Books & Beyond

Seeing her younger son's life in town, living in a room filled with books, the mother questions him about his unconventional lifestyle and radical ideas of equality. As the two are on their way to visit the blind daughter, the younger son, sworn to secrecy and dreams of freedom, becomes angry with his mother when she suggests marrying him off to bind him to the family.

The mother misses her blind daughter and decides to visit her. She is haunted by the separation despite the passage of time and the changing seasons. When her elder son expresses concern about her safety and suggests that she waits until after the harvest, she insists on going immediately with her younger son.

It's been 5 years since the elder son's wedding and for some reason the couple has no sign of a child, which makes the emptiness of the family even louder. The two brothers don't quarrel so much these days since they don’t live together, which is counted as a blessing by the mother.

The mother has aged and even field work cannot help lift her heavy heart any more after the blind maid has been wed off. Her younger son is also a grown man now, who finds work in town and is seldom home. Whenever he comes home, he brings back the only brightness that lights up all her emptiness.

The day has come for the blind girl to be taken to her future husband's house for their wedding. Out of everyone's expectation, however, here comes an old man with a grin who claims to be the uncle of the husband. With the promise already given, the mother is left with no choice but to let him take her daughter.

After multiple rounds of illness attacking her mind and body, the mother realizes that her blind daughter would have to be wed, for she cannot take care of her, nor defend for her any longer in the house. The mother reaches out to the match maker, who later finds a household afar that would take the blind maid. Though sorrowful in their hearts, both the mother and the girl know what they have to do.

A match-maker recommends a potential husband for the blind girl, but the mother denies the union once again. Seeing this, the mother's cousin reminds her that there'll come a day when she's too old or weak to guard the blind maid anymore, which puts the mother into deep thought.

The mother has no intention to wed her blind daughter any time soon, setting herself against her elder son and his wife on this matter. As the son's new wife settles down in the neighborhood, she gets plainer in speech when talking with other women in the hamlet, complaining about the unwed blind maid.

The young wife never says anything rude and is always careful and courteous in her words. But she does not truly care for her blind sister-in-law, not willingly anyway. Eventually, the elder son joins his wife and suggests that his sister should be wed.

The elder son and his new wife have become masters of the house. They now keep the money and build a new room to live separately from the mother and the blind sister, which embitters the mother's heart. In the meantime, the blind sister also realizes that the new wife wishes to marry her off and leave the home to themselves.