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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of Korean Fairy Tales, by William Elliot
-Griffis
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: Korean Fairy Tales
-
-Author: William Elliot Griffis
-
-Release Date: January 16, 2022 [eBook #67180]
-
-Language: English
-
-Produced by: Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading
-             Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg (This
-             file was produced from images generously made available by
-             the Library of Congress)
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KOREAN FAIRY TALES ***
-
-
-
-
-                                 KOREAN
-                              FAIRY TALES
-
-                                   BY
-                         WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS
-
-                 Author of “Korea: Within and Without”;
-              “Korea: The Hermit Nation” and of Japanese,
-              Dutch, Belgian, Swiss and Welsh Fairy Tales
-
-
-                          ILLUSTRATED IN COLOR
-
-
-                                NEW YORK
-                       THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY
-                               PUBLISHERS
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-A NOTE TO THE FRIENDS OF KOREA
-
-
-Everywhere on earth the fairy world of each country is older and
-perhaps more enduring than the one we see and feel and tread upon. So I
-tell in this book the folk lore of the Korean people, and of the
-behavior of the particular kind of fairies that inhabit the Land of
-Morning Splendor. Yet, if I live long enough, I shall write the
-wonderful history of the Korean nation and civilization, which once so
-enriched Asia, and made possible the modern Japan such as we know
-today, of which fact the literature and art of both countries bear
-ample witness.
-
-
-W. E. G.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-
-                                                    PAGE
-    The Unmannerly Tiger                               1
-    Tokgabi and His Pranks                             6
-    East Light and the Bridge of Fishes               11
-    Prince Sandalwood, the Father of Korea            17
-    The Rabbit’s Eyes                                 24
-    Topknots and Crockery Hats                        30
-    Fancha and the Magpie                             38
-    The Sneezing Colossus                             49
-    A Bridegroom for Miss Mole                        53
-    Old White Whiskers and Mr. Bunny                  59
-    The King of the Flowers                           65
-    Tokgabi’s Menagerie                               71
-    Cat-kin and the Queen Mother                      78
-    The Magic Peach                                   89
-    The Great Stone Fire Eater                       102
-    Pigling and Her Proud Sisters                    110
-    The Mirror that Made Trouble                     117
-    Old Timber Top                                   130
-    Sir One Long Body and Madame Thousand Feet       147
-    The Sky Bridge of Birds                          155
-    Longka, the Dancing Girl                         161
-    A Frog for a Husband                             167
-    Shoes for Hats                                   179
-    The Voice of the Bell                            187
-    The King of the Sparrows                         195
-    The Woodman and the Mountain Fairies             204
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-KOREAN FAIRY TALES
-
-THE UNMANNERLY TIGER
-
-
-“Mountain Uncle” was the name given by the villagers to a splendid
-striped tiger that lived among the highlands of Kang Wen, the long
-province which from its cliffs overlooks the Sea of Japan. Hunters
-rarely saw him, and among his fellow-tigers the Mountain Uncle boasted
-that, though often fired at, he had never been wounded; while as for
-traps—he knew all about them and laughed at the devices used by man to
-catch him and to strip him of his coveted skin. In summer he kept among
-the high hills and lived on fat deer. In winter, when heavy snow,
-biting winds, and terrible cold kept human beings within doors, old
-Mountain Uncle would sally forth to the villages. There he would prowl
-around the stables, the cattle enclosures, or the pig pens, in hopes of
-clawing and dragging out a young donkey, a fat calf, or a suckling pig.
-Too often he succeeded, so that he was the terror of the country for
-leagues around.
-
-One day in autumn, Mountain Uncle was rambling among the lower hills.
-Though far from any village, he kept a sharp lookout for traps and
-hunters, but none seemed to be near. He was very hungry and hoped for
-game.
-
-But on coming round a great rock, Mountain Uncle suddenly saw in his
-path some feet ahead, as he thought, a big tiger like himself.
-
-He stopped, twitched his tail most ferociously as a challenge, showed
-fight by growling, and got ready to spring. What was his surprise to
-see the other tiger doing exactly the same things. Mountain Uncle was
-sure there would be a terrible struggle, but this was just what he
-wanted, for he expected to win.
-
-But after a tremendous leap in the air he landed in a pit and all of a
-heap, bruised and disappointed. There was no tiger to be seen, but
-instead a heavy lid of logs had closed over his head with a crash and
-he lay in darkness. Old Mountain Uncle was caught at last. Yes, the
-hunter had concealed the pit with sticks and leaves, and on the upright
-timbers, covered with vines and brushwood, had hung a looking-glass.
-Mountain Uncle had often beheld his own face and body in the water,
-when he stooped to drink, but this time not seeing any water he was
-deceived into thinking a real tiger wanted to fight him.
-
-By and by, a Buddhist priest came along, who believed in being kind to
-all living creatures. Hearing an animal moaning, he opened the trap and
-lifting the lid saw old Mountain Uncle at the bottom licking his
-bruised paw.
-
-“Oh, please, Mr. Man, let me get out. I’m hurt badly,” said the tiger.
-
-Thereupon the priest lifted up one of the logs and slid it down, until
-it rested on the bottom of the pit. Then the tiger climbed up and out.
-Old Mountain Uncle expressed his thanks volubly, saying to the shaven
-head:
-
-“I am deeply grateful to you, sir, for helping me out of my trouble.
-Nevertheless, as I am very hungry, I must eat you up.”
-
-The priest, very much surprised and indignant, protested against such
-vile ingratitude. To say the least, it was very bad manners and
-entirely against the law of the mountains, and he appealed to a big
-tree to decide between them.
-
-The spirit in the tree spoke through the rustling leaves and declared
-that the man should go free and that the tiger was both ungrateful and
-unmannerly.
-
-Old Mountain Uncle was not satisfied yet, especially as the priest was
-unusually fat and would make a very good dinner. However, he allowed
-the man to appeal once more and this time to a big rock.
-
-“The man is certainly right venerable Mountain Uncle, and you are
-wholly wrong,” said the spirit in the rock. “Your master, the Mountain
-Spirit, who rides on the green bull and the piebald horse to punish his
-enemies, will certainly chastise you if you devour this priest. You
-will be no fit messenger of the Mountain Lord if you are so ungrateful
-as to eat the man who saved you from starvation or death in the trap.
-It is shockingly bad manners even to think of such a thing.”
-
-The tiger felt ashamed, but his eyes still glared with hunger; so, to
-be sure of saving his own skin, the priest proposed to make the toad a
-judge. The tiger agreed.
-
-But the toad, with his gold-rimmed eyes, looked very wise, and instead
-of answering quickly, as the tree and rock did, deliberated a long
-time. The priest’s heart sank while the tiger moved his jaws as if
-anticipating his feast. He felt sure that Old Speckled Back would
-decide in his favor.
-
-“I must go and see the trap before I can make up my mind,” said the
-toad, who looked as solemn as a magistrate. So all three leaped,
-hopped, or walked to the trap. The tiger, moving fast, was there first,
-which was just what the toad, who was a friend of the priest, wanted.
-Besides, Old Speckled Back was diligently looking for a crack in the
-rocks near by.
-
-So while the toad and the tiger were studying the matter, the priest
-ran off and saved himself within the monastery gates. When at last Old
-Speckled Back decided against Mountain Uncle and in favor of the man,
-he had no sooner finished his judgment than he hopped into the rock
-crevice, and, crawling far inside defied the tiger, calling him an
-unmannerly brute and an ungrateful beast, and daring him to do his
-worst.
-
-Old Mountain Uncle was so mad with rage and hunger that his craftiness
-seemed turned into stupidity. He clawed at the rock to get at the toad,
-but Speckled Back, safe within, only laughed. Unable to do any harm,
-the tiger flew into a passion of rage. The hotter his temper grew, the
-more he lost his wit. Poking his nose inside the crack he rubbed it so
-hard on the rough rock that he soon bled to death.
-
-When the hunter came along he marveled at what he saw, but he was glad
-to get rich by selling the tiger’s fur, bones, and claws; for in Korea
-nothing sells so well as a tiger. As for the toad, he told to several
-generations of his descendants the story of how he outwitted the old
-Mountain Uncle.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-TOKGABI AND HIS PRANKS
-
-
-Tokgabi is the most mischievous sprite in all Korean fairy-land. He
-does not like the sunshine or outdoors, and no one ever saw him on the
-streets.
-
-He lives in the sooty flues that run under the floors along the whole
-length of the house, from the kitchen at one end of it to the chimney
-hole in the ground at the other end. He delights in the smoke and smut,
-and does not mind fire or flame, for he likes to be where it is warm.
-He has no lungs, and his skin and eyes are both fire-proof. He is as
-black as night and loves nothing that has white in it. He is always
-afraid of a bit of silver, even if it be only a hairpin.
-
-Tokgabi likes most to play at night in the little loft over the
-fireplace. To run along the rafters and knock down the dust and cobwebs
-is his delight. His favorite game is to make the iron rice-pot lid
-dance up and down, so that it tumbles inside the rice kettle and cannot
-easily be got out again. Oh, how many times the cook burns, scalds, or
-steams her fingers in attempting to fish out that pot lid when Tokgabi
-has pushed it in! How she does bless the sooty imp!
-
-But Tokgabi is not always mischievous, and most of his capers hurt
-nobody. He is such a merry fellow that he keeps continually busy,
-whether people cry or laugh. He does not mean to give any one trouble,
-but he must have fun every minute, especially at night.
