Latest / Sandman Stories Presents / EP 295: Korea- The King of the Sparrows (Griffis)

Transcript

EP 295: Korea- The King of the Sparrows (Griffis) · Sandman Stories Presents

• 0:31
  Welcome back, listeners to Sandman Stories Presents, a
• 0:34
  folklore podcast where I read you to sleep or until the next
• 0:36
  story. I'm your host, Dustin.
• 0:39
  If you want more Sandman, I have extra stories that are too spicy
• 0:42
  for the main feed available on my Patreon.
• 0:46
  You can join at the free tier and get everything.
• 0:49
  And thank you to Diane, Christine, Jennifer and Jabari
• 0:53
  for signing up for the podcast. Today we are back in the book of
• 0:57
  Korean folklore written down by WE Griffiths.
• 1:01
  This story is almost a retelling of a Japanese folk tale.
• 1:04
  And I've added in a few details so it better matches the story
• 1:07
  of Hungbu and Nobu, the famous brothers of old.
• 1:11
  And this is the second to last story in the book.
• 1:14
  So let's begin the king of the sparrows.
• 1:21
  The Korean children wake up every morning to the twittering
• 1:24
  of sparrows. These little birds build their
• 1:28
  nests on the roofs and along the eaves.
• 1:31
  People plant melons, gourds, and mock orange seeds along the
• 1:34
  sunny sides of their houses. In the springtime, all through
• 1:38
  the summer and until late autumn, the walls and roofs are
• 1:41
  covered with thick green leaves. Here in the sheltered places,
• 1:46
  the mother Sparrow lays her eggs and the father Sparrow finds
• 1:50
  worms and feeds her. Then the hungry birds hatch and
• 1:55
  open their little mouths for something to eat.
• 1:58
  After this both parents keep busy by raising their brood and
• 2:01
  teaching them to fly. The greatest danger to the
• 2:06
  fledglings come from the cruel snakes that live on the roof and
• 2:10
  eat up the young sparrows. Sometimes to help them fight
• 2:14
  against their enemy, the adult sparrows call in large birds who
• 2:17
  are not afraid of the snakes. They Peck at the snake until
• 2:20
  they drive it away. Then there's always lively
• 2:24
  chattering over the victory. One day a young Sparrow that had
• 2:29
  hardly learned to fly was almost seized and would have been
• 2:32
  devoured by the snake but was saved by a big brave bird that
• 2:36
  flew at the reptile. Although it escaped the snakes
• 2:40
  jaws. The falling Sparrow got its legs
• 2:42
  caught in the vines which hung outside the veranda and it's
• 2:46
  limb was put out of joint. It laid there helplessly stuck
• 2:50
  in the vines. The owner of the house was a
• 2:54
  kind man who loved birds. His name was Hung Buu.
• 2:58
  He had been kicked out of his familiar home by his greedy
• 3:01
  brother Nobu. Taking pity on the poor Sparrow,
• 3:06
  he carefully lifted it up, smoothed its feathers and
• 3:10
  quieted the little creature, while its heart kept beating
• 3:12
  nearly out of its chest. Then, setting its leg in place,
• 3:17
  he made a little splint for the bird until it could be healed
• 3:20
  again. Meanwhile, he kept it warm,
• 3:24
  feeding the bird until it was strong again.
• 3:27
  He did not have much to feed the bird, as he and his wife were
• 3:30
  very poor, but he was kind hearted and did not wish to see
• 3:34
  suffering in the world. One day he took it in his hand
• 3:39
  and let it fly away outdoors. Soon it came back, perched on
• 3:44
  the ledge of the roof, twittering thanks to its kind
• 3:46
  friend. Then it spread its wings to fly
• 3:50
  to the King of the Sparrows, who lived in the Sparrow capital.
• 3:55
  There it at once informed His Majesty about the good man who
• 3:59
  healed and befriended birds when they were in trouble and who had
• 4:02
  saved the young sparrows life. The King of the Sparrows and all
• 4:06
  of his counselors listened to the story with great interest.
• 4:11
  They held a meeting and voted to reward the good man.
• 4:15
  So they went into the storehouse where they kept beautiful
• 4:17
  treasures that humans love from the collection.
• 4:20
  They chose what they thought would please their good friend
• 4:22
  the most. Gold, jade brocades, cups and
• 4:26
  saucers, rice, horses, oxen, silk and cotton clothes, and
• 4:30
  delicious things to eat and drink.
• 4:34
  By some magic they pack these things into a seed and then gave
• 4:38
  it to the Sparrow to carry to the good man.
• 4:41
  They made the bird promise to not lose the seed and to be sure
• 4:44
  to give it to no one but the kind man.
