The Story Bag

by Kim So-Un

  "Let me see," the student said, "maybe I can help." The student peered into the tiger's mouth and there saw a sharp bone splinter stuck in the animal's throat.

  "Oh, you poor thing!" the student said. "There's a bone stuck in your throat. Here, let me take it out. Easy now, it will soon be better." The student stuck his hand into the tiger's mouth and gently pulled the bone out.

  The tiger licked the student's hands and looked up into his face with tears of relief and gratitude, as if to say: "Thank you, thank you for your kindness." Then, bowing low many times, the tiger walked toward the woods, turning to look back from time and time at the student.

  That night, as he slept, the student had a strange dream. A beautiful girl, whom he had never seen before, appeared in his sleep and said: "I am the tiger you saved today. Thanks to your gentle kindness, I was spared much pain and suffering. I shall surely show my gratitude to you some day." With that, the beautiful girl faded away.

  Many years passed. The young student who had helped the tiger was now ready to take his final examinations in the capital city. As he rode along toward the capital he was thinking that if he passed these examinations he would become a government official and would one day become rich and famous. But many, many students came to take the tests from all over the country. In fact, there were so many applicants that it was most difficult to pass the examinations.

  The student prayed in his heart that he would be one of the fortunate ones to pass the difficult examinations. But it was not to be so. He failed. There were just too many people ahead of him.

  The youth was very despondent. "I have come such a long, long way to the city. But I suppose it can't be helped; I'll return home, study hard, and try again next year." In this way he resigned himself to his failure and prepared to return to his home in the country the next day.

  That night, however, the young student again had a dream. Again the strange beautiful girl appeared and said: "Don't be discouraged. Keep your chin up. It's still too early to despair. I shall repay you for the kindness you showed me many, many years ago. Tomorrow a wild tiger will run loose through the city. That tiger will be myself. However, no gunman nor bowman will be able to kill me. I am sure the king will offer a big reward to anybody that succeeds in getting rid of me. At that time, make yourself known and offer your services. Just take one random shot at me. You will be sure to hit me."

  The student was astounded to hear this and quickly replied: "No, no! I can't possibly do such a thing. Just because of one little kindness, I cannot take your life."

  "No, you mustn't think that way," the tiger said, still in the form of a young woman. "I am very old and just about ready to die. I have very few days left to live. Since that's so, it's my wish to show you my gratitude. Don't say another word—just do as I have told you."

  The student would not listen to the tiger. "But how can I do such a thing? I cannot commit such a cowardly act just to win fame for myself."

  Suddenly the girl flared in anger. "Why can't you understand?" she said. "By saying such things you are spurning my sincere feelings of gratitude. Cease your talking and do just as I have told you. Oh, one more thing—a number of people will be hurt. Go then to the Temple of Hungryung and ask for some bean paste. If you apply this bean paste to the wounds of the people, they will soon be healed."

  The girl repeated her instructions many times and then faded away from his dreams. It was then that the young student awoke.

  The student pondered over the strange dream that he had had and waited in restless anticipation for the day to break. And, sure enough, as dawn broke a wild tiger appeared in the city and ran amok through the streets.

  The capital was in an uproar. Bowmen and gunmen were dispatched to kill the tiger. But no matter how carefully they aimed their weapons, they could not hit the animal. The people were now in a terrible panic. Many had been hurt. Finally the king sent out a crier to announce a royal proclamation.

  "Hear ye! Hear ye!" the crier cried. "The King proclaims that anyone who shoots the tiger shall be greatly rewarded. A high court rank shall be bestowed upon him and a great treasure of rice shall be his."

  The student was surprised to hear this. A high court rank, and a treasure of rice—the rice alone would be enough to maintain a large retinue of retainers. And then he remembered the dream of the night before.

  So the young student went before the king and said: "O King! I shall kill the tiger." The king gladly gave his consent for the student to hunt the rampaging animal.

  The student went to the main street of the capital where the tiger was prowling about. Without even taking aim, the student took one shot at the animal. The wild tiger, that had the whole city in confusion, dropped dead.

  That very day the student was made a nobleman and given his reward of a treasure of rice. Nor did the student forget about the bean paste from the Temple of Hungryung. He got the paste and applied it to the wounds of the people who had been hurt. Their injuries healed so quickly that his fame spread throughout the country.

  Now, the story doesn't say so, but it is easy to imagine that the famous nobleman found for his wife the same beautiful girl whose shape the tiger had used in the young student's dreams—and that they lived together happily for many, many long years.

  23 The Pumpkin Seeds

  THERE once lived in the same village two brothers. The elder was greedy and miserly. The younger was a gentle and open-hearted man. The older brother lived in a great mansion and did not want for anything. Yet he was always complaining, as if by habit, that he led a hard life. On the other hand, his younger brother was poor and lived a humble life. But he never once complained.

