〈Korean Reading for Foreigners〉 is a series for foreigners studying Korean. It is a reading book that allows you to build your Korean skills while enjoying the stories. Carefully tailored to Korean reading levels, literary works from various genres have been rewritten to match the abilities of Korean learners. They have been newly written to provide a broad understanding of Korea's history, its people, and diverse aspects of society. The reading levels are divided into three stages. As you read ...
나무꾼과 서녀
A woodcutter saves a deer from a hunter, and to repay him, the deer tells him how he can kidnap and imprison a heavenly maiden so he can force her to bear multiple children for him, by stealing her magical robes so she can't return home. There's an attempt to make the story less horrifying by having the couple "fall in love at first sight," but I can't say I enjoyed reading it.
구렁이 청년과 김 부잣집 셋째 딸
An elderly woman gives birth to a serpent. When he reaches marriagable age (heh) he wants to marry a rich man's daughter, who's like, "HELL YEAH I'll marry a giant snake!" But he sheds his skin and his final form turns out to be a handsome young man, which I can't help but feel must have been disappointing for her. Although I was confused as to why he couldn't come home...
임금님 귀는 당나귀 귀
I feel like the title says it all. A king's ears start to grow and resemble donkey ears, which he tries to hide with ever-larger hats. The stress of keeping the king's secret makes the hatmaker fall ill and eventually die, the rumour of the king's donkey-ears spreads anyway, but by this time the king ceases to be bothered and stops wearing his hat. The end.
I've covered the language-learning aspects of the series in previous reviews, and I doubt the format will change from between volumes. It's great overall, with a couple of minor detractions due to the layout.
The stories in this volume fell flat for me. I was excited by the interesting premise of 구렁이 청년, but the ending let it down. I'm sure there will be some gems in future volumes though, so I don't mind digging away until I find them.