Hello, everyone. Welcome to “Korean Folktales.” In this Monday corner, we introduce you to interesting Korean folk stories. I’m Eunji Kim.

Once a year on May 8 Korea celebrates Parents’ Day. To mark the special occasion we will share a story about dutiful children who get rewarded for their devotion to parents.

A long time ago, a man lived in a small village with his wife, his son and his father. The family of four lived happily until the man’s father suddenly became sick. The son and his wife tried every possible means available to cure him, only to fail. The old man became weaker and the couple grew more concerned. Day and night, they prayed to the divine spirit asking for the father to get better.

One day, a Buddhist priest, who was passing by the son’s house, knocked at the gate and asked for charity. When the son offered some rice, the monk expressed his gratitude and scanned the man’s face. He asked the son if anything was worrying him. After hearing the son’s story about his sick father, the monk said, “Well, there might be a way but I don’t think you can…” The son pricked up his ears. “What? Please speak clearly without slurring your words at the end.” The monk reluctantly told him that the only medicine to cure his father would be his own son. He said that the man should boil the little boy and feed him to his father. With these words, the monk hurriedly left. What a horrible thing to say! The man was standing motionlessly for a while.

At home, the son told his wife what he had heard from the monk. His wife said that they could have more children but they would no longer have a father once he died. Shedding tears, the couple decided to sacrifice their son. That evening, when the young boy returned home from school, the parents grabbed him, put him in a big pot and closed the lid. They cried bitterly during the whole process of making the medicine. When the medicine was ready, the son offered it to his father. The next morning, the old man miraculously recovered his health. He was indeed cured just as the monk had predicted. The son and his wife were happy but they were also immensely sad.

Just then, they heard a familiar voice from outside. “Mom, Dad. I’m home. We finished late last night, so I stayed at the teacher’s house.” To their surprise, their son was standing in the yard. They couldn’t believe their eyes. Wailing and shivering with fright, the mother told the boy not to come any closer, as she thought she was seeing a ghost. The little boy was puzzled by his parents’ strange attitude. “Mom, you don’t believe me, do you? Why don’t you ask the teacher yourself?” As the teacher confirmed the boy’s story, the parents were even more confused. They entered the kitchen and opened the lid of the pot. What they saw inside was a huge mountain ginseng, which was extremely rare to find.

It turned out that the Buddhist priest who dropped by the house was the divine spirit who gave the miracle medicine to the dutiful couple as a reward for their filial devotion.

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.