우렁각시
The Snail Bride
한국 전래동화
이야기
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옛날 한 마을에 홀로 논일을 하며 사는 가난하지만 성실한 총각이 있었어요.어느 날 그는 논에서 혼잣말로, “이 많은 쌀로 밥을 지어 누구와 함께 먹을꼬” 하며 한숨을 쉬었어요.그 순간 물속에서 처음 보는 커다란 우렁이 한 마리가 눈에 띄었어요.
그는 신기한 마음에 우렁이를 집으로 가져와 물이 담긴 항아리 속에 넣어 두었어요.그런데 다음 날부터 밭일을 마치고 돌아올 때마다, 누군가 이미 따뜻한 밥상을 차려 놓고 있었어요.궁금증을 참지 못한 총각은 어느 날 몰래 숨어서 부엌을 지켜보기로 했어요.
놀랍게도, 항아리 속 우렁이 껍데기에서 아름다운 여인이 나와 정성껏 밥을 짓고 있었어요.여인이 다시 껍데기 속으로 들어가려는 순간, 총각은 급히 뛰어나가 그녀의 손을 붙잡았어요.
여인은 자신이 용궁에서 온 우렁각시이며, 원래는 백 일이 지나야 사람으로 완전히 변할 수 있었다고 말했어요.하지만 이렇게 들키고 만 이상, 그녀는 이 세상에 남아 그와 부부의 연을 맺을 수밖에 없다고 했어요.
두 사람은 곧 혼인을 하였고, 우렁각시는 뛰어난 솜씨로 논밭을 가꾸어 살림이 눈에 띄게 넉넉해졌어요.그러던 어느 날, 우렁각시의 아름다운 소문을 들은 욕심 많은 사또가 그녀를 빼앗으려는 마음을 먹었어요.
사또는 총각을 억지로 불러들여 무리한 시합을 시키고, 그사이 가마를 보내 우렁각시를 데려오라 명령했어요.하지만 우렁각시는 침착하게 꾀를 내어, 사또의 부하들을 따돌리고 무사히 집으로 돌아왔어요.
시합에서 이기고 서둘러 돌아온 총각은 아내가 무사한 것을 보고 크게 안도했어요.사또는 결국 자신의 욕심을 부끄러워하며 다시는 두 사람을 괴롭히지 않았어요.총각과 우렁각시는 그 뒤로 오래오래 논밭을 가꾸며 행복하게 살았답니다.
전체 번역먼저 이야기를 읽어 보고, 이해했는지 확인할 때만 열어 보세요.
Long ago in a village, there lived a poor but hardworking young farmer who worked his rice field all alone. One day, working alone, he sighed and muttered to himself, "Who will I ever cook this rice for and share a meal with?" Just then, he noticed an unusually large snail he had never seen before, sitting in the water.
Curious, he brought the snail home and placed it in a jar filled with water. But starting the very next day, every time he came home from the field, a warm meal was already waiting for him. Unable to contain his curiosity, the young man decided one day to hide and secretly watch the kitchen.
To his astonishment, a beautiful woman emerged from the snail's shell in the jar and was carefully preparing the meal. Just as the woman was about to slip back inside the shell, the young man rushed out and caught her by the hand.
The woman explained that she was a snail maiden from the Dragon King's palace, and that she was meant to fully become human only after a hundred days had passed. But now that she had been discovered too soon, she said, she had no choice but to stay in this world and become his wife.
The two were soon married, and with the snail bride's remarkable skill, their fields flourished and their household grew visibly prosperous. One day, however, a greedy local magistrate heard of the snail bride's beauty and set his mind on taking her for himself.
The magistrate forcibly summoned the young farmer to an unfair contest, and meanwhile sent a palanquin with orders to bring the snail bride to him. But the snail bride calmly devised a plan, slipped past the magistrate's men, and made her way safely back home.
The young farmer, having won the unfair contest and hurried home, was deeply relieved to find his wife safe. In the end, the magistrate grew ashamed of his own greed and never troubled the couple again. The farmer and his snail bride went on to tend their fields together and lived happily ever after.
이해도 확인
1. Why did the snail bride end up marrying the young man?
2. What did the magistrate do to take the snail bride away?
3. How does the story end?
핵심 단어
noun
우렁이
ureongi
a large freshwater snail
커다란 우렁이 한 마리가 눈에 띄었어요.
He noticed an unusually large snail sitting in the water.
한줄 요약
In 1–2 sentences, say how the young farmer discovered who was cooking his meals, and what the greedy magistrate tried to do about it.
출처: Based on 우렁각시 (Ureong Gaksi, "The Snail Bride"), a well-known Korean folktale from the oral tradition, long in the public domain; this retelling uses the gentler traditional ending in which the couple outwits the greedy magistrate and stays together, rather than the sadder variant in which they are separated. This retelling and its English translation are original text written for SeoJae Story.
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