Hello and welcome to “Korean Folktales.” This Monday corner takes you into the world of interesting Korean folk stories. I’m Eunji Kim. Today, I’ll tell you the story of two friends. One was rewarded for his toil but the other one got nothing. Let’s find out why.

Once upon a time, there lived two boys, named Jang-son and Mak-son. They were close friends, and they always stuck together. Unfortunately, their family was poor, and they had to earn money. They decided to work as servants at a rich man’s house in a nearby village for three years. The two boys worked really hard, doing all the chores in the house. But they were happy because this work would allow them to give financial support to their family.

Three years passed and it was time to come back home. But the night before they were to leave, the master of the house told the two boys to do something. He ordered them to make straw ropes as long and thin as possible. Jang-son thought that he owed the master a big favor, as the old man had fed and housed him for years. Since it was the last task he would do in the house, Jang-son didn’t complain and twisted pieces of straw into a rope throughout the night. He made a long and thin straw rope, as his master instructed.

The other boy, Mak-son, was different. He was excited at the thought of returning home after years of toil, when he was told to do another chore. He was upset with the grumpy old man who was forcing them to work until the last moment. But he couldn’t express his displeasure, so he began to make a straw rope. It was a tedious job, and the boy had no inclination at all to work on his last night in the house. So he braided the straw rope sloppily and didn’t pay attention to its length or thickness.

The next morning, the master called in the two boys. Of course, they were carrying their straw ropes with them. Jang-son’s rope was long and thin, while Mak-son’s was very short and messy. The master gave them a box filled with brass coins with a square hole in the middle. He said, “Boys, I appreciate your hard work. I’ve already paid your wages, but I want to give you a bonus. You can have as many coins as you want. But you have to string the coins on the straw rope you made last night. That’s why I ordered you to make a long and thin rope.”

The master told the servants to make straw ropes so that he could give them a special bonus. As expected, Jang-son was able to put the thin straw rope through the holes of the coins, and the rope was long enough to hold a lot of coins. Mak-son, on the other hand, managed to string just one coin on the thick and short rope.

Since the two were good friends, Jang-son gave half of his coins to his buddy, and Mak-son learned the value of bringing something to a successful conclusion.

That’s it for today’s “Korean Folktales.” Tune in again next time for another interesting Korean folk story. Thank you for listening. I’m Eunji Kim. Goodbye, everyone.