• 4:49
  So the Sparrow flew out of the Sparrow land and down to the
• 4:52
  House of his kind friend, carefully laying down the seed.
• 4:56
  It kept near the paper window and made a great twittering
• 4:59
  until the man came out to see what was the matter.
• 5:03
  Recognizing his old friend, he put out his palm, and the
• 5:06
  Sparrow laid a seed in it, meanwhile chattering in a lively
• 5:09
  way and looking in his face as if to tell him how precious this
• 5:13
  treasure was. But the man thought nothing of
• 5:17
  the seed, and was just going to throw it in the compost heap.
• 5:20
  He showed it to his wife, who told him that there was no harm
• 5:23
  in planting it. She was a very wise woman, and
• 5:27
  knew that the Sparrow had brought the gift of thanks.
• 5:31
  She planted the seed that very spring.
• 5:35
  The seed grew into a mighty vine that covered one side of the
• 5:38
  house with its leaves. When one unusually large gourd
• 5:43
  was nearly ripe, the man thought of plucking it for food, but,
• 5:47
  taking his wife's advice, he waited until autumn had come.
• 5:52
  By this time the gourd, having absorbed the sunshine all
• 5:55
  summer, was fully ripe. Hung Buu took out a saw to open
• 5:59
  it. He sliced it cleanly in half and
• 6:02
  behold, a plethora of riches came out of the gourd, the likes
• 6:06
  of which neither had ever dreamed of.
• 6:09
  First a tablecloth spread itself out before them on top of the
• 6:12
  table of jade like the emperor eats from.
• 6:17
  Next rolled forth a bottle of delicious wine and 8 silver cups
• 6:20
  that set themselves on the table.
• 6:24
  Soon a golden tea box appeared filled with fragrant leaves.
• 6:30
  Then rolls of silk, fine muslin, satin, brocades and a store of
• 6:34
  rich clothes enough to last a lifetime appeared before their
• 6:37
  eyes. After that, food of all sorts
• 6:41
  spread out on top of the table. Looking out into the yard they
• 6:45
  saw strong horses and fat oxen waiting to do their masters
• 6:48
  bidding. Following the feast, they
• 6:50
  danced, enjoyed music and endless entertainment as they
• 6:54
  were now as happy as royalty. Their previous hovel was
• 7:00
  transformed into a rich lavish villa with plenty of riches and
• 7:04
  tasty things surrounding them. But the older brother of Hung
• 7:09
  Buu named Noel Buu heard all about the riches his brother
• 7:12
  enjoyed. He wanted to be rich like his
• 7:14
  brother, but he was not as kind as his brother.
• 7:18
  In fact, he hated sparrows and chase him away because they ate
• 7:22
  the seeds he dropped while eating his fruit.
• 7:25
  He had also sent Hungbu away from the family home after their
• 7:28
  parents had died. So he watched for his
• 7:32
  opportunity and when a Sparrow came near, he threw a stick at
• 7:35
  the bird and broke its leg. Then he bound up the limb with
• 7:38
  some rags and a twig. He kept the poor Sparrow until
• 7:42
  its leg was healed, although crooked, and then let it fly
• 7:45
  away. Back in Sparrowland, the poor
• 7:49
  bird told about noble's doings. The Sparrow King at once handed
• 7:53
  out a seed to be given to the enemy of the sparrows.
• 7:57
  When Noel Blue saw the little bird with the crooked leg, he
• 8:00
  ran out, grabbed the seed and planted it at once.
• 8:03
  He could hardly wait for the gourds to ripen.
• 8:07
  Wonderful to say, however, the vine was quite luscious,
• 8:10
  covering the whole side of the house and all of the thatched
• 8:13
  roof. Finally, in autumn, he plucked
• 8:17
  all of the gourds. Then he sat down before the pile
• 8:20
  with a saw, and he began to open them.
• 8:23
  But instead of the treasures that Hung Buu received, out came
• 8:26
  the 12 curses of Korea. First leap forth a party of rope
• 8:31
  dancers who put out their hands and demanded money.
• 8:35
  They threatened to live with him and ate at his table until they
• 8:37
  got their money. There was no helping it, so he
• 8:41
  had to give each dancer a long string of cash before he could
• 8:43
  get rid of them. No sooner had he opened the
• 8:47
  second chord, then out stepped a line of Buddhist priests.
• 8:50
  What once began begging for the temples, he was only too glad to
• 8:55
  buy off these shaved heads. No sooner had another gourd
• 9:00
  opened than a band of hired mourners came forth carrying a
• 9:03
  corpse. They began weeping, wailing, and
• 9:07
  crying loud enough to wake the dead.
