Maung Tsik Tun - Heart-wrenching Fish and International Stories

Children, there is still a large stone in the ancient capital of Korea, Baekje. The stone tells an interesting story about itself. This is how the stone came to be.

Many years ago, Korea was not like this, but divided into three regions. At that time, the Silla Dynasty, which ruled the southeastern part of Korea, and the Baekje Dynasty, which ruled the southwestern part, fought each other.

Of the two, King Silla was the most powerful and strong. So he was able to go to King Baekje's palace and attack.

The Silla king's army surrounded the palace and told King Peko, "Surrender, and I promise to grant you and your family amnesty and allow you to leave this palace."

King Baekje's nobles pleaded with him not to believe or listen to the words of the Silla king.

"Don't believe King Silla's words at all, Your Majesty. Although King Silla's words may be sweet now, as soon as Your Majesty surrenders, he will kill you and your family."

There were three thousand female concubines in the palace of King Baekje. The chief concubine said to the king, “Your Majesty, you and your family must leave this palace as soon as possible. Your Majesty’s life is in danger. There is a secret door at the back of the palace. If you go out through that door, the King of Silla will not be able to see you. One day, you will be able to return to rule your own country. For now, you should stay in a safe place.”

King Baekje did not want to leave his palace. However, at the request of his nobles and courtiers, the king and his family left through a secret door at the west of the palace.

After the king left, all the women bravely fought until they could no longer fight the invading Silla army. In the final battle, the remaining women climbed a high rock near the Sacha River and jumped into the cold river. It was said that it was better to be free than to die in the hands of the enemy. When they jumped into the river, they were all dressed in white, so it looked like white flowers were falling into the river.

The Korean people always remember these brave women. The stone they jumped into the river is now called the “Flower Stone.” It is visited by people from all over Korea and visitors from all over the world.

The Falling Flower Rock, a Korean story from Leon Comber 's Favourite Stories for Asian Schools

A troublesome friend

(The story of Kashmir)

Once upon a time, in a small village in Kashmir, there was a village headman.

The village headman was very friendly with a villager in his village.

But he soon discovered that his friend was a very selfish person.

So he wants to cut off contact with his friend. He wants to stop being a friend.

However, he was very worried that he would become an enemy, especially since he had been friends with his friend for years, and he didn't want to treat him as a friend, especially since he had told his friend his personal secrets.

So he had various ideas about what to do.

Finally, he had an idea and told his wife...

"Madam.. this guy is not a fool. He comes when we are eating and drinking, and he doesn't say anything, he calls me, he doesn't say anything, he just eats. If this guy comes this time, I will avoid going out. He will come back when he goes, and then we will eat. Now you have some snacks and hide the food. When he comes, tell him that you have finished breakfast. Then he will ask you to cook something for him because he has not eaten yet. Tell him that I don't dare do anything without my husband's permission. Don't give me any food."

He said. | When it was time for breakfast, the village headman's friend arrived at their house.

The village chief's wife did as her husband ordered.

"I'm sorry, my husband is going out. We've already eaten. If my husband were here, I would have killed a chicken and fed you."

He said. Then the friend...

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about for me. It's not that your husband doesn't exist, it's that I exist. I can kill chickens too. That's not a shame."

He said.

Upon hearing his friend's words, the chief's wife became a bee and a pomegranate.

"Oh... that's impossible. If my husband hears about this, I'll be very angry. Please don't hurt me. Come back here when my husband returns."

But the friend has not yet left.

“Trust me, I love to cook. I’ll kill the chicken while you light the fire. I’ll explain everything to you when your husband gets back.”

"So the friend said, 'Go down to the chicken coop,' grab the best chicken in the coop, and kill it.'"

Then the chief's wife said,

"Oh.. don't do this, my husband will be back soon and will serve you food."

He said.

However, the friend did not listen to the old woman.

He quickly killed the chicken and gave it to the old woman to cook.

The chief's wife couldn't do anything about it. There was no way to avoid it.

So the old woman had to cook the chicken in the kitchen.

Before the food was cooked, the old man returned home.

The old man said to his friend...

"Good morning," he greeted, and after a brief conversation, he entered the kitchen where his wife was and asked her what she was doing.

His wife also recounted the entire incident.

Then he...

"No problem, do this. When the chicken is cooked, give him a little, put the chicken in a copper pot, and for me, add more chicken, put the chicken in an earthen pot and place it in front of me."

He ordered.

When the chicken was cooked, the old man's wife placed the dishes on the table as her husband had instructed.

However, the old man's friend was very clever. He noticed that he had placed a few chickens in front of him and a lot of chickens in front of the old man.

Then the friend immediately said to the elder, “No, I will be served in the best copper pot, and you can eat in the earthen pot. It doesn’t matter. I will eat in the earthen pot.” He took the earthen pot in front of the elder and exchanged it with the copper pot in front of him. The elder asked him not to change the pot, but he refused.

Finally, the old man winked at his wife.

"A demon has been visiting our house for the past few days. It usually comes once or twice when the lights are off," he said.

"Yes?" the guest friend said in surprise.

The chief's wife understood what her husband meant.

So his wife immediately got up and turned off the light.

The whole house went dark. Then the old man reached out to touch the earthenware pot in front of his friend.

The guest friend noticed the old man's movement. So the friend held the pot with one hand and took the torch with the other and beat the old man painfully with the torch. The old man also cried out in pain.

"What did you do to my husband?"

The old woman said to her guest friend.

Then the friend said.. "

"The evil one is stealing my food, be careful... be careful"

Saying this, he hit the elder with the torch.

Finally, the lamppost broke. Then the guest friend grabbed the clay pot containing the chicken and ran out the door.

From the book RD Binfield - Tale From Over The Sea The Troublesome Friend, A Tale from Kashmir.