Ages ago, there lived a great Fire Spirit inside of a mountain to the
southwest of Seoul, the capital of Korea. He was always hungry and his
food was anything that would burn. He devoured trees, forests, dry
grass, wood, and whatever he could get hold of. When those were not
within his reach, he ate stones and rocks. He enjoyed the flames, but
threw the hard stuff out of his mouth in the form of lava.
This Fire Monster spent most of his time in a huge volcano some
distance away, but in sight of the capital. The city people used to
watch the smoke coming out of the crater by day and issuing in red
fire, between sunset and sunrise, until all the heavens seemed in
flames. Then, they said, the Fire Spirit was lighting up his palace. On
cloudy nights the inside of the volcano glowed like a furnace. The
moulten mass inside the crater was reflected on the clouds, so that one
could almost see into the monster’s belly.
But nothing tasted so good to the Fire Eater as things which men built,
such as houses, stables, fences, and general property. An especial
titbit, that he longed to swallow, was the royal palace.
Looking out of its crater one day, he saw the king’s palace all silver
bright and brand new, rising in the City of Seoul. Thereupon he
chuckled, and said to himself, for he was very happy:
“There’s a feast for me! I’ll just walk out of my mountain home and eat
up that dainty morsel. I wonder how the king will like it.”
But the Fire Spirit was in no hurry. He felt sure of his meal. So he
waited until his friend, the South Wind, was prepared to join him.
“Let me know when you’re ready,” said the Fire Spirit to the South
Wind, “and we’ll have a splendid blaze. We’ll go up at night and enjoy
a lively dance before they can get a drop of water on us. Don’t let the
rain-clouds know anything about our picnic.”
The South Wind promised easily, for she was always glad to have a
frolic.
So when the sun went down and it was dark, the Fire Spirit climbed out
of his rocky home in the volcano and strode toward Seoul. The South
Wind pranced and capered with him until the streets of the capital were
so gusty that no one with a wide-brimmed hat dared go outdoors, lest,
in a lively puff, he might lose his head-gear. As for the men in
mourning, who wear straw hats a yardstick wide and as big and deep as
wash-tubs, they locked themselves up at home and played checkers. By
the time all the palace guards were asleep the Fire Spirit was ready.
He said to the South Wind:
“Blow, blow, your biggest blast, as I begin to touch the roofs of the
smaller houses. This will whet my appetite for the palace, and then
together we’ll eat them all up.”
Not till they heard a mighty roar and crackling did the people in Seoul
push back their paper windows to find out what was the matter. Oh, what
a blaze! It seemed to mount to heaven with red tongues that licked the
stars. Those who could see in the direction of the palace supposed the
sun had risen, but soon the crash of falling roofs and mighty columns
of smoke and flame, with clouds of sparks, told the terrible story. By
the time the sun did rise, there was nothing but a level waste of
ashes, where the large buildings had been. Even the smoke had been
driven away by the wind.
When the king and his people in the palace enclosure, who had saved
their lives by running fast, thought over their loss, they began to
plan how to stop the Fire Monster, when he should take it into his head
to saunter forth on another walk and gobble up the king’s dwelling.
A council of wise men was called to decide upon the question. Many long
heads were bowed in hard thought over the matter. All the firemen,
stone-cutters, fortune-tellers, dragon tamers, geomancers and people
skilled in preventing conflagrations were invited to give their advice
about the best way to fight the hungry Fire Demon.
After weeks spent in pondering the problem they all agreed that a
dragon from China should be brought over to Korea. If kept in a swamp
and fed well, he would surely prevent the Fire Imp from rambling too
near Seoul. Besides, the dragon knew how to amuse and persuade the
South Wind not to join in the mischief.
So, at tremendous cost and trouble, one of China’s biggest dragons,
capable of making rain and of spouting tons of water on its enemies,
was shipped over and kept in a swamp. It was honored with a royal
decoration, allowed to wear a string of amber beads over its ear, given
a horsehair hat, a nobleman’s girdle and fed all the turnips it desired
to eat. In every way it was treated as the king’s favorite.
But it was all in vain. Money and favor were alike wasted. The petted
dragon made it rain too often, so that the land was soaked. Then when
told not to do this, it grew sulky and neglected its duty. Finally it
became fat and lazy and one night fell asleep when it ought to have
been on guard, for the winds were out on a dance.