-
-When the fire is out, how he does chase the mice up and down the flues
-under the floor, and up in the garret over the rafters! When the
-mousies lie dead on their backs, with their toes turned upward, the
-street boys take them outdoors and throw them up in the air. Before the
-mice fall to the ground, the hawks swoop down and eat them up. Many a
-bird of prey gets his breakfast in this way.
-
-Although Tokgabi plays so many pranks, he is kind to the kitchen maids.
-When after a hard day’s work one is so tired out that she falls asleep,
-he helps her to do her hard tasks.
-
-Tokgabi washes their dishes and cleans their tables for good servants;
-so when they wake up the girls find their work done for them. Many a
-fairy tale is told about this jolly sprite’s doings—how he gives good
-things to the really nice people and makes the bad ones mad by
-spitefully using them. They do say that the king of all the Tokgabis
-has a museum of curiosities and a storehouse full of gold and gems and
-fine clothes, and everything sweet to eat for good boys and girls and
-for old people that are kind to the birds and dumb animals. For bad
-folks he has all sorts of things that are ugly and troublesome. He
-punishes stingy people by making them poor and miserable.
-
-The Tokgabi king has also a menagerie of animals. These he sends to do
-his errands rewarding the good and punishing naughty folks. Every year
-the little almanac with red and green covers tells in what quarter of
-the skies the Tokgabi king lives for that year, so that the farmers and
-country people will keep out of his way and not provoke him. In his
-menagerie the kind creatures that help human beings are the dragon,
-bear, tortoise, frog, dog and rabbit. These are all man’s friends. The
-cruel and treacherous creatures in Tokgabi’s menagerie are the tiger,
-wild boar, leopard, serpent, toad and cat. These are the messengers of
-the Tokgabi king to do his bidding, when he punishes naughty folks.
-
-The common, every-day Tokgabi plays fewer tricks on the men and boys
-and enjoys himself more in bothering the girls and women. This, I
-suppose, is because they spend more time in the house than their
-fathers or brothers. In the Land of Rat-tat-tat, where the sound of
-beating the washed clothes never ceases, Tokgabi loves to get hold of
-the women’s laundry sticks which are used for pounding and polishing
-the starched clothes. He hides them so that they cannot be found. Then
-Daddy makes a fuss because his long white coat has to go without its
-usual gloss, but it is all Tokgabi’s fault.
-
-Tokgabi does not like starch because it is white. He loves to dance on
-Daddy’s big black hat case that hangs on the wall. Sometimes he wiggles
-the fetich, or household idol, that is suspended from the rafters. But,
-most of all, he enjoys dancing a jig among the dishes in the closet
-over the fireplace, making them rattle and often tumble down with a
-crash.
-
-Tokgabi likes to bother men sometimes too. If Daddy should get his
-topknot caught in a rat hole, or his head should slip off his wooden
-pillow at night and he bump his nose, it is all Tokgabi’s fault. When
-anything happens to a boy’s long braid of hair, that hangs down his
-back and makes him look so much like a girl, Tokgabi is blamed for it.
-It is even said that naughty men make compacts with Tokgabi to do bad
-things, but the imp only helps the man for the fun of it. Tokgabi cares
-nothing about what mortal men call right or wrong. He is only after fun
-and is up to mischief all the time, so one must watch out for him.
-
-The kitchen maids and the men think they know how to circumvent Tokgabi
-and spoil his tricks. Knowing that the imp does not like red, a young
-man when betrothed wears clothes of this bright color. Tokgabi is
-afraid of shining silver, too, so the men fasten their topknots
-together, and the girls keep their chignons in shape, with silver
-hairpins. The magistrates and government officers have little storks
-made of solid silver in their hats, or else these birds are embroidered
-with silver thread on their dresses. Every one who can afford them uses
-white metal dishes and dresses in snowy garments. Tokgabi likes nothing
-white and that is the reason why every Korean likes to put on clothes
-that are as dazzling as hoar frost. Tons and mountains of starch are
-consumed in blanching and stiffening coats and skirts, sleeves and
-stockings. On festival days the people look as if they were dipped in
-starch and their garments encrusted in rock candy. In this manner they
-protect themselves from the pranks of Tokgabi.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-EAST LIGHT AND THE BRIDGE OF FISHES
-
-
-Long, long ago, in the region beyond the Everlasting White Mountains of
-Northern Korea, there lived a king who was waited on by a handsome
-young woman servant. Every day she gladdened her eyes by looking
-southward, where the lofty mountain peak which holds the Dragon’s Pool
-in its bosom lifts its white head to the sky. When tired out with daily
-toil she thought of the river that flows from the Dragon’s Pool down
-out of the mountain. She hoped that some time she would have a son that
-would rule over the country which the river watered so richly.
-
-One day while watching the mountain top she saw coming from the east a
-tiny bit of shining vapor. Floating like a white cloud in the blue sky
-it seemed no bigger than an egg. It came nearer and nearer until it
-seemed to go into the bosom of her dress. Very soon she became the
-mother of a boy. It was indeed a most beautiful child.
-
-But the jealous king was angry. He did not like the little stranger. So
-he took the baby and threw it down among the pigs in the pen, thinking
-that this would be the last of the boy. But no! the sows breathed into
-the baby’s nostrils and their warm breath made it live.
-
-When the king’s servants heard the little fellow crowing, they went out
-to see what made the noise, and there they beheld a happy baby not
-seeming to mind its odd cradle at all. They wanted to give him food at
-once but the angry king ordered the child to be thrown away, and this
-time into the stable. So the servants took the boy by the legs and laid
-him among the horses, expecting that the animals would tread on him and
-he would be thus put out of the way.
-
-But no, the mares were gentle, and with their warm breath they not only
-kept the little fellow from getting cold, but they nourished him with
-their milk so that he grew fat and hearty.
-
-When the king heard of this wonderful behavior of pigs and horses, he
-bowed his head toward Heaven. It seemed the will of the Great One in
-the Sky that the boy baby should live and grow up to be a man. So he
-listened to its mother’s prayers and allowed her to bring her child
-into the palace. There he grew up and was trained like one of the
-king’s sons. As a sturdy youth, he practiced shooting with bow and
-arrows and became skilful in riding horses. He was always kind to
-animals. In the king’s dominions any man who was cruel to a horse was
-punished. Whoever struck a mare so that the animal died, was himself
-put to death. The young man was always merciful to his beasts.
-
-So the king named the youthful archer and horseman East Light, or
-Radiance of the Morning and made him Master of the Royal Stables. East
-Light, as the people liked to say his name, became very popular. They
-also called him Child of the Sun and Grandson of the Yellow River.
-
-One day while out on the mountains hunting deer, bears, and tigers, the
-king called upon the young archer to show his prowess in shooting
-arrows. East Light drew his bow and showed skill such as no one else
-could equal. He sent shaft after shaft whistling into the target and
-brought down both running deer and flying birds. Then all applauded the
-handsome youth. But instead of the king’s commending East Light, the
-king became very jealous of him, fearing that he might want to seize
-the throne. Nothing that the young man could do seemed now to please
-his royal master.
-
-Fearing he might lose his life if he remained near the king, East Light
-with three trusty followers fled southward until he came to a great,
-deep river, wide and impassable. How to get across he knew not, for no
-boat was at hand and the time was too short to make a raft, for behind
-him were his enemies swiftly pursuing.
-
-In a great strait, he cried out:
-
-“Alas, shall I, the Child of the Sun and the Grandson of the Yellow
-River, be stopped here powerless by this stream?”
-
-Then as if his father, the Sun, had whispered to him what to do, he
-drew his bow and shot many arrows here and there into the water, nearly
-emptying his quiver.
-
-For a few moments nothing happened. To his companions it seemed a waste
-of good weapons. What would their leader have left to fight his
-pursuers when they appeared, if his quiver were empty?
-
-But in a moment more the waters appeared to be strangely agitated. Soon
-they were flecked and foaming. From up and down the stream, and in
-front of them, the fish were swimming toward East Light, poking their
-noses out of the water as if they would say:
-
-“Get on our backs and we’ll save you.” They crowded together in so
-dense a mass that on their spines a bridge was soon formed, on which
-men could stand.
-
-“Quick!” shouted East Light to his companions, “let us flee! Behold the
-king’s horsemen coming down the hill after us.”
-
-So over the bridge of fish backs, scaly and full of spiny fins, the
-four young men fled. As soon as they gained the opposite shore, the
-bridge of fishes dissolved. Yet scarcely had they swum away, when those
-who were in pursuit had gained the water’s edge, on the other side. In
-vain the king’s soldiers shot their arrows to kill East Light and his
-three companions. The shafts fell short and the river was too deep and
-wide to swim their horses over. So the four young men escaped safely.
-
-Marching on farther a few miles, East Light met three strange persons
-who seemed to be awaiting his coming. They welcomed him warmly and
-invited him to be their king and rule over their city. The first was
-dressed in seaweed, the second in hempen garments, and the third in
-embroidered robes. These men represented the three classes of society;
-first fishermen and hunters; second farmers and artisans; and lastly
-rulers of the tribes.
-
-So in this land named Fuyu, rich in the five grains, wheat, rice, and
-millet, bean and sugarcane, the new king was joyfully welcomed by his
-new subjects. The men were tall, brave and courteous. Besides being
-good archers, they rode horses skilfully. They ate out of bowls with
-chop-sticks and used round dishes at their feasts. They wore ornaments
-of large pearls and jewels of red jade cut and polished.
