A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

An archer kills a great snake caught in the bars of Seoul’s Water Gate. Later his wife bears a son who fears and increasingly hates him. Suspecting the child, the father pretends to sleep and catches him attempting a knife attack; he kills the child. Under its burial covering the body becomes a large snake bearing the original arrow wound.

The father addresses the snake, admits that the first killing was wrong and proposes ending their revenge. The snake seems to listen, then departs through the gate and does not return. Im Bang’s note calls this transmigration but questions why he has not seen wronged humans return similarly. The violent episode is preserved as a revenge narrative with an attributed interpretation, not as grounds for identifying an actual child as a supernatural enemy.

Snake reborn as an adversary’s sonTale-specific identity
01

Origins & earliest records

Korea; tale-specific historical narrative

02

Records & interpretation

Complete story and attribution read in the 1913 English witness; no independent confirmation of supernatural events.

In the literature

“On the head of it was the scar mark of the arrow”
Im Bang · Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
Tale29, The Snake’s Revenge, printed p.147 (Gutenberg markers 159) · James S. Gale

The returned snake retains the arrow wound of the original killed creature.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies

    Im Bang; translated by James S. Gale · 1913

    Tale 29, “The Snake’s Revenge”, printed pp. 146–149 (Gutenberg page labels 158–161). English translation date, not the date of the narrated event.

  2. 02

    Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies — The Snake’s Revenge

    Im Bang · 1913

    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

Direct primary record

Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies

Im Bang; James S. Gale translation, London Dent/New York Dutton, 1913. Tale 29, “The Snake’s Revenge”, pp. 158–161

Complete story and author signature read from cached Gutenberg51002 HTML. Translator’s bracketed introductions and author notes distinguished from narrative. No illustration claimed.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

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.

  1. An archer kills a snake trapped in Water Gate’s bars. His wife subsequently bears a son who fears and increasingly hates him. Watching through a pretended siesta, the father catches the boy attempting a knife attack and kills him. Under the mother’s burial covering the corpse becomes a snake bearing the original arrow scar. The father admits the first killing was wrong, seeks an end to reciprocal revenge and releases the listening snake, which departs through Water Gate.

    Tale29, The Snake’s Revenge, printed pp.146–148 (Gutenberg markers 158–160), full revenge account

  2. Im Bang interprets the snake’s return as transmigration but questions why he has never seen innocently killed humans return in the same way, despite his belief in human spiritual distinction. He explicitly regrets not knowing the governing law.

    Tale29, The Snake’s Revenge, printed pp.148–149 (Gutenberg markers 160–161), Note

The infant-to-snake identification is narrative-specific, not a basis for judging real children. The final snake does not attack again or receive a second final killing. Interpretation and uncertainty both retained; the text does not supply an independently established universal transmigration mechanism.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical primary narrative translationTale 29, “The Snake’s Revenge”, printed pp. 146–149 (Gutenberg page labels 158–161) — 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.

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