three life replacement narratives but also the Jimgaje-gut narrative of South Hamgyong Province, a myth in which the chasa only serve to explain the circumstances of three mysterious deaths without extending anyone's life. Narratives Korean shamanic narratives are mythological stories chanted by shamans as part of rituals called gut, in which various deities are invoked. They constitute the mythology of the religion of Korean shamanism. In Jeju Island, works of the genre are called bon-puri, literally "origin recitation." In mainland Korea, the term puri "recitation" is common but not universal; they may also simply be named after the gut ritual in which they are performed. In all three life replacement narratives of Korea, the main figure cheats death by sacrificing to the chasa (): a group of gods who are commissioned by the god Yama, king of death, to kill those who are due to die and take their souls to the afterlife. Yama and his messengers are both Buddhist divinities, who were adopted by Korean shamanism and eventually became associated with Korean beliefs not found in Buddhism. Menggam bon-puri The Jeju Island narrative is titled Menggam bon-puri after Menggam, a deity invoked in one of the rituals in which the narrative is recited. It is one of twelve "general bon-puri", which are narratives featuring deities worshipped throughout Jeju Island, and which are recited by all Jeju shamans. Some shamans also title it the Samani bon-puri, after the primary human figure of the myth. As of 2010, at least ten different versions of the Menggam bon-puri were known to researchers, transcribed between 1962 and 2008. In most versions, a man named Saman loses his parents at an early age and is reduced to beggary. He marries a fellow beggar. One day, his wife cuts off her hair and tells Saman to go sell it to buy food, but he purchases a gun instead to make a living as a hunter. Unfortunately, he is inexperienced at hunting and struggles. While in the mountains, Saman encounters an ancient skull. In most versions, this is the skull of the gun's original owner, who was the son of a state councilor. How the owner died varies depending on the version. According to one shaman, he shot himself accidentally with the gun; in other versions, he died of a gust or of cold and hunger, or was killed by a robber who stole the gun.