[김알지 3] [Kim Alji Story _Part 1]

김알지 3편

호공은 옷소매로 눈을 닦아 낸 뒤
다시 숲 쪽을 보았어요.
빛을 향해 다가갈수록
빛은 더욱더 밝아졌지요.

그때 하늘에서 자줏빛 구름이
빠르게 내려오더니
숲에 기둥을 세우는 게 아니겠어요?

구름 기둥이 정말 곱고 아름다워
호공의 입이 절로 벌어졌어요.
"참으로 기이한 일이로다.
아마도 하늘이 내게
기쁜 소식을 알려 주려는 것 같구나."

호공은 허둥지둥
구름 기둥을 향해 달려갔어요.
눈부시게 빛나고 있는 구름 기둥 한가운데에
뭔가가 걸려 있었지요.
"저기 걸려 있는 것이 무엇 같으냐?"
호공이 하인에게 물었지만
하인도 알 수가 없었어요.
구름 기둥이 눈부셔
가까이 갈 수도 없었답니다.

Hogong wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked toward the forest again. As he moved closer to the light, it grew even brighter. Just then, a purple cloud swiftly descended from the sky and formed a pillar in the forest. The cloud pillar was so exquisite and beautiful that Hogong's mouth fell open in amazement. "What a strange event this is. Perhaps the heavens are trying to deliver joyful news to me." In a hurry, Hogong ran toward the cloud pillar. In the center of the dazzling pillar, something was hanging. "What do you think that is?" Hogong asked his servant, but the servant couldn’t tell either. The cloud pillar was so brilliant that they couldn’t get close to it.

[Kim Alji: Legendary Ancestor of the Gyeongju Kim Clan from the Silla Kingdom]

Kim Alji was a legendary figure in Korean history, believed to be the ancestor of the Kim clan of Gyeongju, which later became one of the most prominent families in the Silla kingdom (57 BC – AD 935).