Kim Si-seup Outwits a Foreign Envoy — Slow Night, Ancient Tales (English Version)

Long ago, word arrived that China intended to send an envoy to Korea. In those days, Chinese envoys often came looking for any excuse to embarrass or trouble the Korean court, so news of another visit threw the whole government into worry.

At that time, the boy who would later be known as Kim Si-seup was only seven years old. His father held a minor post at court, and when he came home fretting over the news, the boy spoke up.

"Then let me send that envoy straight back where he came from. Don't worry."

His father was stunned. "What could you possibly know at your age?"

But the boy insisted he could really do it, and urged his father to at least ask the court. Reluctantly, his father brought the matter before the king. The king, already anxious about the envoy's arrival, decided that even a child's confidence was worth a try, and gave his permission.

On the day the envoy was to arrive, seven-year-old Kim Si-seup went ahead to wait by the banks of the Yalu River. When the envoy's boat finally crossed and he mounted his horse, his groom broke off a willow branch to use as a riding crop. The envoy, pleased with himself, recited a line of verse on the spot:

"A horse bound for a thousand miles has found its whip."

From the reeds nearby, where he had been quietly playing, the boy answered at once with a line of his own:

"An oriole has lost a single branch of spring."

The envoy was astonished. A child had matched his verse so perfectly. He came closer and asked the boy who he was and whether he had studied the classics.

"I've never formally studied," the boy said. "I only listened from behind the schoolhouse while the other children read aloud."

Privately, the envoy grew uneasy. If an untrained child could respond like this, what might the country's true scholars be capable of? Determined to test the boy once more, he offered another line:

"A peach blossom falls to the ground without even a soft thud."

Without hesitation, the boy replied:

"A moon's reflection sinks into the water without even a gentle splash."

Hearing this, the envoy was shaken. He decided there was no point going further into a country where even the children spoke like this.

"If I go on," he muttered to himself, "I'll only bring trouble on myself."

And with that, he is said to have turned back at once, never completing his journey into Korea.