The Magical Snake
by Rochelle Gimpaya
Once upon a time, there was a king named Taejo who lived in Deoksugung Palace...
King Taejo was known to be a great and kind leader inside the palace.
Many people visited his palace to give offerings as a token of gratitude for the king's generosity.
King Taejo had a son named Prince Chan-yeol. Chan-yeol was as wise and great as his father. He always obeyed the rules and commands of the king. He was a friendly and kind-hearted man, which made him loved by the people.
One day, the king declared that they would be celebrating the Chuseok festival to give thanks to their forefathers for a bountiful crop.
Everyone was informed that the queen and her daughter from Gyeongbokgung Palace would join them in celebrating.
After the announcement, everyone got busy preparing for the big event in their palace.
And the day came that they would be celebrating...
The queen of Gyeongbokgung Palace arrived.
She was with her daughter, Yera.
Yera's face was lovely and fair. Her eyes were dark, and she had beautiful, platinum-blonde hair. When Chan-yeol saw Yera, he was astounded by her beauty.
"Your majesty! We're glad and grateful that you're celebrating the Chuseok festival with us," said the King to the Gyeongbokgung queen.
"My pleasure! It is an honor for us to be here," the queen answered.
While they were busy talking with each other, Chan-yeol approached Yera and took her with him to roam around the palace.
They went to the Han River and watched the sun as it went down. While they were busy getting to know each other, a magical snake appeared in front of them.
To their surprise, Chan-yeol summoned his sword, and when he was about to attack the snake, Yera stopped him.
"The snake is no harm to this palace. In fact, the snake gives healing to those sick people. They said that if you cut off its caudal and drink its blood, you will be healed," Yera spoke to Chan-yeol.
Chan-yeol immediately believed Yera, and they went back to the palace.
When they came back, the terrifying news unfolded before them.
The king became unconscious after being poisoned. And because of his love for her father, Chan-yeol made the decision to return to the river where they had first seen the magical snake. He told Yera about it, and Yera promised Chanyeol that she would marry him as soon as he got back.
With hope and faith, Chan-yeol went back to the Han River, and there he saw the magical snake, sleeping peacefully.
He slowly cut off the magical snake's caudal and put its blood inside the bottle!!!
He went back to the palace with joy in his heart because his father would be healed, and he would be married to Yera. Ahead of time, after getting to the palace, he went to his father and assisted him in drinking the blood.
They waited for several hours, but Chan-yeol grew progressively more frail, and the King failed to regain consciousness.
Consequently, both of them passed away.
The people found out that the queen poisoned King Taejo, and Yera fooled Chan-yeol about the magical snake so they could rule both Deoksugung and Gyeongbokgung palaces.
The End