In a raging forest fire, a mountain is devastated, its animals driven out and the vegetation incinerated. While the fire blazes on, we watch a pheasant as she resists the temptation of escape, staying on to protect her babies and finally giving her life to save theirs. The fire subsides, and a villager who happens upon the remains of the mother is surprised when the nine chicks emerge from under the shelter of the mother's corpse and set about the area in search of food. Day after day, he returns and watches them grow, and we wonder with him at the phenomenon: the mother who would not abandon her children, and the chicks, who separate every day, in accordance with the demands of life, yet who always return and gather together at the site of their mother's sacrifice.

Jeong-saeng Kwon was born in 1937, in Tokyo. At that time, the Japanese occupied Korea, and the Kwon family were living in Japan. With the end of the Second World War came liberation, and the family returned to Korea in 1946. Still, they were very poor, and it was necessary for Kwon to begin working at various jobs when he was just a child, even though he suffered from chronic poor health, as he would for the rest of his life. Evidence of his experiences of poverty and illness can be found throughout his stories. Kwon made his debut in the world of children's literature in 1969, with a story for which he received the first annual Christian Children's Book Award and with which he began the career of an author of children's books. Yet Kwon continued the humble life of a common man, living alone in a tiny cottage in a village of the Korean country-side, despite his growing success, and despite the great and enduring popularity of his books. In fact, the contrast between his new means and his simple way of life was well known to the public, to whom he became an inspiring symbol of authenticity, compassion and generosity. When Kwon died in 2007, he left a fortune to be used for the welfare of poor children, especially in North Korea, and a charitable foundation has been thus established in his name, dedicated to the provision of such aid and to the support of children's literature.

© 2021 Little Mountain (Lydbok): 9791155251492

Oversetter: Chang Chung-Hwa, Andrew James Keast

Utgivelsesdato

Lydbok: 26. november 2021