Never was I permitted to cross the northern frontier.

Never was I permitted to put foot to a sampan on the sea.

The Peddlers' Guild carried these commands of Chong Mong-ju to every village and every soul in all Cho-Sen.

I was a marked man.
Lord, Lord, Cho-Sen, I know your every highway and mountain path, all your walled cities and the least of your villages.

For two-score years I wandered and starved over you, and the Lady Om ever wandered and starved with me.