Tales of a Korean Grandmother Read Online Free PDF

day, high up on the top of a great brassbound chest, the cat smelled the amber. But, ai, the welcome perfume came from inside a tightly closed box. What could they do? If they pushed the box off the chest and let it break on the floor, the Master of the House would surely be warned and chase them away.
    "'We must get help from the rats,' the clever dog cried. They can gnaw a hole in the box for us and get the amber out. In return, we can promise to let them live in peace for ten years.' This plan was all against the nature of a cat, but this one loved its master and it consented.
    "The rats consented, too. It seemed to them almost too good to be true that both the cats and the dogs might leave them alone for ten whole peaceful years. It took the rats many days to gnaw a hole in that box, but at last it was done. The cat tried to get at the amber with its soft paw, but the hole was too small. Finally a young mouse had to be sent in through the wee hole. It succeeded in pulling the amber out with its teeth.
    "'How pleased our master will be! Now good luck will live again under his roof,' the cat and the dog said to each other. In their joy at finding the lost amber charm, they ran around and around as if they were having fits.
    "'But how shall we get the amber back to the other side of the river?' the cat cried in dismay. 'You know I cannot swim.'
    "'You shall hold the amber safely inside your mouth, Cat,' the dog replied wisely. 'You shall climb on my back, and I'll swim you over the river.'
    "And so it happened. Clawing the thick shaggy hair of the dog's back, the cat kept its balance until they had almost reached their own bank of the stream. But there, playing along the shore, were a number of children, who burst into laughter when they saw the strange ferryman and his curious passenger. 'A cat riding on the back of a dog! Ho! Ho! Ho!' they laughed. 'Ha! Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! Ho! Just look at that.' They called to their parents, and they came to laugh, too.
    "Now the faithful dog paid no attention to their foolish mirth, but the cat could not help joining them in the fun. It, too, began to laugh, and from its open mouth Old Koo's precious amber charm dropped down upon the river bottom.
    "The dog shook the cat off his back, he was so angry, and it was a miracle that the creature at last got safely to the shore. In a rage the dog chased the cat, which finally took refuge in the crotch of a tree. There the cat shook the moisture out of its fur. By spitting and spitting, it got rid of the water it had swallowed while in the river. The cat dared not come down out of the tree until the angry dog had gone away.
    "That, so my grandmother said, is why the dog and the cat are never friends, my dear ones. That is why, too, a cat always spits when a strange dog comes too near. That is why a cat does not like to get its feet wet."
    "But what about the amber charm and poor Old Koo?" Ok Cha asked anxiously.
    "It was that dog who finally saved the fortunes of the old wineshop keeper," Halmoni explained. "First, he tried swimming out into the stream to look for the amber. But it was too deep for him to see the bottom. Then he sat beside the river fishermen, wishing he had a line or a net like theirs that would bring up the golden prize he sought. Suddenly from a fish that had just been pulled out of the water, the dog sniffed amber perfume. Grabbing that fish up in his mouth before the fisherman could stop him, he galloped off home.
    "'Well done, Dog,' said Old Koo. 'There is only a little food left under our roof. This fish will make a good meal for you and me.' The old man cut open the fish and, to his surprise and delight, the bit of amber rolled out.
    "'Now I can put my magic charm back into the jug,' Koo said to himself. 'But there must be at least a little wine in it to start the jug flowing again. While I go out to buy some, I'll just lock the amber up inside my clothes chest.'
    "When Koo came back with the wine and opened the chest, he