Hello, everyone. Welcome to “Korean Folktales.” In this weekly corner, we introduce you to interesting traditional Korean folk stories. I’m Jinny Na.

A long time ago, there lived an old man in a remote mountain village. One night, he was looking at the large full moon in his yard when he heard some noise from his room. When he entered the room he found a goblin with horns sitting on the ground. The old man was startled, but the goblin reassured him. He said “Don’t be afraid, old man. I’ll never do you any harm. I just want to be your friend.” The lonely man, who was living alone, liked the idea. From that day on, the goblin visited the house every day to have a chat or play a board game with his new friend.

One day, the old man was about to drink water from a stream when he saw his own reflection in the water. It looked like he was turning into the ugly goblin. The old man thought that hanging out with the goblin was changing his appearance. So he decided to stay away from the goblin, even though he enjoyed spending time with him.

That night, as always, the goblin came to see the old man. While having a conversation, the old man asked the goblin if he had any fears. The goblin said, “There is only one thing that frightens me. For me the blood of animals is the scariest thing in the world. What scares you?” The old man answered, “I’m afraid of money. Having no money is a problem. But, if there is too much money, that would cause a lot of worry, too. That’s why I’m living here deep in the mountains alone.”

The next day, the old man went to a slaughterhouse in the town and got a jug of animal blood. He sprinkled some blood around his house and put the jug in front of his room. In the middle of the night he heard the scream of the goblin from outside. “Hey, there’s animal blood! What’s going on here?” While bursting into the room, the goblin tripped over the jug, with his face covered in the blood. He was absolutely terrified and ran away as fast as he could.
Before long, the angry goblin returned. “You rascal! Now it’s your turn.” The goblin threw coins into the old man’s yard. Soon, the yard was filled with a lot of coins. The goblin was pleased, believing that the evil old man would be scared to death. The old man used the money from the goblin to help neighbors in need. He lived happily and peacefully as he did before, but from time to time, he missed his goblin friend, who never appeared again.

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 Jinny Na. Goodbye, everyone.