Hello, everyone. Welcome to “Korean Folktales.” This weekly corner explores the interesting world of Korean traditional folk stories. I’m Emilee Jennings and today, I’ll tell you the tale of willow leaves floating on the water.

Once upon a time, a general was marching with his soldiers. After a long march, the general felt thirsty. While looking for water he saw five-colored clouds in the sky in the distance. It was very rare to find glowing clouds, so the general became curious, and walked toward the clouds.

Before long, he found a well, with a big willow tree standing nearby. He also saw a teenage girl drawing water from the well. The thirsty general politely asked her to give him a drink of water. The woman gave a slight nod and began to collect water for the general, who was captivated by her beauty. He couldn’t take his eyes off the pretty woman, while she filled a cup with water from the well.

But after filling the cup with water, the woman didn’t give it to him. Instead, she picked some leaves from the willow tree nearby and floated the willow leaves on the water in the cup. The general was getting impatient with her strange behavior, but he waited without complaint. But when he finally received the water, he was upset. Because of the leaves, he couldn’t gulp down the water all at once, instead he had to blow the leaves before taking a sip of water. The process repeated again and again until he drank all the water. It is needless to say it took some time for the man to finish one drink of water.

After he emptied the cup, he returned it to the lady and asked why she floated the willow leaves on the water. The woman replied, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience. But, you looked very thirsty, and I thought you would drink the water too fast. I was concerned that you might have an upset stomach. So I wanted you to drink the water slowly.”

The general, who was fascinated by her beauty at first, was now impressed by her wisdom and consideration. He thanked her for her kindness and asked her to marry him. Legend has it that the general was none other than Wang Geon, the founder of the Goryeo Dynasty, and the thoughtful woman he encountered at the well became his first wife, Queen Shin-hye. It is said that the queen faithfully assisted her husband with her wisdom and contributed greatly to the establishment of the new kingdom.

That’s it for today’s “Korean Folktales.” I hope you enjoyed the story. Tune in again next time for another interesting Korean folktale. Thank you for listening. I’m Emilee Jennings. Goodbye, everyone.