Nolbu and Heungbu

A long time ago, there were two brothers, Nolbu and Heungbu. Nolbu, the elder brother, was rich and greedy. Heungbu, the younger brother, was poor but generous. He had a big family to support. One day, his children were hungry and Heungbu found there was no rice to feed the family. Heungbu was desperate and visited Nolbu for a help. What came back was no. Nolbu was greedy and also his wife was greedy as well. They could not allow any rice to Heungbu. However, Heungbu kept begging for food. Nolbu’s wife got mad and smashed him with a rice scoop. Heungbu found there was some rice left on his cheek. He asked for more so he could feed his family. A few days later, Heungbu found a swallow with a broken leg. He took good care of the bird and the swallow got better and flew away. In next spring, the same swallow brought a gourd seed to Heungbu. Heungbu found it interesting it and grew that seed. Time passed and the gourd grew big. Heungbu thought it was time to cut it open. When he opened the gourd, many pieces of gold poured out continuously. He became very rich and did not need to worry about poverty again. Nolbu found out Heungbu got rich and became jealous. He went to Heungbu’s house and was surprised by the size of the house. He asked Heungbu how he became rich. Heungbu generously answered all questions. After he heard everything about the swallow, he waited for a swallow to come. Unfortunately, he could not see any swallow come to his house. He got impatient and caught a swallow. He broke the swallow’s leg. Then he cured the bird hoping that one day the bird would bring a gourd seed to him. He waited and waited until the bird flew back to him. Finally the same swallow came back and brought a seed to him. Nolbu was happy and planted the seed. When the gourd got big, Nolbu started cutting the gourd. Inside, there was no gold. Large amounts of water came out and washed away his house. Then monsters came out condemning his jealousy toward Heungbu’s gold. Nolbu and his wife were beaten and remaining of the house was torn down. Nolbu became a poor just like his brother was. Nothing left to do, he went to Heungbu. When Heungbu found Nolbu he split his gold and shared it with Nolbu. Both families lived happily ever after. (Byungkwan, 2015)