A Korean Folktale of Red-Bean Porridge and Seven Little Helpers
Also known as Granny and the Tiger: The Red-Bean Porridge Granny.
Original Korean title: 팥죽 할머니와 호랑이 · Ages 4-8 · about
2 minutes to read aloud
A winter story for children who enjoy a noisy team effort. Seven small helpers take turns asking for porridge, then work together to send a much bigger tiger away. Let each listener play a helper and join in with the sounds.
Long ago, a little old granny lived all alone by a big mountain. All summer long, she pulled weeds in her red-bean field.
One day, a big striped tiger jumped out of the bushes. "Granny, I am hungry. I am going to eat you up!"
"Wait!" said Granny. "Let me harvest my beans and cook red-bean porridge. Come back on the longest night of winter, and eat me then."
Snow fell. On the longest, darkest night of winter, Granny stirred a big pot of red-bean porridge, and she cried and cried.
Roll, roll, came a chestnut. "Granny, Granny, why are you crying?" "The tiger!" "Give me a bowl of porridge, and I will help you."
Crawl, crawl, came a turtle. Squish, squish, came some dog poop. Poke, poke, came a pointy awl. "Granny, Granny, why are you crying?"
Rumble, rumble, came a millstone. Flap, flap, came a straw mat. Clomp, clomp, came a wooden carrier. "Granny, Granny, we will help you!"
Granny gave each one a bowl of hot red-bean porridge. Then everyone hid, and they waited… and waited.
At midnight, in crept the tiger. "Brr, so cold!" He warmed his paws by the fire. POP! The chestnut flew out and hit him in the eye.
"Ow! Ow!" The tiger ran to the water jar to wash his eye. SNAP! The turtle bit his nose.
The tiger ran for the door. SQUISH! He slipped on the dog poop and sat down — OUCH! — right on the pointy awl.
BONK! Down dropped the heavy millstone, and the tiger saw stars. FLAP! The straw mat rolled him up, round and round.
Clomp, clomp! The wooden carrier took him to the river and tipped him in. SPLASH! The tiger floated far, far away and never came back.
Granny and her seven new friends shared porridge till sunrise. "Granny, Granny, why are you smiling?" "Because I am not alone anymore!"
About This Story
Granny and the Tiger retells a Korean folktale called Patjuk Halmeomgwa Horangi, "the red-bean porridge granny and the tiger." Every helper in our story, even the dog poop, comes from the old tale.
Dongji, the winter solstice, is the longest night of the year, on December 21 or 22. Koreans once called it "Little New Year," and some called it the night the tiger gets married. On this day families cook patjuk, a thick red-bean porridge. People believed its deep red color chased away bad luck and mischievous spirits, and some sprinkled a little on their gates and walls.
The porridge holds saealsim (say: seh-ahl-sheem), small, chewy rice balls named for their size: as small as a bird's egg. Some families say you should eat one ball for every year of your age.
In older tellings the tiger meets a harsher end. In ours, the river carries him far away.
Korean Words in This Story
Halmeoni — grandma. Korean children call their grandmothers halmeoni.
Horangi — the Korean word for tiger, the star of many old Korean tales.
Patjuk — thick, warm red-bean porridge, cooked on the longest night of winter.
Dongji — the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.
Saealsim — small, chewy rice balls in the porridge, as small as a bird's egg.
Meongseok — a big woven straw mat, spread in the yard to dry grain.
Jige — a wooden A-frame carrier that farmers wore on their backs.
Say them out loud together!
Say them out loud together.
What it is about
Small friends, sharing, and standing together.
Questions worth asking
Granny shares her porridge while she is frightened. Why do you think she does that?
Could one helper have stopped the tiger alone? What changes when they work together?
