The Tigers of Kumgang Mountains, 2005 first edition, by Kim So-un.

Written by Kim So-un. Illustrated by Jeong Kyoung-Sim. First edition, 2005. Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions.

"Many years ago in old Korea, there once lived a very famous marksman and hunter. He was such a fine marksman that he could shoot down a bird in flight, almost without taking aim. Deer and wild boar were no match for this hunter once they entered the sights of his gun. He never missed a shot.

"In those days the Kumgang Mountains were full of tigers. The beasts would come down from the mountains and steal, eating whatever they could find, not just horses and cattle, but people too."

According to this Korean folktale, the hunter set out one day to kill the tigers, and as he was warned by elders, he never returned. When his son became a young man, he practiced to become an even greater marksman in preparation for going into the mountains to seek revenge on the white tiger that killed his father. The tigers often took the form of people, but the hunter's son grew wise until he knew a tiger when he saw one. When he finally confronted the white tiger, his bullets bounced off the great animal's teeth until they were spent and the tiger swallowed him whole. In the tiger's stomach, he found his father's bones, but also a young girl who the tiger had kidnapped. He brought her back from the brink of death, and together they began to hack through the tiger's stomach, driving him mad in the process, until they worked their way out and he died. The hunter's son returned the girl to her family, and her father, a high-ranking minister, allowed them to marry and live happily ever after.

Kim So-un (1943 - ) is a renowned South Korean author of children's books and folktales. He was born in Seoul and studied Korean literature at Seoul National University. He began his career as a teacher and journalist, but later turned to writing stories for children. He has published over 100 books, including The Story Bag, The Magic Gem, The Rabbit's Judgment, and The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon. He has also translated many folktales from China, Japan, Vietnam, and India. He is widely recognized as a master storyteller who preserves and promotes the rich cultural heritage of Korea through his imaginative and engaging stories. He has received the Korean Children's Literature Award, the Hans Christian Andersen Award nomination, and the Order of Cultural Merit from the Korean government.

Jeong Kyoung-Sim is a Korean illustrator who specializes in children's books. She has illustrated several books based on Korean folktales and legends, such as Korean Children's Favorite Stories, The Deer and the Woodcutter, and The Magic Gem. She works with watercolor, pencil, and digital tools to create her artwork.

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Condition: Fine/Fine. Illustrated cover boards. Pages are clean, undamaged, and complete.