Hello, everyone. Welcome to “Korean Folktales.” This Monday corner takes you into the world of interesting Korean folk stories. I’m Jinny Na.

Once upon a time, there lived a hunter in a mountain village. He was a kind man and he never caught young animals. He always hunted wild beasts such as tigers and boars. One day, while coming down the mountain to return home, the hunter found some animals under a tree. There were two monkeys—a mother monkey and her baby. The monkeys looked very cute so he thought about raising them as pets at home. He carefully extended his hand to the mother monkey, who remained calm as if she knew the hunter’s good intention. The hunter put the two monkeys in a big mesh bag and brought them home.

At home, the hunter’s wife was surprised to see the unexpected animals but she soon became fond of them. From the day on, the couple took good care of the monkeys as if they were their own family. The monkeys were also friendly to the family. The mother monkey, in particular, would even hold the hunter’s baby in her arms and give him a piggy-back ride. So the family of five—the hunter, his wife, the baby boy, the mother monkey and the infant monkey—lived happily and peacefully.

One day, the hunter went to the mountains to catch animals, while the wife went outside to wash clothes in a stream. As usual, the mother monkey was taking care of her baby and the hunter’s child as well. She wanted to try to wash clothes, just like the hunter’s wife. So she scooped up hot water from a pot in the kitchen. But she accidentally spilled the hot water over the face of the hunter’s baby, who screamed in tears. The mother monkey was even more shocked than the baby himself. She was so surprised that she left the house, bringing her infant monkey and the human baby with her. When the hunter and his wife returned home, they found an empty house.

They frantically looked all over for the lost baby. A few days later, while roaming around the mountain, the couple heard a strange sound from a distance. They ran toward the sound and found a group of monkeys seated beside a small pond. They slowly approached the pond, hoping to find their monkeys and the baby among them. Upon sensing humans’ presence, the monkeys all ran away. There, much to the couple’s surprise, they found their child, whom they had been looking for so desperately. The hunter’s wife threw her arms around the baby. Miraculously, the baby’s face was perfectly fine.

It turned out that the pond contained medicinal water and the monkey brought the baby there to treat the child’s burns. Now that the hunter found his baby, he started searching for the monkeys, wandering through the hills. Unfortunately, the monkeys were never found. It is said the mother monkey probably hid herself deep in the mountains as she felt very guilty about hurting the baby.

Since then, the mysterious pond has been called “Monkey’s Pond.” And the legendary pond still exists in Buyeo in South Chungcheong Province.

That’s it for today’s “Korean Folktales.” I hope you enjoyed today’s story. Thank you for listening. I’m Jinny Na. Goodbye, everyone.