Beggar's clothes, a torn hat
Nobody looks at me
That is my weapon
The magistrate's feast, a table dripping with fat
on the people's table, one bowl of grass gruel
The storehouse key hangs at the magistrate's waist
the storehouse rice sits in the magistrate's belly
I sit in the corner and write it all down
names, dates, sacks of grain, money
Laugh, magistrate, laugh all you like
The day the laughing ends is coming
The mapae inside my coat — (shh)
the runners outside the wall — (shh)
Just once more — (wait)
The secret inspector has arrived!
The secret inspector has arrived!
Break down the gate — overturn the table
The secret inspector has arrived!
The magistrate's face turns to paper
chopsticks drop to the floor
The gisaeng out the back door, the clerk under the floorboards
The storehouse door opens
A hundred sacks of rice, ten bolts of silk
twenty nyang of silver not in the ledger
On your knees — from today
your name is criminal
The king's eyes are — everywhere
The king's ears are — everywhere
Inside beggar's clothes
under a torn hat
The secret inspector has arrived!
The secret inspector has arrived!
Break down the gate — overturn the table
The secret inspector has arrived!
On to the next town
Beggar's clothes, a torn hat
Nobody looks at me