-
-The Fuyu people gave the fairest virgin in their realm to be the bride
-of King East Light and she became a gracious queen, greatly beloved of
-her subjects and many children were born to them.
-
-East Light ruled long and happily. Under his reign the people of Fuyu
-became civilized and highly prosperous. He taught the proper relations
-of ruler and ruled and the laws of marriage, besides better methods of
-cooking and house-building. He also showed them how to dress their
-hair. He introduced the wearing of the topknot. For thousands of years
-topknots were the fashion in Fuyu and in Korea.
-
-Hundreds of years after East Light died, and all the tribes and states
-in the peninsula south of the Everlasting White Mountains wanted to
-become one nation and one kingdom, they called their country after East
-Light, but in a more poetical form,—Cho-sen, which means Morning
-Radiance, or the Land of the Morning Calm.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-PRINCE SANDALWOOD, THE FATHER OF KOREA
-
-
-Four little folks lived in the home of Mr. Kim, two girls and two boys.
-Their names were Peach Blossom and Pearl, Eight-fold Strength and
-Dragon. Dragon was the oldest, a boy. Grandma Kim was very fond of
-telling them stories about the heroes and fairies of their beautiful
-country.
-
-One evening when Papa Kim came home from his office in the Government
-buildings, he carried two little books in his hand, which he handed
-over to Grandma. One was a little almanac looking in its bright cover
-of red, green and blue as gay as the piles of cakes and confectionery
-made when people get married; for every one knows how rich in colors
-are pastry and sweets for the bride’s friends at a Korean wedding
-party.
-
-The second little book contained the direction sent out by the Royal
-Minister of Ceremonies for the celebration of the festival in honor of
-the Ancestor-Prince, Old Sandalwood, the Father of Korea. Twice a year
-in Ping Yang City they made offerings of meat and other food in his
-honor, but always uncooked.
-
-“Who was old Sandalwood?” asked Peach Blossom, the older of the little
-girls.
-
-“What did he do?” asked Yongi (Dragon), the older boy.
-
-“Let me tell you,” said Grandma, as they cuddled together round her on
-the oiled-paper carpet over the main flue at the end of the room where
-it was warmest; for it was early in December and the wind was roaring
-outside.
-
-“Now I shall tell you, also, why the bear is good and the tiger bad,”
-said Grandma. “Well, to begin——
-
-“Long, long ago, before there were any refined people in the Land of
-Dawn, and no men but rude savages, a bear and a tiger met together. It
-was on the southern slope of Old Whitehead Mountain in the forest.
-These wild animals were not satisfied with the kind of human beings
-already on the earth, and they wanted better ones. They thought that if
-they could become human they would be able to improve upon the quality.
-So these patriotic beasts, the bear and the tiger, agreed to go before
-Hananim, the Great One of Heaven and Earth, and ask him to change at
-once their form and nature; or, at least, tell them how it could be
-done.
-
-“But where to find Him—that was the question. So they put their heads
-down in token of politeness, stretched out their paws and waited a long
-while, hoping to get light on the subject.
-
-“Then a Voice spoke out saying, ‘Eat a bunch of garlic and stay in a
-cave for twenty-one days. If you do, you will become human.’
-
-“So into the dark cave they crawled, chewed their garlic and went to
-sleep.
-
-“It was cold and gloomy in the cave and with nothing to hunt or eat,
-the tiger got tired. Day after day he moped, snarled, growled and
-behaved rudely to his companion. But the bear bore the tiger’s insults.
-
-“Finally on the eleventh day, the tiger, seeing no signs of losing his
-stripes or of shedding his hair, claws or tail, and with no prospect of
-fingers or toes in view, concluded to give up trying to become a man.
-He bounded out of the cave and at once went hunting in the woods, going
-back to his old life.
-
-“But the bear, patiently sucking her paw, waited till the twenty-one
-days had passed. Then her hairy hide and claws dropped off, like an
-overcoat. Her nose and ears suddenly shortened and she stood upright—a
-perfect woman.
-
-“Walking out of the cave the new creature sat beside a brook, and in
-the pure water beheld how lovely she was. There she waited to see what
-would take place next.
-
-“About this time while these things were going on down in the world
-matters of interest were happening in the skies. Whanung, the Son of
-the Great One in the Heavens, asked his father to give him an earthly
-kingdom to rule over. Pleased with his request, the Lord of Heaven
-decided to present his son with the Land of the Dragon’s Back, which
-men called Korea.
-
-“Now as everybody knows, this country of ours, the Everlasting Great
-Land of the Dayspring, rose up on the first morning of creation out of
-the sea, in the form of a dragon. His spine, loins and tail form the
-great range of mountains that makes the backbone of our beautiful
-country, while his head rises skyward in the eternal White Mountain in
-the North. On its summit amid the snow and ice lies the blue lake of
-pure water, from which flow out our boundary rivers.”
-
-“What is the name of this lake?” asked Yongi the boy.
-
-“The Dragon’s Pool,” said Grandma Kim, “and during one whole night,
-ever so long ago, the dragon breathed hard and long until its breath
-filled the heavens with clouds. This was the way that the Great One in
-the Skies prepared the way for his son’s coming to earth.
-
-“People thought there was an earthquake, but when they woke up in the
-morning and looked up to the grand mountain, so gloriously white, they
-saw the cloud rising far up in the sky. As the bright sun shone upon
-it, the cloud turned into pink, red, yellow and the whole eastern sky
-looked so lovely that our country then received its name—the Land of
-Morning Radiance.
-
-“Down out of his cloud of many colors, and borne on the wind, Whanung,
-the Heavenly Prince, descended first to the mountain top, and then to
-the lower earth. When he entered the great forest he found a beautiful
-woman sitting by the brookside. It was the bear that had been
-transformed into lovely human shape and nature.
-
-“The Heavenly Prince was delighted. He chose her as his bride and, by
-and by, a little baby boy was born.
-
-“The mother made for her son a cradle of soft moss and reared her child
-in the forest.
-
-“Now the people who dwelt at the foot of the mountain were in those
-days very rude and simple. They wore no hats, had no white clothes,
-lived in huts, and did not know how to warm their houses with flues
-running under the floors, nor had they any books or writings. Their
-sacred place was under a sandalwood tree, on a small mountain named
-Tabak, in Ping Yang province.
-
-“They had seen the cloud rising from the Dragon’s Pool so rich in
-colors, and as they looked they saw it move southward and nearer to
-them, until it stood over the sacred sandalwood tree; when out stepped
-a white-robed being, and descending through the air alighted in the
-forest and on the tree.
-
-“Oh, how beautiful this spirit looked against the blue sky! Yet the
-tree was far away and long was the journey to it.
-
-“‘Let us all go to the sacred tree,’ said the leader of the people. So
-together they hied over hill and valley until they reached the holy
-ground and ranged themselves in circles about it.
-
-“A lovely sight greeted their eyes. There sat under the tree a youth of
-grand appearance, arrayed in princely dress. Though young looking and
-rosy in face, his countenance was august and majestic. Despite his
-youth, he was wise and venerable.
-
-“‘I have come from my ancestors in Heaven to rule over you, my
-children,’ he said, looking at them most kindly.
-
-“At once the people fell on their knees and all bent reverently,
-shouting:
-
-“‘Thou art our king, we acknowledge thee, and will loyally obey only
-thee.’
-
-“Seeing that they wanted to know what he could tell them, he began to
-instruct them, even before he gave them laws and rules and taught them
-how to improve their houses. He told them stories. The first one
-explained to them why it was that the bear is good and the tiger bad.
-
-“The people wondered at his wisdom, and henceforth the tiger was hated,
-while people began to like the bear more and more.
-
-“‘What name shall we give our King, so that we may properly address
-him?’ asked the people of their elders. ‘It is right that we should
-call him after the place in which we saw him, under our holy tree. Let
-his title, therefore, be the August and Venerable Sandalwood.’ So they
-saluted him thus and he accepted the honor.
-
-“Seeing that the people were rough and unkempt, Prince Sandalwood
-showed them how to tie up and dress their hair. He ordained that men
-should wear their long locks in the form of a topknot. Boys must braid
-their hair and let it hang down over their backs. No boy could be
-called a man, until he married a wife. Then he could twist his hair
-into a knot, put on a hat, have a head-dress like an adult and wear a
-long white coat.
-
-“As for the women, they must plait their tresses and wear them plainly
-at their neck, except at marriage, or on great occasions of ceremony.
-Then they might pile up their hair like a pagoda and use long hairpins,
-jewels, silk and flowers.
-
-“Thus our Korean civilization was begun, and to this day the law of the
-hat and hair distinguishes us above all people,” said Grandma. “We
-still honor the August and Venerable Prince Sandalwood. Now,
-good-night, my darlings.”
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE RABBIT’S EYES
-
-
-There was trouble down in the fish world under the waves. Indeed, every
-creature with fins and a tail was in distress, for the king of the
-fishes was suffering with a dreadful pain in his mouth. It had come
-about in this way.
