Korean Short Stories
Lee Moon-jae Mendiccant 탁발 托鉢 Translated by Kevin O'Rourke
Information This work was previously published in New Writing from Korea . Please contact the LTI Korea Library. library@klti.or.kr
Mendiccant Hawk impaled in air; vertical dive; 300 km an hour. Sky drops hawk. Wings folded to utmost; bones hollowed to utmost. Eyes and beak form a keen triangle, gravity defiant. Shocked air particles badly abrade, lumps hacked out in places. At the yard entrance where the hen disappeared, two or three tail feathers fluttered and fell. Paektu Range is like a reclining Buddha, chin cupped to the right. First village under heaven. A bull, belly distended,
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slaps his tail across his back. Mountain and valley seem fuller now. May midday: a mendicant monk crosses the ridge, his body in his rucksack. Copyright 2008 Literature Translation Institute of Korea
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