Читать книгу Korean Children's Favorite Stories - Kim So-Un - Страница 12

Away in the country there once lived a long-established family of farmers. There was an only daughter in the family, who had just married. As is the custom in such cases, the bridegroom came to live with his in-laws, for he was to continue the family name.

A few days after the marriage it so happened that the bridegroom had to go to town on some business. As he prepared to leave, his bride asked him, "Will you please buy me a comb in town?"

"Why, of course," he answered, all eager to please his pretty bride.

However, his wife knew that her husband was a very forgetful man. Hadn't both her mother-in-law and father-in-law told her so?

As she was wondering how he could be made to remember, she chanced to look at the sky. There was a new moon, a thin crescent of pale light, shining softly in the sky. It was only three days old, and it looked just like the moon-shaped comb she wanted.

"There," she called to her husband, "look at the moon. Doesn't it look just like a comb? If you forget what you must buy, just remember to look into the sky. The moon will remind you that I want a comb. You will remember, won't you?"

This she repeated again and again, and after she was sure he would remember, she said goodbye to him.

The bridegroom was soon in town. He was so taken up with his business that he completely forgot about his wife's comb. Several days later, his work finished, he packed his belongings and prepared to return home. As he looked around to see if he had forgotten anything, he happened to look out the window, and there he saw a big, round moon shining in the sky. Ten days had passed since he had left home. The moon was no longer a small sliver of light but a round, laughing globe of silver.

The moon suddenly reminded him of his wife's parting words. "Oh, I almost forgot," he told himself. "There was something like the moon I had to buy for my wife. Now, I wonder what it was?"

Try as he might, he could not remember. He knew that it had something to do with the moon—but what? His memory was a blank. "Was it something round like the moon?" he asked himself, "or was it something that shone like the moon?" But not for the life of him could he recall what it was.

"Well," he said at last, "I might as well go to a shop and ask for help"

So the young farmer entered a shop and said, "Good day, Mr. Shopkeeper. Please give me something that looks like the moon, something a woman uses."

The shopkeeper laughed at this strange request. Then he looked around at the goods on his shelf, and his eyes lighted on a small, round hand mirror.

"Oh, I know," the shopkeeper said. "This must be what you want. Look, it's round and looks just like the full moon. You look into it and you can see yourself. A young bride would want it when she pretties herself. I am sure it could be nothing else."

Now, the bridegroom had never seen a mirror before, as they were very rare then. But he thought that surely his wife, the daughter of a rich old farming family, would know what it was. "Yes, this must be what my wife asked me to get," he answered, proud that he could get what his wife wanted.

Soon he was back home in the country again. As soon as he entered the house, his wife asked, "Did you remember to do my shopping for me?"

"Yes," he answered. "Here." And he handed her what he had bought.

The bride, expecting to receive a comb, wondered at the strange round object her husband handed her. She peered into the smooth glass. And what should she see there but the reflection of a young woman and a very pretty woman at that.

"What thing is this!" she cried. "I only asked for a comb, and here you bring home a pretty young woman." The wife turned angrily and ran to her mother.

"Mother, can you imagine anything so silly? I asked my husband to buy me a comb in town, and look what he brought home—a strange young woman!"

"Where? Where is she?" the mother asked, taking the mirror and peering into it.

Of course, the mother saw reflected only the face of a wrinkled old woman. "Why, my child," she said, "what are you talking about? This must be an old relative of ours from a neighboring village."

"No, you are wrong. It's a young woman," the young wife cried.

"No, it's you who are wrong. Look, she's an old, wrinkled woman," the mother retorted angrily. Thus the two began quarreling.

Just then a small boy came into the room, eating a rice cake. The boy picked up the mirror and peered into it. There he saw another boy eating a rice cake. The boy thought the stranger had taken his.