The Lazy Bull Boy

 Once upon a time, in a humble village in Korea, there lived an extremely lazy boy, named Kwang. 

Kwang's Mother : "Kwang!! Would you go and peel the potatoes for me? --OH!"

Kwang : "I'm sorry mother, but I've got a really important test for tomorrow."

Kwang's Mother : "Is that so? Isn't tomorrow a holiday? And the day after that too? Actually, isn't it summer vacation right now?"

 If anyone asked for a small favour,  he would try his hardest to avoid doing it. 

 One day, exasperated at her son's ways, his mother made him work for an entire day. Kwang helped her with all the cooking, cleaning and other work. By the end of it,  he was so fed up that he ran away before his mother could ask him to do another chore. 

Kwang : "OOOH! How COULD she have made me work so hard. I'd better hide in this tree, in case she comes to find me."

 So he scampered up the huge tree and lay sleepily in its branches. From there, he could see some cattle grazing far away in the green fields. 

Kwang : "How I wish I could be like a cow. Eat all day,  sleep all day. Do nothing but graze in the soft grass."

Old Man : "Is that what you would really like to be? A cow?"

Kwang : "Who who's there!?"

Old Man : "Just an old man who doesn't do much work."

Kwang : "OOH! Then we're both the same. I don't like doing any work either."

Old Man : "HOHOHO we are NOT the same! I LIKE doing work, it's just that I'm too old to. You on the other hand are what they call "LAZY"."

Kwang : "If Lazy is what will make me happy then lazy I'll be. I'd just rather be a cow that chews cud and does nothing."

Old Man : "You think cows are lazy? Why not become one and see for yourself?"

Kwang : "Haha! How do I do that?"

 The old man grinned broadly at Kwang. 

Old Man : "Easy. You can turn into a cow just. Like. This!!"

Kwang : "Hey!! What did you do to mee OO!! Wha MOOOOO! What's happening?? There's something behind me MOO!!"

Old Man : "Seems to be a cow's tail hehe!"

 Kwang was now scared. On his head, grew two pointy horns, two huge pink ears and then quite suddenly, he found himself turned into a cow, standing on all fours. 

Kwang : "MOOOO! MOOOO!"

Old Man : "Haha! Silly boy! I told you this would happen. You just didn't believe me."

 The Cattle Herder took Kwang away to a farm and sold him to a farmer. 

Old Man : "Here, friend. You wanted a cow for your farm work right? I've got you a good one!"

Kwang : "MOOOO!? Oh NO! He's selling me??"

Farmer : "Well well well! Thank you so much. I'll take good care of it."

Old Man : "Make sure to keep an eye on it as it gets a little lazy sometimes. Haha"

 Saying that, the Cattle Herder patted Kwang on his head and went away, leaving Kwang completely helpless. 

Farmer : "Now, let's see what you can do eh?"

 Kwang had a terrible time at the farm. The Farmer immediately set him to work in the fields and poor Kwang tried in vain to explain to the Farmer that he wasn't actually a cow.

Kwang : "I'm not a cow!! I'm a BOY!! MOOOO! MOOOO!"

Farmer : "Such a noisy animal."

 Kwang wasn't used to any kind of work and thus wasn't very useful to the farmer. 

Kwang : "MOOO!"

Farmer : "You seem to be a week type huh? Hmm.. I'll have to do something about that."

 Kwang looked fearfully at the Farmer. He thought he was going to be punished for not working hard. 

Kwang : "Oh no!! What if he whips me? Or starves me?! Oh why have I brought this on myself?!"

 He heard the farmer's footsteps returning and started to tremble. 

Kwang : "Oh no oh no ohhh!!"

Farmer : "Here you go! This is actually the best fodder I've got. I'll get you a barrel of fruit later. You've worked well so let's take you back to the barn."

 Kwang was touched. He knew he hadn't worked well for the farmer who was depending on him and felt undeserving of this kindness. That night, Kwang lay awake, thinking deeply. 

Kwang : "The Farmer isn't so rich to spare me a barrel of apples. And he takes good care of me too. I guess, I should return the favour."

  And so, to the delight of the Farmer. Kwang started to put a lot of effort in the work that he did. 

Kwang : "Come on! I can do this! HMPH!!

Farmer : "WOW! Yesterday you couldn't even walk a few steps through the field. Today you've done almost half of it. GOOD JOB!!"

 Kwang was most surprised at this sudden praise and it only made him want to work harder. Kwang soon started to enjoy the work that he did as he found himself becoming stronger and happier. 

 The Farmer was kind as ever to him and looked after Kwang very nicely. But as time past, Kwang started to realise that a cow did much more than he imagined. He had also started to miss his own warm bed and all the tasty food he would eat as a normal boy. 

Kwang : "Aah! How could I have been so foolish and lazy. I wonder how mother looked so tired. It was partly my fault for never having helped her. If I was there now,  I'd do everything she asked of me."

 As he drifted off to sleep, he heard the sound of the Cattle Herder, laughing in his dreams.

Kwang : "Hehehe! Hnng!! Huh? OOOFF!"

 Kwang was shocked. He looked around to find himself, not in the Farmer's wooden barn, but under the very tree that he had met the strange Cattle Herder. 

Kwang : "Two Hands! Two Legs! And and NO TAIL! Was everything really a dream?! WHOOPIEE!"

 He hurried back home and quietly slipped inside to find his mother fast asleep. He felt sorry seeing her and making a firm decision to work hard, and went straight to bed. 

 The next morning, when Kwang's mother awoke, she walked out of her room to find the house sparkly clean!

Kwang's Mother : "What on eart--?"

Kwang : "MOTHER!! Come and have breakfast!"

 Kwang's mother was so surprised that she stood staring at her son, stupefied. 

Kwang's Mother : "How... how is my son working?? Kwang... are you really alright? And where did you go last night??!"

Kwang : "I just went.. to a friend's house mother. I'm sorry for what I've done till now. Or actually.. for what I haven't done."

Kwang's Mother : "That does make more sense."

Kwang : "Ugh. Look, I know how hard you work and I haven't helped you ever. So from today onward, I won't be lazy anymore."

 True to his word, and to the utter shock of his mother, young Kwang started to work really hard. He did all the work that was asked of him and soon people started to forget he had ever been lazy. 

Kwang was now a happy and hardworking boy who had learned that he harder one works for something, the greater the feeling of achievement.