A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A huge black cow helps Pear Blossom, whom her hostile household calls Pigling, complete an impossible workload before a festival. It consumes the garden weeds in ten mouthfuls and removes grass from the stone path with hoof and lips. It then leads her through the meadows to delicious woodland fruit.
Her jealous stepsister tries to obtain the same reward. Following the cow instead takes her through mire and brambles until she loses it and returns scratched and disheveled. After Pear Blossom’s marriage she asks for an earthen figure of the black cow as a keepsake. The tale does not identify the cow as her dead mother or as a named deity.
Origins & earliest records
Korean tale in an English literary retelling
Records & interpretation
Full relevant tale and collection preface directly read.
In the literature
“in ten mouthfuls, the animal ate up the weeds”
Pigling and Her Proud Sister, printed p.113
The cow clears the garden task imposed on Pear Blossom.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Korean Fairy Tales
Pigling and Her Proud Sister, pp.110–116
- 02
Korean Fairy Tales — Pigling and Her Proud Sister
NewYork:ThomasY.Crowell selected edition with copyright1911 and1922 explicitly printed; year1922 describes selected historical witness, not ancient origin. Full selected tales3/4/7/14/16/20 plus introductory note read independently. William Elliot Griffis is English reteller, not a documented individual Korean narrator. His fictional Grandma Kim/Mrs.Crinkles frames are distinguished from oral-source evidence.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
William Elliot Griffis, Korean Fairy Tales (1922)
Pigling and Her Proud Sister. Pigling and Her Proud Sister, pp.110–116
Complete chapter directly read, truncated passage reread. Literary telling with no named actual oral informant; original paraphrase of public-domain-US witness. No source-image verification claimed.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Korean Fairy Tales
NewYork:ThomasY.Crowell selected edition with copyright1911 and1922 explicitly printed; year1922 describes selected historical witness, not ancient origin. Full selected tales3/4/7/14/16/20 plus introductory note read independently. William Elliot Griffis is English reteller, not a documented individual Korean narrator. His fictional Grandma Kim/Mrs.Crinkles frames are distinguished from oral-source evidence.
- Pear Blossom, called Pigling, is burdened by her stepmother and Violet while father Kang Wa neglects her. After pigeons and Tokgabi help earlier tasks, a black cow eats the garden weeds and clears path grass, then leads her to woodland fruit. Violet follows it seeking the same reward but is led into mire and brambles. Pear Blossom later marries Su-wen and requests an earthen cow keepsake.
Pigling and Her Proud Sister, printed pp.110–116, complete tale with cow episode113–116
No dead-mother identity, named cow deity or actual speech invented. The narrative calls Violet a stepsister while also describing her as born to Kang Wa; that uneven family wording is not silently resolved.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical English literary retellingGriffis, Korean Fairy Tales, Pigling and Her Proud Sister, pp.110–116Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.