Shooting the Zither Case射琴匣
1Open it and two die; leave it shut and one dies
射琴匣第二十一毗處王〔一作炤智王.〕即位十年戊辰幸於天泉亭.時有烏與鼠來鳴,鼠作人語云“此烏去䖏尋之〔或云神徳王欲行香㒷輪寺,路見衆鼠含尾恠之,而还占之‘明日先鳴烏尋之’云云,此說非也.〕.”王命騎士追之南至避村,〔今壤避寺村,在南山東麓.〕兩猪相闘留連見之忽失烏所在.徘徊路旁時有老翁自池中出奉書.外靣題云‘開見二人死,不開一人死.’使來獻之,王曰“與其二人死莫若不開但一人死耳.”日官奏云“二人者庻民也,一人者王也.”王然之開見書中云‘射琴匣.’王入宮見琴匣射之.乃内殿焚修僧與宫主潜通而所奸也.二人伏誅.
Shooting the zither case.
In the tenth year after King Bicheo, the twenty-first king,〔Also called King Soji.〕 ascended the throne, a mujin year, he went out to Cheoncheon Pavilion.
At that time a crow and a rat came crying, and the rat spoke in human words, saying, "Find where this crow goes."
〔Some say that King Sindeok was going to offer incense at Heungnyun Temple, when on the road he saw rats holding one another's tails in their mouths. He thought it strange, went back, and had it divined, and the answer was 'Find the crow that cries first tomorrow.' This account is not right.〕
The king ordered a mounted soldier to follow it, and he went south as far as Pichon〔The present Yangpisa Village, on the eastern slope of Namsan.〕.
Two pigs were fighting each other. He stopped to watch, and suddenly lost sight of where the crow had gone.
While he was lingering by the road, an old man came out of a pond and presented a letter.
On the outside was written: 'Open it and two people die. Leave it shut and one person dies.'
The messenger came and presented it, and the king said, "Rather than two people dying, it is better not to open it and let only one person die."
The court astrologer said, "The two people are commoners. The one person is the king."
The king thought this right and opened it. Inside was written: 'Shoot the zither case.'
The king went into the palace, saw the zither case, and shot it.
It was the monk who tended the incense in the inner hall. He had been secretly meeting the palace mistress and committing adultery with her. The two were put to death.
Interlinear notes 3
一作炤智王.
Also called King Soji.
或云神徳王欲行香㒷輪寺, 路見衆鼠含尾恠之, 而还占之 ‘明日先鳴烏尋之’ 云云, 此說非也.
Some say that King Sindeok was going to offer incense at Heungnyun Temple, when on the road he saw rats holding one another's tails in their mouths. He thought it strange, went back, and had it divined, and the answer was 'Find the crow that cries first tomorrow.' This account is not right.
今壤避寺村, 在南山東麓.
The present Yangpisa Village, on the eastern slope of Namsan.
2Glutinous rice on the fifteenth of the first month
自爾國俗每正月上亥·上子·上午䓁日忌慎百事不敢動作.以十五日爲烏忌之日以糯飯祭之,至今行之.俚言怛忉言悲愁而禁忌百事也.命其池曰書岀池.
From then on, by the custom of the country, every year on the first Pig day, the first Rat day, the first Horse day, and the like of the first month, people shun and avoid all business and dare not stir to work.
The fifteenth day was made the day for shunning the crow, and an offering of glutinous rice is made. This is done to this day.
In common speech it is called 'daldo (怛忉)', which means to grieve and worry and to forbid and shun all business.
The pond was named Seochulji (書出池), the Pond Where the Letter Came Out.