The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon

Tonight’s story comes from Korea. In autumn there, families pick persimmons, peel them and hang them in strings under the eaves for the wind to dry. Dried persimmons are chewy and very sweet, and they are called gotgam. Korean children love them.

Long ago, high on a mountain, there lived a very big tiger. One freezing winter night, the tiger was hungry, so he crept down to a village at the foot of the mountain to look for something to eat.

He passed a small house with a light still on inside. A baby was crying, crying very loudly. The tiger crept right up to the window and pricked up his ears.

Inside, the mother was trying to calm the baby. “Hush now. If you don’t stop, a fox will come.”

The baby kept crying.

“Hush now. If you don’t stop, a bear will come.”

The baby cried even louder.

“Hush! There’s a tiger outside. The tiger’s coming right now!”

Outside the window, the tiger jumped. How does she know I’m here? He was sure that the moment the baby heard the word “tiger,” it would go quiet. Everyone is afraid of tigers.

But the baby went on crying and crying, not scared at all.

Then the mother said, “Here, have this dried persimmon.”

At once the baby stopped crying. The house went completely silent.

Outside the window, the tiger began to tremble. The baby wasn’t scared of a tiger, but the moment someone mentioned a dried persimmon, it went quiet. So this dried persimmon must be far scarier than a tiger! What kind of creature was it? How big was it? The more the tiger thought about it, the more frightened he became.

Just then, in the darkness, a thief was sneaking into the family’s cowshed. He was planning to steal the cow. It was pitch black inside and he couldn’t see a thing, so he felt around with his hands. His hand touched a big back, soft and furry and warm.

A nice fat cow, thought the thief. And he jumped up onto its back.

But it wasn’t the cow. It was the tiger, hiding beside the shed.

When the tiger felt something leap onto his back, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Oh no, it’s the dried persimmon, come to get me! He bolted, racing out of the village, up the mountain and through the forest.

The thief hung on tight. What kind of cow runs this fast? He looked closely, saw stripes in the moonlight, and realised he was riding a tiger. Now he was terrified too, and he clung to the tiger’s neck, not daring to let go.

And the further the tiger ran, the more scared he got, because the thing on his back would not let go. Each of them was terrified of the other, and they ran like that all night long.

As the sky began to grow light, the thief spotted a tree with a big hollow beside the path. He let go, jumped off, and squeezed into the hollow to hide.

When the tiger felt his back go light, he heaved a huge sigh of relief. Phew, the dried persimmon is gone! He ran straight home to the mountain without once looking back.

And in the little house down in the village, the baby had long since fallen asleep, still holding a dried persimmon.