Korean Through Folktales

[Chapter 2] KongJwi And PatJwi 제 2 과 콩쥐와 팥쥐 _______________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 36 Go t o Table of Contents Korean Through Folktales The terms in blue below are often associated with or symbolize specific qualities and attributes in traditional Korean culture. If it is an object and you are not familiar with it, search for some images on the Internet first. Then follow the links for each to learn more about it. They will help enhance your appreciation of the story you are about to read, as well as the other stories in this book! 1) 황소 Ox Back in the old days when Korea was an agricultural society, oxen were an important part of the livelihood as they were used to plow the field. In the story of KongJwi And PatJwi , an ox comes to help KongJwi who was ordered to plow the field by her stepmother. There are idiomatic expressions in which an ox is used to represent strong physical strength as well as hard and honest work, sometimes to the extent of being tactless. It is also associated with being simple and naïve, and even honest to a fault. Look at the images of oxen by following the links below. You will see that they evoke emotions that are different from cattle tended by cowboys and the bullfights of the West: • Click • Click • Click • Click 2) 선녀 Celestial maiden; Fairy A ‘Korean-English dictionary definition’ of the term 선녀 is a ‘fairy.’ However, the images Koreans associate with ‘ 선녀’ are quite different from the images you may conjure up in your head with the word ‘fairy.’ Click on the links below to get a glimpse of what Koreans would associate with the term 선녀 . You will see three pictures, each of which is depicting a scene from a famous folktale: • A scene from KongJwi And PatJwi http://goo.gl/5S0XFz • A scene from The Fairy and The Woodcutter http://goo.gl/NdypkH