The Little Monk (Dongseung)
동승(童僧)
- Author
- Ham Se-deok
- Year
- 1939
- Country
- Korea
- Copyright
- Published 1939. Ham Se-deok died in 1950; copyright expired 70 years after death. Reinterpreted many times on stage and film.
A little monk abandoned at a mountain temple attaches himself to a visiting widow from Seoul, but the temple will not let him go, and he walks down the mountain to find his mother.
Why it is a classic
One set (a mountain temple), one season and six characters complete a story of not getting what you want. Short lines and long silences make it the most-used Korean one-act for scriptwriting practice.
Structure breakdown
- 011 · The child at the temple
Do-nyeom waits for the mother who left the temple. The abbot, ashamed of the boy's birth, treats him sternly.
- 022 · The widow
A widow from Seoul who lost her son comes for a memorial rite. Do-nyeom clings to her; she wants to take him.
- 033 · The rabbit
It comes out that Do-nyeom trapped a rabbit for a fur scarf for the widow. The sin of killing breaks the adoption.
- 044 · Down the mountain
After the widow leaves, Do-nyeom walks down the snowy mountain path alone, saying he will find his mother.
What to steal for your own script
- A one-act needs one place, one desire, one reversal. A single rabbit is the whole reversal.
- Set a child's desire against adult rules. Grief is largest when no one is a villain.
- Close the last scene with action (the walk down), not dialogue.
Original excerpt
No excerpt is shown because translation rights may apply. Read the original at the archives below.