[Storybook] Tale of Seodong

Chapter 2: A Heart Turned to Flames

Sulbaga's mother returned home and said to Sulbaga,

"Your wish has been granted, so cleanse yourself and wait behind the shrine."

When the time came, the princess asked the queen,

"I had an ominous dream, so I wish to go to the Sky Altar and pray for blessings."

The queen gladly agreed and prepared five hundred carts for the princess's procession. The princess arrived at the Sky Altar and had all her attendants guard the doors, then entered the shrine alone. Inside, Sulbaga was waiting. And there was also a Dokkebi, wearing an invisibility cap, hiding.

The queen actually knew everything. Unable to let her daughter share affection with a commoner, the queen lavishly served the Dokkebi with buckwheat jelly Knowledge Item and makgeolli Knowledge Item, causing Sulbaga to fall into a deep sleep from which he could not wake.

Princess Gumodu entered the shrine and saw the sleeping Sulbaga, shaking him to wake him. But Sulbaga could not rise. The Dokkebi had put him to sleep. The princess waited until dawn, but Sulbaga did not wake. In the end, the princess left a golden necklace and departed.

In the morning, Sulbaga awoke and found the necklace around his neck. He asked the people around and learned that the princess had visited. And the next month, he heard that the princess was to marry into a neighboring country.

Sulbaga was heartbroken. His longing turned to flames, and when those flames had burned all his heart, leaving nothing more to burn, they spread to his body, turning him into a fire ghost. The fire spirit, known as Jigwi, roamed the land burning everything, but was eventually sealed by a man named Jang Chadon.

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