Setare Mohammadkhanloo

ID: 2021101219

The First King of Silla, Hyeokgeose Bak

Long, long ago, in present-day Gyeongju, Mr. Lee, Mr. Choi, Mr. Jeon, Mr. Seol, Mr. Hae, and
Mr. Soon, these six men lived together happily. However, they soon faced a new problem.
_ “So, you’re saying that we should also make a country, right?”
_ “Over here and over there, large and small countries are popping up all over the place. We
too should gather our strength and make a country.”
_ “Why do we have to make a country? I think it’s fine to just live as we are.”
_ “If we stay like this, other countries might look down on us and attack us. That’s why we
must establish a country, build an army, build schools, and do many other things to prepare
for it.”
_ “There is a rumor that a certain country’s king came down from heaven.”
_ “Ah yes, and all the way over there is a country with a king who was said to have been
born out of an egg!”
_ “Then what about us?”

No one spoke for a while.

_ “Now, let’s try coming together with one heart and praying to the lord of the heavens so
that he may send a king to us too.”
_ “Please send a king to us too!”
_ “It doesn’t matter if he comes from the sky or from an egg, please just send us some king.”
_ “When sending king, please send some candies too!”

It was the morning of the next day. Everyone gathered together quickly and was looking at
something. That morning, a blinding white horse came down from heaven. Everyone was
surprised at seeing the horse come down from heaven.

_ “Oh wait! It looks like the horse is bowing…”

After the white horse had bowed, it neighed as it went back up to heaven again. Everyone
rushed to the place the horse had been sitting.

_ “Wait, isn’t this an egg?”

_ “It’s as big as a room!”
_ “The horse saw this and was bowing to it? Why it did so?”
_ “Isn’t it because we prayed yesterday to get a king from heaven?”
_ “Now, now, everyone be quiet.”

Suddenly, the egg cracked and a very cute baby boy came out with a smile on his face.

_ “It seems the heavens listened to our prayers. Ha Ha Ha… “

_ “Then you are saying this baby is our king?”
_ “Most likely we must raise this baby well so that he can become king. This must be the will
of heaven.”
_ “Okay, let’s do that! It sounds fun!”
In this way, the villagers tried their best to work together and raise the child born out of the
egg well. Since the child was born from an egg that looked like the calabash gourd, they
decided that ‘Bak’ should be the child’s last name so that he might become a good king and
make the world a better place, he was named Hyeogeose.
A few days after, a dragon appeared in the sky.

_ “Over there, over there, the dragon is flying down there by the well.”
_ “Oh heavens! Something came out of the dragon’s side!”

The dragon gave birth to a baby girl from her side and went back to heaven. The village chief
took water from the well and began to carefully wash the baby.

_ “Everyone, another miracle has happened. This child will become our queen. Let us work
together to raise these two children well”

The villagers took the name of the well that the dragon had come and sat beside and named
the girl Aryeong.
Even today, in Gyeongju, a well called Aryeong-Jeong still exists. Hyeokgeose and Aryeong
grew up quickly and became the king and queen. They were the very first king and queen of
Silla.