Narrative
Samnyong the Mute
벙어리 삼룡이
Na To-hyang · 1925
Synopsis
In the district then known as Yeonhwabong, Oh, a rich and respected notable, has a mute, Samnyong, as his servant. Ugly and ill-built, Samnyong is sincere, faithful and tireless, and his master values him. The only son of the house treats him brutally, and he endures it. The son marries a young woman of worth; feeling inferior to her, he comes to hate and mistreat her, and Samnyong takes pity on her.
Context
The text appeared in July 1925 in the first issue of the journal Yeomyeong. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture sees in it the author's overcoming of the sentimentalism of his early work: in a world governed by money and rank, the servant's hidden affection takes him from submission to revolt, and the apparent simplicity of the character becomes an indirect way of speaking about a dark age. Na Un-gyu made a film of it in 1929, and Shin Sang-ok another in 1964.
Who it is for
A short narrative, of about ten thousand characters in Korean, centred on a character deprived of speech.
Prizes and reception
Translated into French in 1976 and into English in 2015, and adapted twice for the screen, thirty-five years apart.
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