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 “The Headstone Goes to Court” There once lived a peddler who bought silk in Seoul and sold it elsewhere. While the tired mercer was nodding off by the road for a moment, the bolts of silk that he had placed in front of a graveside stone column disappeared into thin air. The merchant then went to the local magistrate and begged him to catch the thief so that the lost goods could be retrieved. The governor ordered that the stone column, the sole “witness” of the incident, be brought in, which he interrogated and scolded and had flogged until the paddles broke. How would the magistrate be able to catch the true culprit through such an odd trial? 02 “The Tiger Who Was Good to His Mother” In a village at the foot of a mountain, there lived a woodcutter and his mother. One day, while chopping trees, the man was suddenly faced with a tiger. Using his wits, however, he promptly went on his hands and knees and expressed joy at meeting his “elder brother.” Surprised by this unexpected statement, the beast was deceived by the woodcutter’s tears and came to believe him. From then on, the tiger would unfailingly send a boar to the human’s home every fortnight, thus being a dutiful “son” to the elderly woman. After the death of his mother due to illness, the woodcutter discovered in the mountain tiger cubs with pieces of white cloth tied to their tails and asked them the reason. Then the young animals said something quite unexpected… |