“The Woodcutter and the Fairy” is one of the best known folktales in Korea. There are different variation of the story, but here is a bit of a modern twist.
This is a cautionary tale for maidens and fairies. Be careful who you trust.
Recently, there were reports that heavenly maidens were targeted in what can only be described as captivity. One report came from deep in the mountain where a poor woodcutter lived with his aging mother. He had held a fairy captive for several years and even resulted in two children. The fairy was able to escape her husband eventually, but no one knows the extent of this devastating operation.
The woodcutter’s mother said that her son was just a hardworking man, who went out daily to chop woods to provide for her. She was happy that he brought home a beautiful bride and they had two beautiful children. She claims that she didn’t know anything about her son’s part in the theft of her daughter-in-law’s dress that prevented her from returning home. She claims that her son was a victim in the deer’s scheme and asked that public leave her alone to mourn her dead son.
So, what really happened?
A source close to the couple said that the woodcutter was out one day and ran across a frightened deer. It asked the woodcutter to save it from the scary hunter that had been chasing it all morning. The woodcutter agreed, even lying to the hunter when asked about the deer. The deer showed its appreciation by asking what the woodcutter wanted. The woodcutter, being a simple man, said that he only wished for a beautiful wife, so that he could have beautiful children.
“The deer told him to go to the waterfall during the next full moon. The fairies flew down from the heavens and bathed in the pool once a month. The deer said to steal the fairy’s dress and she would not be able to fly away. It even warned the woodcutter not to give back the clothes until they had three children.”
-Neighbor
When asked why three children, the source replied that the woodcutter gave back his wife’s clothes after their second child was born. She was so homesick, and he wanted to cheer her up.
“When she got her clothes back, she grabbed her two children, one on each arm and flew away. I guess that’s why the deer said to wait for the third child. Poor woodcutter.”
During the investigation, the police were able to arrest the deer and questioned it. When asked how the woodcutter died and came back as a rooster, the deer decided to come clean and confessed its part in the plot.
“The woodcutter was crying all the time. It was so loud that I couldn’t even sleep at nights. I finally went to him and told him how he could meet his wife and children again. You see, the fairies weren’t allowed to come down to earth after what had happened. This wasn’t the first incident. So, they sent down a large bucket and pulled the water from the pool to take back up to the heavens. I told him to wait for the bucket, climb in, and get pulled into the heavens.”
-Deer
The woodcutter did meet his family and despite her years in captivity, his wife was glad to see him. The family spent several years living happily, but the woodcutter started to miss his mother.
“I was trying to make it work for the sake of our children. I even felt bad for him because I knew what he was going through. I lent him a flying horse so he could visit his mother one last time. I warned him that he had to stay on the horse; otherwise, it would come back to the heavens without him. I never thought it would be the last time I saw him.”
-His wife asked to remain anonymous.
The woodcutter’s mother explained that she was so happy to see her son. She had feared that a tiger or a bear might have gotten to him when he didn’t return home.
“I was so happy to see him, but he wouldn’t even get off the horse to hug me. Still, I couldn’t just send him away. I went into the kitchen and grabbed his favorite pumpkin porridge. He was eating it while still sitting on the horse and…”
-Woodcutter’s mother
His mother choked back tears before finishing her story. The woodcutter, in his eagerness, spilled some of the hot porridge on the horse. The horse reared its back in both surprise and pain. Before the woodcutter realized what had happened, he was thrown off the horse and the horse took off for the heavens. He knew that it was his only way back. The fairies stopped getting water from the pool after the woodcutter gain access to the heavens.
His mother says that the woodcutter died of a broken heart five days later. One day, a rooster showed up on her front yard. She tried to chase it away, but every morning it would show up and cried towards the heavens. She believes that the rooster is her reincarnated son.
The police are currently working to identify other possible captives and the deer is said to be cooperating. It is unclear what will happen to the deer.
Source: Kim, M.M. and A. Lee-Smith. 2019. Tigers, Fairies, and Gods: Enchanting Folktales from Korea. The Heavenly Maiden and Woodcutter. Published Kong & Park USA, Inc. Park Ridge, IL. pp 201-204.