-
-One day while swimming around in the waters outside his palace, the
-king of the fishes saw something hanging in the water that looked as if
-it were good to eat. So at once His Majesty gulped it down, when, oh
-horrors! he found he had barely escaped swallowing a fish hook, which
-stuck fast in his gills. It had been baited by some fishermen up in a
-boat on the sea top. When the king of the fishes found the dreadful
-thing in his mouth, he jerked himself away. The line broke but the hook
-remained, giving the king a fever and much pain.
-
-How to get the iron out and heal His Majesty was now the question. All
-the wise creatures in the ocean, from the turtle to the gudgeon and
-from the tittleback to the whale, were summoned to the palace to see
-what could be done. Many a sage noddle was bent, and eye blinked and
-fin wagged, as the marine doctors talked the matter over in the
-council. The turtle was considered the most learned and expert of them
-all. Many were his feelings of the king’s pulse and his looking down
-into his throat, before Dr. Turtle would pronounce what was the real
-trouble or write a prescription for his patient. Finally, after
-consultation with the other doctors that had fins and tails, or were in
-scales and shell, it was decided that nothing less than a poultice made
-of rabbits’ eyes would loosen the hook and end His Majesty’s troubles.
-
-So Dr. Turtle was ordered to go to the seashore and invite a rabbit to
-come down into the world under the sea, that they might make a poultice
-of his eyes and apply the warm mess to the king’s throat.
-
-Arriving on the sea beach, at the foot of a high hill, Dr. Turtle,
-looking far up, found Mr. Rabbit out of his burrow and taking a
-promenade along the edge of the forest. Forthwith Dr. Turtle waddled
-across the beach and part way up the hill, climbing hard, until he
-began to puff and blow. He had enough breath left, however, to salute
-Brother Bunny with a good-morning. Very politely the rabbit returned
-the greeting.
-
-“It’s a hot day,” said Dr. Turtle, as he pulled out his handkerchief,
-wiped his horny forehead, and cleaned the sand out of his claws.
-
-“Yes, but the scenery is so fine, Dr. Turtle, that you must be glad
-you’re out of the water to see such lovely mountains. Don’t you think
-Korea is a fine country? There is no land in the world so beautiful as
-ours. The mountains, the rivers, the seashore, the forests, the
-flowers——”
-
-If Dr. Turtle had let the rabbit run on, praising his own country, he
-would have forgotten his errand; but, thinking of His Majesty, the
-suffering fish king, with the cruel hook in his mouth, Dr. Turtle
-interrupted Bunny, saying:
-
-“Oh, yes, Brother Bunny, this view of the landscape and country is all
-very beautiful, but it can’t compare to the gems and jewels, trees and
-flowers, sweet odors and everything lovely down in the world under the
-sea.”
-
-At this, the rabbit pricked up his ears. It was all new to him. He had
-never heard that there was anything under the water but common fishes
-and seaweed and when these were decayed and washed up along the
-seashore—well, he had his ideas about them. They did not smell sweet at
-all. Now he heard a different story. His curiosity was roused. “What
-you tell me, my friend, is interesting. Go on.”
-
-Thereupon Dr. Turtle proceeded to tell of most wonderful mountains and
-valleys down on the floor of the deep sea, with every kind of rare
-water plants, red, orange-color, green, blue, white, with trees of gold
-and silver, besides flowers of every color and delightful perfume.
-
-“You surprise me,” said Brother Bunny, getting more interested.
-
-“Yes, and all sorts of good things to eat and drink, with music and
-dancing, handsome serving maids and everything nice. Come along and be
-our guest. Our king has sent me to invite you.”
-
-“May I go?” asked Brother Bunny, delighted.
-
-“Yes, at once. Get on my back and I’ll carry you.”
-
-So the rabbit ran and the turtle waddled to the water’s edge.
-
-“Now hold fast to my front shell,” said Dr. Turtle; “we’re going under
-the water.”
-
-Down, down below the blue waves they sank until they arrived at the
-king’s palace. There the rabbit found everything was true, as told by
-the turtle. The colors, the rich gems were as he had said.
-
-Dr. Turtle introduced Brother Bunny to some of the princes and
-princesses of the kingdom and these showed their guest the sights and
-treasures of the palace, while Dr. Turtle attended the council of
-doctors to announce the success of his errand.
-
-But while Mr. Rabbit was enjoying himself, thinking this was the most
-wonderful place in the world, he overheard them talking. Then he found
-out why they had brought him there and shown him such honors. Horrified
-at the idea of losing his eyes, he determined to save his sight and
-play the tortoise a smart trick. However, of this he told no one.
-
-So when he was politely informed by the royal executioners that he must
-give up his eyes to make the king well, Brother Bunny broke out with
-equally polite regrets:
-
-“Really I am so sorry that His Majesty is ill, and you must excuse me
-that I cannot help him immediately, for the eyes I have in my head now
-are not real eyes, but only crystal. I was afraid that sea water would
-hurt my sight, so I took out my ordinary eyes, buried them in the sand
-and put on these crystal ones, which I usually wear in very dusty or
-wet weather.”
-
-At this the faces of the royal officers fell. How could they break the
-news to His Majesty and disappoint him?
-
-Brother Bunny seemed to be really sorry for them and spoke up.
-
-“Oh! don’t feel bad about it. If you will allow me to return to the
-beach, I’ll dig them up and return in time for the poultice-making,”
-said the rabbit.
-
-So, getting on Dr. Turtle’s back, Brother Bunny was soon out of the
-water and on land.
-
-In a jiffy he jumped off, scampered away, and reached the woods,
-showing only his cotton tail. Soon he was out of sight.
-
-Dr. Turtle shed tears and returned to tell how a rabbit had outwitted
-him.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-TOPKNOTS AND CROCKERY HATS
-
-
-Long, long ago in China, even centuries before the great Confucius was
-born, there lived a wise and learned man named Kija. He was the chief
-counselor at court, and all honored him for his justice and goodness.
-He was always kind to boys and girls.
-
-But when a great war broke out and a new line of rulers came into
-power, Kija declined to serve the king of the country and resolved to
-emigrate to the far East. There he would teach the savage people
-manners and refinement.
-
-The new king was sorry to have Kija go, for he respected his character
-and wisdom. However he allowed five thousand of the best people, most
-of them Kija’s followers, to accompany their master among the Eastern
-savages. Many of the common folks wept when they saw the emigrants
-leave China the flowery country to go into the Eastern wilderness and
-journey to an unknown region, full of dark swamps and thick forests.
-Kija was going where there were no roads, farms, or houses, and the
-woods were full of wild beasts, especially big bears and terrible
-tigers that liked to feed on human beings. It was even said that there
-were flying serpents that had wings and leopards that stood up holding
-lightning in their paws.
-
-Over the great plains of Manchuria, Kija and his army of people, little
-folks and big ones, marched ever toward the rising sun, until they
-crossed the Duck Green River, which we call the Yalu. After a few days
-more, they came to the Great Eastern River (Ta Tong). There the land
-was very beautiful and Kija resolved to settle and build a city. From
-the tinted clouds at sunrise, rosy, golden, flushed with every shade of
-red, and lovely with changing colors the new country had been named
-Cho-sen, or Land of Morning Radiance. As the sun rose and raced toward
-the west, where his homeland lay, Kija welcomed the good omen as a
-double blessing. He saw in the calm of his first day in his adopted
-country a threefold pledge of continued good-will between the new
-kingdom and the old empire, Heaven’s favoring sign of his loyalty to
-the Chinese Emperor, and the surety of good-will from the spirit of the
-Ever White Mountain.
-
-Having laid out for his colony a city which was to be the capital of
-his kingdom, Kija began to build a wall. He named the city Ping Yang,
-which means Northern Castle.
-
-“But now that we have safely arrived as after a voyage, the city shall
-be shaped like a boat,” said Kija. “Within its walls no wells shall be
-dug, lest this, like boring holes, should make the boat sink. Then
-also, on the outside, to the west, shall stand the rock pillar to which
-the boat city shall be forever moored.”
-
-Kija was ably assisted by his wise men, who were skilled in literature,
-poetry, music, medicine and philosophy. Together they published eight
-great laws for the kingdom:
-
-
-    1. Agriculture for the men.
-    2. Weaving for the women.
-    3. Punishment of thieves.
-    4. Murderers to be beheaded.
-    5. All land to be divided into nine squares, the central one
-       to be tilled in common for the benefit of the State.
-    6. Simple life for all.
-    7. The law of marriage.
-    8. Wicked people to be made slaves.
-
-
-Kija laid out roads, established measures and distances and ordained
-the rules of politeness. He taught the savage people how to build good
-houses, each with roofs of thatch or tile and a kang, or warming place,
-by means of flues running under the floors. There was a fire at one end
-and a chimney at the other, so that the smoke came out of the ground
-half-way up the house wall. Twice a day, at morning and sunset, the
-people fed with fuel the furnaces or cooking place in the kitchen. Then
-the flames, heat and smoke passed through the flues, warming the rooms.
-Thus the houses were made cozy and comfortable. Every day one can see
-the morning and the evening cloud of the kang smoke hanging over the
-city. It is in these flues and around the cooking pots that Tokgabi,
-the merry scamp, plays his most mischievous tricks. He is a sooty
-fellow and loves nothing better than to amuse or plague mortal men.
-
-The people of the land were very rough and savage in these early times
-and being constantly given to hard fighting, murder was common. So Kija
-found that he must devise some way to make them peaceable. At first he
-tried gentle methods. He saw that the rude fellows wore their hair
-long, letting their locks stream out over their backs and that they
-were often unkempt and slovenly to the last degree. Besides they hated
-combs and did not like to get washed.
-
-So Kija republished the law of Dan Kun, the spirit of the mountain, who
-had two topknots. He ordered that every married man should bind up his
-hair into a knot, or chignon, on top of his head. Thus the Korean
-topknot was established by law. As for the younger fellows they must
-plait their hair and wear it in a braid down their backs. Until a man
-got a wife, he was only a boy, and must hold his tongue in presence of
-his elders. If caught wearing a topknot before he had a wife, he was
-punished severely.
-
-Nevertheless the rough people mistook the good purposes of Kija. They
-used the topknot as a handle to catch hold of when fighting in the
-streets. The big, burly fellows pulled the smaller men around most
-cruelly. Furthermore, they were accustomed to crack each other’s skulls
-with clubs, so that many dead men were found in the streets. To stop
-these quarrels and murders, Kija invented a hat that would keep
-brawlers at least a yard apart.
-
-“I’ll settle their quarrels for them, once and forever,” said Kija.
-“I’ll make their fun cost each man a pretty rope of cash. Every time
-two bullies fight, they shall have a lot of crockery to pay for.”
-
-So Kija caused big heavy hats to be moulded of clay. These measured
-four feet across and were two feet high, weighing many pounds. These he
-had baked in ovens until they were hard as stone. They looked like big
-porridge bowls turned upside down.
-
-Every fellow who had a bad temper, or was known to quarrel was
-compelled to wear a hat of this heavy earthenware. Whenever a crowd of
-men-folks got together they looked like a field of moving mushrooms.
-
-When men fought they only cracked their crockery. In this way Kija
-easily found out who broke the law so that he could punish them. Then
-they had to go to the potter’s and buy new hats. This made it quite an
-expensive affair, for a good half year’s wages was required to pay for
-a hat.
-
-Kija’s wisdom was justified. The earthenware hats proved to be a good
-protection to the sacred topknots and the men liked them. Quarrelsome
-fellows stopped pulling hair and smashing heads. It got to be the
-custom, instead of punching a man’s face or cracking his skull, to let
-off one’s bad temper in scolding and calling names, glaring
-frightfully, or rolling one’s eyes,—all of which of course made no
-blood flow. The bumpkin who could make the most frightful faces, grind
-his teeth most savagely, and look more like a devil than the other
-fellow, was reckoned the bravest and the victor.
-
-Before many months, a street quarrel got to be a perfectly silent
-battle of ugly faces and terrible gestures. What at first promised to
-be a bloody murder usually became a noiseless duel, or a quarrel
-between deaf and dumb folks. This furnished violent exercise for eyes
-and teeth only, but it passed off like steam out of a kettle. In time a
-gentleness like a great calm settled over the land.
-
-The crockery hats became all the fashion. They were very popular. Even
-the women wanted to wear them, because they were so useful. When turned
-over, they served as wash-bowls and many a good housewife borrowed her
-husband’s second-best hat to do the family washing in. They were useful
-also for feed troughs and drinking basins for the horses and cattle and
-for donkeys to eat their beans.
-
-The women, though not permitted to wear crockery bonnets, were pleased
-with the way Kija treated them. He took the clubs of the rough men,
-which they no longer needed, and handed them over to the wives and
-daughters to use in pounding the clothes on wash days and for ironing.
-In this way, the Korean women learned the wonderful art of putting a
-fine gloss on the starched clothes of the male members of the family,
-especially on the long white coat of the house father. Thus by changing
-sticks that had been used as skull-crackers into starch polishers, Kija
-changed also ruffians into gentlemen. Ever since, Koreans have been
-famous for their politeness.
-
-Happily also, the men grew more refined in their manners and were kind
-to their wives and daughters, because they saw such shining clothes.
-When hot weather came and the gentlemen complained of the heat, and
-fearing that perspiration might spoil their fine clothes, Kija allowed
-them to make inside suits of bamboo sticks, as fine as thread or wire.
-Thus the Korean gentleman wore his outer clothes on a frame hung from
-his shoulders like a hooped skirt. It seemed like taking off one’s
-flesh and sitting in his bones thus to wear bamboo underclothes.
-
-By and by, as manners improved, finding garments thus made from the
-cane-brake so comfortable, the men gave up their heavy crockery hats.
-In place of these they wore “bird cages” made of horsehair over their
-topknots, and out-of-doors put on “roofs” of straw, reed, basket-ware,
-or shining black lacquered paper, according to their rank in society.
-Thus it came to pass that Korea is the land of hats.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-FANCHA AND THE MAGPIE
-
-
-A thousand years ago or more, there was a tribe in the cold and desert
-land of the Tartars, north of Korea, which grew to be famous in that
-part of the world. The men let their hair grow long and then plaited it
-into a long braid that hung down their backs, but they shaved the front
-of their heads. These people were called Manchus.
-
-Almost from babyhood they were trained to ride on horses, and in time
-they became such bold horsemen and warriors, that they swooped down in
-thousands like clouds from their mountain land into warmer and richer
-regions. They had terrible bows and arrows, spears and swords, and they
-won many victories, so that other tribes joined them. They captured
-great China and invaded Korea.
-
-As long as they had been wandering tribes in the desert, they were poor
-and lived on plain food that the grassy plains and forests could
-furnish, such as nuts, herbs, the milk of mares, and mutton. Their
-clothes were made of the wool from their own sheep. They were not
-proud, except of their strength, and they never asked who their
-grandfathers were.
-
-But it was very different when they came to be rulers of a vast empire,
-rich and great like China, which had books and writing and a history of
-thousands of years. The elegant Chinese gentlemen and nobles used to
-call their conquerors the “horsey Tartars.” So they learned to wash and
-perfume themselves, and to care for jade, and tea, and porcelain, and
-silk, and other things Chinese.
-
-Now it came to pass that when these people out of the desert sat on the
-thrones, and wore crowns on their heads, and dressed in satin, with
-jeweled robes and velvet shoes, they wanted to know who had been their
-ancestors long ago, and whence they came.
-
-It would not do to believe that the fathers and mothers of so mighty a
-race were once common folks who in the distant deserts lived on acorns
-and pine nuts, with horse meat often, and mutton occasionally, and
-mare’s milk for dessert, or that they dressed in sheep skin and tended
-horses like stable boys.
-
-Oh no! If the common folks, whom they now governed and made obey them,
-knew that the nobles who now lived in Peking and bullied the Koreans
-were once only stable and butcher boys, and had no houses but lived
-only in tents, there would surely be trouble. These Koreans and Chinese
-might disobey and rebel. They might even cut off their pigtails, which
-the Tartars had forced them to wear, and clip their locks, like men in
-Europe and America. These white-faced and bearded foreigners they
-called “Southern Barbarians,” because their ships came up from the
-south by way of India.
-
-“What shall we do to make the Chinese and Koreans think we are
-somebody?” asked the Chinese Emperor of his wise men.
-
-In the council it was the custom to ask first the younger men to tell
-what they thought about it, and for the oldest and wisest to speak
-last. They talked over the matter a long time. Finally one graybeard
-took off his goggles and made answer. He had on his nose a pair of
-horn-rimmed green glasses, bigger than those which anyone else wore.
-These it was supposed enabled him to look farther into the past and the
-future than his fellows. For the bigger the goggles, the more learned a
-man was supposed to be. He looked as wise as a stuffed owl, and was
-very fat. He spoke last, after all the younger counselors had been
-invited to give their opinions. Behind his back they called him Green
-Lamps, because of his goggles and their color.
-
-Now in Korea and China it is not polite to keep your spectacles on your
-nose, when you look into the face of any person to whom you are
-talking. So pulling off his goggles old Green Lamps got down on his
-knees. Then he performed the kow-tow. That was done by knocking the
-matting of the floor with his forehead nine times. Green Lamps nearly
-broke his stiff bones in doing it, and then he addressed the Emperor,
-whose title was the Son of Heaven, as follows:
-
-“Sire, the common people will not respect us unless we can show that
-our far-off ancestors were not born like plain folks, but came down
-from Heaven. There is an old woman, nearly two cycles or one hundred
-and seventeen years old, who tells the children about our distant
-forebears, who dropped out of the sky. Shall I call her in?”
-
-“What is her name?” inquired His Imperial Majesty.
-
-“Mrs. Crinkles, they call her, O Son of Heaven,” answered Green Lamps.
-
-“Summon her before me instantly,” said the Emperor, and he waved his
-lotus-bud sceptre.
-
-Now Green Lamps was a foxy old fellow. He wanted to get even higher in
-the Emperor’s favor and had expected this. So, having the old lady
-ready in another room of the palace, he went out and brought her in.
-She was all ready to tell her story, with which she had interested the
-children for a long time. It was the same story which her grandmother
-had told, when around the fire on winter nights young and old gathered
-to hear, while the winds howled and the snow covered the land. Once,
-Mrs. Crinkles was a rosy maid, but now in Peking she was the oldest
-living person among the Tartars.
-
-The young women called her Mrs. Crinkles because of her face which was
-so wrinkled and puckered. Once while the old lady was telling her story
-a mischievous maiden started to count how many wrinkles and puckers,
-the old lady had in her face, but after reaching seventy-four she
-stopped, for fear there might be one pucker for every year; and the
-number 117 for some reason was thought to be unlucky.
-
-In hobbled Mrs. Crinkles. She was already bowed with the weight of
-years so that when she bowed still lower the court chamberlain,
-remarking that it beat the kow-tow itself, excused her from making the
-nine prostrations of her stiff old bones. In fact it was feared that if
-she got down, she could never get up again. So she was allowed to sit
-and begin her story.
-
-Her speech was not in the polished Chinese tongue, which for ages since
-Confucius has been refined by poets and scholars and literary ladies
-and gentlemen, but was in plain Tartar, or Manchu. Yet the general
-style of her narrative was very fine. As the old lady told it with
-animation and fine gestures all eyes sparkled and the Emperor’s
-visage—they called it the Dragon Countenance—beamed with delight.
-
-This was the narrative:
-
-On the other side of the Ever White Mountains, which divide Korea from
-Manchuria, is the Land of Lakes. On one of these, as in a mirror, the
-glorious blue sky and the forms of the snow-covered, majestic mountains
-are reflected. At night when the stars come out the waveless mirror is
-spangled with jewels. The fame of this crystal clear flood and the
-lovely tints which the sunrise and sunset daily made upon it reached
-even to the skies. There were three lovely virgins who dwelt in the
-Heavenly palaces and they wanted to come down and bathe in the water of
-this lake and live on its shores.
-
-Permission was given them by the Lord of Heaven, and descending to the
-earth they were as happy as fairies could be. They never tired of their
-enjoyment, seeing their own beautiful faces in the mirror of the lake.
-When they rose early in the morning, to see the golden sun rise and
-tint the clouds and waters, it seemed like music when song answered
-song. When the light breezes rippled the surface of the lake they
-clapped their hands with delight and at bedtime they were lulled to
-sleep by the waves lapping on the quiet shore.
-
-They fell in love with the beautiful land and became so charmed with it
-that in time they forgot about their old home and never wished to go
-back again into the skies. They were very kind to all living things and
-especially to the magpies. These feathered creatures were very
-plentiful and tame, so the maidens made pets of them and chose the
-magpie as their sacred bird.
-
-Fond of gazing into the blue above and bathing in the liquid blue
-beneath, the three sisters went often into the lake. Leaving their
-robes on the pebbly beach, the youngest one always stepped last into
-the crystal waters. One day they noticed a magpie flying far above them
-in the air, which seemed to motion as if it had a message to deliver.
-On coming near they saw that it bore in its bill a blood-red fruit.
-Descending near where their clothes lay on the beach it poised for a
-moment, and then dropped the red fruit on the garment of the youngest
-of the sisters.
-
-Rushing out of the water they sat down to talk over the wonderful
-incident. Then they agreed that this gift of the bird, which was sacred
-in their eyes, was a happy omen and meant that something good was to
-follow, though the magpie, after circling around their heads, flew
-away. They divided the fruit, which had a most delicious taste,
-enjoying it also as a message from Heaven.
-
-From this divine token brought by a magpie, the sacred bird, the
-youngest of the virgins conceived and bore a son. They named the baby
-boy Golden Family Stem, for they felt sure that he would grow up and
-become the founder of a dynasty of kings, who should take the name of
-Great Bright from the shining water near which he was born.
-
-The young mother brought up her boy to believe that he was not like
-ordinary mortals but was Heaven-born, and therefore should be noble in
-all his actions. When he grew up he was to be a prince of peace healing
-the quarrels of men, which should bring happiness and prosperity to
-them and to all the world.
-
-So in the shadow of the great mountains, which were so high that they
-seemed to touch the sky and were as the shadows of the eternal world
-itself, he grew up. Nothing did he love more than to watch the play of
-light and shade on these mountain sides and in the valleys, as well as
-in the reflections on the fair face of the lake. These were to him as
-the smile of the Great Guardian Spirit.
-
-But by and by his dear mother’s breath ceased and she “entered into the
-icy caves of the dead,” and he found himself an orphan with no one near
-him; for long since the other two virgins had gone away he knew not
-where.
-
-Left alone instead of staying among the mountains the boy resolved to
-take the name of Fancha, or Heaven-born, and to go out into the world
-and lead men.
-
-He at once set about to build a boat and in this, when finished, he
-floated down the outlet of the lake into a river. It happened that he
-landed at a place where three tribes or clans were at war, each one
-with the other. They were rude enough fellows, accustomed to brawls,
-and they cared nothing about other common fellows who were like
-themselves and no better.
-
-But when they saw this noble youth alone and unarmed step fearlessly
-over the gunwale of the boat and advance to meet them in a friendly
-way, they were mightily impressed at his noble appearance and his
-courage in coming among them. When he told them the story of his birth,
-and that his mother had called him her Heaven-born son, they one and
-all shouted “Our chief!” and put on him the signs and tokens of
-lordship over them.
-
-At once the Heaven-born youth became a great leader. At the head of his
-brave warriors he was always victorious, but he never provoked war.
-Other tribes flocked to his standard and in time he built a city, and
-for his wife and queen married a princess in the principal tribe, the
-daughter of a great chief, and several sons were born in his home.
-
-But wars continued, for the custom of fighting was too old to be given
-up at once. In one of the battles he and all his sons except one, who
-was named Fancha, were killed. This one was chased by the enemy for a
-long distance over the open plains; for they hoped to capture him and
-make him their prisoner, before he could get into the forest and hide.
-
-But when Fancha reached a dense dark wood a deliverer came to him in
-the form of the sacred bird, the magpie. This creature settled on his
-head, and Fancha at once took it to be the token of safety and to have
-been sent from Heaven.
-
-When his pursuers rushed into the forest and began their glances among
-the trees looking around for the lad’s hiding place, he stood as still
-as a post. They seeing the bird supposed the figure was a piece of
-dried wood or the splinter of a tree struck by lightning, and rushed on
-and past him. By and by they gave up the hunt: by which time, Fancha
-had escaped to a place of safety.
-
-“The rest of the story Your Majesty knows,” concluded the old lady,
-“for Fancha was your ancestor of seventeen generations ago.”
-
-The great Emperor of all the Chinas was intensely interested and deeply
-moved at the story of the aged woman, and he loaded her with presents
-and honors, and created for her the office of Chief Story-Teller to the
-Imperial children. Besides this he made provision for her comfort as
-long as she lived. With a vermilion pencil he wrote with his own hand
-the order that when she “ascended to the skies” she should be buried in
-a gilded sandal-wood coffin, receive a state funeral, have a marble
-tablet over her grave, and be awarded posthumous honors.
-
-As for old Green Lamps he was raised one degree higher in office, given
-the honors of wearing a jade button on his cap, and the right to ride
-in his palanquin nearer the Imperial palace door than any other
-mandarin, except the prime minister.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE SNEEZING COLOSSUS
-
-
-Mr. Kim, who lived at the foot of the mountains, was a lazy lout. He
-had a family to support, but he did not like steady work. He preferred
-to smoke his pipe—as long as a yardstick—and to wait for something to
-turn up.
-
-One day, his wife, tired of trying to feed hungry children from empty
-dishes, gave her husband a good scolding and bade him begone and get
-something for the household. This consisted of father, mother, and four
-little folks, whose faces were not often washed, besides a little dog.
-This puppy, when danger was near, always ran into the house through a
-little square hole cut in the door, and when safely within barked
-lustily.
-
-So Mr. Kim went out to the mountains to find something—a root of
-ginseng, a nugget of gold, or some precious stone, perhaps, if he were
-lucky. If not, some berries, wild grapes or pears might do. Meanwhile
-at home, his wife pounded the grain that was left in the larder for the
-children’s dinner.
-
-Mr. Kim rambled over the rocks a long time without seeing anything
-worth carrying away. When it was about noon he came to one of the
-mighty mir-yeks, or colossal stone Buddhas, cut out of the solid
-mountain. It rose in the air many yards high. Ages ago in the days of
-Buddhism, when monasteries covered the land and Buddhist friars and
-nuns chanted Sanscrit hymns to the praise of Lord Buddha, devout men,
-laboring many months, chiseled this towering colossus into human form.
-Its nose stood out three feet, its mouth was four feet wide. On its
-flat head was a cap, made of a slab of granite and shaped like a
-student’s mortar-board, on which ten men could stand without crowding
-one another.
-
-Long gone and forgotten were the monks, and the monastery had fallen to
-ruins. The forest had grown up around the great stone image until it
-was nearly hidden by the tall trees surrounding it. In front, from the
-ground up, the wild grape-vines had gripped the stone with their
-tendrils and spread their matted branches and greenery until they
-nearly covered the image up to its neck.
-
-But out of a crevice in the head of the figure grew a pear tree, sprung
-from a seed dropped long ago by the great-grandfather of one of the
-birds singing and chirping near by. And, oh joy! at the end of the
-outer branch was growing a ripe, luscious pear nearly as big as a man’s
-head. What a prize! It would, when cut up, make a dessert for the whole
-family. Happy Kim! He blessed his lucky star.
-
-Seizing hold of the bushes and wild grape-vines, by dint of great
-effort Mr. Kim climbed upward and got as far as the chin of the great
-stone face. Above him protruded the big nose, the nostrils of which
-gaped like caverns. Yet although he was standing with his foot on the
-stone lips and holding on to the nose, despite all his exertions, he
-could get no further up the granite face. He was at his wit’s end. Far
-above hung the delicious looking pear as if to tantalize him. A gentle
-breeze was swaying the fruit to and fro, and it seemed to say, “Take me
-if you can.”
-
-But the nose, being polished, was slippery and the ears were too smooth
-to climb. What could he take hold of? Surely to shin up any further was
-impossible. Must he give up the pear?
-
-A bright thought entered his head. He would crawl up into the right
-nostril and hope for an exit to the top. So, thinking he might find his
-way he began like an insect to enter the hole and soon the man Kim
-disappeared from sight, as with hands and feet he climbed into the
-darkness.
-
-Wasn’t it dangerous to tickle the nostrils of the great stone man in
-this way?
-
-But whatever Kim may have thought he kept on, determined to get that
-pear, come what might.
-
-Suddenly a blast loud enough to rend the mountain was heard. Hash-ho!
-Had an earthquake or tempest taken place? Was this rolling thunder?
-
-No, the colossus had sneezed. Thus the stone man got rid of the
-intruder. The first thing Mr. Kim knew, he was flying through the air,
-and he tumbled upon the bushes. His wits were gone. He knew nothing.
-This was about one o’clock in the afternoon.
-
-Mr. Kim lay asleep or unconscious till near sun-down. Then he woke up
-and realized what had happened. There was the stone nose beetling over
-him far up toward the sky.
-
-But in sneezing so hard, the colossus had shaken its head also and the
-big pear had dropped off. Kim found it lying by his side, and picking
-it up went on his way rejoicing.
-
-At home the little dog looking through the square hole saw him, barked
-welcome, and a right merry supper they had over the big pear cut into
-slices, as Mr. Kim told the story of his adventures.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-A BRIDEGROOM FOR MISS MOLE
-
-
-By the river Kingin stands the great stone image, or Miryek, that was
-cut out of the solid rock ages ago. Its base lies far beneath the
-ground and around its granite cap many feet square the storm-clouds
-gather and play as they roll down the mountain.
-
-Down under the earth near this mighty colossus lived a soft-furred mole
-and his wife. One day a daughter was born to them. It was the most
-wonderful mole baby that ever was known. The father was so proud of his
-lovely offspring that he determined to marry her only to the grandest
-thing in the whole universe. Nothing else would satisfy his pride in
-the beautiful creature he called his own.
-
-Father Mole sought long and hard to find out where and what, in all
-nature, was considered the most wonderful. He called in his neighbors
-and talked over the matter with them. Then he visited the king of the
-moles and asked the wise ones in his court to decide for him. One and
-all agreed that the Great Blue Sky was above everything else in glory
-and greatness.
-
-So up to the Sky the Mole Father went and offered his daughter to be
-the bride of the Great Blue, telling how with his vast azure robe the
-Sky had the reputation, both on the earth and under it, of being the
-greatest thing in the universe.
-
-But much to the Mole Father’s surprise, the Sky declined.
-
-“No, I am not the greatest. I must refer you to the Sun. He controls
-me, for he can make it day or night as he pleases. Only when he rises
-can I wear my bright colors. When he goes down darkness covers the
-world and men do not see me at all, but the stars instead. Better take
-your charming daughter to him.”
-
-So to the Sun went Mr. Mole and though afraid to look directly into his
-face, he made his plea. He would have the Sun marry his attractive
-daughter.
-
-But the mighty luminary, that usually seemed so fierce, dazzling men’s
-eyesight and able to burn up the grass of the field, seemed suddenly
-very modest. Instead of accepting at once the offer, the Sun said to
-the father:
-
-“Alas! I am not master. The Cloud is greater than I, for he is able to
-cover me up and make me invisible for days and weeks. I am not as
-powerful as you think me to be. Let me advise you to offer your
-daughter to the Cloud.”
-
-Surprised at this, the Mole Father looked quite disappointed. Now he
-was in doubt as to what time he had best propose to the Cloud,—when it
-was silvery white and glistening in a summer afternoon, or when it was
-black and threatening a tempest. However, his ambition to get for his
-daughter the mightiest possible bridegroom prompted him to wait until
-the lightnings flashed and the thunder rolled. Then appearing before
-the terrible dark Cloud that shot out fire, he told of the charms of
-his wonderful daughter and offered her as bride.
-
-“But why do you come to me?” asked the Cloud, its face inky black with
-the wrath of a storm and its eyes red with the fires of lightning.
-
-“Because you are not only the greatest thing in the universe, but you
-have proved it by your terrible power,” replied the Father Mole.
-
-At this the Cloud ceased its rolling, stopped its fire and thunder and
-almost laughed.
-
-“So far from being the greatest thing in the world, I am not even my
-own master. See already how the wind is driving me. Soon I shall be
-invisible, dissolved in air. Let me commend you to the Wind. The Master
-of the Cloud will make a grand son-in-law.”
-
-Thereupon Papa Mole waited until the Wind calmed down, after blowing
-away the clouds. Then telling of his daughter’s accomplishments and
-loveliness, he made proffer of his only child as bride to the Wind.
-
-But the Wind was not half so proud as the Mole Father had expected to
-find him. Very modest, almost bashful seemed the Wind, as he confessed
-that before Miryek, the colossal stone image, his power was naught.
-
-“Why, I smite that Great Stone Face and its eyes do not even blink. I
-roar in his ears, but he minds it not. I try to make him sneeze, but he
-will not. Smite him as I may, he still stands unmoved and smiling.
-Alas, no. I am not the grandest thing in the universe, while Miryek
-stands. Go to him. He alone is worthy to marry your daughter.”
-
-By this time the Mole Father was not only footsore and weary, but much
-discouraged also. Evidently all appreciated his shining daughter; but
-would he be able, after all, to get her a worthy husband?
-
-He rested himself a while and then proceeded to Miryek, the colossus of
-granite as large as a lighthouse, its head far up in the air, but with
-ears ready to hear.
-
-The Mole Father squeaked out compliments to the image as being by
-common confession the greatest thing on earth. He presented his request
-for a son-in-law and then in detail mentioned the accomplishments of
-his daughter, sounding her praise at great length. Indeed, he almost
-ruined his case by talking so long.
-
-With stony patience Miryek listened to the proud father with a twinkle
-in his white granite eyes. When his lips moved, he was heard to say:
-
-“Fond Parent, what you say is true. I am great. I care not for the sky
-day or night, for I remain the same in daylight and darkness. I fear
-not the sun, that cannot melt me, nor the frost that is not able to
-make me crumble. Cold or hot, in summer or in winter time, I remain
-unchanged. The clouds come and go, but they cannot move me. Their fire
-and noise, lightning and thunder, I fear not. Yes, I am great.” Then
-the stone lips closed again.
-
-“You will make, then, a good bridegroom for my daughter? You will marry
-her, I understand?” asked the proud father as his hopes began to rise,
-though he was still doubtful.
-
-“I would gladly do so, if I were greatest. But I am not,” said Miryek.
-“Down under my feet is the Mole. He digs with his shovellike hands and
-makes burrows day and night. His might I cannot resist. Soon he shall
-undermine my base and I shall topple down and lie like common stone
-along the earth. Yes! by universal confession, the Mole is the greatest
-thing in the universe and to him I yield. Better marry your daughter to
-him.”
-
-So after all his journeying, the father sought no further. Advised on
-all sides, and opinion being unanimous, he found out that the Mole was
-the greatest thing in the universe. His daughter’s bridegroom was found
-at home and of the same family of creatures. He married her to a young
-and handsome Mole, and great was the joy and rejoicing at the wedding.
-The pair were well-mated and lived happily ever afterward.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-OLD WHITE WHISKERS AND MR. BUNNY
-
-
-White Whiskers was the name of a huge, tawny tiger that lived in the
-mountains of Kang Wen. He was the proudest tiger in the whole peninsula
-of Korea. He had the most fiery eyes, the longest tail, the sharpest
-claws, and the widest stripes of any animal in the mountains. He could
-pull down a cow, fight all the dogs in any village, eat up a man, and
-was not afraid of a hunter, unless the man carried a gun. As for calves
-and pigs, he considered them mere tidbits. He could claw off the roof
-or break the bars of stables where cattle were kept, devour one pig on
-the spot, and then, slinging another on his back, could trot off to his
-lair miles away, to give his cubs their dinner of fresh pork.
-
-White Whiskers was especially proud, because he was the retainer of the
-great genii of the mountains, that men feared and worshiped and in
-whose honor they built shrines. One of these Mountain Spirits, when he
-wanted to, could call together all the tigers in his domain, and then,
-sitting astride the back of the biggest, he would ride off on the
-clouds or to victory over Korea’s enemies. Both tigers and leopards
-were his messengers to do his bidding. Only the big and swift and
-striped tigers were chosen to carry out the Mountain Spirit’s orders.
-
-One particular matter of business confided to White Whiskers, the great
-striped tiger, was to visit daily the shrines in the hill passes to see
-if offerings were continually made. The people who were in terror of
-both the Mountain Spirit and his servants the tigers, daily offered
-sacrifice out of fear. They piled up stone, rags, bits of metal, or
-laid food on dishes for the Mountain Spirit who was very exacting and
-tyrannical. The poor folks thought that if they did not thus heap up
-their offerings the spirit would be angry and send the tigers at night
-to prowl around the village, scratch at their doors, and eat up
-donkeys, cows, calves, pigs, and even men, women and children. Then the
-hunters would go out with matchlocks to slay the man eaters, but by
-this time, in daylight, the tigers were far up into their lairs in the
-mountain.
