The Looking Glass
A long time ago, an aspiring young scholar went to the capital city (seoul) to take kwa-go, the state civil service examination. One day he was browsing through a general store and a small reflective object caught his eyes. He looked closely into it. And lo! It showed the image of his own very face clearly on its surface. He remembered that he had often seen the image of his face, usually distorted, reflected in the washbowl, but he had never seen such a mysterious object which reflected his own image so clearly. After the examination he returned home to a small hamlet with the small pocket-size looking glass he had bought.

Back at home, he did not show the looking glass to anyone, including his family members; instead, he hid it in his chest drawer, peeking into it secretly morning after morning. Then, one day, his wife saw his strange behavior: he took something out of the drawer, staring, smiling at it and then putting it away. She became very curious and wanted to find out what he was smiling at. While her husband was out, she looked inside the drawer and found a small shiny object. Picking it up, she looked into it to examine the object, then stepped back instantly, startled by a sudden appearance of a very attractive but perplexed young woman. Incredulous, she shook her head vigorously. She thought, "Maybe I am seeing things!" And so, she peeked into it, again. And there was that same attractive woman, looking a bit peevish this time. Enraged with jealousy, she dashed over to her mother-in-law with the looking glass held tightly in her hand. "Mother dearest, my husband came home from Seoul with a young mistress!" said she, bursting into tears.

Mother-in-law could not believe her son brought home another woman when he returned. "There must be some mistake, dear. Where is she now?" Daughter-in-law handed over the looking glass to her. Mother-in-law brought the object closer to her face and found a wrinkled old woman staring at her! "Dear, where is that attractive mistress you were talking about? I see, instead, a granny visiting us from a neighbouring village!"

Meanwhile, her father-in-law heard all that unusual noise coming from women's quarters and wanted to know what it was all about. He took the looking glass and looked into it for a while. What old woman? An attractive young woman? What he saw was an old, old man with gray hair. Suddenly he kneeled down and said ever politely to the looking glass: "Dear late Father, what unhappiness brought you back as a spirit? Have I done anything to make you restless?" And he bowed and bowed on his knees.
Daughter-in-law was dumbfounded by all this. She could swear that she saw a pretty young woman. And what was her father-in-law doing? Puzzled and perplexed, she took the object back and looked into it, again. Behold, there was no doubt about it. That young mistress appeared, again! The infuriated young wife ranted and ranted at the mistress for her crafty disguises. And the mistress was mimicking her with a contorted face and twisted lips! The young woman grew more and more angry, and finally threw the looking glass down hard onto the floor and broke it into pieces
 

The Tiger in the Trap
Once upon a time, there was a small hamlet in the deep mountains. The people of this hamlet were always afraid of tigers that roamed in the surrounding mountains. One day, their fear and anxiety brought all the villagers together to discuss their problem and find some ways of living peacefully without this constant fear. After much discussion, they came to an agreement: they decided to dig pits here and there to trap tigers. Every able-bodied villager came out to dig deep pits around the village and, particularly, along both sides of the mountain pass leading to the village.

One day, a traveller was passing through the area and heard strange groaning sounds nearby. He approached where the sounds came from and found a large tiger trapped in a pitfall and trying to jump out. Seeing the traveller, the tiger begged him for help: "Please, help me out of this trap, and I will never forget your kindness." Out of mercy, the traveller dragged a felled tree and lowered it into the pitfall. And the tiger climbed out.

As soon as the tiger was out of the trap, he said to the traveller: "I am grateful for your help, but because humans made the trap to catch me, for that I will have to kill you." The traveller was utterly speechless and became frightened, too. Trying to be calm and mustering his courage, however, he said: "Wait a minute, Mr. Tiger. It is patently unfair and outrageous to kill me. Fairness demands that we should have a few impartial parties to judge who is right." The tiger agreed and both of them went to an ox.

After listening to their story, the ox said: "Well, it is the fault of humans. We, oxen, too, have a grudge against humans. They drive us hard for their own benefit and then they butcher us mercilessly. This is all very unfair!"

Next, they went to a pine tree. The pine tree listened to their story and said: "Humans are wrong. They cut us down for lumber and for their firewood. What have we done to them to deserve that? They just have no heart!"
Listening to the second opinion, the tiger was elated and ready to attack the traveller, when a hare was hopping toward them. "Phew, just in time, Mr. Hare. Please, judge our case," and the traveller told the hare what had happened. The hare, then, said: "Fine, but before I make any judgment, I must see the original scene." So, the traveller, the tiger and the hare all went to the pitfall where the tiger had been trapped. The hare said to the tiger: "I must see exactly how you were before this traveller rescued you. Where exactly were you?" Eager to show where he was, the tiger jumped right into the pitfall. The hare asked: "Was this felled tree in the pitfall when you fell into it, Mr. Tiger?" "No, it was not." So, the hare and the traveller took the tree out of the pitfall. The hare, then, said to the traveller: "Mr. Traveller, now, be on your way." And the hare, too, hopped away
 

The Great Fortune Teller
Long, long ago, there were two young bachelors, Tori (meaning, Stone) and Tukkebi (Toad). Bachelor Stone was very intelligent and resourceful, while Bachelor Toad was rather slow but sly. Both of them were very, very poor.

