Latest / Sandman Stories Presents / EP 244: Korea- Shoes For Hats (Griffis)

Transcript

EP 244: Korea- Shoes For Hats (Griffis) · Sandman Stories Presents

• 0:25
  Welcome back listeners to Sam Mann Stories Presents, a
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  folklore podcast where I read you to sleep or until the next
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  story. I'm your host, Dustin.
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  Today we are back in the book of Korean folk tales written down
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  by WE Griffiths. This one read is part fairy tale
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  and part propaganda trek. I cut down on the number of
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  slurs used and the amount of trash talking about the
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  Japanese. There's some wonderful writing
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  in the story, but I also understand if it's not for you.
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  OK, let's begin. Many centuries ago, when Korea
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  was named Joson or the Land of Morning Calm, there was an
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  island Kingdom out in the Eastern Sea where the sun rises,
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  and it was called the Land of the Dragonfly, which some people
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  call the Devil's Darning Needle because it's body is so slender,
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  it's wings so wide, and it's eyes so big.
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  The Koreans called these Islanders dwarves because they
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  were not tall in stature, though they were very warlike and
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  brave. The island men had no books or
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  letters, and they were very unrefined in their manners.
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  Therefore, many kind teachers filled with the spirit of the
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  Great Buddha across the sea from the everlasting Great Korea to
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  teach these Islanders politeness and how to read and write and
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  how to build pagodas and temples and schools.
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  This is the reason why these Islanders who had no story books
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  or writing before the coming of Korean teachers, have no written
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  ancient history of what happened long, long ago when Korea was a
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  great country. The grandmothers on the islands
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  used to tell their children good old fairy tales, which many
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  elderly people know by heart and can be related without reading,
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  thinking that the kings and Queens they talked about were
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  real people when no one knows for sure.
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  The Islanders call their country the land where the day begins,
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  and there are many fairies on these islands, some good and
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  some bad. So today these island people
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  make pictures and books and plays on stage and movies about
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  these Koreans. They put up paintings and
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  pageants to tell how the first fairies and the King's servants
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  from these far off islands long ago came to Korea.
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  They wanted to learn politeness and how to make and wear proper
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  kinds of clothes and how to draw and paint and how to make
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  pictures and how to build houses and how to dance and sing and
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  make music and play on instruments and how to teach in
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  half schools for good. Fairies always like to do pretty
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  things. Yet instead of being grateful
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  for what they had received from Korea, there was one of these
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  island people, a famous woman who was envious because she
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  lived in a poor land, while Koreans had a rich and beautiful
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  country. Instead of swamps and grassy
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  plains with plenty of wild beasts and birds and only a few
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  poor and miserable people, Korea was rich in rice and fields and
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  orchards full of fruit. Flowers grew in plenty.
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  Birds, deer and rabbits were numerous in the mountains and
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  the scenery was beautiful in the warm waters.
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  Millions of fat fish swam and were easily caught, so the
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  people had plenty of food to eat.
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  Down along the bottom of the sea were the most lovely water
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  plants of rich colours, yellow, purple, green and white, with
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  seaweeds, corals and sponges. And some of the sea caves look
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  giant crabs, cuttlefish and every sort of marine monster.
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  Still further down below, deeper than any lion could fathom.
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  Throughout the undersea dragon, king of the world and his queen,
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  with genie and Dragons and all her attendant maidens, they made
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  sweet music. And here amid the mermaids, the
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  fairies had a happy time. These Islanders had priests who
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  went down by the seaside when the tide was low.
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  They called on the spirits of the deep to grant them a safe
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  voyage, good luck, victories over the Koreans, and a safe
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  return. There they stood and watched the
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  rippling waves as the breezes blew over the sea.
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  The first living thing that poked its nose above the waters
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  was the guardian of the seashore and the tides called the
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  saltwater giant. He came up with his head all
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  covered with clam and oyster shells, seaweed and shrimp and
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  whatever else grows in the sand or the bottom of the ocean.
