Author Archives: Crystal Yang

The Woodcutter and the Angel

Nationality: American, Korean
Age: 22
Occupation: Account Executive
Residence: Seattle, WA
Performance Date: April 23, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

The 22-year-old informant was born in South Korea and moved to the U.S. at a very young age. She chose to share this story because it is commonly told in Korean culture.

“So there’s this woodcutter, and he’s in the woods and he walks to find some water and he comes down to this lake and sees all these angels bathing in the lake. So he keeps coming back day after day to watch these angels bath, and he notices that when they bath, they take off their wings and all their clothes and everything. So one day, he just picks one of the angels and grabs her wings so she can’t fly back up to the heavens when all the other angels go. So she’s lost there and crying and he comes up to her and is like, ‘Hey do you wanna come home with me and be my wife?’ and she says yes. Basically the woodcutter had found out to take the wings from this old fortune-teller, so after the angel takes the woodcutter home, he goes back to the fortune-teller and is like ‘Ok now what do I do?’ and the fortune-teller’s like, ‘Make sure to not give her back her wings until you have more than 2 children’ and the woodcutter’s like, ‘Ok sure.’ So basically they live together and they’re happy and they have 2 babies, and he remembers that the fortune-teller said to wait until after 3 children, but he’s like, ‘Eh whatever, I really love this person and she loves me,’ so he gives them back to her and she puts them on and takes one kid in each arm and flies back up to the heavens. So then the woodcutter is left alone without children.”

I found this story to be quite sad, despite the wrongdoing of the woodcutter in the first place. If there’s a lesson, I believe that it’s “What goes around, comes around,” for the most part. Sure, the woodcutter and the fallen angel were happy and had a family together, but that was all because he stole her wings so she couldn’t fly back up to the heavens. So, in the end, the woodcutter kind of got what he deserved.

The Goose and The Pearl

Nationality: American, Korean
Age: 22
Occupation: Account Executive
Residence: Seattle, WA
Performance Date: April 23, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

The 22-year-old informant was born in South Korea and moved to the U.S. at a very young age. She chose to share this story because it is commonly told in Korean culture.

“So in this one folktale, there’s this traveler, who needs a place to stay so he asks this farmer if he can stay in his house, and the farmer’s like, ‘No, but you can stay in the barn.’ So he’s sleeping there and he sees this little girl running, and she drops a pearl and he sees a duck eat it. And then in the morning, he’s shaken awake by the farmer who’s like, ‘I’m gonna call the police! You stole my daughter’s pearl, it’s missing!’ and he’s like, ‘No I didn’t, just wait until your duck poops.’ So then the duck poops and they find it.”

The moral of the story is to be nice to people. According to the storyteller, this story is a common one amongst Korean people.

I find this piece interesting because it talks about such a simple concept that is a sign of human decency, however, it doesn’t always come naturally to everyone, which is why this story is more relevant and eye-opening that one would think at first. People are always quick to point fingers or let others take the blame for things and it’s important to remember not to assume anything.

For another version of this story, see Kim, Jinrak. The Generous Scholar. Seoul: Baramedia Publishing Inc., 2007. Print.

Aswang

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 21
Occupation: Civil Engineer
Residence: Hawaii/Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Tagalog

The 21-year-old informant was born in the Philippines, but moved to the U.S. at the age of 9. As ghosts and other mythical creatures play a large role in Filipino culture, the informant recounts personal stories and myths that she encountered during her time in the Philippines.

Informant: “I remember hearing about this when I was little… It’s one of the most common Filipino monsters. They’re shape-shifters who are human by day, and then at night, turn into a bat.

Collector: “What’s it called?”

I: “Aswang. A-s-w-a-n-g. Uhm, what I’ve heard about them is they like to go to pregnant womens’ homes, like right on top of where their room is, and just like, eat their child from there.”

C: “Do they turn into a bat when they do it?”

I: “Yeah they turn into a bat. It’s like half-woman, half-bat, and they go after babies.”

Haunted House in the Philippines

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 21
Occupation: Civil Engineer
Residence: Hawaii/Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Tagalog

The 21-year-old informant was born in the Philippines, but moved to the U.S. (Hawaii) at the age of 9. As ghosts and other mythical creatures play a large role in Filipino culture, the informant recounts personal stories and myths that she encountered during her time in the Philippines.

Informant: “When I was little, I was with my brother and we were at my grandma’s house, and we had a babysitter with us, so it was just the 3 of us. I was like, 3 or 4 years old maybe? I think it was a 5-story house– it was a pretty big house, which people were saying it was so big that it wasn’t as inhabited as it should be, so then like, ghosts started coming in and like, taking over the space or whatever.

But um, we’re just playing and then we heard like, chains on the stairs, just like (*makes a few thumping noises with her hand*). It kept stepping on the stairs and we heard chains just clanking on the floor, and as a child I was just like, ‘Fuck is that?’ And there’s a foot on the stairs, and it was all bloody. It was literally just a foot, and it had chains around it– all bloody. And it just kept stepping, not really going anywhere.

And then, I talked to my brother, and up ’til this day, he’s like, ‘No, I swear I saw it,’ and he was 7 years old then? Maybe I was 4… I was 3 or 4.”

Collector: “Was it like, a solid foot?”

Informant: “Ya, it was just one foot. I forgot what that house used to be… like, what used to be there before the house was built… but I know there was some mystery there.

And there was another one… like, the house was pretty haunted. I heard stories that–well, when we weren’t there–my other cousins lived right across that house, and her grandma would say that she would see like, a white lady just walking across the rooftop, and no one was there ’cause everyone was like, in Hawaii or like, the mainland or whatever… So that was another one of the stories.”

Duwende

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 21
Occupation: Civil Engineer
Residence: Hawaii/Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Tagalog

The 21-year-old informant was born in the Philippines, but moved to the U.S. (Hawaii) at the age of 9. As ghosts and other mythical creatures play a large role in Filipino culture, the informant recounts personal stories and myths that she encountered during her time in the Philippines.

Informant: “So there’s this thing called a ‘duwende’– literally, dwarves. My parents had a concrete farm, and they had like, employees that lived there too. It was kind of a huge lot.

Collector: “Is this still in the Philippines?”

I: “Yeah still in the Philippines… And I guess they said like, they kinda live by trees or whatever, and then if you happen to just run by a tree, or like, kick a tree or whatever– just disturb where they live, they would follow you and like… what was the word for it…? You know like, exorcism? You know how you get like, taken over?”

C: “Oh like, they possess you.”

I: “Yeah! They possess you. There’s like a good kind, and then a bad one, and I remember one of the employees’ daughter that lived there apparently got possessed by it. I never met her ’cause I was little and my mom was just like, telling me about it, but she didn’t want me near her.”

C: “Wait, so there’s a good kind?”

I: “There’s a good kind and bad kind, and the bad kind possessed her apparently.”

C: “Oh so this was like, an actual thing?”

I: “An actual thing, yeah. Well so, my mom said that the dad said this, but she was like, ‘Maybe she’s just crazy’ haha.”