Yee Man-ji

Yee Man-ji sat on the outer verandah as a storm broke over his house. A ball of fire rolled through the verandah, rooms, kitchen, yard and servants’ quarters, returning more than once. Its light and noise frightened his household, but Man-ji stayed seated. He thought he had done no wrong and asked himself why lightning should make him afraid. A flash struck the elm before the house and shattered it. When the rain stopped, he found everyone in his family senseless. He struggled to bring them round. During that year, they all fell ill and died.

After their deaths, Yee Man-ji went to Seoul and became a Captain of the Right Guard. He later travelled to North Ham-kyong, took a second wife and settled there. Earlier officers had died there, with their deaths blamed on goblins, so the officials used a village house instead. Man-ji repaired the old quarters and returned to them. One night, while his wife was in an inner room, three shapeless figures came into his office. They looked like tree stumps wrapped in black sackcloth and moved closer in a row. The one in the middle said it was hungry. Man-ji told them to move back while he had food prepared. He repeated a magic formula and snapped his fingers. When he struck at the first spirit, it dodged; his fist hit the floor and cut his hand. The three spirits said they would leave, then disappeared. The next day, Man-ji had oxen killed and a sacrifice offered to them. They never returned.