Pigling and Her Proud Sister

They're here to help with that rice.

Hello, reader. This week's story, Pigling and Her Proud Sister, comes to us from Korea. It reminds me of Cinderella, but there are definitely some differences. For one thing, it doesn't focus around a shoe. Read the story at the link above and continue with me below to analyze it.

Firstly, it really struck me how the story referred to the main character with a different name depending on how the people around her referred to her. When her mean step family called her Pigling, the story did too. But when she was actually wanted by someone, he called her by her actual name, Ewa, and the story did too. Names are important. In a longer story, we could have had the narrator call her by her name and then the step family call her the wrong name, but in this condensed format, I guess this was the solution.

Now, there are definitely some issues with a man picking up a bride because she's pretty and then taking her far away from her family to live. At least from my perspective and the culture I live in. But it worked out well for Ewa, I suppose. She's actually treasured in her new home, and she's far away from her old home with the family that didn't love her. I can't imagine having a father so vain he demanded that I spend hours making his clothes pristine and that he didn't care about anything else. I feel like there's some social commentary in there since he's a magistrate, but I don't know enough about the culture or the time to really get it.

One interesting thing about this story is that we don't get a reason for the animals to help her like this. How do those birds know about her problem? And why do they choose to fly in and husk the rice for her? I mean, it's great that they did, don't get me wrong. She even has an imp helping her out! I would think that we're supposed to assume all of these creatures help Ewa because she's such a nice person, but I wonder if there isn't something magic about her. But the story gives us nothing, so just about any reason could be legit.

The turnabout on the stepsister is classic. Ewa didn't do anything specific to get that cow to help her, so her stepsister has nothing to go on to get the cow to take her to that delicious fruit. I suppose she could have stopped following the cow when it got swampy, but she was too stubborn. Interesting how Ewa's stubbornness in being kind and finishing her chores is celebrated, but her stepsister's stubbornness in trying to find some delicacies is punished. Context is everything.

I have to say, I was surprised that Ewa had such gorgeous things to wear to her wedding. Her family treated her like dirt until then, but I suppose they were proud of the man she was marrying, so they wanted her to look her best. The story does tell us that her father suddenly cared about her now that she was getting married. I'm almost certain that resonates in a huge way in that culture, but, again, I don't know enough about that time and place to really analyze it.

I have a hard time with morals in stories like these. Because there is definitely strength in bearing such cruel things in life and coming out of it still being kind. However, that's not to say that you can or should expect people in these circumstances to be nice. They have every reason not to be. So I suppose the moral is if animals appear to help you with your work, you know you're doing something right.

Have a different moral? Wondering if the animals had anything to do with that man deciding to marry Ewa? Have a different story you want me to talk about? Comment below!