While the magpie is considered an auspicious bird that brings good fortune, the crow is usually associated with negative images in Korea. For example, people often ask a forgetful person if he ate crow meat. Obviously, they are not asking whether or not the person actually ate the meat but they are simply making fun of him.

Some interpret this derisive comment as a play on words. When we say the phrase “completely forget” in Korean, the pronunciation of a Korean word kkamake(까맣게), meaning “completely,” is similar to that of a word kkamagui (까마귀) that refers to “crow.” This word is also similar to kkameokda(까먹다), meaning “forget.” Of course, the correlation between crow meat and failure of one’s memory has never been proven scientifically.

Another explanation about crow meat and forgetfulness is found in an old fable of Jeju Island. In the tale, a crow appears as the messenger of the king of the underworld. Its job is to deliver people a note that specifies their lifespan. One day, the crow happens to lose the note on the way to a village. With no other options, the crow determines who would live and who would die of its own accord. As a result, some old people whose days are numbered continue to live, while young children who were given several more decades to live suddenly die. Based on this folk story, people came to ask a person if he or she ate crow meat when the person forgets something.

Today’s folktale tells us about how some greedy people trying to exploit crow meat fell into their own trap. Once upon a time, a married couple ran a roadside inn in a small town. Both the man and his wife were very avaricious, and they always dreamed of something they couldn’t achieve, like a large house, great fortune, high social status, power and so on.

One day, the husband complained to his wife that so many travelers had dropped by the inn for years but no one had ever left any of their personal belongings. The wife, who was just as grabby as her husband, quickly chimed in. “Tell me about it. I don’t expect much. I simply wish the travelers would only leave their wallets. That’s it. But we’re so unlucky here.” One day, while visiting a local market, the wife heard that eating crow meat makes a person forgetful. She ran to her husband and suggested that they give crow meat to their customers so the customers forget to take their things with them when they leave. The husband enthusiastically agreed, thinking it was a great idea. He lost no time in catching crows and brought them to his wife, who cooked the meat.

So the couple began to feed the customers the crow meat, waiting for them to leave something precious. Days passed, but still no one left anything. The husband became angry. He yelled at his wife that all their efforts came to nothing after all. The wife also felt annoyed, but she had to keep silent, since it was originally her idea. She had to admit she was wrong. In a soothing way, she told her husband to forget about the plan since the customers all remembered to take their belongings with them. Then she casually asked him how much he had charged the customers for the crow meat anyway. The husband looked blank for a moment. Suddenly he shouted, “Holy cow! What was happening to me? I forgot to charge them!” Due to the very crow meat, the greedy couple failed to get money they were supposed to receive.

The story is funny, isn’t it? The couple paid all their attention to whether their customers left something behind, that they didn’t even remember to charge the customers. It serves them right!