In the province of Hamgyong-gdo, in the city of Gilju, about twenty years ago there was a society of tiger hunters. The members of the society were all very rich people. One poor young man tried in vain to penetrate this society and become a member of it.
-Where are you going? - the chairman told him. “Don’t you know that the poor man is not a man?” Go away.
But nevertheless, this young man, denying himself everything, made for himself the same beautiful steel spear, and maybe even better, that all the other hunters had. And when they once went to the mountains to hunt for tigers, he went too.
At a halt near a ravine, he approached them and once again asked them to accept him.
But they were having fun, and had nothing to do with the poor man; They laughed again and drove him away.
“Well, then,” said the young man, “you drink here and have fun, and I’ll go alone.”
“Go, crazy,” they told him, “if you want to be torn apart by tigers.”
“Death from a tiger is better than being hurt by you.”
And he went into the forest. When he climbed into the thicket, he saw a huge striped tiger. The tiger, like a cat, played with him: now he jumped closer to him, now he jumped further away, lay down and, looking at him, cheerfully swung his huge tail from side to side.
All this continued until the hunter, as usual, shouted contemptuously to the tiger:
- Yes tshan podar (accept my spear)!
And at the same instant the tiger rushed at the hunter and, meeting the spear, clamped it in his teeth. But then, with superhuman strength, the hunter thrust a spear into his throat, and the tiger fell dead to the ground.
It was a tigress, and the tiger, her husband, was already rushing to her aid.
He no longer needed to shout: “Take the spear!” - He himself, with a terrible leap, as soon as he saw the hunter, rushed at him.
The hunter managed to offer his spear to him and, in turn, thrust it into his throat.
He dragged two dead tigers into the bushes and left their tails on the road.
And then he returned to the feasting hunters.
- Well? Did you stuff a lot of tigers?
“I found two, but I couldn’t cope with them and came to ask for your help.”
- This is another matter: lead and show.
They abandoned the feast and went after the hunter. On the way they laughed at him:
- What, I didn’t want to die, he came for us...
“Go quietly,” ordered the poor hunter, “the tigers are close.”
They had to shut up. Now he was already the eldest among them.
“Here are the tigers,” the hunter pointed to the tigers’ tails.
Then everyone lined up and shouted:
- Take my spear!
But the dead tigers did not move.
Then the poor hunter said:
“They have already accepted one spear, and now they just need to drag them to the city; take them for yourself and carry them.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru