금도끼 은도끼
The Golden Axe and the Silver Axe
Traditional Korean folktale (금도끼 은도끼, anonymous, oral tradition)
The Story
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옛날 어느 산에 착한 나무꾼이 살았어요.나무꾼은 매일 산에서 나무를 했어요.나무꾼은 가난했지만 아주 정직했어요.
어느 날 나무꾼은 연못 옆에서 나무를 했어요.그런데 손이 미끄러져서 도끼가 연못에 퐁당 빠졌어요.“아이고, 내 도끼! 이제 어떻게 해요?” 나무꾼은 엉엉 울었어요.
그때 연못에서 하얀 수염의 산신령이 나왔어요.산신령은 반짝이는 금도끼를 보여 주었어요. “이 금도끼가 네 도끼냐?”나무꾼은 고개를 저었어요. “아니요, 제 도끼는 금도끼가 아니에요.”
이번에는 산신령이 은도끼를 보여 주었어요. “그럼 이 은도끼가 네 도끼냐?”“아니요, 그것도 제 도끼가 아니에요.”마지막으로 산신령이 낡은 쇠도끼를 보여 주자, 나무꾼은 “네, 그게 제 도끼예요!” 하고 기뻐했어요.
산신령은 웃으며 말했어요. “너는 참 정직하구나. 세 도끼를 모두 가져가거라.”이 이야기를 들은 욕심쟁이 이웃은 일부러 연못에 도끼를 던졌어요.이웃은 금도끼가 자기 도끼라고 거짓말을 했고, 결국 금도끼도 자기 도끼도 모두 잃었어요.
Full translationTry the story first — open this only to check your understanding.
Long ago, a kind woodcutter lived on a mountain. Every day, the woodcutter cut wood on the mountain. The woodcutter was poor, but very honest.
One day, the woodcutter was cutting wood beside a pond. But his hand slipped, and his axe fell into the pond with a plop. "Oh no, my axe! What do I do now?" The woodcutter cried and cried.
Just then, a mountain spirit with a white beard rose out of the pond. The mountain spirit showed him a shining golden axe. "Is this golden axe yours?" The woodcutter shook his head. "No, my axe is not a golden axe."
This time the mountain spirit showed him a silver axe. "Then is this silver axe yours?" "No, that isn't my axe either." Last of all, the mountain spirit showed him an old iron axe, and the woodcutter cried happily, "Yes, that's my axe!"
The mountain spirit smiled and said, "You are truly honest. Take all three axes." His greedy neighbour heard the story and threw his own axe into the pond on purpose. The neighbour lied that the golden axe was his, and in the end he lost both the golden axe and his own.
Comprehension Check
1. Where did the woodcutter's axe fall?
2. Which axe did the woodcutter say was his?
3. What happened to the greedy neighbour in the end?
Vocabulary
noun
도끼
dokki
axe
도끼가 연못에 빠졌어요.
The axe fell into the pond.
Your Summary
In 1–2 sentences, say what the woodcutter answered the mountain spirit, and what happened to him and to his greedy neighbour.
Source: Based on 금도끼 은도끼 (Geumdokki Eundokki), an anonymous traditional Korean folktale — Korea's best-loved telling of the honest-woodcutter story that Aesop also told — passed down orally and long in the public domain. This simplified retelling and its English translation are original text written for SeoJae Story.
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