The Monster Bulgasari

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom called Goryeo. One day, the king who ruled there ordered his soldiers to find and capture every single Buddhist monk in the country. “Close all of the monasteries and put all of the monks in prison,” said the king.

In his eyes, the monks were ungodly men who deserved severe punishment. The king’s soldiers went to the monasteries at once, forcing the frightened monks to flee in all directions to avoid certain imprisonment.

Upon hearing this terrible news, one of the monks decided to rush to the village of his sister. “Dear sister, please hide me in your house, or they will surely put me in prison!” he begged. “I’m sure the soldiers won’t look for me here.”

His sister agreed to help him and hid him in a small, dark room. The monk stayed there and never left. His sister would secretly bring him food and water, but then an evil idea crossed her mind. “What if I turned him in to the soldiers? If I help them catch another monk, they might even reward me for it.”

But her husband found out about her terrible plan, and once she'd left the house, he opened the door to the secret room to warn the monk. “Run. Quickly. My wife’s just left to report you to the soldiers! They’ll be here soon to arrest you!”

When the monk heard the news, he got scared and decided to leave at once. But before he left the house, he turned to his brother-in-law one last time and said: “Thank you for saving me. I have nothing to give you in return, since I don’t own anything at all, except for this. I made it while I was hiding here.”

He gave his brother-in-law…