First Steps II

At the guild Nam Mu, Mule and Li Jie had made a plan as to what was priority and could wait. They were not sure what they had to do to make Nam Mu into a real young master. But Li Jie wasn't too worried. Li Jie looked at Nam Mu. “Let’s start with teaching you the Goryeo language; Hangul, it means “Great Script” it consists of 24 letters, including 14 consonants and 10 vowels*. The consonant characters are formed with curved or angled lines.

The vowels are composed of vertical or horizontal straight lines together with short lines on either side of the main line.” Li Jie looked around. “Can I have a piece of paper?” Mule stood up and left the room. A few minutes later he returned with a stack of parchments. Li Jie thanked Mule before writing a word on the piece of paper. “Compared to most languages, learning to read Hangul is very easy. The Goryeo alphabet is designed so that people with little education could learn to read and write. A popular saying about the alphabet is, ‘A wise man can acquaint himself with them before the morning is over; even a stupid man can learn them in the space of ten days.’

Making sentences and speech is a different story but we’ll worry about that later.” Li Jie scratched his head. That was another problem they hadn't found a solution for. The idea of going to Shinwonmat wasn't bad but Li Jie didn't believe that it would make Nam Mu speak like a native. He let out a deep sigh. He just needed to focus on one problem at the time. He pointed at the word on the parchment.

“The letters are written in blocks with the alphabetic letters arranged in two dimensions. For example, the word Hangul is spelled 한글, not ㅎㅏㄴㄱㅡㄹ. These syllables begin with a consonant letter, then a vowel letter, and then potentially another consonant letter. If the syllable begins with a vowel sound, then the 'ㅇ' letter will act as a silent placeholder. Syllables may begin with basic or tense consonants, but not complex ones. The vowel can be basic or complex, while the second consonant can be basic or complex, but not tense. The way the syllable is structured depends on if the vowel is a "tall" vowel (horizontal base line) or a "fat" vowel (vertical baseline); if the vowel is "tall", then the first consonant and vowel are written above the second consonant. If the vowel is "fat", then all the letters are written top to bottom.”

Li Jie looked at Nam Mu to see if the other understood what he was saying. Nam Mu looked at the words. "This is easy. I hate learning but even I get it." Mule smiled at the boys. Li Jie nodded. “Hangul was invented because there were many lower class, who were illiterate due to fundamental differences between the Goryeo and Chinese languages, and also the large number of Chinese characters. To promote literacy among the common people, the king personally created and promoted the new alphabet. But the influence of Confucianism and of Chinese culture, Hangul is still looked down on by scholars and the upper classes but the majority is using it that’s why I’ll teach you ‘the upper class’ and ‘lower class’ versions.”

Nam Mu was excited. He couldn’t wait to begin with learning. But Mule put a stop to this. “Let’s wait until tomorrow. It's too late now. Also let’s get you cleaned up.” Mule looked at Li Jie, wrinkling his nose. Li Jie smelled himself and pulled a face too. “I hate to agree with you but I do smell like a week old dead rat.” Nam Mu wanted to protest but Li Jie did look and smell horrible. Also Nam Mu could feel the fatigue of the day slowly creeping up. “Alright, follow me. I'm sure you'll love Willow pavilion." Mule had a big smile on his face. He took the boys outside. They walked past the Lian housing and through an archway. Nam Mu and Li Jie stopped in their tracks. They looked around in amazement. The Willow pavilion was actually a large round house surrounded by willow trees in different colors. The building itself was bright green.

The roof was covered in moss and different types of plants and flowers. The whole house looked like it had sprung from the earth. The outside was decorated with forest animals and trees except for the door. “Did master Jin choose this building because of Nam Mu's name.” Li Jie looked at Mule, the other shrugged. “Maybe. I never know what master Jin is thinking but he does everything for a reason.” Nam Mu hadn’t heard the conversation between the two men. He was still admiring the building. “Follow me.” Mule opened the plain door to reveal a forest. Nam Mu and Li Jie froze. They both were wondering what they would find inside. They cautiously walked inside.

They found themselves in the hall of the house. Ji Lie looked at the hall’s and saw that they were actually made of rock that was covered with ferns and moss. “Isn't this amazing?” Nam Mu smiled at Li Jie and Mule. Li Jie, who was used to strange and wondrous things, was also amazed. The hall wasn't dark, something one would expect from a hall that looked like a cave. Every two steps there were glow lights that brighten up the place. The glow lights gave the whole place a warm glow. “Over there are your rooms.” Mule pointed at two doors at the end of the hall. He went down the hall and suddenly disappeared. Both boys' mouths fell open. They didn’t know if they should be worried. “What just happened?!” Nam Mu was staring at the spot where Mule disappeared. The boys screamed when they saw Mule’s head appear again. “What…” Mule started to laugh. “Come! There is no magic. Come!” The boys slowly walked toward Mule’s head. They felt stupid when they saw that Mule was standing in a corridor.

