Sun and Moon

Long ago, a mother and her two children lived deep in the mountains. On her way back from selling rice cakes, the mother met a fierce tiger. The tiger came to the house pretending to be Mother, but the clever siblings escaped and climbed a tall tree. When they prayed to heaven, a golden rope came down and lifted them into the sky. From then on, the brother became the Sun and the sister became the Moon.

One of the oldest oral folktales in Korea, written down in the 1800s but told by grandmothers to grandchildren long before that.

한국에서 가장 오래된 입에서 입으로 전해진 옛이야기 중 하나예요. 19세기에 글로 적혔지만 그 전부터 할머니들이 손주에게 들려주던 이야기랍니다.

• 호랑이horangi
  /HOH-rahng-ee/

  Tiger — the fierce mountain animal that appears most often in Korean folktales.

• 떡tteok
  /DUHK/

  A chewy Korean rice cake, often eaten on special days and market days.

• 동아줄dong-a-jul
  /DONG-ah-jool/

  A thick, strong rope. In folktales, it often comes down from the sky as a golden rope.

• 초가집chogajip
  /CHOH-gah-jeep/

  A traditional Korean countryside house with a roof of dried straw.

• 산신령sansilryeong
  /SAHN-shin-LYUNG/

  The spirit who watches over a mountain — often shown as a white-bearded grandfather in traditional clothes.

This folktale becomes a 5-page coloring storybook in the app. Two of these pages branch — you choose which path the story takes.

• 

  A Knock in the Night

  A small thatched-roof house in the deep mountains. Mother had gone to the market to sell rice cakes. Two siblings stayed home alone. Late at night, someone knocks. "Children, it's Mother. I've brought rice cakes." But something about the voice sounds strange.

• 

  The Moonlit Forest

  It wasn't Mother's hand — it was a tiger's paw. The siblings slipped out the back door and fled deep into the forest. Under the moonlight, a giant pine tree spread its branches wide.

• 

  Shadows by the Well

  As the door opened, a great tiger burst in. The siblings dashed out through the kitchen to the deep well in the back yard. The full moon shone round in the water.

• 

  Sun and Moon · ☀️ The Sun-and-Moon ending

  A golden rope descended from the sky. The siblings grasped it and climbed up among the stars. From that day on, the brother became the Sun who lights the day, and the sister became the Moon who lights the night.

• 

  Blessing of the Mountain Spirit · 🏔️ The Mountain Spirit ending

  Under the moonlight a white-bearded mountain spirit appeared and chased the tiger far over the ridge. He gave the children two small gourds. Inside the gourds, the mountain's slow time was flowing quietly.

In the original tale the tiger gets a rotten rope and falls. In our version, you can choose between two endings — rising to the sky, or the Mountain Spirit chasing the tiger away.

원작에서는 호랑이가 결국 썩은 동아줄을 받아 떨어져요. 우리 버전은 두 가지 결말 중 하나를 직접 선택할 수 있어요 — 하늘로 오르거나, 산신령이 호랑이를 쫓아내거나.