MY, YOU'VE COME SUCH A LONG WAY!
AND WHEN IS THE BRIDEGROOM ARRIVING?
GOODNESS, I'M ALL OVER THE PLACE.
THEY EVEN HAVE FATHER'S FAVORITE GIJU RICE CAKES
AND THE MEAT FRITTERS MOTHER LOVES...
EH?
WHAT'S THE MATTER?
WHAT WAS THAT LASS'S NAME AGAIN?
WHO?
THAT LASS OVER THERE!
THE FISHERMAN'S DAUGHTER?
FISHERMAN?
THEY LIVE JUST BELOW THE OLD OAK TREE. DON'T YOU KNOW THEM?
WHY, THEİR FAMİLY HAS BEEN TURNED UPSİDE DOWN THESE PAST FEW DAYS
EH? WHAT FOR?
THE GIRL HAS BEEN DEMANDING THAT HER FOLKS LET HER LEARN HER LETTERS.
SHE LAY SPRAWLED ACROSS THE YARD AND KICKED UP SUCH A FUSS
THAT HER MOTHER FINALLY PACKED HER THINGS AND LEFT, OR SO I HEARD.
Heavens, Why Would She Do Such A Thing?
I Haven't The Faintest Idea.
PERHAPS SHE GREW WEARY OF BARELY SCRAPING BY SELLING BASKETS,
AND SIMPLY RAN OFF...
I CERTAINLY DID NOT LIE SPRAWLED ACROSS THE YARD, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
AND AS FOR MOTHER...
SIGH
IS IT BECAUSE I'VE BEEN BREATHING IN THE SMELL OF OIL ALL DAY?
Why Does My Head Ache So?
IT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN GETTING WORSE THESE PAST FEW DAYS...
OH, CHILD...!
YOU ARE ALREADY UNWELL! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN GALLIVANTING OFF TO AGAIN?!
YOU'RE ONE TO SPEAK, FATHER.
I KNOW YOU SPENT THE WHOLE DAY COMBING THE MARKETPLACE FOR MOTHER.
EVEN SO, YOU OUGHT TO TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE GOI—
HAS MOTHER STILL NOT RETURNED?
HERE.
THE ELDER AT THE APOTHECARY SAID I MIGHT BE GIVEN SOME FOOD
IF I HELPED WITH THE ODD JOBS AT THE FEAST, SO THAT'S WHERE I'VE BEEN.
Good Heavens,
YOU’VE BROUGHT BACK SO MUCH...
WHY, THERE IS EVEN SOME OF THE BEEF FRITTERS YOUR MOTHER LOVES...
...
PERHAPS...
I SHOULD NEVER HAVE BROUGHT UP THE SCHOOLHOUSE.
MY GIRL...
HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT SAYING SUCH THINGS?
THERE IS NO WRONG IN WANTING TO LEARN YOUR LETTERS!
YOU MAY BELIEVE THAT, FATHER, BUT...!
I KNOW OUR FAMILY CANNOT AFFORD SUCH THINGS,
WHICH IS WHY I SAID I WOULD NOT PURSUE IT.
SO WHY DID MOTHER HAVE TO LEAVE...?
OH, JAKYEONG.
WHEN YOUR MOTHER COMES BACK WITH SO MUCH AS A FEW SAVED COINS,
YOU MUST SIMPLY THANK HER AND ACCEPT THEM GRACIOUSLY.
I'M SURE YOUR MOTHER HAS HAD MORE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS AND HEARTACHE OVER THIS
THAN I EVER HAVE...
I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT. I AM GOING IN TO SLEEP. I'M TIRED.
YES, YES. GO ON, GET SOME REST.
AS THOUGH I WOULD GROVEL IF SHE CAME BACK WITH A LITTLE MONEY...
MOTHER...
I TRULY DO NOT NEED TO LEARN MY LETTERS ANYMORE,
SO PLEASE... JUST COME HOME SOON.
I'M SORRY. THIS IS ALL MY FAULT...
MAMAAA!
GOODNESS, JAKYEONG!
WHO DID THIS TO YOU?! TELL ME!
THE OTHER CHILDREN WON'T STOP TEASING ME!
THEY SAY I STINK OF FISH!
THAT I SMELL LIKE I'VE BEEN ROLLING ABOUT IN FISH GUTS!
WHAT?!
WHY, THOSE MISERABLE LITTLE SCOUNDRELS! AS THOUGH THEY DO NOT LIVE BY THE VERY SAME SEA!
TAKE ME TO THEM AT ONCE!
I SHALL TEACH THEM A LESSON THEY WON'T SOON FORGET!
Where Are They, My Girl?
There, Over That Way!
MY DEAR HUSBAND, YOU MUST GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF.
HAVE YOU NO THOUGHT FOR OUR CHILD'S FUTURE?
DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT A WOMAN WHO LEARNS HER LETTERS ONLY INVITES HARDSHIP INTO HER LIFE?
WITH A LOT LIKE OURS,
THE BEST SHE COULD DO IS MARRY THE SON OF SOME POOR FAMILY TENDING GREENS FOR A LIVING!
BUT IF THE GIRL LEARNS TO READ AND THEN FINDS HERSELF UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITH IT...
MY DEAR... WHY ARE YOU CRYING?
BECAUSE IT BREAKS MY HEART, THAT'S WHY...
DO YOU THINK I DO NOT WISH I COULD RAISE MY DAUGHTER TO LIVE A FINE, RESPECTABLE LIFE?
MOTHER...
COME QUICKLY!!!
HEAVENS,
SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED!
AH...
WHAT'S ALL THIS COMMOTION...?
FATHER?
HAS SOMETHING HAPPENED?
JAKYEONG...
A B-BEAST...
A BEAST HAS APPEARED IN THE WATERS!
IT APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE AT DAWN
AND DRAGGED AWAY EVERY LAST WOMAN WORKING ON THE CAPE!
THE APOTHECARY ELDER URGENTLY CALLED FOR A BEAST HUNTER,
BUT THEY SAY THE MAN HAS DONE NOTHING BUT SIT THERE WITH HIS BRUSH FOR WHAT FEELS LIKE AN AGE...
W-WAIT...
HADN’T YOU HEARD?
JAKYEONG’S MOTHER...
SHE CLAIMED SHE NEEDED MONEY AT ONCE, SO SHE HAD BEEN SEEKING WORK AT EVERY TREACHEROUS HEADLAND SHE COULD FIND!
AH...
IS THAT...
THE BEAST?
THE ONE THAT DEVOURED MY MOTHER?
YOU...
ARE YOU—
A Tree Beyond the Years Chapter 1 follows Jakyeong, a fisherman's daughter blamed for her mother leaving after she asked to learn letters, as she works at a feast and quarrels with her father about money and schooling. Villagers gossip under the old oak tree that she drove her mother away, and Jakyeong prays for her mother's return. Panic erupts when news comes that a beast in the waters dragged away the women working on the cape, where her mother sought work, and Jakyeong rushes to confront it.
