The Snake’s Revenge

Long ago an archer lived near the Water Gate of Seoul. He was a man of great strength, famous for his courage.

The Water Gate is an opening under the city wall where the waters of the Grand Canal flow out. Iron bars stand across it so that no one can come or go that way.

One afternoon, as the archer was out walking, he saw a great snake trying to get in through the Water Gate. Its head had slipped between the bars, but its thicker body could not follow, and there it was, stuck fast. The archer fitted an arrow to his bow and shot the snake in the head. The wound was fatal, and the snake died. The archer pulled it out, smashed it and left it there.

Some time later, the archer’s wife gave birth to a son. From the very first, the child was afraid of his father. Whenever he saw him, he cried and seemed terrified, and as he grew older, he hated the sight of his father more and more. The archer grew suspicious, and instead of loving his son, he came to dislike him.

One day, when the two of them were alone in the room, the archer lay down for a midday nap with his sleeve over his face, but he kept watching the boy to see what he would do. The child glared at him and, thinking he was asleep, snatched up a knife and lunged at him. The archer leaped up, seized the knife and struck the boy with a club, and the boy fell still. Then he went out and left him.

The weeping mother covered the small body with a quilt and began to prepare for the burial. But soon the quilt began to move. She lifted it in alarm, and the child was gone. In his place lay a huge coiled snake. She sprang back in fear, ran from the room and would not go in after that.

That evening the archer came home and heard the dreadful news from his wife. He went in to look, and the whole body had become a huge snake. On its head was the scar of the arrow he had shot.

He spoke to the snake. “You and I were never enemies to begin with, so I did wrong to shoot you. But to take revenge by being born as my son was a terrible thing. It proves my suspicions were right. You became my son so that you could kill me, your father, so why shouldn’t I kill you in turn? If you try it a second time, I will certainly take your life. But you have had your revenge, and now you are back in your own shape. Let us put the past behind us and be friends from now on. What do you say?”

He said it over and over, pressing his offer, while the snake bowed its head and seemed to listen closely. Then he opened the door. “Now you may go wherever you like,” he said. The snake slid straight off toward the Water Gate and slipped out between the bars, and it was never seen after that.

About this story

“The Snake’s Revenge” is a tale from Im Bang, as translated by James Scarth Gale in his 1913 book Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies. It uses rebirth as a supernatural story device: the snake returns in human form carrying a grievance. This revenge plot should not be treated as a complete statement of Buddhist teaching.

In a note at the end, Im Bang puzzles over the story. People are spiritual beings, he says, far above snakes, yet he has never heard of a wronged person being reborn to take revenge as this snake did, and he regrets that even the wisest cannot explain the law behind such things.

Read the original: Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Project Gutenberg)

For older readers with guided discussion: includes a snake’s killing, a child attacking a parent, and a parent striking the child apparently dead.

The gate opens on a different choice

At first the trapped snake cannot pass the gate, and the archer kills it without provocation. At the end he opens a door and lets it leave through that same gate. The changed action matters more than a neat forgiveness slogan. His speech mixes an admission of wrongdoing with further threats, so the peace remains uneasy. The supernatural revelation does not justify harming a real child or treating a child’s fear as evidence of hidden evil.

Trace the repeated place

Draw the Water Gate at the beginning and end. Under each, describe the archer’s choice. Which words in his final speech accept responsibility, and which try to excuse his later violence?

Think about it

• Why was the child afraid of his father from the very start?
• What did the archer admit he had done wrong?
• Why do you think he chose to make peace with the snake?

You may also like

• The Wild-Cat Woman — another creature in disguise from Im Bang
• The Old Woman Who Became a Goblin — another dark Korean tale of transformation
• The Ill-Fated Priest — another tale of a grudge that will not rest