  One spring, swallows from some faraway southern country came and made a nest under the eaves of the poor brother's house. By the time the early summer breeze was rippling the green rice-seedlings, the swallow had hatched its eggs, and the nest was full of young birds. From morning to night, the baby birds made merry music under the eaves of the poor man's straw-thatched house. The kind-hearted younger brother placed a wide board under the nest to catch the baby birds, lest they fall from the nest to the ground below. The parent swallows busily carried food to the their young and worked hard to make them grow big. And they did grow big, with each passing day.

  One day, while the parent birds were away looking for food, a large green snake slid down the roof of the hut. As it approached the swallow's nest, it raised its head and peered inside, as if to say: "Yum, yum! These young birds should make good eating." The snake poised itself to strike, showing its fangs. Of course, the baby swallows had never seen such a horrible sight before. They flapped their small wings in fear and tried with all their might to fly from this unexpected danger. But their wings were too weak. One little bird succeeded in taking off only to crash to the ground.

  The young brother heard the commotion and came running out of the house. He saw the snake just in time and, with a great cry, chased it away.

  The bird that had fallen from the nest had broken a leg. "Oh, you poor little thing," the brother said, "it must be painful." He gently lifted the bird from the ground, put medicine on its leg, and wound it carefully with a bit of white cloth.

  Ten, twenty days passed. The baby swallow with the broken leg was soon well again. It was strong enough to fly now. It no longer needed to wait for its mother to bring it food. It swooped through the great sky, swiftly and freely, in search of insects and bugs.

  Summer passed and autumn came. The swallows left for their winter home in the south. The swallow with the broken leg was now a big bird. Reluctantly, it too joined the migrating birds and left the village.

  Early the next spring, the swallows came back to their old nest. They had travelled a long way, over seas and over mountains, but they had not forgotten their old home. The happy swallows swooped under the eaves of the straw-thatched hut. The humble hut of the younger brother again echoed to the merry chirping of birds.

  The swallow that had broken its leg the
year before also returned. As if to repay the young brother's kindness, it carried in its beak a pumpkin seed. The bird dropped the seed in a corner of the poor brother's yard, where it soon sprouted and shot forth a tendril that gradually climbed up to the roof of the poor man's home.

  By autumn, three big pumpkins, so large that each made an armful, were ripening on the vine. The younger brother was overjoyed and cut down one pumpkin. "This is a rare thing to have such large pumpkins. One such pumpkin alone would be enough to feed many people. I must take some of it to the villagers." So thinking, the young brother cut the pumpkin in two. What should happen then! Out of the pumpkin trooped a host of carpenters. Some carried axes, some saws, some planes, and some hammers. Each carried some kind of tool. After the carpenters had all come out, there came a flow of building materials—timbers, planks, window frames, and doors. In a twinkling of an eye, the carpenters built a large mansion and then disappeared from sight.

  The younger brother was completely dumbfounded at this strange and unexpected happening. He then began wondering what the other pumpkins might contain. He gingerly cut open the second pumpkin.

  Out came a host of servants. There were farmhands too, with plows and spades and rakes. There were also maids, carrying water jugs on their heads, and seamstresses, with needles in their hands. When they had all come out, they lined up before the younger brother and, bowing deeply, said together: "Master, we are here to serve you. Please bid us as you desire."

  From the third pumpkin there flowed silver and gold in such quantities that the younger brother was completely dazed. Overnight, he became the richest man in the village, and soon he was the owner of vast lands, purchased with the money that had come from the third pumpkin.

  The greedy elder brother was green with envy. His every waking thought was how to become as rich as his younger brother. One day he came over to visit his brother, whom he had ignored for so long in the past. Slyly he asked: "Say, my dear brother, how did you manage to become so wealthy?"

  The honest younger brother did not hide anything, but told everything that had happened.

  The older brother, when he heard the story, could hardly bear his impatience. As soon as early summer came the next year, he took a baby swallow from one of the nests in his eaves and broke its leg. Then he put medicine on the broken leg, bound it with a piece of white cloth, and put the bird back into its nest. In autumn this swallow flew away to the south.

  The older brother could scare contain his joy: "I've only to wait a short while longer. Then that swallow will return and bring me a pumpkin seed too."

  Sure enough, the swallow whose leg had been broken on purpose returned the next spring to the elder brother's house. And sure enough, it brought back a pumpkin seed in its mouth.

  The older brother took the seed and planted it in a corner of his yard. Every day he gave it water and cried: "Hurry and grow big! Hurry and grow big!" He did not forget to mix a lot of manure into the ground where the pumpkin seed had been planted.

  In time, out came a green sprout. It grew and grew, stretching its vine up over the roof. In time, too, three pumpkins took shape and ripened. The pumpkins were much larger than those that had grown at his younger brother's house.

  "How lucky I am!" the older brother said. "Thank Heaven! Now everything is set. I shall be much richer than my brother." He could not help dancing about in joy and anticipation.

  Finally the time came and he cut the first pumpkin. But what should appear? Not carpenters, but a swarm of demons with cudgels in their hands.

  "You inhuman and greedy monster! Now you'll get what you deserve!" the demons cried, and they began belaboring the older brother in turns.