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  He had to push aside hundreds of white jellyfish that bumped up
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  against him as a clumsy old chap made his way up to the surface
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  and then waded to the shore. Now this giant was a grumpy sort
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  of fellow, and seeing the Queen and her soldiers, he growled
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  out. What do you want?
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  Very politely, the Queen's messenger made a soft answer to
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  the big fellow and begged him to announce to his master, the
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  underwater Dragon King of the world, that the Queen wished him
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  to help her. Would he please order all the
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  great fish and every sea monster to go ahead and pull her ship
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  forward? Would he also present her with
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  two sparkling tide jewels, which governs the ebb and flow of
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  tides? If he would do so, then in one
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  way her enemies might be overwhelmed, and in the other
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  way the ships of the Koreans would be left high and dry on
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  the shore. Then she could March through the
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  country and get all the gold and gems and fur and jewels and
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  clothes and nice things to eat and bring them back to her own
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  country. With the tied jewels in her
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  hand. She could certainly conquer
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  Korea. And if you please, one more
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  thing, Added the messenger. What else do you want?
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  Growled the saltwater giant. Have your master, the Dragon
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  King, give our queen power to capture many hundreds of Korean
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  artists, Craftsman, teachers, and men of books and letters.
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  We shall make these men our prisoners and bring them to our
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  country and be civilized. And what will you do in return
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  for me and my master for all this?
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  Roared the saltwater giant. His voice was like a booming
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  cannon, for he was as mad as fire.
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  As soon as we get back safely to these shores, our queen will
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  build a temple in honor of the Dragon King.
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  We shall burn incense to him, and our people will pay our
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  devotions. Well then, what else?
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  Roared the saltwater giant. There will be a shrine also
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  dedicated to you, my Lord, and we'll get the best Korean artist
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  to decorate it with wave patterns and drops of foam.
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  The salt water giant bowed and disappeared with a tremendous
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  splash. Down, down, down.
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  He went to report to his master, the Dragon King.
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  It was necessary for the dignity of His Majesty that the Queen
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  and her soldiers should wait until hide tide, for the Dragon
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  King never appeared except for at high water.
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  So the Queen's servants launched their ship and waited out on the
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  waves to get the answer they hoped for.
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  No sooner did the tide mark on the sea beach show that the
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  waves had reached their highest point in the tide than the seas
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  opened. The white foam curled around the
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  Queen's ship. While all on board held their
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  breath to see what was coming. They knew that they would soon
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  behold a sight to make them shiver, for the great deep was
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  mightily stirred. First rose into a view, a
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  terrible Dragon's head on the helmet of the King.
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  It had eyes that seemed to flash fire.
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  Then His Majesty appeared in a great sea shell, as big as a
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  bushel, and held in both hands. He had both tied jewels.
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  These he presented to the Queen, and then quickly disappeared
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  beneath the waves. The last thing they saw was the
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  Dragon's head, which besides the two eyes that flashed like
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  lightning, had teeth that could bite a boat in half.
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  Even when full of men. This monster could swallow down
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  the whole crew in its mouth, which was as wide as a man
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  eating sharks. His enormous long black whiskers
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  were as stout as ships cables. Immediately after receiving the
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  tide jewels, the Queen of the Barbarians landed on the
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  southern coast of Korea. After a few weeks, having fought
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  many battles with the Koreans, she made them bring to her their
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  gold, jewels, fur fans, rice, and pretty things.
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  She and her people cared nothing for slaves or common prisoners,
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  but whenever and wherever they could find a painter, an artist,
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  a Weaver, a maker of pottery, or a man of books or a priest, they
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  seized him and took him along. They carried over with them to
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  the island a great treasure of gems, gold, ornaments, and
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  pretty clothes. They also took away many seeds
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  of flowers and fruit trees such as lemons, oranges, apples and
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  pears. Once back in the land known as
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  Yamato, these smart Korean men of skill and knowledge taught
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  the Islanders who had lived like nomads how to build houses,
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  palaces and temples, to make fine clothes and paint pictures,
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  and to be like the Koreans and Chinese who knew about all of
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  these things. So the islands became rich in
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  fruit, rice, grain, pagodas and temples.
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  After this, the island people wore lovely clothes and had fine
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  manners. Now the Islanders were great
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  borrowers. They invented very few things
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  themselves, but depended on the neighbours for much of what they
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  had. So they filled both their heads
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  in their pockets from what they had brought from Korea.
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  But they often made funny mistakes when they wanted to
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  learn about fine manners and fine clothes.
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  They asked what on solemn occasions at the time of the
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  ceremony, they should put on their heads.
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  The Koreans were greatly offended at these Raiders from
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  over the sea for invading their country and taking away their
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  artists and Craftsman. So now they resolved to play a
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  trick on the Islanders. So when the men of the Isles in
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  the ocean sent a company of men to Korea to ask for caps to put
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  on their heads and to be shown how to do things properly, the
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  Koreans in contempt gave them their old shoes, which had
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  strings on them to tie over their feet.
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  But the Islanders, who love to go on with their little clothes
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  on their backs and usually went barefoot, did not know what
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  these shoes were. They thought they were some kind
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  of headgear, hats or bonnets, so they put them on their heads
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  like skull caps and tied them with the white strings down
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  under their chins. These were like tapes and held
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  the caps around their necks. So to this day the Islanders,
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  when making offerings to the fairies, wear this headgear and
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  think that their shoe caps are very fine.
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  The End. Oof.
• 11:26
  Big swing and a miss on this one for Griffiths.
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  I haven't found the story anywhere else in my studies of
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  Korean folk tales. It really just kind of read as
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  one big insult to Japan and the Japanese.
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  Of course there's bad blood between the two nations for
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  various reasons you can research on your own.
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  And it is true that a lot of things from the mainland China
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  or Korea made it to Japan via Korea, including Buddhism,
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  writing, and certain arts. The dragon character in the sea
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  is a common character in Korean folklore and I'm sure I'll come
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  across it more in Japanese folklore as well, like in Urushi
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  Motaro. And I hope the next story is
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  more folk tale and less propaganda.
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  I had to take out a couple of slurs in this one.
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  It was just uncomfortable. It even had slurs for people who
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  were completely unrelated to the story And the podcast.
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  Shout out is to Roberto's history of Georgia, Sicard
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  Vello. This is an awesome podcast with
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  a wonderful introduction to the history of a cool little
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  country. Georgia and the area around it
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  has the highest density of linguistic diversity in Europe,
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  and it is home to some really cool folklore as well.
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  If you want to sample, check out Roberto's episode with
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  Goolumbara and Sulambara. I'm also on that episode.
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  Roberto is also looking for help for getting resources.
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  Apparently books on Georgian history tend to be big and
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  expensive. So if you can donate to him or
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  help him gather resources, that would be wonderful as well.
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  So please go give him a listen, a like and a review.
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  And the listener shout out is to Indianapolis.
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  They are 62% of my listeners from that state.
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  I figure it's just my fun cousin Brooke leaving it on repeat.
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  But now apparently one or two other people listen from there.
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  The city's name is the city of Indians, Indianapolis and was
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  taken from the Lenape people who lived there by the Treaty of
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  Saint Mary's in 1818. The Lenape were given land
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  across the Mississippi and a blacksmith and money in
• 13:19
  perpetuity for these lands and they now mostly live in
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  Oklahoma. Also, the Lenape are also known
• 13:25
  as the Delaware and came from the Delaware, NJ area, got
• 13:28
  pushed out to the Ohio Indiana Valley area and then finally got
• 13:33
  pushed to Oklahoma. And so to my listener in
• 13:36
  Indianapolis, I say thank you and goodnight.