Scene 14

With the overland bus Maille drove to Mokpo, through rice paddies and tea plantations, past small cemeteries with grass-covered tumulus graves and granite tombstones. To his luck, he missed the morning passage to the island by a few minutes. That gave him time to take a good look at all the fish presented by the women-vendors along the harbour street. Most of the women were toothless, work-stooped oldies. But there were also a few sultry young beauties among the lot.

The speciality in Mokpo is ray fish, which is chopped into bite-sized pieces by the vendors and packed in tiny Styrofoam boxes – for raw consumption, for sure.

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