The Story Bag

by Kim So-Un

  "I'm going to eat you up," he told the rabbit. The baby rabbit, though very small, was a clever fellow. He coolly answered: "Just wait, Mr. Tiger. I'm still too young and small to make good eating. I have something much tastier for you. I shall give you some rice cakes. When you toast them over a fire, they are really delicious."

  As he said this, the rabbit stealthily picked up eleven small white stones. He showed them to the tiger.

  The greedy tiger became very interested. "But," he said, "how do you eat these?"

  The rabbit answered: "Here, I'll show you. You toast them over a fire until they are red-hot, and then you eat them in one gulp. I'll go find some firewood so you can have some right away."

  The rabbit gathered together some twigs and sticks and started a fire. The tiger put the eleven stones on the fire and watched them toast.

  When the stones were getting hot and red, the rabbit said: "Mr. Tiger, wait a while. If you put soy sauce on the cakes, they will taste even more delicious. I shall get some for you. You must wait now and don't eat any while I am gone..... Let's see, there are ten rice cakes, aren't there?" So saying, the baby rabbit skipped into the woods and ran away toward the village.

  As the stones reddened with the heat, the tiger began licking his lips in anticipation. He started counting what he thought were rice cakes.

  "One, two, three... Why," he said in surprise, "there are eleven cakes, not ten."

  He started counting them over again, but, no matter how many times he counted, there was always one too many.

  "The baby rabbit said there were ten. If I ate one, he wouldn't know the difference," the tiger said to himself.

  So he quickly took the reddest one from the fire, popped it in his mouth, and gulped it down greedily. But, oh, it was hot! so very, very hot! The tiger not only burnt his mouth and tongue, but his stomach as well. He squirmed with pain. He moaned and groaned and rolled all over the ground.

  All of which served the old tiger right for being so greedy. It was some time before he could eat anything again.

  One day, much later, the tiger met the baby rabbit again.

  "Say you, you bad rabbit! What a time you gave me the other day. I'll not let you go this time. Now I'll really eat you up." And the tiger's eyes burned with anger.

  But the baby rabbit did not look a bit frightened. With a smile he answered: "Don't be so angry, Mr. Tiger. Please listen to me. I have found a way to catch hundreds and thousands of sparrows. All you have to do is to keep perfectly still with your mouth wide open. The sparrows will come flying right into your mouth and make a nice feast for you."

  The old tiger licked his lips and asked: "Oh, is that so? What else am I supposed to do?"

  "Oh, it isn't difficult at all. All you need do is to look up at the sky and keep your mouth open. I'll chase the sparrows out of the bamboo thicket into your mouth."

  Once again the old tiger did as he was told.

  The baby rabbit hopped into the bamboo thicket and set fire to a pile of dry leaves and twigs. The sound made by the burning leaves and twigs was just like the fluttering of thousands of sparrows.

  The tiger, meanwhile, kept gazing up at the sky, his mouth wide open. "Why, it does sound as if the birds were flying this way," he thought. And he kept right on staring up at the sky, his mouth wide open, waiting for the sparrows to fly into it.

  From a distance, the baby rabbit cried: "Shoo! shoo!" pretending he was chasing sparrows.

  "Mr. Tiger, Mr. Tiger, a lot of birds are flying your way now. Don't move! Just wait a while longer."

  So saying, the baby rabbit scampered away to safety.

  The fire came closer and closer to the tiger, and the noise became louder and louder. The tiger was sure the birds were coming his way, and he patiently waited. Soon the noise was all about him, but not a single sparrow popped into his mouth.

  "That's funny," thought the tiger, and he took his eyes from the sky and looked around him. To his surprise, there was one great ocean of fire all about him as far as he could see.

  The tiger became frantic with fear as he fought his way through the burning woods. Finally he managed to come through alive, but his fur was all sizzled black. And his skin looked like newly tanned hide.

