and sacrificed, seeking a child, and after seven years she bore a great egg. Then the great king gathered his ministers and asked them. 'For a human to lay an egg has never happened from old times until now. This is probably not a good omen.' So they made a chest, put me in it with seven kinds of treasure and slaves, loaded it on a boat, set it afloat on the sea, and prayed. 'Wherever you reach a land of destiny, found a state and make a house.' At once a red dragon appeared, guarded the boat, and brought it here."

When he had finished speaking, the boy dragged his staff, led his two slaves, climbed Mount Toham, built a stone mound, and stayed there seven days.

He looked out over the land within the fortress for a place to live, and saw a peak shaped like a three-day moon, a land where one could live long. So he went down to find it, and it was the house of Hogong (瓠公).

Then he used a trick. He secretly buried a whetstone and charcoal beside it, and the next morning came to the gate and said, "This is the house of my ancestors for generations." Hogong said, "No," and they argued, but there was no settling it.

So they reported it to the officials, and the officials asked, "How will you prove it is your house?" The boy said, "I am a smith by trade. While I was away for a while in a neighboring district, someone took the house and lives in it. Please dig the ground and look."

They did so, and indeed the whetstone and charcoal came out. So he took the house and lived there.

At this time King Namhae knew that Talhae was a wise man and gave him his eldest daughter as wife. She is Lady Ani (阿尼夫人).

One day Tohae climbed the Eastern Peak (東岳), and on the way back he had a servant fetch water to drink. The servant drew the water, and on the way he tasted it first before offering it. The horn cup stuck to his mouth and would not come off. When he was scolded, the servant swore, "From now on, near or far, I will never dare taste it first." Only then did it come off.

From then on the servant was afraid and obeyed, and did not dare to deceive him. Now on the Eastern Peak there is a well, which people call the Yonae Well (遙乃井). This is it.

When King Norye died, in the sixth month of the second year of Zhongyuan (中元) under Emperor Guangwu (光武帝), a jeongsa year, he ascended the royal throne.

Because he took another man's house by saying "Long ago (昔) this was my house," his surname was made Seok (昔). Some also say that because the chest was opened through the magpies (鵲), the character for bird (鳥) was taken off, and Seok (昔) was made his surname. Because he was born by undoing the chest and breaking out of the egg, he was named Talhae (脫解).

After twenty-three years on the throne he died in the fourth year of Jianchu (建初), a gimyo year. He was buried on the hill at Socheon (疏川), and later there was a command from his spirit. "Bury my bones with care."

The circumference of his skull was three cheok and two chi, and the length of his body bones was nine cheok and seven chi. His teeth were fused as one, and all the joints of his bones were linked together. These were the bones of what is called a strong man without match under heaven.

They were ground and made into a clay statue (塑像), which was placed inside the palace. Then the spirit announced again, "Set my bones on the Eastern Peak." So it was placed there.

〔One account says this. After his death, in the reign of the twenty-seventh king, King Munmu, in the second year of Tiaolu, a gyeongjin year, on the night of the fifteenth day of the third month, a sinyu day, he appeared in a dream to Taejong. An old man of very stern and fierce appearance said, 'I am Talhae. Dig up my bones from the hill at Socheon, make a statue, and set it on Mount Toham.' The king followed his words. So to this day the state sacrifices have not ceased, and he is the god of the Eastern Peak (東岳神).〕