Older version The older version of the tale exists, which is longer and contains extra details. This tale centers around a man called Nolbu. An organ filled with vice (
simsulbo) protruded from under his left rib cage. He is much more greedy, wicked, and heartless character in
Korean literature.
Pansori-based fiction Heungbu-jeon is considered a
pansori-based fiction, which refers to novels that have been influenced by the narratives of
pansori (a genre of musical storytelling).
Heungbu-jeon is one of the five
pansori that are still performed today, and
Shin Jae-hyo's
Bak-taryeong (; ‘Song of Gourd’) is one of the major editions of
Heungbu-jeon along with
Heungbu-jeon that was printed in Seoul. The five
pansori whose songs have been passed down and are still performed today include
Chunhyang-ga (春香歌;‘Song of Chunhyang’),
Sim Cheong-ga (沈淸歌 ‘Song of Sim Cheong’),
Heungbu-ga (or
Bak-taryeong),
Sugung-ga (水宮歌; ‘Song of the Underwater Palace’, also known as
Tobyeol-ga (; ‘Song of Hare and Tortoise’), and
Jeokbyeok-ga (赤壁歌; ‘Song of Red Cliffs’, also known as
Hwayongdo-taryeong (華容道打令; ‘Song of Hwayongdo’).
Original folk narratives Heungbu-jeon is a typical
mobangdam, or a story in which one person becomes successful for taking one action and another person who follows suit fails. It consists of a didactic plot in which good deeds are rewarded while evil deeds are punished and also features an animal that repays kindness with kindness and harm with harm. The two old folk narratives have similar narratives to
Heungbu-jeon, which are
Bangi seolhwa (방이 설화; ‘Story of Bangi’) from the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla and
Baktaneun cheonyeo (박타는 처녀; 'A Maiden Who Sawed a Gourd') from the region of Mongolia. For
Baktaneun cheonyeo, some view it as the Mongolian adaptation of
Heungbu-jeon after the story was introduced from Korea, but others see it as the Mongolian tale that was later adopted by Korea. The plot of the
Story of Bangi is as follows: Bangi was kicked out of his house by his evil younger brother. He wandered through towns, begging for food. Then one day, he was able to borrow land from a stranger. In order to farm the land, Bangi went to his younger brother and asked for some crop seeds and silkworms. The evil younger brother gave Bangi steamed crop seeds and silkworm eggs. But Bangi looked after the seeds and silkworms as best as he could, and one of the silkworms came alive and grew to the size of an ox in about 10 days. When the younger brother got jealous and killed the silkworm, all the silkworms within 100
li (about 39.3 kilometers) flocked to Bangi's house. Thanks to all the silkworms, Bangi became rich, and all his younger brother's silkworms became his. In addition, one of the crop seeds that Bangi planted grew and ripened. Then one day, a bird took the ripened grains and flew into the mountains. Bangi followed the bird and encountered the children in red clothes. He found a magic stick that created anything he wished for and became even richer. When Bangi's younger brother heard about Bangi's good fortune, he also went into the mountains but only ended up getting his nose plucked out by the children in red clothes. The story of
A Maiden Who Sawed a Gourd is as follows: Once upon a time, a maiden was doing needlework at home when she saw a swallow with a broken leg on the ground. She took the swallow and bound its broken leg with a thread. The next year, the same swallow returned to the virgin's house with a gourd seed. When she planted the seed, a gourd plant grew and yielded gourds full of treasures. In the neighboring house lived an evil maiden. Upon learning about her neighbor's good fortune, she caught a swallow, broke its leg, and treated it. The swallow brought back a gourd seed the next year. When the evil maiden planted the seed, a gourd plant grew and yielded gourds full of poisonous snakes that bit and killed the maiden. == Themes ==