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 family of five―the parents, two sons, and one daughter. Unfortunately, the mother suddenly got sick and passed away. Soon, the father remarried. What made the situation worse for the children was that their stepmother was an evil person. She considered her stepchildren a thorn in her side. She always wondered how to get rid of them.

One day, she heard a rumor that there was a talking nightingale and a dancing pine tree at Kumgang (금강) Mountain, and that people who went to the mountain in search of mysterious things never returned. The stepmother came up with a wicked plan. While her husband was not at home, she told the first son to go to Mount Kumgang and find a talking nightingale and a dancing pine tree. The son followed his stepmother’s orders and left home right away. When the father came back home, he asked his wife where his first son was. The cruel woman said that the boy didn’t like her and had ran away from home. The father believed her bald-faced lies and got angry with his son. In the same way, the stepmother drove the second son out of the house. Time passed, but the family heard nothing from the sons. One day, the daughter, the youngest child in the family, made cucumber kimchi stuffed with sand and gave it to her father. After taking a bite of the food, the father frowned and asked his daughter why sand was inside the kimchi. Expecting his reaction, the daughter quickly responded, “You know what is inside the kimchi, but how come you don’t know what is inside people’s minds?” The next day, the daughter left home, hoping to find her brothers herself.

After a long journey, she finally arrived at the mountain. At the entrance to the mountain, an old man with a long, white beard was sitting by himself. The girl asked him where she could find a talking nightingale and a dancing pine tree. The old man said in a soft voice, “Child, do not go there. No one has come out alive.” But she insisted, saying that she must find her lost brothers. Then the old man said, “Well, if you say so, go along the stream and you will find a valley. Just keep going, and do not look back even if you hear something. Remember. Never look back.”

The daughter said thank you to the old man and went along the stream, as instructed. Before long, a wide valley appeared. While passing through the valley, which was full of large rocks, she suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind her. “Sister, you’re here! I’m your big brother.” Surprised and delighted to hear her beloved brother’s voice, she was about to turn back when she remembered the old man’s warning. She didn’t look back and continued to climb the mountain. But again, another voice called her from behind. This time, it was clearly her second brother’s voice. And she heard many other voices as well. She ran ahead, covering her ears with her hands and closing her eyes.

After some time, she no longer heard voices. When she opened her eyes, she saw a big pine tree in front of her. Unbelievably, the tree was waving from side to side, as if dancing. And there was a yellow nightingale at the end of one of the tree’s branches. The bird asked the girl what brought her all the way there. As she told the bird the whole story, the talking nightingale said that the rocks in the valley were actually people who had tried to find the legendary tree and the bird. The nightingale told her to break one of the branches of the dancing pine tree, soak it in water, and sprinkle the water on the rocks so they could become humans again. The girl did exactly what she was told. Miraculously, the rocks turned back into humans one after another, including her two brothers.

When the three siblings came back home, their father realized what his daughter had meant when she talked about “knowing what is inside people’s minds.” He kicked the evil stepmother out of the house. The daughter planted the branch of the pine tree she had brought back with her in the backyard. The branch grew up to be a dancing tree, on which the talking nightingale sat and told interesting tales every day.

That’s it for today’s “Korean Folktales.” I hope you enjoyed the story. Thanks for listening. I’m Jinny Na, saying goodbye.