July 4th Reflection: The Tiger and the Bear 
By Lee, Cho_hee 

(Published  here with permission from Han and Grace Blogspot 
https://hanandgrace.blogspot.com)

I had a Zoom call Saturday with  Jeung, Michelle, and Laura. The Lims and the Morgans had 
shared a Fourth of July celebration together at Bonnies house, and I caught the three of them 
just after theyd returned to their apartments.

Sadly, the heat in Philadelphia kept them from having as much outdoor fun as usual. Most of 
the festivities took place indoors. They still had cheeseburgers, potato salad, ice cream and 
apple pie. The foods are all important.

Eun-Jin was out with John. I missed seeing her.

Still, the four of us had a lovely conversation, remembering past picnics Eun-Jin and I have 
shared with our American family. I truly think of the Morgans as red-haired kin.

At one point, Laura and Michelle began talking about the stories they learned as children. 
Those larger-than-life tales about American culture and the people said to have founded the 
United States. I remembered some too: George Washingtons honesty when he cut down his fathers 
cherry tree, stories of bravery, endurance, and truthfulness that were meant to explain the 
roots of American character.

Then Jeung reached behind her and pulled an old illustrated book from her bookshelf.

I recognized it immediately.

I have a Korean version here. Its the kind of book once handed down in almost every Korean 
family. My mother had one just like it. On the cover, a black bear and a tiger. Inside, a 
story of strength, endurance, and beginnings. It is the tale of the birth of the Korean 
people.

Jeung began to read.

-The Tiger and the Bear

In the first dawn before dawn, when the sky was still deciding what color it wished to be, the 
world was a vast and breathing wilderness. Mountains rose like sleeping gods. Rivers carved 
their names into stone. The air shimmered with beginnings.

Among the highest peaks stood Taebaek, a mountain so old that even time bowed before it. 
Clouds wrapped its shoulders. Thunder slept in its roots.

And beneath that mountain was a cave.

A cave that did not simply hold darkness, but destiny.

Two creatures approached the caves mouth.

A tiger, striped with fire.

A bear, fur thick as winter.

They carried a longing older than language.

They wished to become human.

The heavens stirred.
Wind spiraled.

And from the cloud-throne descended Hwanung, son of the Celestial Emperor, whose voice could 
bend storms.

He spoke:
If you remain in this cave for one hundred days
and eat only mugwort and garlic,
you may shed your animal form
and rise as human.

The tiger roared with pride.

The bear bowed with reverence.

They entered the cave.

-The Trial of Devotion

Inside, the darkness was absolute.
It swallowed sound.
It tested spirit.

The tiger lasted only a short while.
Its hunger for sunlight was too fierce.
Its restlessness too wild.

It fled the cave, tail lashing, breath hot with frustration.

Days passed.
Weeks passed.
Seasons shifted beyond the caves mouth.

Inside, the bears devotion became a force.

Her patience shaped the darkness. Her longing softened the stone. Her hope warmed the air.

The cave did not change her.
She changed the cave.

-Becoming

On the hundredth day, the mountain trembled.
Light seeped into the cave like a promise.

Ungnyeo stepped forward.

Her fur dissolved into skin.
Her paws unfurled into hands.
Her breath became human breath.

She emerged not as beast, but as woman.

The wind bowed.
The mountain lowered its ancient head.
The heavens opened in recognition.

Ungnyeo had waited herself into becoming.

-The Mother of Nations

Yet her heart carried one more longing.
She prayed for a child.
She prayed with the same devotion that had remade her.

Hwanung heard.

From the union of divine wind and devoted earth,
a son was born.

Dangun.

Founder of the Korean nation.
The first king.
The one who shaped tribes into people,
people into a story,
and story into a nation.
Ungnyeo became the mother of Korea
not through conquest,
not through fire,
but through the slow, luminous art of devotion.


-The Epic Truth

And so the epic begins not with armies,
but with a woman in a cave.
Not with thunder,
but with patience.
Not with a sword,
but with longing.

Ungnyeo is the quiet titan of beginnings
the one who teaches that transformation is not a strike of lightning,
but a steady flame that refuses to go out.

That is her epic.
And now it lives in you too.

_____________________________________________

There was a moment of silence when Jeung finished reading. Then Michelle and Laura applauded.

Thats a beautiful story, Laura said, and Michelle nodded.
Id never heard this beforeand you read it beautifully, Michelle added.

After we ended our call, I pulled out my own old Korean copy of the tale. I looked at the 
illustrations and remembered what it means to be Koreanand what it means to be a woman.

And I felt pride.

Joy
#JoyLee #July4th #Ungnyeo #UnRealGirl