Once upon a time, there lived two smart boys named Oseong and Haneum. They were close friends and they always stuck together like glue. The following episode happened while they were living in a Buddhist temple temporarily.

On a cold winter morning, the chief Buddhist priest at the temple rushed to the boys. He looked very upset. He told them that the golden Buddha statue was missing. Oseong and Haneum were also surprised. They asked the monk, “You mean the small golden Buddha statue enshrined in the sanctuary? That’s terrible. When was the last time you saw it?” The monk said the statue had been in the sanctuary until the previous night.” The boys went outside. The temple yard was covered with white snow from the previous day. They found no footprints on the ground, and they concluded that the thief was still inside the temple. While the boys were talking with the head monk, a man and his wife came out of the temple. The couple said goodbye to the monk and quickly left. Oseong stared at the husband, who was carrying a bag on his back. Oseong thought it was strange for the couple to leave the temple so early in the morning when the ground was still frozen solid. A few hours later, when the sun rose, the snow would melt away. He looked at his friend, Haneum, who smiled in return, as if saying, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

The two boys quickly picked up a bundle and went after the couple, who, of course, did not know they were being followed. After a while, they reached a village and the boys saw the couple enter an inn. The husband put down his bag and began to eat food with his wife. Nearby, the two boys were seated separately, as though they were total strangers. As the couple was about to finish eating, Oseong quickly picked up the husband’s bag and left his own bundle instead. The stunned husband shouted, “Hey, young boy! That’s my bag! Why are you taking it?” Oseong looked back but he held the bag more tightly. Feigning ignorance, he asked the husband, “What are you talking about? This is my bag. I think you’re mistaken. Your bag is over there.” With these words, Oseong pointed to his own bundle.

Now the husband was angry. He grabbed Oseong’s throat and said in a loud voice that he wanted his package back, calling Oseong a thief. Despite the man’s yelling and uproar, Oseong didn’t turn a hair. The boy only claimed ownership of the bag repeatedly. There was a lot of noise and people began to gather to see what was happening. Just then, Haneum appeared and intruded into their quarrel. “Calm down, please. Why don’t you both stop arguing but tell us what’s inside in your own bag? So we can figure out who is the real owner of the bag.”

People agreed, saying that it was a good idea. Haneum asked the husband first what was inside the bag. The man looked a little bit embarrassed and mumbled his words. Then, Haneum asked Oseong the same question. Without a moment’s hesitation, Oseong said confidently that there was a golden Buddha statue inside the bag. He then opened the bag. The boy was right. There was a shining Buddha statue. Now, people looked at the couple, who looked very nervous. The husband muttered, “Um…I, I think I’m…. Well, my mistake.” He quickly left the inn with his wife.

Thanks to their wisdom, Oseong and Haneum were able to retrieve the Buddha statue and return it to the temple. Needless to say, the chief monk at the temple was overjoyed to recover the lost treasure.

Oseong and Haneum are actually the childhood names of two prominent scholars from the 16th century, Yi Hang-bok and Yi Deok-hyeong, respectively. The scholarly pair from the Joseon period had endless amusing episodes when they were young boys and remained lifelong friends to each other.