은혜 갚은 까치
The Grateful Magpie
Traditional Korean folktale (은혜 갚은 까치, anonymous, oral tradition)
The Story
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옛날에 한 젊은 선비가 과거 시험을 보러 한양으로 길을 떠났어요.치악산을 넘어가던 선비는 어디선가 까치들이 다급하게 우는 소리를 들었어요.소리 나는 곳을 보니, 커다란 구렁이가 나무 위 까치 둥지로 기어오르고 있었어요.
둥지 안에서는 어린 까치 새끼들이 무서워서 떨고 있었어요.선비는 얼른 활을 꺼내 구렁이를 향해 화살을 쏘았어요.화살을 맞은 구렁이는 땅으로 떨어졌고, 까치들은 무사했어요.
날이 저물자 선비는 산속에서 불빛이 새어 나오는 집을 찾아갔어요.한 여인이 나와서 선비를 반갑게 맞아 주고 방을 내주었어요.몹시 피곤했던 선비는 금방 깊은 잠에 들었어요.
한밤중에 숨이 막혀 눈을 떠 보니, 커다란 구렁이가 선비의 몸을 칭칭 감고 있었어요.“나는 오늘 네가 활로 쏜 구렁이의 아내다. 남편의 원수를 갚겠다!”구렁이는 “날이 밝기 전에 산 위 빈 절의 종이 세 번 울리면 살려 주겠다”고 말했어요.
아무도 없는 절에서 종이 울릴 리가 없었어요. 선비는 눈을 감고 기다렸어요.그런데 새벽이 오기 직전, 멀리서 “뎅, 뎅, 뎅” 종소리가 세 번 들려왔어요.구렁이는 깜짝 놀라 선비를 풀어 주고 어둠 속으로 사라졌어요.
아침이 되자 선비는 서둘러 산 위의 절로 올라가 보았어요.종 아래에는 까치 두 마리가 머리를 다친 채 지쳐 쓰러져 있었어요.까치들이 온몸으로 종을 쳐서 선비의 은혜를 갚은 것이었어요.
Full translationTry the story first — open this only to check your understanding.
Long ago, a young scholar set off for Hanyang to sit the royal civil-service exam. As he crossed Chiaksan mountain, the scholar heard magpies crying out in alarm somewhere nearby. He looked toward the sound and saw a huge snake slithering up a tree toward a magpie nest.
Inside the nest, the baby magpies were trembling with fear. The scholar quickly took out his bow and shot an arrow at the snake. Struck by the arrow, the snake fell to the ground, and the magpies were safe.
When the sun went down, the scholar made his way to a house in the mountains where light was glowing. A woman came out, welcomed him warmly, and gave him a room. The scholar was very tired, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
In the middle of the night he woke up gasping for breath, and found a huge snake coiled tightly around his body. "I am the wife of the snake you shot today. I will take revenge for my husband!" Then the snake said, "If the bell of the empty temple on the mountain rings three times before dawn, I will let you live."
There was no way a bell could ring in a temple with no one in it. The scholar closed his eyes and waited. But just before dawn, from far away came the sound of a bell, three times: "Dong, dong, dong." The snake was startled; it let the scholar go and vanished into the darkness.
When morning came, the scholar hurried up the mountain to the temple. Beneath the bell lay two magpies, their heads hurt, collapsed from exhaustion. The magpies had struck the bell with their own bodies to repay the scholar's kindness.
Comprehension Check
1. How did the scholar first save the baby magpies?
2. What had to happen for the snake to let the scholar live?
3. Who rang the temple bell?
Vocabulary
noun
까치
kkachi
magpie
까치들이 다급하게 울었어요.
The magpies cried out in alarm.
Your Summary
In 1–2 sentences, say how the scholar first helped the magpies, and how the magpies repaid him.
Source: Based on 은혜 갚은 까치 (Eunhye Gapeun Kkachi), an anonymous traditional Korean folktale tied to Chiaksan mountain in Gangwon Province, passed down orally and long in the public domain. This simplified retelling and its English translation are original text written for SeoJae Story; in the traditional ending the magpies die ringing the bell, which this retelling softens.
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