They gave Mule a silly look before following him. At the end of the corridor the fern turned slowly into wood. Mule pushed the side of the door to reveal a bathing room. The room was like the rest of the house covered in ferns, flowers and plants. In the middle was a sunken area large enough for six people. The boy's eyes grew big when they looked at the ceiling. "I can see outside!" Mule smiled. “The roof is made of glass. Master got the idea from his travels. This is the bathing area. You see the levers over there?” The boys looked to where Mule was pointing and saw three different colored levers. “The white lever is to fill or refill the bath, the red lever is to heat the water and the black lever is to empty the bath.” For Nam Mu this was indeed magic. At master Ping house, everything was done with the hand. It could take hours to fill up the large bathing tube. This was much easier! He’ll tell master Ping, if he ever saw him.

Mule turned and walked out the room. He walked into a different corridor. “Now this is the kitchen. There will be a lady who will provide your meals. You’ll meet her tomorrow. If you want something special or different just let her know. Over there is the study room." Li Jie and Nam Mu mouth fell open again. ”Room?! This is a library." Li Jie was shocked. The room was huge. All the walls were covered with bookcases full of books, scrolls and tablets. Nam Mu's eyes lit up when he looked around. This was his favorite place in the whole place. “One more place and then I’ll leave you to it. This area is the living room." The two boys didn’t know where to look. To say that it was a room would be wrong. It looked more like a real forest. The whole place was covered with plants and flowers. Even the chairs and tables looked like they had sprouted from the earth or trees, while the floor felt and looked like moss. Li Jie and Nam Mu were blown away. “I don’t care what you say but this is magical.” Li Jie turned to Mule with a big smile on his face. Mule scoffed.

“Master Li Jie, let’s get you freshened up. I’ll get you some sleeping garments and new clothes. I'll leave that in front of the door." He turned to Nam Mu. "Master Nam Mu, have a good rest and I’ll see you both tomorrow.” Mule turned around and left the room. “Which room do you want?” Nam Mu looked at Li Jie.“I don’t care. I’m going to take Mule’s advice and clean myself up. Just leave the door open of the room you didn’t pick.” Nam Mu nodded. “See you tomorrow.” Li Jie walked back to the bathing room. Nam Mu took a look around one more time before walking back to where the bedrooms were. He opened the first door and froze. Just like the living room, the bedroom felt like Nam Mu had just entered a forest. The room looked like a bamboo forest, it was beautiful but it reminded him too much of the bamboo sticks used by Lady Jie and his teachers. He pulled a face before turning to the other room. A smile crossed his face when he opened that door. The room smelled like a Pine forest. The rest of the room was covered in evergreen, calamus and bamboo palm. Nam Mu slowly stepped inside the room. It felt unreal. He looked around and saw doors covered with curtains of vines. The room was not dark or creepy because of the glow lights. Nam Mu looked around again. There was something that was bothering him. There was no bed or any furniture.

He walked around the room to see if he could ‘feel’ anything. Before he was half way, there was a knock on his door. “Come in!” Li Jie walked in with a big smile on his face. “I say it again! I don’t care what Mule said but this place is really magical.” Nam Mu smiled at Li Jie’s words. “I know what you mean. Do you like your room?” Li Jie nodded enthusiastically. He looked around the room. “Did you know that all these plants are air purifiers? My room has snake and spider plants. The ivy that covers the whole room has the same ability.” Nam Mu liked Li Jie's enthusiasm but he was still wondering where the bed was. “That is amazing. Does your room have any furniture?” Li Jie’s eyes got bigger. “That is actually the reason why I think this house is magical. I came to test my theory. This might seem silly but tell the room what you want.” Nam Mu looked at Li Jie. Li Jie rolled his eyes. “Trust me on this.” They knew each other for a few hours now and Li Jie’s additude hadn’t changed even after learning that Nam Mu was technically a slave. He stared at the wall feeling silly.

"I want a bed and a closet and…” He looked at Li Jie for help. “Maybe a desk and chair?” Nam Mu nodded. “Uhm… also a chair and table. Thank you” He looked at Le Jie again. “Come with me.” Li Jie walked out the room. When Nam Mu was standing next to him, he closed the door. “Put your ear against the door.” Nam Mu did what he was told. His eyes grew large when he heard movement inside. “Do you know what is happening?” Li Jie shook his head. “I opened my door but there was nothing. Nothing had changed. After I let 'them' finish, my room was changed” They both stood waiting until they couldn’t hear anything. “I think ‘they’ are finished.” Li Jie opened the door to reveal a completely different room.