Many Korean American children grow up hearing folktales from their parents' homeland.
When Irvine teachers learn some of these stories during Tuesday's Program to Advance Cultural Education on Korean culture, the hope is that the tales will help the educators to better understand the home life and value system of their Korean students.
Irvine Public Schools Foundation, the local nonprofit organization offering the course, will also provide Irvine teachers with eight to 10 books on Korean culture to fill their classroom libraries.
Here are two tales that teachers might hear:
"The Green Frogs" is the story of two young frog brothers who never listen to what their mother says.
The brothers are so irreverent that they intentionally do the opposite of what they are told, traveling to parts of the pond they've been warned about and even making croaking noises that sound like their mother's croaks in reverse.
The mother, wishing to be buried away from a stream that could flood her grave, asks her sons to bury her close to the water, expecting them to do the opposite.
Instead, the brothers obey their mother's final wish. Later, when it begins to rain, the brothers begin to cry, fearing that the rising waters will wash away their mother's grave.
The story stresses obedience to elders and also explains why green frogs cry during rain.
"The Pumpkin Seeds" is a tale about two brothers: one poor and one wealthy. The older brother has a large estate with many servants, but he never is content with his harvest. The younger brother is a hard worker, and though his harvest never yields much, he never complains.
When birds begin to nest under the eaves of his home, the younger brother is happy to have company and feeds the birds what little extra he has. When a young bird breaks its leg, he nurses it back to health until it flies away. The following year, the bird returns and drops a single pumpkin seed in the younger brother's hands before flying away.
Soon, the seed grows into a large patch that yields three pumpkins so large that they could feed an entire village. The younger brother decides to share the pumpkins, but when he cuts into one, a group of workers emerge with materials and build him a mansion. The second pumpkin contains servants, and the third is full of gold, making the younger brother a wealthy man.
The older brother becomes jealous of his younger brother's fortune. He breaks a baby bird's leg and heals it in an attempt to become richer.
This bird also returns the following year and gives the older brother a pumpkin seed. This seed also grows into a huge patch. But when the brother cuts open his pumpkins, demons and debt collectors emerge, clay pours – ruining his fields – and the older brother is left a poor man.
When the older brother begs the younger for help, the younger brother provides half of everything he owns.
The older brother becomes humble and learns to love the animals and villagers around him.
This story teaches humility and the value of sharing.
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