The Old Man with a Lump: Two Endings and Origins

The Old Man with a Lump tells of an old man who passed his lump on to a dokkaebi after it heard him sing. Another old man who copied him gained an extra lump. This retelling of the traditional folktale draws on a version recorded in Dangjin in 1979.

This article was prepared in November 2026, based on a version in The Comprehensive Collection of Korean Oral Literature.

Plot of The Old Man with a Lump

One old man passed his lump on to dokkaebi, while another who copied him gained an extra lump. The story below retells the basic plot of the traditional tale in new words. It is not a verbatim transcription of any particular storyteller’s account.

An old man happened to encounter some dokkaebi. When he sang, the dokkaebi listened closely. As the song continued, their eyes remained fixed on his lump.

The dokkaebi wondered where the sound came from. The old man pointed to his lump and made up a story that the singing came from inside it. The dokkaebi thought that if they owned the lump, they too would gain the song.

The dokkaebi gave the old man riches and took his lump. When he touched his face, the lump was gone. After this unexpected exchange, he gathered up his riches and returned home.

A neighboring old man who heard the news also had a lump. He planned to get rid of it in the same way. He sought out the dokkaebi and began to sing.

When the dokkaebi asked where the sound came from, he too pointed to his lump. This time, however, their reaction was different. They grew angry and called his claim a lie.

The dokkaebi attached the lump they had taken earlier to the second old man. Instead of having his lump removed, he returned home with an extra one. He had repeated the same words, but the same good fortune did not follow.

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Imitating an earlier success leads to a worse outcome instead.AI-generated image

Sources and Origins

This story is based on an oral record, not an original manuscript by a single author. Oral transmission means passing stories from person to person by word of mouth. Recording oral accounts means listening to those words and preserving them in writing or audio.

An Oral Account Recorded in Dangjin

The Comprehensive Collection of Korean Oral Literature includes “The Tale of Trying to Remove a Lump but Gaining One.” The results portal’s catalog lists a fieldwork record from Songsan-myeon, Dangjin-gun. The storyteller is the person who told the story, not necessarily its creator.

The record can be found in the oral materials catalog of the Korean Studies Promotion Project Results Portal. If there are entries with the same title, compare their fieldwork dates and locations. 1979 is the year the story was recorded, not the year it originated.

Publication History and the Debate over Origins

The date a story appeared in print must be distinguished from the date it first arose. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture presents the following publication history. These records provide evidence for tracing how the story spread.

Two theories are presented about its origins: that it originated in Korea, and that it was adopted from Japan. The Korean-origin theory holds that an existing folktale was used in textbooks during the colonial period. The Japanese-adoption theory focuses on how the story became established through channels such as textbooks.

The fact that the story was passed down orally in Korea supports its transmission within the country. That fact alone, however, cannot establish which country it first originated in. An outline of the debate appears in the “The Old Man with a Lump Folktale” entry in the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture.

Other Versions and Similar Stories

Names and scenes may vary between versions, but the structure in which the two people meet opposite outcomes remains. In oral folklore, an individually transmitted version is called a “variant.” Details can differ even under the same title.

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture points out a difference from “The Dokkaebi’s Club.” That tale emphasizes the main character’s kindness and devotion to his parents. By contrast, the old man who passes on his lump is not clearly given those traits.

Treating the first old man as a good person from the outset therefore narrows the interpretation. He too deceives the dokkaebi by saying that the song comes from his lump. The difference between the events lies more in the order of the encounters and the other party’s response than in personal character.

Why the Two Old Men Have Different Endings

The two old men meet different outcomes because the dokkaebi react differently to the same explanation. At first, they believe the claim that the lump is the source of the singing. The next time, they judge the same claim to be a lie.

This structure is called an “imitation tale.” It is a story in which someone copies another person’s actions but gets a different result. Here, an attempt to repeat an earlier success ends in failure.

The old man who copies the first repeats the words that worked in the first encounter. The dokkaebi, however, have already experienced one such exchange. With this in mind, his imitation can be read as a failure to recognize that the circumstances have changed.

This interpretation does not imply a rule that all imitation is bad. The folktale repeats similar scenes to highlight the difference in their outcomes. The story’s appeal lies in the failure of the expectation that good fortune can be copied exactly.

Folklore in the Story

The dokkaebi in this tale possess both mysterious powers and a certain foolishness. They can move a person’s lump at will. Yet they do not properly understand where the sound of singing comes from.

• The song gives the human and the dokkaebi a reason to speak to one another.
• Through the dokkaebi’s misunderstanding, the lump becomes an object of trade.
• The riches show how an encounter with unfamiliar beings turns into good fortune.
• The repeated encounters reveal the difference between good and bad fortune.

The removal and attachment of lumps is a fantastical storytelling device. It cannot be read as a record of actual bodily changes or medical treatment. Nor should the outcomes in the story be applied to judgments about real people’s appearance or character.

The scene in which the old man gains riches reflects a wish for unexpected good fortune. The dokkaebi are not merely frightening beings. Their susceptibility to human trickery creates the story’s humor.

Key questions in this article

Did this actually happen?

This is a traditional folktale, not a verified account of an actual event. The recorded oral account is evidence that someone told the story. It does not prove that a lump actually moved from one person to another.

Where can I find the original text?

Search for “The Tale of Trying to Remove a Lump but Gaining One” on the Korean Studies Promotion Project Results Portal. The fieldwork date for the Dangjin record is November 10, 1979. Its fieldwork location distinguishes it from other records with the same title.

What does this story mean?

It can be read as an imitation tale in which someone fails while trying to obtain the same good fortune as someone before him. One possible interpretation is that the same actions can produce different results when circumstances change. It is difficult to explain the story solely as a conflict between a good person and a bad person.

Was the first old man rewarded for being good?

In the plot examined here, the first old man’s good deeds are not presented as a condition for his reward. He tells the dokkaebi that the singing comes from his lump. It is therefore difficult to judge his character from the ending alone.

Did the story originate in Korea?

Records confirm that the story was passed down orally in Korea. Its origins, however, are debated between the Korean-origin theory and the Japanese-adoption theory. The fact that it was recorded in Korea and the question of where it first arose should not be treated as the same issue.

Was 1915 the year the story was created?

1915 is the year it was included in Korean Reader. A related story had also appeared in Collection of Joseon Tales in 1910. Neither publication date, by itself, indicates the year the folktale was created.

Which name is correct, Kim Cheomji or Old Man Choe?

Both are presented as names used in different variants. Characters’ names and scenes can change through oral transmission. There is no need to apply the name used in one particular book to every version.