Wisdom & Cleverness
Resourceful escapes, sharp observations, advice and ingenious tricks shape these tales. Look beyond who wins: what information did a character use, whose help mattered and who was harmed? Comparing an effective trick with a well-judged decision makes room for different readings of cleverness and wisdom.
Norse Folk Tales
Prince Lindworm
A childless queen is told to eat only one of two magic roses, but she eats both, and years later a great serpent blocks her son’s road demanding a bride.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
Whom the King Honours
While his fellow students feast in the woods, a plain country scholar stays behind to guard the college shrine, never guessing that the King is watching.
Korean Folk Tales
All Ages
Topknots and Crockery Hats
To stop the endless street brawls in his new kingdom, the wise counselor Kija invents a hat of baked clay four feet wide that cracks at the first blow.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Visit of the Man of God
Hiding among the trees, a woodcutter watches a shining warrior from heaven threaten to flood the land while a Buddhist monk begs him for mercy.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Temple to the God of War
When officials cannot agree where to build a shrine to the God of War, a huge stranger in uniform asks to speak with the statesman Yi Hang-bok alone.
Korean Folk Tales
All Ages
The Story of Chang To-ryong
A ragged beggar who jokes with the servants in Bell Street is treated with fearful respect by the proudest magician in Seoul, and nobody can tell why.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Resourceful Wife
When the tyrant King Yon-san summons a minister’s beautiful young wife to his palace, she goes without a tear, carrying a secret plan of escape.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Renowned Maing
Sheltering from the rain in a roadside pavilion, a proud young scholar lectures a plain old traveler on poetry, never guessing that he is a famous minister.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Propitious Magpie
A poor friend of King T’ai-jong builds a fake magpie nest in the King’s path, and the writer Yi Ryuk tells how real magpies brought his own family luck.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Old Woman Who Became a Goblin
A scholar’s wife takes in an old beggar woman who can spin more than eight women in a day, but the helper grows angry when the welcome cools.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Mirror That Made Trouble
A miller from the countryside visits Seoul for the first time and buys a round metal disc with a man inside, never guessing what it will do to his family.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Man Who Lost His Legs
A merchant buying seaweed on Quelpart meets a legless old man who tells how his shipwrecked crew was trapped in the castle of a man-eating giant.