  It was soon winter. Once again the tiger became ravenously hungry. As he stalked through the forest looking for food, he came to the banks of a river. There he saw his old friend, the baby rabbit, eating some vegetables.

  The tiger roared angrily at the rabbit: "How dare you fool me about the sparrows! I won't let you get away with anything this time. I will eat you up for sure." He ground his teeth and ran up to the rabbit.

  The rabbit smiled as usual and said: "Hello, Mr. Tiger, it's quite some time since we last met, isn't it? Look, I was just fishing with my tail in the river. I caught a big one, and it was delicious. Don't you think river fish are very tasty?"

  The hungry tiger gulped with hunger and said: "You were fishing with your tail? Show me how it is done."

  "It isn't very easy," the rabbit replied, "but I'm sure you will be able to do it. All you need to do is to put your tail in the water and shut your eyes. I shall go up the river a little and chase the fish this way. Remember, you mustn't move. Just wait a little, and you'll have many fish biting at your tail."

  The old tiger did what the rabbit told him. He put his tail into the river, closed his eyes, and waited.

  The rabbit ran up the river bank and hopped about here and there, pretending to chase the fish down to where the tiger was waiting. The winter day was beginning to wane, and the water became colder and colder.

  "The fish are beginning to swim your way, Mr. Tiger," the rabbit shouted. "They will be biting on your tail any minute. Don't move!" Then the rabbit ran away.

  The river began to freeze over slowly. The old tiger moved his tail a wee bit. It was heavy. "Ah, good! I must have caught a lot of fish on my tail. Just a while longer and I shall have a good catch," he told himself.

  He waited until midnight. "Now I shall have lots of fish to eat," thought the tiger.

  So he tried to pull his tail out. But it wouldn't move! What had happened? Why, his tail was frozen tightly in the ice.

  "Oh, I have been tricked again by that rabbit," moaned the tiger. But, it was too late to do anything.

  When it became light, the villagers came to the river and found the old tiger trapped in the ice. Thus the greedy old tiger was finally caught and taken away. And that was one greedy old tiger who never ate another rabbit.

  14 The Great Flood

  ONCE upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a handsome boy named Talltree. He was so named because his father was a tree—a tree so tall that it almost reached the sky. His mother was a celestial being, a beautiful creature from Heaven who came down to earth from time to time. She often used to rest in the shade of the tall tree. In time she became the tree's wife and bore a boy child, who became the Talltree of this story.

  When Talltree was about to greet his eighth spring, his mother left him beside his father, the great, tall tree, and returned to her home in the heavens.

  One day a terrible storm arose suddenly. For days on end the rains poured down on earth, until all the ground was under water. Soon mountainous waves began sweeping toward the tall tree, the father of the young boy.

  Father-tree became alarmed. He called to his child and said: "I shall soon be uprooted by this terrible storm. When I fall, you must climb into my branches and perch on my back. Otherwise, you will be drowned."

  The storm became more and more violent. Lashed by screaming winds, great waves thundered against the trunk of the tree. Then came the fiercest gust of all, and the kingly tree fell with a crash.

  Quickly the boy climbed on his father's back and held tightly to the branches. The great tree floated on the rushing waters. For days and days it drifted on and on, at the mercy of the angry waves.

  One day they came upon a great number of ants struggling in the water. The poor ants, on the point of d
rowning, cried: "Save us! Save us!"

  Talltree felt sorry for them and asked his father: "Shall we save the ants?"

  "Yes," his father replied.

  "Climb up on my father's back," Talltree called to the ants, "and you will be saved. Hurry! Hurry!"

  And Talltree helped the tired and weary ants get up out of the wind-whipped water onto the tree. The ants, of course, were very happy to be saved.

  Soon, a great cloud of mosquitoes came flying through the storm. They, too, were weary, for nowhere was there any place to land and rest their tired wings.

  "Help! Help!" the mosquitoes buzzed.

  Again, Talltree asked: "Father, shall we save the mosquitoes?"

  "Yes," his father replied.

