• 2 months ago
by Frances Cha
illustrated by Jaime Kim
Transcript
00:00For Cora and Avie who love books, Mischief and Moonsters, F.C.
00:16For Joo A H N, J K, The Goblin Twins, by Francis Cha, illustrated by Jamie Kim, Doki and Kubi
00:24were only 601 years old.
00:26All the other Dokibi thought were babies and very silly ones too.
00:30For one thing, Doki did not like scaring people.
00:33Instead of playing tricks on them he was trying to give them gifts of gold or silver that
00:37he would conjure with his magic club.
00:40His favorite thing to do was curling up in his abandoned house with one of his abandoned
00:44books.
00:45He had three.
00:46As for Doki's twin Kubi, he liked scaring people a bit too much.
00:49And he loved to explore.
00:51Once, almost 400 years ago, Kubi had even snuck into the palace for a royal scare.
00:57Just stick to dark roads okay?
00:59He got in a lot of trouble over it.
01:01One day, Doki and Kubi overheard some terrible news.
01:04They had to leave the house they had lived in their whole life.
01:07The other Dokibi made plans for moving.
01:10Finally, I've always wanted to live in a graveyard.
01:13I heard this bizarre story about a land where Kubi was so excited he could hardly talk there
01:18are haunted houses and people go visit them because they want to be scared.
01:22And people dress up to scare other people.
01:24They can't be right, scoffed Doki.
01:27Well, apparently it's true.
01:29And I am going.
01:30Are you coming with me or not?
01:32Doki thought sadly about how much he hated scaring people.
01:35He thought about how he hated trying new things.
01:38Kubi always had to coax him to visit friends in other parts of town.
01:42But then he thought about how he would miss Kubi if they split up.
01:46And imagined his twin alone in an unknown land.
01:49Doki thought about the adventures that filled the three books he had read for the past several
01:53hundred years while he himself had continued to live in just one house during that time.
01:58Okay, he said.
01:59Kubi breathed a secret sigh of relief.
02:01A few weeks later, after they had visited the other Dokibi at their new graveyard digs
02:06they snuck onto an airplane.
02:08Flying made them sleepy.
02:10When they woke up, they were in the strange land.
02:12New York was all different all right.
02:15For starters, compared to Seoul people walked very slowly.
02:18The streets were spacious and filled with wildlife.
02:21The buildings were so small and cute.
02:24They roamed around searching for an abandoned house to live in.
02:27Where they could set up haunted decorations.
02:30Some were too cheerful.
02:31Some were too new.
02:32Sometimes they were already occupied by New York monsters who were not very friendly.
02:37Finally, they found one that Doki thought was quite perfect.
02:41But Kubi said no.
02:42He said he was looking for something extra perfect.
02:45It seemed like they would never find the perfect haunted house.
02:48Until one dark and stormy night.
02:50This, this is it, said Kubi.
02:53I don't know why you like this house more than the one near the Howling Forest, said
02:57Doki doubtfully.
02:58This one had nice broken stairs and an attic full of cobwebs.
03:02This is why, after setting in, they had tea with a neighbor down the block who kindly
03:06gave them tips on how to get the house ready for Halloween.
03:10And they got to work.
03:11At last, the night they had been waiting for came.
03:14Doki trembled with anticipation.
03:16Tweet!
03:17Oh tweet!
03:18Ah!
03:19Oh dear.
03:20Well hopefully Doki and Kubi will come down soon.
03:23Authors note.
03:24Dokibi are mythical creatures that figure in Korean art and history and stories about
03:28them have been passed down of thousands of years.
03:31They are something of a cross between a spirit and a goblin and the earliest depictions
03:35date back to the Goguryeo dynasty, 37 BCE and 668 CE, when Korea was divided into the
03:43Three Kingdoms.
03:45Dokkibi images abound in folk art in the form of masks or decorated tiles in temples and
03:49tombs throughout Korea.
03:51Dokkibi are known to be immortal tricksters that can bring great wealth to the good or
03:55ruin to the wicked or greedy.
03:57They carry magic clubs that can conjure gold or silver which they can gift to humans.
04:02Associated with special fire and supernatural powers, Dokkibi tend to appear at night and
04:07disappear with the dawn.
04:09Sightings of flickering night-time lights at CEM Tieris were referred to as Dokkibi
04:14fire and added to the aura of fear surrounding the legends.
04:18Children's stories in Korean folklore occasionally depict Dokkibi as being foolish but always
04:22otherworldly and capricious living in run-down abandoned houses that people know to stay
04:27away from.
04:28I grew up reading children's stories about Dokkibi but a few years ago.
04:33I overheard my mother and my uncle discussing a real Dokkibi story from their past.
04:37Their neighbor's family had been rumored to serve a Dokkibi for generations and this had
04:41apparently brought them both incredible wealth and calamitous ruin.
04:45This led me to research Dokkibi love throughout Korean history and I became more and more
04:49fascinated with the stories I read.
04:51My research inspired me to write a children's story about a pair of Dokkibi brothers who
04:56have entered the new century.
04:58Through their backstory and adventures in another land, I am delighted to introduce
05:02an aspect of Korean culture that is not well known outside of Korea.
05:06Frances Cha, like Dokki and Kibae, divides her time between South Korea and New York
05:11and has a brother who has the exact opposite personality from hers.
05:15She was working on a novel for grown-ups about Dokkibi based on an old family story.
05:20But this children's book finished itself first probably because she read so many picture
05:25books to her two little daughters.
05:27She blames all lost socks on the Dokkibi that lives in her family's laundry basket.
05:32Her, for grown-ups, novel If I Had Your Face was named a Best Book of the Year by NPR USA
05:38Today and Time.
05:39Frances Cha.com.
05:41Jamie Kim has illustrated many books for young readers including La La La, A Story of Hope
05:46by Kate DiCamillo and Ready for the Spotlight which was her debut as an author and illustrator.
05:52Her illustrated book Take Heart My Child was a number one New York Times bestseller.
05:56She was a timid child who was afraid of just about everything including Dokkibi, but she
06:01discovered a sense of serenity in drawing.
06:04As a grown-up, Jamie finally stopped being afraid of everything but kept on drawing and
06:08painting.
06:09Like Dokki and Kibae, she was born and raised in South Korea and now lives in Greenda, Mississippi.
06:15Jamie Kim.com.
06:16The End.