The stolen house

The stolen house story

Long, long ago, a charcoal-burner lived in Kangon Province of Korea. He was a very poor man. He lived by himself in a wooden hut on a hillside. All he owned was a large kettle which had been given to him by his father. It was so cold in winter that his slept inside in to keep himself warm.

One dark night, two thieves entered the hut and carried away the kettle. That did not know that the charcoal burner was sleeping inside it.

“Aigoo, aigoo!” they cried. “Why is the kettle so heavy?”

After carrying it for some distance, they decided to leave it in the middle of a field, as they could not carry it any further.

The next morning, when the charcoal-burner woke up and got out of the kettle, he cried out in fright, “What’s happened? Where’s my house? Some one must have stolen it while I was asleep. Help! Help!”

A farmer who was passing by stopped and asked him what was the matter.

“I’m only a poor man,” said the charcoal-burner. “I own nothing except a wooden hut and a kettle. But last night, someone stole my hut.”

The farmer was frightened. He ran back to his own house, and locked the front and back doors. He also nailed shut all the windows.

“What’s wrong?” his wife asked him.

“You know nothing.” Replied her husband. “There are strange thieves nowadays who steal house. Who has ever heard off anything like this before? We must be careful otherwise our own house will be stolen.”