Tree-ear

Tree-ear is a young orphan who lives in the seaside village of Ch'ulp'o in Korea. Tree-ear was orphaned when his parents died from an illness. Tree-ear was brought to Ch'ulp'o in the hopes of finding an uncle to care for him but the uncle could not be found. Tree-ear was placed with Crane-man, a man who lives under a bridge until he could be taken to the monastery. However, when the monks came for little Tree-ear, he refused to leave his new companion.

Tree-ear does not know for sure how old he is but assumes he is around twelve because he has been with Crane-man ten years and was about two when he came to him. Tree-ear does not know what his name was before Crane-man took him. Instead, Crane-man gave him the name of a mushroom that grows without a parent seed on dead trees, a name...