A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The local account concerns the family mansion of the minister Ha Yun in Keum-chon. A servant opening a flour jar finds a huge snake. The household breaks the jar, kills the snake with clubs and burns its body on a woodpile.
The narrative says that fumes from the burning body kill the inhabitants and later visitors, leaving the estate deserted; an unexplained fire destroys its remaining buildings. The abandoned site is consequently called haunted. The entry records the tale’s causal account without assigning the serpent an invented human disguise or treating its poisonous aftermath as a verified event.
Origins & earliest records
Korea; tale-specific historical narrative
Records & interpretation
Complete story and attribution read in the 1913 English witness; no independent confirmation of supernatural events.
In the literature
“Vile fumes arose that filled the house.”
Tale12, Cursed by the Snake, printed p.62 (Gutenberg markers 74) · James S. Gale
Fumes from the killed and burnt snake are blamed for the household’s deaths.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
Tale 12, “Cursed by the Snake”, printed pp. 60–62 (Gutenberg page labels 72–74). English translation date, not the date of the narrated event.
- 02
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies — Cursed by the Snake
London:J.M.Dent/NewYork:E.P.Dutton1913, title page explicitly dated. Gale preface says Im Bang material came from an old manuscript obtained a year earlier; other Yi Ryuk/anonymous material is separate. Every selected chapter closes Im Bang. English text, preface and selected writer notes read, no independent Korean manuscript collation. University of Toronto Gale archival finding aid confirms1913 publication/death1937: https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/downloads/james-scarth-gale-papers.pdf . Pagination corrected2026-10-05: PG51002 body markers exceed printed1913 pages by12; physical pages in retained Korea176 PDF equal printed+16. Exact quotation page independently checked in retained scan OCR; page pixels not newly reviewed here.
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
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
Im Bang; James S. Gale translation, London Dent/New York Dutton, 1913. Tale 12, “Cursed by the Snake”, pp. 72–74
Complete story and author signature read from cached Gutenberg51002 HTML. Translator’s bracketed introductions and author notes distinguished from narrative. No illustration claimed.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
London:J.M.Dent/NewYork:E.P.Dutton1913, title page explicitly dated. Gale preface says Im Bang material came from an old manuscript obtained a year earlier; other Yi Ryuk/anonymous material is separate. Every selected chapter closes Im Bang. English text, preface and selected writer notes read, no independent Korean manuscript collation. University of Toronto Gale archival finding aid confirms1913 publication/death1937: https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/downloads/james-scarth-gale-papers.pdf . Pagination corrected2026-10-05: PG51002 body markers exceed printed1913 pages by12; physical pages in retained Korea176 PDF equal printed+16. Exact quotation page independently checked in retained scan OCR; page pixels not newly reviewed here.
- A servant at Ha Yun’s family mansion in Keum-chon sees a huge snake in the flour crock. Men bring it down, break the crock and kill the released creature with clubs, then burn it under piled wood. Its fumes are said to kill the household and later entrants. A subsequent mysterious fire consumes the remaining buildings; the site is called haunted.
Attributed local account, not verified toxicology or historical mass mortality. Ha Yon in the bracketed biography and Ha Yun in the main story are spelling forms in this selected translation, not invented different monsters.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical primary narrative translationTale 12, “Cursed by the Snake”, printed pp. 60–62 (Gutenberg page labels 72–74) — Im Bang, Gale translationResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.