They say that when a fox lives to be a thousand years old it becomes a shapeshifting, sometimes human creature. They're wonderful creatures really, in spite of their tendency to eat the livers of their enemies.
My gumiho friend is called Sandaek. Once a peasant found her in her fox form and she ordered him never to speak of this event. The next day, she appeared to him as a beautiful human woman. I mean, really beautiful--- she's quite a fox.
The peasant married Sandaek and they had a daughter, Yeon. After nearly ten years of marriage Sandaek was near to her goal--- becoming a true human. But on the last night before that could happen, her husband forgot his promise and began to tell of his long-ago encounter with a nine-tailed fox.
Sandaek fled from her home and her daughter went with her. Later she discovered that her husband had killed himself. Sandaek had to protect her daughter from a hunter of evil creatures, and so took up with a nobleman.
But what Sandaek doesn't know is that the nobleman is not so noble. He has a daughter, the same age as Yeon, who is very sick, and the best witchdoctors around say she can't live long. I've heard rumors of dark magic involving the sacrifice of a human child so the nobleman's daughter can live.
I keep trying to warn Sandaek. But when do my imaginary friends ever listen to me?
Above blog post may be suspiciously similar to the plot of the new KBS America series 'Grudge- the revolt of Gumiho'.
1 comments:
I do like those fairy tales.
Interesting that in that story the man marries a woman who is a beast, while in Indo-European folk tales, it is usually a woman who marries a beast.
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