  So Talltree helped the tired mosquitoes alight on the leaves and branches of his father's back. The mosquitoes were also very grateful to be saved from the cruel storm.

  As Talltree and his father and the ants and the mosquitoes drifted along, they heard the cry of a child. They looked into the waves and saw it was a boy about the same age as Talltree.

  "Save me! Save me!" cried the boy.

  Talltree felt sorry for the boy. "Let's save the boy too," he said.

  But this time his father didn't answer.

  Again the cries of the boy came pitifully across the raging waters. And again Talltree said: "Please, Father, let's save that boy. "Still there was no answer from Father-tree.

  Talltree pleaded with his father a third time: "Father, we must save that poor boy!"

  The father finally answered: "Do as you wish. I leave it up to you."

  Talltree was overjoyed and called to the boy to come and climb up onto his father's back. So the boy was saved too.

  After a long time, the father-tree, Talltrec, the ants, the mosquitoes, and the boy who had been saved from the waves came to an island. It was the peak of the highest mountain in that country—a mountain as high as Paik Tu, the Mountain with a White Head, so called because the snows never melted from its crest.

  As soon as the tree reached the island, the ants and the mosquitoes thanked Talltree and took their departure.

  The two boys were very hungry, for they had not eaten for many days. They wandered over the island searching for food and finally came upon a small straw-thatched hut.

  "Please give us some food," the boys cried out.

  An old woman and two young girls came out. They welcomed the boys into the house and gave them food. One of the girls was the real daughter of the old woman and the other an adopted child.

  The great flood and storm had destroyed everything on earth except this little island. The only people left in the world were the two boys, the old woman, and the two girls. There was no other place where the boys could stay. So from that day forth they lived with the old woman, working for her as servants.

  It was a peaceful life. The days slipped into weeks, the weeks into months, and the months into years, and the boys grew into strong, fine youths.

  As the old woman watched the boys grow into manhood, she thought to herself: "They will make fine husbands for my two girls."

  One day, she called the two of them to her and said: "Whichever of you is the more skillful shall have my own daughter for his wife, and the other shall have my adopted girl."

  Now the old woman's own daughter was the more beautiful of the two girls, and the boy who had been saved by Talltree during the flood wanted very much to marry her. He thought of a way to get her for his own wife.

  "Grandma," he said, "Talltree has a strange power which none of the rest of us has. For example, you can mix a whole sack of millet in a pile of sand, and he can have the millet and the sand separated in no time. Let him try it and show you."

  The old woman was astounded to hear this. "Is that so?" she said. "I would like very much to see his wonderful ability. Come, Talltree, let me see if you really can do this amazing thing."

  Talltree knew he was being tricked. He knew he certainly could do no such thing. He knew the other youth was planning to get him into trouble. So he refused. But the old woman was adamant. She was determined that Talltree should show her his strange power.

  "If you don't do it, or if you can't do it, I won't give you my daughter in marriage," the old woman said.

  Talltree saw he couldn't escape and sighed. "Very well, then," he said, "I'll try."

  The old woman emptied a sack of millet into a pile of sand and mixed them all up together. Then she left, saying she would return in a short while to see how he was getting along.

  Talltrec gazed hopelessly at the pile of millet and sand. What was he to do? It was not humanly possible to sort the millet from the sand.

  Suddenly, Talltree felt something bite his heel. He looked down, and there he saw a large ant.

  "What is troubling you, Talltree?" the ant asked. "I suppose you no longer remember me, but I am one of the ants you saved a long time ago in the flood. Tell me, what's the matter?"

  Talltree told theant how he must separate the millet from the sand or else not be able to marry the old woman's daughter.

  "Is that all the trouble? Then your worries are over. Just leave it to me."

  No sooner had the ant said this than a great mass of ants came swarming from all over the place. They attacked the huge pile of sand and millet, each ant carrying a millet grain in its mouth and putting it into the sack placed nearby. Back and forth the ants hurried. In almost a twinkling of an eye all the millet was back in the sack.

