The Korean children are awakened every morning by the twittering of the
sparrows. These little birds build their nests among the vines on the
roof and along the eaves. The people plant melon, gourd, and mock
orange seeds along the sunny sides of their houses in spring time. All
through the summer, and until late in autumn, the walls and roofs are
covered with the thick green leaves. Here, in these sheltered places,
the sparrow mother lays her eggs and the father sparrow finds worms and
feeds her, until the hungry birdies open their little mouths for
something to eat. After this, both parents are kept busy in raising
their brood and teaching them to fly.
The greatest dangers to the birdlings come from cruel snakes that live
on the roof and eat up the young sparrows. Sometimes, to help them
against their enemy, the parent sparrows call in the aid of larger
birds that are not afraid of the reptiles. These peck at the snake
until they drive him away. There is always a lively chattering over the
victory.
One day, a young sparrow that had hardly learned to fly was almost
seized, and might have been devoured by the roof-snake, but was saved
by a big, brave bird that flew at the reptile. Although escaped from
the snake’s jaws, the sparrow in falling caught its legs in the curtain
made of split bamboo, which hung before the verandah of the house, and
its limb was put out of joint. There it lay helpless between the
splints.
The owner of the house was a kind man, who loved the birds. Taking pity
on the poor sparrow, he carefully lifted it up, smoothed its feathers,
and quieted the little creature, while its heart kept beating so fast.
Then setting its leg in place, he put some moist clay around the broken
part, until it should be all right again. Meanwhile, he kept it warm,
feeding the birdie until it was strong again. One day he took it in his
hand and out-of-doors letting it fly away. Soon it came back and
perched on the edge of the roof, twittering thanks to its kind friend.
Then it spread its wings to fly to the King of the Sparrows, who lived
in the city of Sparrow Capital, where it at once informed His Majesty
about the good man who healed and befriended birds when they were in
trouble and who had saved the young sparrow’s life.
The King of Sparrow Land and all his wise counselors heard the story
with great interest. Then they held a meeting and voted to reward
richly so good a friend of all sparrows. So they went into the
storehouse where were kept beautiful treasures which human beings love.
From the collection they chose what they thought would please most
their good friend, such as gold, jade, brocade, cups and saucers, rice,
horses to ride on, oxen to bear heavy loads and pretty maids to wait on
him, besides silk and cotton clothes of all sorts, with delicious
things to eat and drink. By some magic process, they packed these into
a seed and then gave it to the sparrow in its bill to carry to the good
man. They charged the bird on no account to lose it and be sure to give
it to no one but the right person.
So the sparrow flew out of Sparrow Land and down to the house of its
kind friend. Carefully laying down the seed, it kept near the paper
window-frame and made a great twittering, until the man came out to see
what was the matter. Recognizing his old acquaintance, he put out his
open hand and the sparrow laid the seed in his palm, meanwhile
chattering in a lively way and looking in his face as if to tell him
how precious the treasure was.
But the good fellow only took it in to his wife and told her how he got
it, laughed over the matter and was going to throw it away, thinking it
only sparrow fun.
The wife, who was a wise woman, begged her husband to keep it and on a
warm day in spring she planted it. It grew to be a luxuriant vine that
clothed all one side of the house with its leaves. When one unusually
fine large handsome gourd was nearly ripe, the man thought of plucking
it for food; but, taking his wife’s advice, he waited until full autumn
had come. By this time the gourd, having absorbed the sunshine all
summer, was fully ripe.
Then they took a saw to open it properly, and lo! a store of riches
came out of that gourd, such as neither the man nor his wife had ever
dreamed of.
