Heungbu and Nolbu is a story written in the late Chosen Dynasty (1392–1897) by an unknown person. (Naver Dictionary) “Heungbu and Nolbu” was set down about 200 years ago[1], and was passed down through generations and is now told as a bedtime story for all Korean children.
Heungbu and Nolbu were brothers. The older one, Nolbu, was very greedy but the younger one, Heungbu, was kind and empathetic. One day, Heungbu and Nolbu’s father died and ordered them to split his fortune in half. However, Nolbu kicked Heungbu’s family out to have the fortune all to himself. So Heungbu and his family lived in poverty.[2]
One day, a snake was climbing up the tree in Heungbu’s house in order to eat a baby swallow. Heungbu chased the snake away and fixed the baby swallow’s broken leg. The following autumn, the swallow's family came back from the South and gave Heungbu a seed as a thank-you present. Heungbu planted the seed in his backyard until it grew into giant plants with hard shells named gourds. When Heungbu and his family split the gourds in half, they found jewels, money and a new house. In another words, they became very wealthy.
The rumor that Heungbu became rich spread throughout the whole town and reached Nolbu. Without hesitation, Nolbu met Heungbu and asked him how he got rich so quickly. Nolbu heard the secret and did the same, except he broke a swallow's leg by himself. The swallow brought Nolbu a gourd seed the following spring, and Nolbu planted the seeds. When he split his gourds, however, thieves came out and stole all his possessions. Nolbu and his wife suddenly became poor and asked Heungbu to forgive them and they lived together happily ever after.
Names like “Heungbu” and “Nolbu” might be unfamiliar to people in other countries but the moral that good deeds bring you wealth and luck is similar to any other folk tale in the world. This story has cultural value in Korea because it carries values of Korean people that eldest sons are the most important.[3] Recently, “Heungbu and Nolbu” was published in an American textbook named “Literary Place 2, 3", which has added an extra credibility to the story because it spread Korean culture to the United States.[4]
The older version is longer and contains an extra element.
This tale centers around a perverse man called Nol-boo. An organ filled with vice (simsulbo) protruded from under his left rib cage. He is the most greedy, perverse and heartless character in Korean literature.[5]
Among his listed favorite activities are:
He was rich, but miserly. Instead of making real offerings to his ancestors, he wrote words on pieces of paper. He had no wife.
He had a brother, named Hung-boo, who was his opposite, poor but good-natured. One day, Hung-boo found a swallow with a broken leg. He cared for the swallow and in the late summer the swallow flew south with its family. The next spring the swallow returned and dropped a gourd seed to him. He planted the seed in his thatch and it was soon groaning with the weight of the gourds. In the autumn, he and his wife used a saw to open the gourds, which were packed with jewelry and gold.
When Nol-boo heard about it, his simsulbo ("a bag of perverseness") began to ache. He caught a swallow, broke its leg and tied it with splints. The bird flew south and returned with a seed the next year. However, out of Nol-boo's gourds emerged monsters that kicked his buttocks, yanked his beard and sapped his wealth. One gourd spewed excrement on him when it was opened.[5]