• 9:11
  It required another rope of cash to get rid of these pests.
• 9:14
  By now Noble was starting to feel very poor.
• 9:20
  Almost afraid to touch another gourd, he greedily hoped for
• 9:23
  riches. He grabbed another and sought it
• 9:26
  open, but one gourd after another only yielded things that
• 9:29
  took his money and threatened to make him a beggar.
• 9:32
  From the next gourd issued forth a bevy of dancing girls who
• 9:35
  refused to leave the house until he had paid them 5000 in cash.
• 9:40
  From another gourd a pair of acrobats leaped out and began to
• 9:43
  perform. Knowing that they would charge
• 9:46
  more for their tricks if they were allowed to finish their
• 9:48
  program, the man bought them off quickly and show them the door.
• 9:52
  Getting poorer and poorer and with no sign of wealth coming
• 9:55
  from the gourds, he still wanted to open some more, but the
• 9:59
  result was the same. The strangest people such as
• 10:03
  lazy government officers, fortune tellers, jugglers and
• 10:07
  blind folks appeared. These last folks had sticks in
• 10:10
  their hands to find their way and bells on their belts to
• 10:13
  collect alms. Finally, a giant dogebi emerged
• 10:18
  with a pack of demons that threatened to eat up both the
• 10:21
  man and his wife. By this time there were not any
• 10:24
  coins or cash left, and besides being as poor as a rat, the man
• 10:28
  was starving. When the 12th gourd was opened,
• 10:33
  it seemed to have all of the awful smells of Korea, from
• 10:36
  sewer gases to ginkgo nuts to Bondicki street pizzas.
• 10:41
  Holding their noses, the man and his wife ran out of their house.
• 10:46
  Lucky for them, just then a Gale of wind blew the house down and
• 10:49
  the Timbers burst into flames from the fire that heeded the
• 10:52
  flues. Thus stripped of their
• 10:54
  possessions, all because of the man's cruelty to birds, Nobel
• 10:58
  and his wife would have starved except for the kindness of
• 11:01
  Hungbu, who treated the sparrows kindly.
• 11:05
  For the rest of their days, the couple lived on the Younger
• 11:08
  Brothers charity The End. I like the story.
• 11:45
  Sadly, Griffiths did not see that this was the story of
• 11:48
  Hungbu and Notbu and instead focused on the sparrows.
• 11:52
  I know him being in Japan first, he would have been more familiar
• 11:55
  with the Japanese story and so presented almost in that way.
• 11:58
  If you haven't read it yet, I would suggest that you look up
• 12:00
  the story of Hungbu and Notibu. I asked my wife if the wives of
• 12:04
  Hungbu and Notibu had names but sadly she said they were just
• 12:07
  known as Hungbu's wife and Notibu's wife.
• 12:09
  And there's only one story left in this book.
• 12:11
  And then I will continue with another Korean folk tale book.
• 12:14
  So please be kind to your feathered friends.
• 12:18
  And the podcast shout out is to the four year reference pilot
• 12:22
  hosts and lovers. KT and OT have put in the hard
• 12:24
  work to get movie interviews. They interviewed Jordan Peele.
• 12:28
  Go watch that. They also watch just about every
• 12:31
  piece of media out there. So if it.
• 12:33
  Is a movie or TV show with good acting and writing most?
• 12:35
  Likely they have. Seen it and besides being super
• 12:39
  awesome movie. Reviewers.
• 12:41
  They're also just really good people.
• 12:43
  And so if you like that podcast as much as I do, go and give
• 12:45
  them a like a rating and a review.
• 12:49
  And the listener shout out is to Georgetown in the Cayman
• 12:52
  Islands, not to be confused with Georgetown, the capital of
• 12:55
  Guyana. How can you tell them apart?
• 12:58
  The capital of the Cayman Islands is 2 words.
• 13:01
  The population of the capital is nearly 50% of the total
• 13:03
  population of the country. It is an.
• 13:06
  Overseas British territory. With limited autonomy, the
• 13:09
  island's name comes from the Arawak word for alligators, and
• 13:13
  the capital was named after King George the Third.
• 13:15
  You know, the one that lost the colonies?
• 13:17
  Yeah, him. Notorious as an offshore tax
• 13:21
  haven, the Cayman Islands are home to a large number of tax
• 13:24
  cheats who don't want to pay their fair share.
• 13:26
  I am torn on whether or not I want to visit.
• 13:29
  I would love the weather, but the tax crime is pretty awful.
• 13:33
  And so to my listener in Georgetown, I say thank you and
• 13:37
  go pay your. Taxes.