Once upon a time, a long time ago, a father and his seven sons lived in the same village. The brothers were very similar to each other, and all seven of them did not have names. People simply called them First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh.
The father and brothers worked hard, but lived very poorly. Almost the entire harvest from their field was taken by Lee Chong Seung, the owner of the land. This Lee Chong Seung was so greedy that when there was a free place in his barns with ninety-nine bins, he made up an excuse and took the rice from the peasants.
They say that one November night, when cold winds were blowing and blizzards were swirling in Korea, the father of seven brothers fell ill from hunger. That night he called his seven sons, sat them down next to him and said:
“All the years I lived in poverty and sadness and didn’t even give you names.” And what is the name of the son of a simple farmer?! But you, my sons, are intelligent, and each of you is endowed with wonderful abilities. Therefore, I decided to give you names: To the first son - “Far away, but I hear everything”, To the second - “High, but I’m low”, To the third - “I’ll open without a key”, To the fourth - “It’s hot, but I’m cold”, To the fifth - “Cut it down - I’ll grow again”, To the sixth - “What’s heavy is easy for me”, To the seventh - “Hit it - it doesn’t hurt me”.
The father died, and the brothers gathered to arrange a funeral, but there was not a penny of money or a pinch of rice in the house. “What should I do?” - the brothers thought. All the rice they grew by the sweat of their brow was poured into the landowners' barns. And the brothers decided to take back the rice that the landowner had taken from them.
“It’s high, but it’s low for me,” “What’s heavy is easy for me,” and “I’ll open it without a key” headed towards the landowner’s house. The manor's house with a tiled roof that looked like the back of a whale was surrounded by a high wall. But “It’s high, but I’m low” leaned on this wall, and it turned into a low fence. “High, but I am low” approached the barn with his brothers and saw: the barn was locked with an iron lock. “I’ll open it without a key,” I touched the lock, and it immediately opened on its own. The brothers opened the iron doors, entered the barn, took as much rice as they needed, loaded the sacks onto “What’s heavy is easy for me,” and returned home. Now they were able to arrange their father's funeral.
Several days passed. Lee Jong Seung learned that rice was missing from his barn, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head with rage. He sent servants to all the villages. They began to question the people, ask the shaman, and finally learned that seven brothers had taken the rice. But “I’m far away, but I hear everything” about these searches. He left at home only “Beat - it doesn’t hurt me,” and he and the rest of his brothers disappeared.
Lee Chong Seung burst into the brothers’ house, turned everything upside down, but out of the seven he found only one - “Beat - it doesn’t hurt me.” Choking with anger, the landowner ordered him to be flogged. And so “Beat - it doesn’t hurt me” they began to beat him from morning to evening, but no matter how much they flogged him, at least he didn’t feel pain and didn’t say where the brothers had disappeared.
When Lee Chong Seung realized that “Beat me - it doesn’t hurt me” would not say anything, he imprisoned him in prison to burn him at the stake in the morning.
“I’m far away, but I hear everything” found out about this and sent “It’s hot, but I’m cold” and “I’ll open it without a key” to the landowner’s house. Knowing that their younger brother was in danger, they walked very quickly and arrived at Lee Chong Seung's house before dawn. “I’ll open it without a key,” he silently opened the iron doors, released “Hit, it doesn’t hurt me,” and instead left “It’s hot, but I’m cold.”
The next morning, Lee Chong Seung ordered his servants to make a whole mountain of logs, put the thief on it and set fire to the wood. The wood caught fire, and soon a sea of fire raged.
When the logs burned and the flames subsided, everyone saw the alive and unharmed “It’s hot, but I’m cold.” He stood among the hot coals and, trembling, said:
- Hey, this is cold!
Lee Jong Seung and his servants were amazed. The next morning they decided to throw “It’s hot, but I’m cold” from a high cliff.
“It’s far away, but I hear everything” found out about this and this time sent “High, but I’m low” and “I’ll open it without a key” to Lee Chong-seung’s house. The brothers released “It’s hot, but I’m cold” from prison, and instead left it with “High, but I’m low.”
The next day, Lee Chong Seung ordered the servants to throw the thief into an abyss tens of kilos deep.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru