Tigers of the Kumgang Mountains. Kim So-Un

      

      Cultural Background

      The Tigers of the Kumgang Mountains is a Korean folktale that has been handed down by word of mouth from one generation to the next. It has been told by grandparents to their grandchildren, huddled on the heated floors of Korean homes in the bitterly cold days of mid-winter, with snow-laden winds raging outside; repeated in the yards of Korean homes to children seated on straw mats in the cool of a summer evening; and shared by farmer folk as they rested from their work in the fields in the shade of a nearby tree.

      The author, Kim So-un, first heard this tale when he was a child. He hopes that a wider audience will now enjoy this story and that readers will feel a kindred spirit with the people of ancient Korea. Kim So-un is also the author of Korean Children's Favorite Stories and The Deer and the Woodcutter.

      Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd, with editorial offices at 364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, V T 05759-9436, USA and 61 Tai Seng Avenue, #02-12 Singapore 534167.

      Illustrations © 2005 Jeong Kyoung-Sim

       Text © 2005 Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd

       All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

      LCC Card No: 2005903081

       ISBN: 978-1-4629-1077-9 (ebook)

       First printing, 2005

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      A Korean Folktale

      by Kim So-un illustrations by Jeong Kyoung-Sim

      TUTTLE PUBLISHING

       Tokyo • Rutland, Vermont • Singapore

      Many years ago in old Korea, there once lived a very famous marksman and hunter. He was such a fine marksman that he could shoot down a bird in flight, almost without taking aim. Deer and wild boar were no match for this hunter once they entered the sights of his gun. He never missed a shot.

      In those days the Kumgang Mountains were full of tigers. The beasts would come down from the mountains and steal, eating whatever they could find, not just horses and cattle, but people too.

      There was not a single man who could stop them.

      Many hunters set out for the mountains, saying, "I'll get those tigers." But none returned. Instead, they became the prey of the tigers of the Kumgang Mountains.

      One day the famous marksman said: "Now it's my turn. I will kill every tiger in the mountains."

      The hunter refused to listen to anyone who tried to hold him back, and he set out to find the tigers.

      At the foot of the mountains he came to a lonely inn.

      The innkeeper saw the hunter and said: "Alas, are you too going to try to destroy the tigers, only to have them eat you up? Listen to what I say I'm telling you this for your own good. If you value your life, give up this foolish idea."

      The hunter refused to listen. In his heart, he said proudly: "With my skill, there isn't a tiger anywhere that can beat me." Out loud, he said to the woman: "Old woman, just wait and see. I shall come back in a little while, carrying a tiger as big as a mountain on my back." And, laughing to himself, the hunter continued up into the mountains.

      That was the last time he was ever seen. Five years passed. Ten years went by. But the hunter did not return.