THE FOX SISTERS
The Fox Sister is a Korean fairy tale.
A man had three sons and no daughter. He prayed for a daughter, even if she were
a fox. His wife gave birth to a daughter, but when the girl was six, one of
their cows died every night. He set his oldest son to watch. The boy watched,
and told him that his sister did it, by pulling the liver out of the cow and
eating it. His father accused him of having fallen asleep and having a nightmare.
He threw out his son. The second son was set to watch, and nothing happened
until the moon was full again, but then the sister struck, and the second son
ended the same. The youngest son was set and claimed that their sister had gone
to the outhouse, and the cow must have died from seeing the moon.
The older brothers wandered until they met a Buddhist monk, who sent them back
with three magical bottles. They found the sister living alone; she told them
their parents and brother had died, and implored them to stay. Finally, she
persuaded them to stay the night and somehow made a rich meal for them. In the
night, the older brother was woken by the sounds of chewing. He rolled over, saw
the meal, and realized that they had been eating corpses. The sister stood over
his dead brother, eating his liver. She told him that she needed only one more
to become a human.
He fled. He threw the white bottle behind him, and it became a thicket of thorns.
As a fox, she made her way through it. He threw the blue bottle behind him, and
trapped her in a river, but as a fox, she swam ashore. He threw the red bottle
behind, and she was trapped in fire. It burned her until she was no more than a
mosquito.
The Fox Sister is a Korean fairy tale.
A man had three sons and no daughter. He prayed for a daughter, even if she were
a fox. His wife gave birth to a daughter, but when the girl was six, one of
their cows died every night. He set his oldest son to watch. The boy watched,
and told him that his sister did it, by pulling the liver out of the cow and
eating it. His father accused him of having fallen asleep and having a nightmare.
He threw out his son. The second son was set to watch, and nothing happened
until the moon was full again, but then the sister struck, and the second son
ended the same. The youngest son was set and claimed that their sister had gone
to the outhouse, and the cow must have died from seeing the moon.
The older brothers wandered until they met a Buddhist monk, who sent them back
with three magical bottles. They found the sister living alone; she told them
their parents and brother had died, and implored them to stay. Finally, she
persuaded them to stay the night and somehow made a rich meal for them. In the
night, the older brother was woken by the sounds of chewing. He rolled over, saw
the meal, and realized that they had been eating corpses. The sister stood over
his dead brother, eating his liver. She told him that she needed only one more
to become a human.
He fled. He threw the white bottle behind him, and it became a thicket of thorns.
As a fox, she made her way through it. He threw the blue bottle behind him, and
trapped her in a river, but as a fox, she swam ashore. He threw the red bottle
behind, and she was trapped in fire. It burned her until she was no more than a
mosquito.