First issued something which spread itself out before them. It was a
table of costly jade, such as an Emperor ever eats from. Next rolled
forth a silver bottle of delicious wine and then the daintiest cups,
that set themselves on the jade table. Soon a gold tea-caddy appeared
filled with the fragrant leaf. Then rolls of silk, fine muslin, satin
brocade, and a store of rich clothes, hats, shoes, girdles, and socks
enough to last a lifetime appeared before their eyes. After these were
rice and cooked food of all sorts ready for a feast. Looking out into
the yard, they saw strong horses and fat oxen waiting to do their
master’s bidding. Last of all, some lovely young girls, as fair as the
moon, stepped out of the gourd and proceeded to serve the good things
of the feast, as if they had been used to waiting on ladies and
gentlemen all their lives. Following the feast, they danced, made music
and gave no end of entertainment and service to the man and his wife,
who were now as happy as king and queen.
In their once humble home, now made over new, with all the store of
good things and plenty of loyal servants and strong animals to serve
them, the old couple lived without care and traveled where they
pleased.
But when a wicked man, that hated all sparrows and had often driven
them away from his house, because he thought them too troublesome,
heard of his neighbor’s good fortune, he was envious, and wanted to get
riches in the same way. So he watched his opportunity and, when a
sparrow came near, he threw a stick at the bird and broke its leg. Then
he bound up the limb with clay and a bit of rag. He kept the poor
sparrow until its leg was well, but dreadfully crooked, and then let it
fly away.
In the capital of Sparrow Land, the poor bird told about the bad man’s
doings. The Sparrow King at once handed out a seed to be given to the
enemy of the sparrows. When the naughty man saw the little bird with
the crooked legs, he ran out, got the seed and planted it at once. He
could hardly wait for the gourd to ripen. Wonderful to relate, however,
the vine was most luxurious, covering the whole side of the house and
all the thatched roofs of the three dwellings in one, which made up his
home. Finally in the autumn he plucked the fruit. Then, sitting down
before the pile, with knife and saw, he began to open them.
But instead of good things, and lovely people, and the treasures that
make men rich and happy, such as his kind neighbor had received, there
came out, one after another, the twelve curses of Korea.
First leaped forth a party of rope dancers, who put out their hands and
demanded money. They threatened to live with him and eat at his table
unless they got their pay.
There was no help for it. So the cruel man had to give each dancer a
long string of cash before he could get rid of the party.
No sooner had he opened the second gourd than out stepped a line of
Buddhist priests, who at once began begging for the temples. He was
only too glad to buy off these shaven pates.
The saw had no sooner let the light into another gourd, than forth came
a band of hired mourners carrying a corpse. They began weeping, wailing
and crying out loud enough to waken the dead. It required another rope
of cash to get rid of these pests. By this time the cruel man was
beginning to feel very poor.
Almost afraid to touch the other gourds, but still greedily hoping for
riches, he sawed them open; but one after the other yielded only what
took his money and threatened to make him a beggar. From the fourth
gourd issued a bevy of dancing girls, who refused to leave the house
until he had paid them five thousand cash. From another gourd a pair of
acrobats leaped out and began a performance. But knowing that they
would charge the more for their tricks, if they were allowed to finish
their program, the man bought them off as he had done the others.
Getting poorer and poorer, with no sign of wealth coming from the
gourds, he yet felt he must open more, but the result was the same. The
strangest people, men and women, such as loafers from the government
offices, fortune-tellers, jugglers, and blind folks appeared. These
last had sticks in their hands to find the way, and bells at their
belts to collect alms. Finally, of all living things, a giant stood
forth, that threatened to eat up both the man and his wife.
By this time there was not a coin or a cash left, and, besides being as
poor as a rat, the man was hungry. When the twelfth gourd was opened it
seemed to have in it all the smells of Korea. Holding their noses, the
man and his wife ran out of their house. Happily for them that they did
so, for just then a gale of wind blew down the house, and the thatch
and timbers burst into flames from the fire that had heated the flues.
Thus stripped of all their possessions, because of the man’s cruelty to
the birds, the wicked fellow and his wife would have starved, except
for the kindness of the good man who treated the sparrows kindly. For
the rest of their days the old couple lived on their neighbor’s
charity.