Reading traditional Korean folk tales for fun and reading them again in English

Let’s read traditional Korean folk tales in Korean and English!

The traditional folk tale is a genre widely read and beloved regardless of the era.

Transmitted from mouth to mouth over a long period, traditional Korean folk tales reflect the everyday lives, customs, joys and sorrows, and humor and courage of Koreans in the olden days. They are invaluable stories that can be enjoyed by people in distant lands and those who have come from afar and live in South Korea as well. - Kim Myung-Hwan (professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Seoul National University) -

As in the recommendation by Professor Kim Myung-Hwan at Seoul National University, reading old tales holds a special value. Publishing traditional Korean folk tales, which are thus meaningful, in both Korean and English, this series will reward children with both the joy of reading old stories and an opportunity to study English. Furthermore, the series has been planned so that it can be enjoyed by Korean children overseas, children from multicultural families in South Korea, and children around the globe as well. We hope that it will be used also as a good guide for naturally introducing Korean culture to foreign friends abroad as they are told traditional folk tales from Korea.

An Introduction to the Series

Out of the countless tales that are widely known to many Korean readers, 23 especially colorful and entertaining ones have been selected and edited into 12 volumes. Familiar to Korean children, stories such as “Yeonorang and Seonyeo,” “The Headstone Goes to Court,” “The King has Donkey’s Ears,” and “Kongji and Patji” will not only be fun to read in the original Korean but also heighten youngsters’ understanding as they read the English translations. In addition, children who know similar traditional folk tales from other countries can make comparisons, thus being provided with a fascinating approach to these works.

Table of Contents

01 “Magic Picture”

Once upon a time, neighbors gathered in a man’s guest room came to travel in the world of Daoist immortals depicted in a painting that had been created by a passing wayfarer. After incurring the wrath of the immortals by pilfering peaches of immortality in the celestial dominion, however, these humans were faced with death in the middle of the sea. To escape from this sea within the immortals’ realm, the guests screamed and thrashed about. In the end, at the thought that they must part from this world, the men began to wail…

02 “Fiery Dogs”

The Dark Kingdom in heaven was pitch-black because it had no sun or moon. The ruler of the dominion therefore ordered the fiery dogs, which were swift and fearless, to steal and bring back Earth’s sun and moon. Although the beasts bravely rushed at and held the blazing sun between their teeth, it was so scorching that they could not but repeatedly bite and let go. On the other hand, the moon, shining as coldly as ice, was so freezing that the dogs’ teeth smarted unbearably. In the end, the fiery beasts had to return to the Dark Kingdom without anything…