In this paper the author ffers an explication of the Korean fairytale "Death of a Magpie" in terms of archetypal images and the individuation process.
Summary of "Death of a Magpie":
Once upon a time in a remote country there lived a scholar who had a young son named Minchol. He encouraged his clever son to study and to apply for the difficult state examination held in Seoul. On the way to Seoul through a deep forest, Minchol heard the shriek of a magpie and fodun on a dying old tree a large snake swallowing a magpie. The arrow from Minchol´s bow killed the snake and saved the life of the magpie. The sky grew dark. Minchol lost his way and became exhausted, but he continued on. At last he saw in the distance a flickering light. Half dead, he reached the light and saw that it came form a Buddhist temple. He called for someone to come out. At last a beautiful young lady appeared, and he asked the for a night´s lodging, to which she assented. He did not understand why this lady should be alone in the temple, but he shortly fell asleep. He dreamed that he was choking and awoke to find a large female snake wound tightly around him. The snake told Minchol that to take revenge for her husband´s death by his bowshot she had appeared as a young lady and waited to kill him. He begged the snake to spare his life. The snake said that if he could toll the bell hung in the tower of the temple at daybreak, she would let him alive; then she would transform herself into a dragon. Minchol came out in the darkness to locate the bell tower. He found the bell tower, but it was too high to reach. He fell into despair. The day began to turn grey. Minchol, having given up all hope, heard the bell ringing. He could not believe it, but he prayed for the bell to ring once more; once again, the bell rang. He prayed again, and again the bell rang. He was beside himself with joy; then he noticed a magpie, with broken beak, dying on the ground. The magpie which he had rescued from the snake had tolled the bell and thus saved Minchol. Sad at the death of the magpic, Minchol went to Seoul, succeeded in the state examination, and lived happily for a long time; but he could nor forget the magpie´s expression of gratitude. which cost the magpie his life.
The characteristics in the exposition are the absence of the maternal figure-lack of the feeling function-among the characters, and the one-sideness of the conscious thoughts and the extraverted attitude in reference to the fact that the father, a scholar, encouraged his clever son to study hard and to succeed in the state examination.
The state examination of the old Korea was an exceptionally difficult test. A successful candidate became a secret agent of the king, and he rescued the people from the despotism of the local officials. Psychologically, passing the examination indicates initiation into the role of hero or redeemer.
On the way to the examination the appearance of the magpie and the large snake on a tree is a purposeful happening through which the unconscious wants to inform the boy of something important. The forest, which is an appropriate symbol for the unconscious, has a feminine-maternal meaning much as has the tree. The fact that the tree is dead means that the psychic energy is exhausted in the consciousness due to the one-sidedness of the boy´w conscious thoughts. The magpie, the aerial being, is a symbol of the conscious thoughts or ideals. The snake, the chthonic being, is the representative of the instinctive world, and the snake-dreams indicate the discrepancy between the attitude of the consciousness and the instinct. Accordingly, the snake symbolizes the threatening of the unconscious which has become destructive. However this destructive instinct is not absolutely destructive, but has the potential to be transformed into a positive force.
The bowshot which rescued the magpie from the snake represents boy´s failure to conform to the demand of the unconscious instinct, the feminine-mateernal principle; but this conforming is necessary for the initiation. The fact that the boy became completely helpless when it became dark in the forest means that he can not move towards initiation, given onesidedness of his conscious thoughts.
The temple is the place for introversion and suggests that the boy should carefully listen to the god (to the Self in Buddhism). The appearance of the beautiful lady indicates the repeated demand of the unconscious-feminine-maternal element-to be integrated into consciousness. The lady represents the instinctive and feminine-maternal element of the unconscious which the boy has rejected. Tolling a bell indicates the integration of this element into consciousness and is the signal of the totality which is to be realized through careful listening to the god (the unconscious, the Self)- the introversion. The dragon which unites the aerial and chthonic elements is a symbol for the Self, the totality.
The death of the magpie means that the one-sidedness of the conscious thoughts and the extraverted attitude of the consciousness (symbolized by the bird) must be sacrificed; the demands of the instinctive and feminine-maternal elements of the unconscious should be listened to and accepted in order that the Self be actualized.
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