  When the old woman came back, she was amazed to find that Talltree had finished an impossible task in so short a time.

  The other youth was surprised too, and chagrined that his trick had failed. But he still wished to marry the old woman's daughter and pleaded with her: "Please give me your real child for my wife."

  The old woman hesitated. She thought for a moment and replied: "You are both very dear to me. I must be absolutely fair. Tonight will be a moonless night. I shall put my two daughters each in a separate room. One will be in the east room and the other in the west room. You two will stay outside and when I say 'ready,' you will both come into the house and go to the room of your choice. The girl you find there will be your bride. I'm sure this is the best and fairest plan."

  That night the two youths waited outside for the old woman's command.

  Suddenly Talltree heard a mosquito flying close to his ear.

  "Buss, buzz," said the mosquito, in a wee voice. "Talltree, you must go to the east room. Buzz, buzz. Remember, it is the east room."

  Talltree was overjoyed to hear this. He felt sure the mosquito was one he had saved during the flood. "Ready!" the old woman cried out.

  The two boys went into the house. While the other boy was still hestating, Talltree went straight to the cast room. There he found the good and beautiful daughter of the old woman. She became his wife.

  The other youth could not complain. So he took the other girl for his wife.

  Both couples were very, very happy. They had many, many children and lived happily ever after. In time, their children, and their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren spread throughout the world. And again the earth was filled with people.

  15 The Three Little Girls

  DEEP in the mountains there stood a lonely hut. In this hut lived a mother and her three small daughters. The eldest girl was named Haisuni, the second Talsuni, and the youngest Peolsuni.

  One day the mother had to leave home to take some firewood to a distant market to sell. Before she left she called her three daughters and said: "Listen, Haisuni, Talsuni, and Peolsuni. Do be careful while I am gone, for there is a very bad tiger roaming the woods nearby. Don't ever open the door to anybody until I get back. Otherwise you might be eaten up by the bad tiger."

  So saying, the mother stepped out the door and went on her way.

  Just as she was leaving, the bad tiger happened to pass the house. He was very hungry and was in search of food. He saw the mother leave the house and thought: "Ho ho! No
w's my chance! Now that the mother's gone, I'll be able to eat those three young girls of hers. They should make a tasty dinner for me. How nice that would be!"

  The tiger waited a while to make sure that the mother would not return. Then, when he thought the time was ripe, he crept up to the house and called out in his sweetest voice: "Haisuni, Talsuni, Peolsuni—Mother has just come back. Please open the door."

  Of course, no matter how sweetly the tiger spoke, his voice was not the voice of their mother. So the eldest girl, Haisuni, asked: "Is that really you, Mother? It doesn't sound a bit like you."

  "Why, of course I'm your mother," the tiger answered. "I was invited to a feast and there I sang so many songs that my voice has become hoarse."

  The second daughter, Talsuni, then asked: "If you are really our mother, then show us your eyes. We would be able to tell for sure."

  Hearing this, the tiger put his blood-shot eyes to a knothole in the front door and peered into the house.

  Talsuni saw the red eyes and drew back in surprise. "Oh my! Why are your eyes so red?"

  The tiger, a bit confused, hurriedly explained: "I dropped in at Grandfather's house and helped grind some red pepper pods. Some of the pepper got into my eyes, and that's why they are so red."

  The third daughter, Peolsuni, next asked: "If that's true, then let us see your hands. We could really tell then whether you are our mother or not."

  The tiger put his hairy, yellow paws to a chink in the door.

  Peolsuni peeked through the crack and cried: "Why! Your hands are all yellow!"

  "Yes, my child," the tiger said, "I was helping our relatives in the next village plaster their house with yellow mud. That's why my hands are so yellow."

  In this way the clever tiger fooled all the girls completely. The three sisters, sure that it was their mother, unlocked the front door. And who should come in but a huge, yellow tiger!