Korean Folktale: The Sun and The Moon
(해와 달이 된 오누이)
Once upon a time, there was a woman living in a mountain with her three children. She was making a living by selling mills. Then one day, the woman went to a rich man’s house, sold mills all day, got some rice cakes, and returned home late at night. As she crossed a hill, a tiger appeared. The tiger sat blocking the road and told the woman that he would not kill her if she gave him the rice cakes she had. So she gave all the rice cakes she had to the tiger. The tiger ate all the rice cakes the woman gave him and went away.
As the woman hurried her steps and climbed one more hill, the tiger appeared again and this time it ate the woman. The tiger then disguised itself with the woman’s clothes and went to the woman’s house. Arriving at the woman’s house, the tiger knocked on the door and said, “Baby, baby, mommy is here.” “Hurry up and open the door.” The children heard the tiger’s voice and refused to open the door, saying it was not their mother’s voice. The tiger convinced the children that her voice had changed. “Hurry up and open the door,” the tiger urged, and the children ended up opening the door.
The tiger went in to the house and picked up the youngest baby and ate it. The brother and sister realized that it was the tiger and not their real mother. They decided to run away and climbed up the big pine tree in the backyard. When the tiger chased after them and climbed the tree, the brother and sister prayed to heaven to save them. Soon an iron rope came down from the sky. The brother and sister climbed the iron rope and went up to the sky.
When the tiger finished climbing the tree, it saw the brother and sister climbing into the sky. It then followed their prayer to heaven asking for a rope. Heaven sent down an old iron rope to the tiger. Without even knowing it, the tiger climbed onto the old iron rope and ascended into the sky. However, while the tiger was climbing, the old iron rope broke and the tiger fell to the ground and died.
God made the brother the sun and the sister the moon, but because the sister was afraid of the night, they changed their roles – the brother became the moon and the sister the sun. The sister is embarrassed to be stared at by people during the day, so she emits a powerful light.
Adapted from Jo Young-ju’s and Jo Hyeon-seol’s works.