One day, resourceful Stone conceived of some ideas and told Toad, "Toad, life is so hard for you and me because we have always been so poor. Let's do something so that we, too, can live a little more comfortably. What do you think, Toad?" "You are right, Stone, but what could we do? I can't think of any workable idea," said Toad. "Well, Toad, as a matter of fact I do have an idea." "You do?" "Yes, I have a splendid idea! Would you work with me, Toad?" "Surely, if you think I can," replied Toad. "Of course, you can. From now on, you are to become a diviner." "A diviner? How can I act as a diviner when I do not even know whether I can have a meal tonight?"

 Toad could not understand, but Stone was smiling and said, "Relax, Toad. Nothing to worry about. All you have to do is to follow my instructions exactly. Now, listen carefully, Toad. Today I am going to sneak into the King's palace to steal the Royal Seal. Then, I am going to bury it under the old chestnut tree in the rear garden of the palace. When the time comes, you will go to the palace and say that you are a diviner and that you can solve that grave problem. You will then be led into the palace. Say to the king that you could tell where the Seal is. After the recovery of the Seal, you will be sure to be rewarded generously by the king. Then, you and I will share the reward. How about it?" "That sounds great, but what if you get caught in the act?" asked Toad, looking very worried. "Don't worry about me. And, too, no one else besides us knows about this scheme."

 That night Stone slipped into the palace, stole the Seal and buried it under the chestnut tree. Everything went well as planned. Next morning, there was a big commotion in the palace over the stolen Seal. And King issued a stern order to his courtiers and ministers that the Seal be recovered at once. But the king's men had no idea about where the Seal might be. As days passed, they became more and more agonized over their inability to recover it.

A few days after the Seal was stolen, Toad went to the palace and said calmly and confidently: "I am a diviner. I will try my best to locate the stolen Seal, if you allow me to." Toad was immediately welcomed by the court officials whose faces were lit up with relief. Toad, then, walked into the king's quarters led by the officials. He sat down, closed his eyes, and occasionally blinked his eyes rapidly several times, as fortune-tellers usually did. Then, all of a sudden he slapped his knee and exclaimed, "Aha! This sly old chestnut tree! Standing innocently like that can't trick me!" The surrounding officials looked at each other, looking puzzled. But, with the guileful display of innocence, Toad stood up, went straight to the old chestnut tree in the back yard and started digging under it. And there it was! King was much relieved and pleased, and rewarded Toad generously with strings of money.

 A few days after this, however, Toad was in for trouble, for he was summoned by the king when a thief stole Queen's precious jewelry, an ornate gold girdle with pendants. This time, it was not his friend, Stone, who stole it. Toad was at a loss. Not knowing what to do, he just strolled around the court yard, pretending to be waiting for divine inspiration. He was walking back and forth all day, and that night, too, he was out in the court yard, strolling and regretting his earlier participation in Stone's scheme. Just then, someone suddenly appeared in the dark. It was a court maid, who kneeled in front of Toad and bowed politely. "Who are you? And what are you doing?" She lifted her face. Toad could see tears in her eyes. She said chokingly, "I know, Mr. Toad, that you know everything about what happened. Please, don't pretend that you do not know." "Lady, I do not understand what you are talking about," Said Toad in a modulated voice, trying to hide his puzzlement. "It is I who stole the girdle and buried it under that wooden floor over there," said the maid, pointing to a corner of a building. "Mr. Toad, please, be merciful. Please, do not tell this to anyone." Hearing all this, Toad felt quite relieved, convinced that she was telling the truth. "Ha, ha! I've been waiting for you to come forth and ask for forgivenness for your outrageous conduct. I am glad you came to me tonight. Never, again, do such a crooked thing!" Toad admonished her gently, putting on a straight face.

Next morning, Toad went before King, bowed deeply and said, "Your Royal Highness, I have located the jewelry. This time, the culprit is the wooden floor around the rear court yard. I will lead you there." Reaching the location pointed out to by the maid the night before, Toad started digging a spot under the floor and took out the gold girdle.

After this second divination, Toad became famous, and his name became a household word throughout the country. His reputation eventually reached neighboring China. The emperor of China wished to meet Toad, the famous diviner, and an arrangement was made by the king, who invited the emperor to his Royal Palace. Toad was summoned again by the king for demonstrating his remarkable ability of divination to the emperor of China.
 King asked, pointing to a stone on top of a small mound of earth: "Toad, what is hidden inside the mound? Tell us what it is." Toad almost fainted. He felt as if the whole world had been collapsing on him. He thought he could not see another sunrise. Until then, he had been simply lucky, but how in the world could he tell what was hidden under that heap of soil? As he was resigned to die, tears were welling up in his eyes. Very, very sad, Toad lamented inside: "Stone! Because of you and your cute scheme, I am about to be fatally punished. Had it not been for your scheme, Stone, I may still be poor but would not lose my life. And...." When his inner lamenting reached this point, he could not overcome sorrow and resentfulness, and finally shouted out aloud: "Toad is dying because of you, Stone!" Just then, exploded loud cheers from the emperor and his entourage. The emperor had hidden a toad under the stone! Out of admiration the emperor rewarded Toad with a load of money, and Toad lived comfortably and happily ever after.
 