Seeing his jailer thus caught napping, the Fire Imp leaped out of its
volcano prison, rode quickly on the South Wind to Seoul and in a few
hours had again swallowed the royal palace. There was nothing seen next
day except ashes, which the Fire Monster cared no more for than we for
nutshells when the kernels are eaten up.
With big tears in their eyes, the king and his wise men met together
again to decide on a new scheme to keep off the Fire Imp. They were
ready to drown him, or to see him get eaten up, because he had twice
swallowed up the palace. They sent the Chinese dragon home and this
time, besides the fortune-tellers and the stone-cutters, the
well-diggers were invited also. For many days the wise men studied
maps, talked of geography, looked at mountains, valleys, and the
volcano, and studied air currents. Finally one man, famous for his deep
learning about wood and water, forests and rivers, spoke thus:
“It is evident that the fire has always come from the southwest and up
this valley,” pointing to a map.
“True, true,” shouted all the wise men.
“Well, right in his path let us dig a big pond, a regular artificial
lake and very deep, into which the Fire Monster will tumble. This will
put him out and he can get no further.”
“Agreed, agreed,” shouted the wise men in chorus. “Why did we not think
of this before?”
All the skilful diggers of wells and ditches were summoned to the
capital. With shovel and spade they worked for weeks. Then they let in
water from the river until the pond was full.
So everybody in Seoul went to bed thinking that the king’s palace was
now safe surely.
But the Fire Imp, seeing the dragon gone and his opportunity come,
climbed out of his volcano and moved out for another meal. This time,
the South Wind was busy elsewhere and could not go with him. So he went
alone, but coming to the pond, tumbled and wet himself so badly that he
was chilled and nearly put out when he got to the palace, which was
only half burned. So he went home growling and hungry.
Again the wise men were called and the first thing they did was to
thank the boss well-digger, who had made the pond. The king summoned
him into his presence to confer rank upon him and his children. He was
presented with four rolls of silk, forty pounds of white ginseng, a
tiger-skin robe, sixty dried chestnuts and forty-four strings of copper
cash. Loaded with such Korean wealth and honors, the man fell on his
hands and knees and thanked His Majesty profusely.
Then they called the master stone-cutter or chief of the guild and
asked him if he could chisel out the figure of a beast that could eat
flames and be ugly enough to scare away the Fire Imp.
The master had long hoped that he would be invited to rear this bit of
sculpture, but hitherto the king and Court had feared it might cost too
much.
So the order was given, and out of the heart of the mountains, a mighty
block of white granite was loosed and brought to Seoul on rollers,
pushed, pulled, and hoisted by thousands of laborers. Then, hidden
behind canvas, to keep the matter secret, lest the Fire Imp should find
it out, the workmen toiled. Hammers and chisels clinked, until on a
certain day the Great Stone Flame Eater was ready to take his permanent
seat in front of the palace gate, as guardian of the royal buildings
and treasures.
The Fire Imp laughed when the South Wind told him of what the Koreans
in the capital were doing, even though she warned him of the danger of
his being eaten up.
“I shall walk out and see for myself anyhow,” said the Fire Imp.
One night he crept out quietly and moved toward the city. He was nearly
drowned in the pond, but plucking up courage, he went on until he was
near the king’s dwelling. Hearing the Fire Imp coming, the Great Flame
Eater turned his head and licked his chops in anticipation of
swallowing the Fire Imp whole, as a toad does a fly.
But one sight of the hideous stony monster was enough for the Fire Imp.
There, before him, on a high pedestal was something never before seen
in heaven or on earth. It had enormous fire-proof scales like a
salamander, with curly hair like asbestos and its mouth was full of big
fangs. It was altogether hideous enough to give even a Volcano Spirit a
chill.
“Just think of those jaws snapping on me,” said the Fire Imp to
himself, as he looked at them and the fangs. “I do believe that
creature is half alligator and half water-tortoise. I had better go
home. No dinner this time!”
So by his freezing glance alone, the Great Flame Eater frightened away
the Fire Imp, so that he never came again and the royal palace was not
once burned. To-day the ugly brute still keeps watch. You have only to
look at him to enjoy this story.