Heungbu and Nolbu Fairy Tale

Long ago, in a Korean village, there lived two brothers. The elder, Nolbu, was stingy, cruel and greedy. The younger, Heungbu, was poor, but he was kind, honest and hard-working. He would never step on an ant, and he would nurse a wounded bird back to health.

Before he died, their father told them, "My sons, divide everything equally and live in peace." But as soon as their father had closed his eyes, Nolbu took everything for himself, the house, the fields and the animals, and drove his younger brother out of the house with his wife and children.

Heungbu took his family to the foot of a mountain and built a tiny straw hut there. All day long he worked in other people's fields, and in the evening he brought home a handful of rice. Sometimes the children went to bed hungry. But Heungbu never once cursed his brother.

One spring, swallows built a nest under the roof of Heungbu's hut. Heungbu and his children loved watching them. Soon there were chicks in the nest. One day Heungbu saw a snake crawling towards the nest and chased it away. But in all the commotion, one chick fell out of the nest and broke its leg.

Heungbu picked up the chick in his palm, carefully put a thin bamboo splint on its leg and tied it with thread. His wife and children fed the chick every day and kept it warm. After a while the leg healed, and the chick grew strong and flew away.

In autumn the swallows flew off to warmer lands. But the next spring that very swallow came back to Heungbu's hut. It dropped a small gourd seed in front of him.

Heungbu planted the seed beside the hut. It sprouted and climbed over the roof, and by autumn three huge gourds had grown on it, shining like gold. "Let's cut open a gourd and cook it," Heungbu said to his wife.

When they sawed open the first gourd, out poured rice, cloth and medicine. Gold and silver came tumbling out of the second gourd. And out of the third came carpenters, who built a beautiful house in place of the hut. From then on, Heungbu's family never went hungry again.

The news reached Nolbu. He nearly burst with envy and rushed to his brother. "How did you get rich? Did you steal it?" Heungbu told him everything from the bottom of his heart. Nolbu went home and made a plan. "I will get rich too, even richer than him."

Nolbu found a swallow's nest, caught a chick and broke its leg on purpose. Then he bandaged it carelessly and let it go. "Now bring me gold!" The next spring the swallow brought him a gourd seed too.

Nolbu's gourds grew even bigger than his brother's. Delighted, Nolbu sawed open the first one, and out came noisy singers and clowns. "Pay us!" they cried, and they carried off all his money. Out of the second gourd flowed mud and rubbish. And out of the third flew angry wasps, which chased Nolbu and wrecked his house.

Nolbu lost all his wealth and became a beggar. He was weeping and had nowhere to go when his younger brother found him. "Brother, come and live with me. We are sons of the same father. Let us share everything," said Heungbu.

Nolbu was ashamed of his brother's kindness and burst into tears. He asked forgiveness for his cruelty. From that day on, the brothers lived together in peace and helped the poor together. And when Koreans tell this tale, they say, "Do a good deed, and it will come back to you."