  After a while the demons disappeared. The older brother was all blue with bruises, but still he had not learned his lesson. "This time, for sure, I'll find much treasure," he thought, and cut open the second pumpkin.

  But this time a host of money collectors came out, crying: "Pay your debts! Pay your debts! If you don't we'll take away everything we can lay our hands on."

  And they did! They grabbed everything in sight. In a flash, the older brother's home was completely emptied of all it contained, leaving only a shell.

  The older brother cursed himself for having cut open the second pumpkin, but it was too late. And still he could not give up his dreams of an easy fortune. He stuck a knife into the third pumpkin and split it open. What should come out but a flood of yellow muddy water. It came bubbling out in an unending stream. It flowed in such quantities that soon his home, his garden, and his fields were covered with yellow mud.

  The older brother finally could stand it no longer. With a cry of anguish he fled to the shelter of his younger brother's house.

  The kind-hearted younger brother greeted him with open arms and treated him with every consideration. The older brother suddenly realized how selfish and mean he had been. He became a humble and contrite man.

  The younger brother gave his elder brother half of everything he had—paddies, fields, servants, and money—and from that time on the two lived on the most friendly of terms.

  24 The Three Princesses

  ONCE there was a king who had three daughters. All three of the princesses were gentle, noble, and beautiful. But of the three the youngest was regarded by all as the loveliest girl in the land. One moonlit night the three princesses climbed a small hill behind their father's castle to view the beautiful moon. Suddenly, a huge eagle swept down as if from nowhere and, in a flash, snatched the three princesses up in its giant talons. Then it rose into the air and disappeared with the princesses.

  The whole castle was thrown into turmoil. The king's bowmen and gunmen came rushing up the hill. But it was too late. The eagle was nowhere to be seen. All they could do was to gaze into the sky and bemoan the fate of the three girls.

  The king's sorrow at losing all three of his daughters at one stroke was pitiful to behold. He immediately sent out his soldiers to proclaim throughout the land that anyone who succeeded in saving the three princesses would be given half his kingdom. In addition, he promised to give the savior of the girls his youngest and most beautiful daughter in marriage.

  But who was there to save the princesses?

  There was one, and only one, man in the whole country who knew where the maidens had been taken. He was a young warrior living deep in the mountains. This young man had left all human habitation behind and gone far into the mountain wilderness to perfect his martial skills. At night this solitary warrior used to mount his steed and practice with his spear and sword.

  One night, as usual, the warrior had donned his armour and helmet and was spurring his steed in mock combat when he saw a huge eagle flying toward him. When it came near he saw, clutched in its talons, three young girls. By the light of the full moon, the warrior followed the flight of the great bird, and spurred his horse over hill and dale in pursuit. All night long he chased the giant bird and, near dawn, he saw the eagle alight at the base of a vast cliff and disappear from sight.

  The warrior whipped his horse on, and after a time reached the spot at the base of the high cliff where the eagle had disappeared. Here he espied a hole in the base of the cliff. This, the warrior thought, must be was the entrance to the Land-below-the-earth, a place he had heard about only in rumors. After carefully studying the entrance, the warrior was certain that he was right.

  The warrior had also heard that in the Land-below-the-earth there lived a terrible ogre who slept, once he fell asleep, for three months and ten days. This ogre had many henchmen and kept a large number of eagles, which he used to steal treasures and kidnap people from the earth above. The warrior marked with care the entrance to the Land-below-the-earth and returned to his lonely home.

  By next morning the story of the disappearance of the three princesses and the king's proclamation had reached even this remote part of the mountains where the warrior was in training. The young man set off immediately for the king's palace and was received in audience.
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  "O King," the young man said, "I shall bring back the three princesses."

  The king answered: "Please do whatever you can."

  The young warrior then asked the king for the loan of the five strongest men among the king's soldiers. Then be began preparations for his venture into the Land-below-the-earth. He prepared a hempen rope a hundred leagues in length, a basket large enough to hold one person, and a silver bell. Then the young warrior set off for the mountains, accompanied by the five retainers.

  After many days, he came once again to the entrance of the Land-below-the-earth. He tied the basket to one end of the hempen rope and at the other end the silver bell. His idea was to lower the basket by the rope, and when the bell was rung, to pull it up.

  The warrior ordered one of the soldiers to go down in the basket first. The man had gone down only one league when the bell rang "Tinkle, tinkle." The man was hauled up to the surface. He was white with terror. A second soldier went down as far as five leagues, but he too became afraid and was pulled back. A third, and then a fourth, was sent down, but each was overcome with fear part way down and had to be hauled out. Even the strongest of the soldiers, the fifth man, could only go down fifty leagues.

  Finally the young warrior himself entered the basket and was lowered into the hole. Down, down he went. There seemed no end. Just as the hundred-league rope ran out, the warrior touched bottom. He had finally reached the Land-below-the-earth!

  There he found thousands of large and small houses lined up, row after row. Among them he noticed one that was larger than the rest. It stood without any roof. "This," he thought, "must be the home of the ogre." The young warrior racked his brains for some scheme by which he could enter the house of the ogre, who was chief of the Land-below-the-earth.