KOREAN LITERATURE CORNER - April 2025

By Josh Kim

Last month we learned about a myth that revealed where we got the sun, moon, and stars. This month we’ll read another myth that leads to another discovery in space.

불개 (Bul-gae), the Eclipsing Hound by Nidhi Naroth

Long ago, there was a world called the Land of Darkness above the skies. The people of this world rarely saw light and lived in almost perpetual night. Though they had adapted to this like creatures in a cave, they yearned for light, and the King of this land thought all the time how to bring it to his people.

In the Land of Darkness, there were also many dogs – including one amazing animal named Fireball. He had the uncanny ability to carry hot things in his mouth, including blazing fire. He was also the strongest, fastest, and most loyal being in the land. His legs were like steel pillars and he could run thousands of miles without stopping.

One day the king had an idea: he would send Fireball to the world of man to snatch away the sun and bring it back in his mouth. He sent Fireball who traveled swiftly but still took two years to reach the sun. Fireball bit into the sun, but it was so much hotter than anything before that even Fireball could not carry it back. He traveled back, ashamed that he had failed.

The king was disappointed, but he told Fireball: “If the sun is too hot, bring back the moon.” Immediately and without rest, Fireball made the journey back to the human skies. He found the moon and bit into it, but it was so cold that he could not keep it in his mouth for its chill was as piercing as the sun’s heat. Defeated, Fireball again made the journey back to the king without anything in his mouth. 

The king was again disappointed but his desire to bring light to the land grew. He ordered Fireball to try to get the sun again; Fireball did so, but failed again. Then the king ordered Fireball to go for the moon; Fireball did so and failed. 

And so on and so on, Fireball continues to make his trips to the sun and the moon in attempts to bring light to the Land of Darkness. And so and so on, he fails and returns empty-mouthed. But he will never give up.

So when you see a solar or lunar eclipse, you watch Fireball trying yet again to carry the sun or moon away as his mouth covers the celestial momentarily, only for him to have to leave it behind again.