 

The Substitute Son-in-Law
Once upon a time, in a remote village there lived a man of nobility who was poor but proud. He had a daughter, his only child, who had reached a marriageable age. He wanted to get her married to a promising young man. So, one day he set out on a journey in search for a suitable young man for his future son-in-law.

He visited so-dang one after another, hoping to find a young man for his daughter. One evening, he came to a so dang, where he was received as an overnight guest. While young aspiring scholars are working on their evening studies, he was observing each one of them with purposeful eyes. He finally found a handsome and promising young man. Rejoiced, he opened his heart to the tutor, who gladly accepted his proposal. The young man, the tutor told him, was his own son. Then and there, an auspicious day for the wedding was chosen.

Returning home with the good news, father of the bride-to-be was waiting for that happy wedding day for his daughter. That day finally arrived. As it was customary, the bridegroom was coming to the bride's house for the wedding. But her father noticed that the bridegroom was not the young man he had chosen, but a stranger who looked ugly and unintelligent. What could a yang-ban, an aristocrat, do? He was bewildered and awfully disappointed, but thought that there was no other decent way available than marrying his daughter off to that disappointing young man. Father was heartbroken but tried to console himself, thinking: "Well, if she was born under a lucky star, she will manage to live happily despite all this."

This young man was not the tutor's son; he was the tutor's servant boy. The tutor had been taking care of this boy since he lost both of his parents. Since the boy was found to be good for nothing more worthwhile, the tutor had him collect firewood for his family. Though the boy reached a marriageable age, no one ever wanted him as a son-in-law. So, the sudang tutor had decided to marry the boy, instead of his son, off to the girl.

Five years went by since his daughter's marriage. Her father was anxious to see his only daughter and how she was managing. One day he went to her place for a visit and found that she seemed to be living much better than he had expected. Nevertheless, still feeling sorry for her about what had happened to her wedding, he told her he was very sorry. She told her father that he had nothing to regret and that she was in fact quite happy. And she showed him what she and her husband had in a large chest. The chest was full of money. "How did you get all that money?" asked father, showing a visible sign of concern. "Don't worry, Father. He has earned all this by diligently collecting and selling firewood all these years." After a while, father heard a grunting sound outside; his son-in-law had just returned from the mountain and was unloading firewood collected that day. Now, the once ugly and stupid-looking young man looked dependable and promising.

Ten more years had passed. His son-in-law became a very rich man. Now he decided to put his A-frame carrier away and study. He went into a secluded mountain hut to study single-mindedly. After three years of hard work, he passed kwa-go, the state examination, and became a respectable state official. And the couple lived happily ever after. Meanwhile, the son of the tutor lived as an aspiring scholar in poverty.
 

The Seat of Honor
It was a time when tigers used to smoke--a long, long time ago. A large number of forest animals, big and small, powerful and weak, got together for a festival of the forest. There were lots and lots of food and drinks, and everyone was merry. But they had one problem to be decided as an important event of the festival: they had to decide who should sit at the head of the table as the elder, honored member, for it was customary to reserve the seat of honor for the oldest member.

Each one of the animals claimed to be the oldest and so they could not come to an agreement. Finally they agreed to have an oral contest to determine who the oldest among them was. The one who could convince others that it was the oldest would take the seat of honor.

A deer came forward first: "When the world began, someone had to create the sun, the moon and the stars and put them up in the sky. I had the honor of doing that monumental work." Everyone was silent for a while, until a fox stepped out and said: "It is indeed true that the deer did create at the beginning of the world the sun, the moon and the stars, and put them up in the sky. However, the sky was so high that the deer needed a ladder to do the work. The wood of which the ladder was made was from a three thousand-year-old tree. It was I who planted that very tree."

While listening to the story of the fox, a toad sitting beside the fox was sobbing uncontrollably. Other animals were puzzled and asked the toad why he was crying so sadly. The toad, wiping his eyes, said haltingly: "I have had numerous sons, daughters, grandchildren, and ... great ... great grand children, but as ill luck would have it, they all died before me. Among all the grandchildren, the youngest one used to tell me that, when the world first began, someone put the sun, the moon and the stars up in the sky. The sky was so high that a ladder had to be used. The one who planted the tree from which the wood for the ladder came, my grandson told me, was his dearest friend. The story the fox just told us made me reminisce those good old days with my youngest grandson.''
No other animal came forth after the toad to boast its age any more, and they all agreed that the toad should take the seat of honor.
 

The Bald Man
Long, long ago an old man had a young mistress, though he kept the affair secret. He let her pull out all his white hair, so that he might not look so old. His wife noticed that he had less white hair, and guessed that he must be keeping a mistress. So she abused him roundly for deceiving her.

Her husband feigned ignorance and protested, "Certainly not! I would never do a thing like that." Then to prove his innocence he let his wife pull out his black hair. In her jealousy she pulled it all out, so that he might no longer be attractive to his mistress. And so the old man became completely bald.