호랑이와 곶감
The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon
Traditional Korean folktale (호랑이와 곶감, anonymous, oral tradition)
The Story
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추운 겨울밤, 배고픈 호랑이가 산에서 마을로 내려왔어요.호랑이는 어느 집 앞에서 멈췄어요.방 안에서 아기가 크게 울고 있었어요.
엄마가 말했어요. “울지 마. 밖에 호랑이가 왔어!”그래도 아기는 계속 울었어요.호랑이는 생각했어요. “이 아기는 내가 무섭지 않나?”
엄마가 다시 말했어요. “자, 곶감이다! 곶감 줄게.”그러자 아기가 울음을 뚝 그쳤어요.호랑이는 깜짝 놀랐어요. “곶감이 뭐지? 나보다 더 무서운 게 틀림없어!”
그때 소도둑이 소를 훔치려고 외양간에 들어왔어요.너무 어두워서 소도둑은 호랑이를 소라고 생각했어요.소도둑은 호랑이 등에 훌쩍 올라탔어요.
호랑이는 생각했어요. “큰일 났다! 곶감이 내 등에 탔어!”호랑이는 무서워서 밤새 산으로 달리고 또 달렸어요.그 뒤로 호랑이는 다시는 그 마을에 오지 않았답니다.
Full translationTry the story first — open this only to check your understanding.
One cold winter night, a hungry tiger came down from the mountain to the village. The tiger stopped in front of a house. Inside, a baby was crying loudly.
The mother said, "Don't cry. There's a tiger outside!" But the baby kept on crying. The tiger thought, "Isn't this baby afraid of me?"
The mother spoke again: "Here, a dried persimmon! I'll give you a dried persimmon." At once, the baby stopped crying. The tiger was shocked. "What is a 곶감? It must be even scarier than me!"
Just then, a cattle thief crept into the cowshed to steal a cow. It was so dark that the thief thought the tiger was a cow. The thief jumped up onto the tiger's back.
The tiger thought, "Oh no! The 곶감 is on my back!" Terrified, the tiger ran and ran toward the mountain all night long. And after that, the tiger never came to that village again.
Comprehension Check
1. When did the baby stop crying?
2. What did the cattle thief think the tiger was?
3. What did the tiger think had climbed onto its back?
Vocabulary
noun
호랑이
horangi
tiger
배고픈 호랑이가 마을로 내려왔어요.
A hungry tiger came down to the village.
Your Summary
In 1–2 sentences, say why the tiger became afraid of 곶감, and what happened when the cattle thief climbed onto its back.
Source: Based on 호랑이와 곶감 (Horangiwa Gotgam), an anonymous traditional Korean folktale about a tiger frightened by a crying baby's treat, 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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