Hello, everyone. Welcome to “Korean Folktales.” This Monday corner takes you into the world of interesting Korean folk stories. I’m Jinny Na. Today, I’ll tell you about a princess who was reincarnated as a silkworm.

Once upon a time, war broke out between two neighboring kingdoms. The king from the weaker side stayed awake at night worrying about the fate of his kingdom. The princess noticed her father’s anguish and suggested an idea. “Father, why don’t you tell your generals that you will grant my hand in marriage to whoever kills the leader of the enemy troops? Your generals will be motivated to fight courageously, and the enemy will lose morale if their commander is gone. Then, we can turn the situation around.” The king didn’t want his only daughter to get married in that way. But he eventually accepted the idea, as the situation was becoming increasingly precarious.

The next morning, the king and the princess heard a commotion and went to the palace yard to see what was happening. There, they found a horse. To their surprise, the horse was holding the head of the enemy general. A solider explained. “Your highness, something unbelievable happened. This horse attacked the enemy commander and tore off his head. The enemy troops were at a loss, and we won the battle.”

The king was overjoyed by the unexpected victory. He was even happier that it was a horse, not a man. Now there was no need to marry his beloved daughter to one of his generals. But the princess had a different idea. She insisted that she spiritually marry the steed as the king promised. The king laughed at first, but the princess wouldn’t change her mind. The king was so angry that he commanded his solider to kill the horse.

From that day on, the princess would come to the garden where the hide of the horse was hung from a tree, crying and grieving for the dead animal. One day, a very strange thing happened. The horse’s hide wrapped around the princess and then disappeared with a gust of wind. The grief-stricken king thought that he was punished for having killed the horse that saved his kingdom.

Later, rumors spread that a horsehide had been found. The king rushed to the site. He found the horsehide, but the poor princess was gone. Instead, he found a strange worm inside the hide. He wailed, as he believed it might be the spirit of his miserable daughter. The king ordered his officials to take good care of the worm. The worm laid eggs, and people in the country began to raise the white, soft worms, which produced threads that could be spun into a splendid fabric.

Even today, women in some remote regions still believe that their skin will be smooth as the princess’ if they eat raw silkworms.

That’s it for today’s “Korean Folktales.” Thanks for listening. I’m Jinny Na. Goodbye, everyone.