(Translation) 洪夔燮

Original Script

洪公耆燮，少貧甚無聊。一日朝，婢兒踊躍獻七兩錢，曰此在鼎中，米可數石，柴可數馱，天賜天賜。公驚曰，是何金，卽書失金人推去等字，付之門楣而待。俄而姓劉者來問書意，公悉言之，劉曰理無失金於人之鼎內，果天賜也，盍取之。公曰非吾物何，劉俯伏曰，小的昨夜爲窃鼎來，還憐家勢蕭條而施之，今感公之廉价，良心自發，誓不更盜，願欲常侍，勿慮取之。公卽還金曰，汝之爲良則善矣。金不可取，終不受。後公爲判書，其子在龍，爲憲宗國舅，劉亦見信，身家大昌。《明心寶鑑.廉義篇》

Translation

Student Translation : (Julian Butterfield)

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When he was young, Duke Hong Kisŏp was poor and sorely unable to make ends meet. One morning, his maid leaped and jumped in to present him with seven ryang in coins and said, "These were inside the cauldron.—your rice will be measured in great quantity and firewood will be measured in horseloads. It's bestowed by heaven!" The Duke was apprehensive and said, "What is this gold?" and promptly composed a notice, writing "Would the person who lost their gold take it and leave," and so forth on it. He posted it on the lintel and waited. In a short while, a person named Yu came to ask the meaning of the notice, and when the Duke explained it all to him, Yu said, "Reasonably, it's not losing one's gold if it's within another's cauldron: it's the fruit of heaven's blessing. Why not take accept it?" The Duke said, "It is not my property." Yu prostrated himself and said, "Last night your lesser came to to steal your cauldron, but I so pitied the state and desolation of your house that I gave the gold: now I am moved by the Duke's honesty and goodness, and my conscience stirs of its own accord: I swear I will never again steal, and wish to constantly wait upon you. Stop considering it and accept it!" The Duke immediately returned the gold and said, "Your doing good things is excellent. This gold I cannot accept, and to the end I won't take it." Later, the Duke became a primary minister and his son, Jaeyong, became Hongjong—the state father-in-law. Yu also became trusted, and both himself and his house were greatly wealthy.

• Discussion Questions:

1. Did anyone find the exact (or ballpark) measurement that 石 indicates here?
2. What's the precise title for 判書? I seemed to have missed this in my notes. Also, can anyone clarify if 國舅 is an official title (and should be capitalized?).
3. I really struggled to find an English phrase that worked for 甚無聊: does my translation seem too far away (in sense at least) from the original?
4. Is "Duke" an appropriate translation for 公 in a Korean context?
5. I've decided to use "cauldron" instead of "pot" here to give a sense of the 鼎's value and desirability for Mr. Yu