Hello, everyone. Welcome to “Korean Folktales.” This Thursday corner takes you into the world of interesting Korean folk stories. I’m Sophia Hong. Today, I’ll talk about how a little boy punished a greedy man with his magic club.

A long time ago, there lived a little boy in a mountain village. His family was very poor and he gathered firewood in the mountains to make ends meet. One day, working in a sweat, he felt thirsty. He went to a spring and drank the water from it. As he quenched his thirst, he suddenly recalled his parents’ faces. He murmured to himself, “My poor parents! I really wish to earn a lot of money to make them live in comfort. But how…?”

Just then, a strange voice came from the spring. “Boy, climb up to the top of the mountain.” The boy was startled and looked around. What he found was a small frog. “Don’t be surprised. Just go up to the mountaintop and you will find a goblin there. The good goblin will surely make you rich, and your family will live in decent comfort.” The boy couldn’t believe his ears, it was clear that the frog was talking to him. With a feeling of doubt and uncertainly, the boy went to the top of the mountain, as the frog had told him to. The frog was right. There, the boy saw a goblin, who asked him in a soft voice why he had come all the way to the mountaintop. The boy answered that he wanted to be rich to support his family. The goblin nodded his head and gave a donkey to the boy. The boy was delighted. He felt as if he was already rich. He started back toward his home with the donkey. Unfortunately, night fell before he reached his village, and he had to stay the night at a roadside inn.

The boy left his donkey in the hands of the innkeeper. “Sir, this is a very precious donkey. Please give it back to me tomorrow morning.” The next morning, however, the boy could not find the donkey anywhere. The innkeeper said, “Oh, what a pity! The donkey ran away during the night. I’m so sorry.” The boy suspected that the innkeeper was lying but there was nothing he could do. He was depressed. His dream of making money with the donkey was utterly shattered.

He just couldn’t go home empty-handed. He went to the mountaintop again and told the goblin what had happened at the inn. The goblin clucked sympathetically at the child’s story and said, “I’m sorry to hear that. But don’t be disappointed. I’ll give you something else—a cloth wrapper. Actually, this is a magic cloth. Unfold the wrapper and say anything you want, and the wrapper will produce it.” The boy wanted to test the magic wrapper. He felt hungry at the moment, so he shouted “rice cake!” Miraculously, rice cakes formed a huge pile on the wrapper. The boy thanked the goblin for the amazing cloth and headed home.

He walked fast, but it became dark before he arrived at his home. He had to drop by the roadside inn where he had stayed the previous night, although he didn’t like it. He sincerely asked the owner of the inn to keep his valuable cloth wrapper during the night, and the innkeeper promised to do so. The following morning, however, the greedy innkeeper said, with feigned ignorance, he had lost the wrapper. The miserable boy cried in despair but the innkeeper didn’t care.

The boy went to the goblin again, but he was too ashamed to lift his head up. He hardly dared open his mouth. But the goblin said, as if he knew everything, “Don’t worry, boy. This time, I’ll give you a club. If you shout ‘Hit,’ this club will produce anything you want. And don’t forget to tell the innkeeper about this, OK?”

The boy didn’t really want to see the innkeeper again, but he decided to follow the goblin’s instruction. The child went to the inn again and told the innkeeper about the magic club before leaving it in his hands. When the innkeeper was alone, he took out the boy’s club. Imagining all kinds of treasures, he shouted “Hit!” But what a surprise! The club began to hit the innkeeper violently. The poor man cried, “Oh, I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I’ll return the donkey and the wrapper right away. Please stop beating me.” Only when he gave the donkey and the magic cloth back to the boy, did the club stop hitting the man.

Thanks to the magic club, the boy recovered his donkey and cloth wrapper. And thanks to the precious things he received from the generous goblin, the boy and his family lived happily and comfortably there after.

That’s it for today’s “Korean Folktales.” I hope you enjoyed today’s folk story. Thank you for listening. I’m Sophia Hong. Goodbye, everyone.