The Foolish Donkey

Abstract

I first saw a wall-full of this series at Kyobo Book in Seoul in July, '04. I bought one copy, came home, and worked to order the full set of thirty booklets, workbooks, and audio cassettes from the publisher. Each set cost 9,800 Won. I have divided that cost among the book (6800 Won), booklet (1000 Won), and cassette (2000 Won). The colored booklet features twenty-eight thick, sturdy pages and excellent color reproduction. The art is cartoon-like, simple, and direct. This version of the story develops the simple events nicely through three phases: two with salt and one with cotton. In the third phase, neither the donkey nor we know that it is cotton in the large sack. The narrative is careless about tenses as it switches between past and present. This moral may not be the best: Don't fall for one's own tricks.