Korean Children's Favorite Stories. Kim So-Un

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      Now, there happened to be in this rich home a faithful old servant who had been with the family ever since the time when the story-loving boy was still very young. As the household was preparing for the young master's wedding, this servant was tending a fire on the kitchen hearth. Suddenly his ears caught faint whispering sounds coming from somewhere. He listened carefully and soon discovered that the voices were coming from a bag hanging on the wall. It was the bag of stories which the young master had kept in his childhood. Now it hung forgotten on an old nail on the kitchen wall. The old servant listened carefully.

      "Listen everyone' said a voice, "the boy's wedding is to take place tomorrow. He has kept us this long while stuffed in this bag, packed so closely and uncomfortably together. We have suffered for a long time. We must make him pay for this some way or another."

      "Yes," said another voice, "I have been thinking the same thing. Tomorrow the young man will leave by horse to bring home his bride. I shall change into bright red berries, ripening by the roadside. There I shall wait for him. I shall be poisonous but shall look so beautiful that he will want to eat me. If he does, I shall kill him."

      "And, if he doesn't die after eating the berries," piped up a third voice, "I shall become a clear, bubbling spring by the roadside. I shall have a beautiful gourd dipper floating in me. When he sees me he will feel thirsty and will drink me. When I get inside him, I shall make him suffer terribly."

      A fourth voice then broke in. "If you fail, then I shall become an iron skewer, heated red-hot, and I shall hide in the bag of chaff that will be placed by his horse for him to dismount on when he reaches his bride's home. And when he steps on me, I shall burn his feet badly." Because, you see, according to the custom of the land in those days, a bag of chaff was always placed by the bridegroom's horse so that he would not have to step directly on the ground.

      Then a fifth voice whispered, "If that fails too, I shall become those poisonous string snakes, thin as threads. Then I shall hide in the bridal chamber. When the bride and the bridegroom have gone to sleep, I shall come out and bite them."

      The servant was filled with alarm by what he heard. "This is terrible," he told himself "I must not let any harm come to the young master. When he leaves the house tomorrow, I must take the bridle and lead his horse myself,"

      Early next morning, the final preparations were completed, and the wedding procession was ready to set forth. The groom, dressed in his best, came out of the house and mounted his horse. Suddenly the faithful servant came running out and grabbed the horse's bridle. He then asked to be allowed to lead the horse.

      The old master of the house said, "You have other work to do. You had better stay behind."

      "But I must lead the horse today," the servant said. "I don't care what happens, but I insist that I take the bridle."

      He refused to listen to anyone and finally the master, surprised at the old man's obstinacy, allowed him to lead the horse to the bride's home.

      As the procession wound along its way, the bridegroom came to an open field. There by the roadside many bright berries were growing. They looked temptingly delicious.

      "Wait!" the bridegroom called out. "Stop the horse and pick me some of those big juicy berries."

      However, the servant would not stop. In fact, he purposely made the horse hurry on and said, "Oh, those berries. You can find them anywhere. Just be a little patient. I shall pick some for you later." And he gave the horse a good crack of the whip.

      After a while, they came to a bubbling spring. Its clear waters seemed cool and tempting. There was even a small gourd dipper floating on the water, as if to invite the passerby to have a drink.

      "Bring me some of that water," the bridegroom said to the servant. "I have been thirsty for some time."

      But again the servant prodded the horse and hurried by. "Once we get into the shade of those trees, your thirst will soon disappear," he said, and he gave the horse another crack of the whip, a blow much harder than the first one.

      The bridegroom grumbled and mumbled from atop his horse. He was in a very bad mood, but the servant took no notice. He only made the horse go faster.

      Soon they reached the bride's home. There, already gathered in the yard, was a large crowd of people. The servant led the horse into the compound and stopped it beside the waiting bag of chaff. As the bridegroom put down his foot to dismount, the servant pretended to stumble and shoved the bridegroom to keep him from stepping on the bag.

      The bridegroom fell to the straw mats laid out on the ground. He blushed in shame at his clumsy fall. However, he could not scold the servant in front of all the СКАЧАТЬ