The Story Bag
"The Story Bag"
I love today's story, which comes from Korea. It's about a boy who always wanted to be told new stories by everyone he met. He kept all the stories in a bag, never letting them out. Eventually, the boy grows up and is about to be married. The stories, tired of being trapped, conspire together to kill the boy, each deciding what they will turn themselves into. One decides to be poisonous berries, another a red-hot iron skewer, a third dangerous snakes. Each would position himself along the trail to the bride's home or in the bridal bed itself. A loyal servant overhears their plans and saves the young man, telling him what happened only after the last of the threats has been defeated.
That is why when stories are heard they must never be stored away to become mean and spiteful, but must always be shared with other people. In this way they are passed from one person...