What happens in the book a single shard?

Answer 1

The novel tells the story of a 12 year old boy named Tree-ear. He is an orphan and lives under a bridge in Ch'ulp'o, a small village in 12th Century Korea, with Crane-man, a crippled old man. Tree-ear scavenges for food most of the time, but after a full meal, Tree-ear loves to watch the potter, Min, make his pottery. One day, when no one was around, Tree-ear sneaks into Potter Min's house for a closer look at his creations. There were many objects, but one object particularly interested Tree-ear: a rectangular, lidded box. It was undecorated on the outside, but Tree-ear suspected that the inside was more spectacular. Out of curiosity, Tree-ear decides to look inside the box and found five smaller boxes. They fitted perfectly around each other. Potter Min shouted when he found Tree-ear, whom dropped the box in fright, breaking it. To repay the potter, Tree-ear then offers to work for nine days, as the box took three days to make. Min assigns Tree-ear to collect wood for his nine days of work. Tree-ear is dismayed, for he secretly wanted to make a pot. After his work days were completed, Tree-ear offers to work for the potter for free in hope of getting to make his own pot. Tree-ear is assigned various tasks but never has the chance to make his own pot. Tree-ear eventually learns that Min will not teach him how to make a pot, due to the tradition of a potter teaching his son. Min's son is dead.

One day, an imperial emissary comes to the village, looking for a potter who will be awarded a royal commission. While watching other potters in the village, Tree-ear learns of a newly created decorative technique and must decide if it is ethical to reveal the stolen information to Min. He decides not to, but Min does get a chance to demonstrate that he can use the new inlay technique and sends Tree-ear to the emperor with samples of his best work. On the long journey to Songdo, Tree Ear passes through the busy town of Puyo. At the rock of falling flowers the boy is attacked by robbers, and all of the pots are smashed, leaving him with just a single shard to display his master's skill (hence the book's title). The emissary is able to see Min's great skill, even from the small, broken piece, and grants him a commission. After Tree-ear returns to Ch'ul'po, he learns from Min that Crane-man has died. Min and his wife adopt Tree-ear, giving him a new name and finally teaching him the art of pottery.

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