#41. 청개구리 -- You little contrarian

Here's a short story that every Korean knows. It goes by the title "말안듣는 청개구리," or "the tree frog that never listened."

This is a "청개구리," a species of frogs that you see often in Korea. The letter "청" means "green or blue (depending on context)," and in this case, it means "green." You see it in "청바지 (blue jeans)" or "청와대 (blue-roofed house; the Korean white house)."

Once upon a time, there lived a mother tree frog ("청개구리" meaning green frog) and a baby tree frog in a little pond.

The little tree frog was such a bad frog, and it would do the exact opposite of what the mother frog told it to do. If the mother frog told it to not play by the pond because it was dangerous, it would jump right into the pond to play. If the mother frog told the baby frog not to go in the woods, it would run straight away into the woods.

The mother frog was so heartbroken and stressed by the baby frog's behaviour, that she eventually became sick (perhaps with cancer: Koreans believe that the illness of the mind leads to the illness of the body.) Even when the mother frog was sick, the baby frog continued to disobey its mother and make her worry even more.

The mother frog knew that she didn't have much more to live. She called the baby frog to her deathbed, and asked, "When I die, please bury me by the river." She knew the contrarian nature of the baby frog, and she wanted to make sure that the baby frog would bury her in the field far away from the water, so that her grave will not wash away during the rainy months. With these words, the mother frog died.

The baby frog, heartbroken and full of remorse, was so overcome with grief and regret over its behaviour towards its mother that it decided that it would grant the last wish of its mother. The baby frog buried the mother frog by the river.

And ever since then, the baby frog is so overcome with worry that the mother frog's grave will wash away that it cries loudly by the river during the rainy months.



This is one of the most well-known stories in the Korean oral tradition. It is so well-known that the Koreans now call the people who act in a contrarian way "청개구리." This is not particularly trendy slang, as even my grandmother used to call me a "청개구리" when I wouldn't listen to my mother. She would say things like:

우리 손녀가 청개구리네 (My granddaughter is a tree frog.)

Despite the non-trendiness, it is still used widely (and safe to use in any context), and I was reminded of this story because the word "청개구리" came up while I was browsing the internet. To me, this is another instance that illustrates the rich culture that is shared by all Koreans, and another barrier that needs to be overcome by the non-native speakers.