The Queen Bee
여왕벌
Brothers Grimm (Jacob, 1863; Wilhelm, 1859)
The Story
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Two princes once went out into the world to seek their fortune, but they lived so foolishly that they never returned home.Their youngest brother went to look for them, and when he finally found them, they only laughed at how small and simple he seemed.Still, the three brothers agreed to travel on together.
First they came to an anthill, and the two elder brothers wanted to knock it down just to watch the ants scatter in fright.“Let the poor things enjoy themselves,” the youngest brother said, and he would not let them do it.Next they came to a lake full of ducks, and again he stopped his brothers from catching any to roast.
Then they found a hollow tree dripping with honey, and he would not let his brothers light a fire to smoke out the bees.“Let the pretty insects enjoy themselves too,” he insisted, and the ants, the ducks, and the bees all remembered his kindness.At last the brothers reached a silent castle, where every horse in the stable had been turned to marble and no person could be seen anywhere.
A little grey old man appeared, fed them a fine supper, and showed each brother to a bed for the night.The next morning, he explained that the castle could only be freed from its spell by three difficult tasks.The first task was to find a thousand pearls hidden in the forest moss before sunset, and the two elder brothers each failed and were turned to stone.
When the youngest brother’s turn came, he sat down and wept at the impossible task, until the king of the ants arrived with five thousand ants to help him search.Together they found every pearl before the sun went down.For the second task, the ducks he had saved dove into the lake and brought up a golden key from the very bottom.
The last and hardest task was to pick out the youngest of three identical princesses, and the queen bee he had once saved from the fire landed gently on the very one who had secretly tasted honey.The spell broke at once, his stone brothers woke and became princes again, and the youngest brother married the youngest princess and became king of the castle, kind to every small creature ever after.
Full translationTry the story first — open this only to check your understanding.
두 왕자가 세상으로 나가 자신의 운을 찾기로 했지만, 너무 어리석게 살아서 결국 집으로 돌아오지 못했어요. 막내 동생이 형들을 찾아 나섰고, 마침내 찾아냈을 때 형들은 그가 작고 순진해 보인다며 비웃기만 했어요. 그래도 세 형제는 함께 계속 여행하기로 했어요.
먼저 그들은 개미집에 다다랐고, 두 형은 개미들이 겁에 질려 흩어지는 모습을 구경하려고 개미집을 부수려 했어요. "불쌍한 것들이니 그냥 편히 살게 두자." 막내가 말하며 형들을 말렸어요. 다음으로 그들은 오리들이 가득한 호수에 이르렀고, 이번에도 그는 형들이 오리를 잡아 구워 먹지 못하게 막았어요.
그러다 꿀이 흘러내리는 속이 빈 나무를 발견했는데, 그는 형들이 불을 피워 벌들을 쫓아내지 못하게 했어요. "저 예쁜 곤충들도 그냥 편히 살게 두자." 그가 고집했고, 개미와 오리와 벌들 모두 그의 친절을 기억했어요. 마침내 형제들은 조용한 성에 도착했는데, 마구간의 말들은 모두 대리석으로 변해 있었고 어디에도 사람은 보이지 않았어요.
작은 회색 노인이 나타나 그들에게 훌륭한 저녁을 대접하고, 각 형제에게 하룻밤 묵을 방을 안내해 주었어요. 다음 날 아침, 그는 성에 걸린 마법을 풀려면 세 가지 어려운 과제를 해내야 한다고 설명했어요. 첫 번째 과제는 해가 지기 전에 숲 이끼 속에 숨겨진 진주 천 개를 찾는 것이었고, 두 형은 모두 실패하여 돌로 변하고 말았어요.
막내의 차례가 되자, 그는 그 불가능해 보이는 일 앞에 주저앉아 울었고, 그때 개미 왕이 오천 마리의 개미를 이끌고 와 그를 도왔어요. 그들은 함께 해가 지기 전에 진주를 모두 찾아냈어요. 두 번째 과제에서는, 그가 구해 준 오리들이 호수 밑바닥까지 잠수해 황금 열쇠를 가져다주었어요.
마지막이자 가장 어려운 과제는 똑같이 생긴 세 공주 중 막내를 골라내는 것이었는데, 그가 불에서 구해 주었던 여왕벌이 몰래 꿀을 맛본 바로 그 공주 위에 살포시 내려앉았어요. 그 즉시 마법이 풀려 돌로 변했던 형들도 깨어나 다시 왕자가 되었고, 막내는 막내 공주와 결혼해 성의 왕이 되어 이후로도 작은 생명들에게 늘 다정하게 대했어요.
Original text
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The complete story · 850 words · 2 short readings
Read the originalComprehension Check
1. How did the youngest brother treat the ants, ducks, and bees?
2. What happened to the two elder brothers when they failed the first task?
3. How did the youngest brother complete the three tasks?
Vocabulary
noun
fortune
행운, 재산
Two princes once went out into the world to seek their fortune, but they lived so foolishly that they never returned home.
두 왕자가 세상으로 나가 자신의 운을 찾기로 했지만, 너무 어리석게 살아서 결국 집으로 돌아오지 못했어요.
Your Summary
In 1–2 sentences, say how the youngest brother's kindness to the ants, ducks, and bees helped him break the castle's spell.
Source: Adapted from the Brothers Grimm's tale "The Queen Bee" ("Die Bienenkönigin"), collected in Grimm's Household Tales (1812–1857; Project Gutenberg #2591, long in the public domain). This simplified retelling and its Korean translation are original text written for SeoJae Story.
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