-
-Indeed, it was so hard to get a shot at a tiger that the Chinese, who
-like to make fun of their neighbors in white coats, declared that
-during one half of the year the Koreans hunt the tigers, and during the
-other half the tigers hunt the Koreans. That is, the men go out with
-their guns in summer; but in winter, when men keep within doors, the
-hungry wild beasts descend from the mountains for their prey.
-
-Now Old White Whiskers was both proud and crafty. For many years he had
-eaten up pigs, calves, dogs, donkeys and chickens and had twice feasted
-on men, besides avoiding all their traps and dodging every one of their
-bullets. So he began to think he could laugh at all his enemies. Yet,
-proud as he was, he was destined to be outwitted by a creature without
-strength or sting, claws or hoofs, as we shall see.
-
-Mr. Rabbit, who burrowed in a hill near the village, had often heard
-the squealing of unfortunate pigs and the kicking of braying donkeys,
-as they made dinners for Old White Whiskers. Thus far, however, by
-being very cautious, he had kept out of the striped tyrant’s way and
-maw. But one cold winter’s day, coming home, tired, weak and hungry,
-from having no food since yesterday, just as he was crossing a river on
-the ice, he met Old White Whiskers face to face. From behind a rock by
-the shore, near Mr. Bunny’s burrow, the big tiger leaped out and tried
-to freeze the rabbit with terror, by staring at him with his great
-green eyes. Mr. Bunny knew only too well that tigers love to maul and
-play with their prey before eating it up, and he thought his last hour
-had come.
-
-Nevertheless Mr. Bunny was perfectly cool. He did not shiver a bit. He
-had long expected such a meeting and was ready for Old White Whiskers,
-intending to throw him off his guard.
-
-Fully expecting, in a minute or two, to tear off the little animal’s
-fur and grind his bones for a dinner, the tiger said to the rabbit:
-
-“I’m hungry. I shall eat you up at once.”
-
-“Oh, why should you bother with me?” said Mr. Bunny. “I’m so little and
-skinny as hardly to make a mouthful for Your Majesty. Just listen to me
-and I’ll get you a royal dinner. I’ll go up the mountain and drive the
-game to your very paws. Only you must do exactly what I tell you.”
-
-At this prospect of a full dinner, the tiger actually grinned with
-delight. The way he yawned, showing his red, cavernous mouth, huge
-white teeth, each as big as a spike, and the manner of his rolling out
-his long curved tongue, full of rough points like thorns, nearly scared
-Mr. Bunny out of his wits. The rabbit had never looked down a tiger’s
-mouth before, but he did not let on that he was afraid. It was only the
-tiger’s way of showing how happy he was, when his mouth watered, and he
-licked his chops in anticipation of a mighty feast.
-
-“I’ll do just as you say,” said Old White Whiskers to Mr. Bunny, seeing
-how grateful the rabbit was to have his own life spared.
-
-“It is my ambition to serve the lord of the mountains,” said Mr. Bunny.
-“So, lie down on the ice here, shut your eyes and do not stir. Now mind
-you keep your peepers closed, or the charm will fail. I’ll make a
-circle of dry grass and then go round and round you, driving the game
-to you. If you hear a noise and even some crackling, don’t open your
-eyes till I give you the word. ’Twill take some time.”
-
-Old White Whiskers, tired of tramping in the forest and prowling around
-pig-pens all day but getting nothing, was both hungry and tired. So he
-resolved, while waiting, to take a good nap. As quickly as one can blow
-out a candle, he was asleep.
-
-Thereupon Mr. Bunny made himself busy in pulling up all the dry grass
-he could find and piling it around and close up to Old White Whiskers.
-Delighted to hear the big brute snoring, he kept on until he had a
-thick ring of combustibles. Then he set it on fire, waiting till it
-blazed up high. Then he scampered off to see the fun.
-
-Old White Whiskers, awakened by the crackling, yawned and rubbed his
-eyes with his paws, wondering what the noise could be.
-
-“Hold on!” screamed Mr. Bunny, “keep your promise,” and farther he ran
-away up the hill.
-
-“Rascal!” growled the tiger as the red tongues of flame leaped up all
-around him. He had to jump high to escape from the flames with his
-life. Even as it was, one paw was scorched so that he limped, and his
-fur was singed so badly that all his long hair and fine looks were
-gone. When he got back home, the other tigers laughed at him.
-
-Henceforth he had to take second place, for the great Mountain Spirit
-no longer trusted such a stupid servant.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE KING OF THE FLOWERS
-
-
-Korea is the land of beautiful scenery and lovely flowers. Snow white
-and ruby red are their chief colors. In the spring time when the ice
-has melted and the rivers have poured their floods into the sea, the
-whole country blushes with the pink bloom of azaleas. The glens are
-white with lilies of the valley. The breezes as they sweep the land
-come laden with perfume.
-
-The girls mark the season of the year and the time of the month by the
-blossoms even more than by the almanac, for they keep in mind the
-calendar of the flowers. Daughters that are especially beloved of their
-parents are named from the blossoms, and the Korean house-father, when
-affectionate, speaks of his wife as the plum tree. An old song says:
-The homesick husband, long away from his dear ones, inquires of a
-fellow townsman newly arrived:
-
-
-          “‘Have you seen my native land?
-            Come tell me all you know;
-            Did just before the old home door
-            The plum tree blossoms show?’”
-
-
-And the stranger answers promptly:
-
-
-          “‘They were in bloom, though pale, ’tis true,
-            And sad, from waiting long for you.’”
-
-
-This is like the Scotsman who calls his wife his “bonnie briar bush,”
-for in the Land of Morning Glow, they have a language of flowers. Each
-plant and blossom has a meaning and either delightful or disagreeable
-associations. It is a compliment to speak of a girl as a pear blossom,
-for the pear is one of the most glorious of trees and its blooms are
-lovely to behold. It would hardly do, however, to call her a cinnamon
-rose, for this flower has evil associations. The gee-sang, as the
-Koreans pronounce the name of the gei-sha, as the Japanese call the
-dancing girls, are associated with the cinnamon rose, for did not the
-sages tell this story?
-
-Twelve centuries ago lived the renowned scholar Sul Chong, the greatest
-of all the learned men of Korea. His head was as full of knowledge as a
-persimmon is of pulp, and his ideas were as numerous as the seeds in a
-pomegranate. He taught his countrymen all that was in the books of
-China, and in the temple of Confucius his portrait hangs to this day.
-He lived in the kingdom of Silla, in the days of its glory, when ships
-from Japan and China sailed into its seaports and the Arabs from Bagdad
-brought their pretty wares to exchange for gold, ginseng, camphor,
-porcelain, cinnamon, ginger and tiger skins, to take to their renowned
-Caliph and his turbaned nobles at court, of whom we read in the
-“Arabian Nights.”
-
-When the King of Silla, Sin Mun, was living in luxury and filling his
-palace with too many pretty dancing girls, who distracted his mind from
-attending properly to the affairs of state, Sul Chong warned his master
-against the increasing influence of these women by telling him the
-following story:
-
-Once upon a time, in spring, the Peony, king of the flowers, blossomed
-so gorgeously that it became the admiration of all the lovers of beauty
-in the whole country. Hundreds of people made long journeys to the
-capital of Silla to see the bright blossoms. In the king’s gardens, on
-very tall stalks, the many branches were heavily laden with large red
-flowers. These were indeed lovely to behold, but the king of the whole
-garden was a single peony, grown on one stem, so that all the strength
-and nourishment of the plant were concentrated in that unique royal
-bloom. All saluted this flower as king.
-
-When all the other flowers heard of their king’s glory, they came to
-pay their respects at the floral court, of which the Peony was
-sovereign. All the trees sent their choicest blooms as envoys. In one
-glorious procession of perfume and color the Peach, Plum, Pear, Apple,
-and Persimmon trooped in, each making its obeisance to the monarch of
-all flowers. All these tree blossoms prided themselves on their being
-so useful to man as harbingers of the delicious fruits to come.
-
-Then, among the bright throng appeared sprightly young virgin flowers,
-the Tea-Rose, in pearl-tinted frock; the Azalea, in pink; the Lily, in
-white; the Strawberry Blossom; and a score of other pretty creatures of
-the garden. Last of all appeared the Cinnamon Rose. She tripped nimbly
-along in a green skirt and red jacket, with haughty air and breath of
-spice.
-
-One after the other they were presented to King Peony, and gracefully
-made their salute. But of them all, the king seemed most to favor Miss
-Cinnamon Flower. He let the others pass out from the Court, but
-lingered long with the spicy visitor, spending much time in her
-society, as if smitten with her charms. By and by he invited Miss
-Cinnamon Rose to come and live in the palace, and leaving his ministers
-to carry on the government, he spent all his time in her society. She
-was installed in a place near His Majesty and seemed always to have his
-ear and attention, even when the king’s prime minister had to wait long
-for an audience, or even a word. Miss Cinnamon Rose seemed to be the
-real ruler instead of the king himself.
-
-But one day there came to the palace the flower called Old Man. He
-looked exactly like an aged beggar dressed in sackcloth and leaning on
-a staff. Respectfully bowing, he asked if he might share the
-hospitality of the king’s palace. He was welcomed and fed, partaking of
-the royal bounty. When at last he was given audience of King Peony, and
-was invited to speak, he said:
-
-“Out along the road, Your Majesty, I heard of your rich feast and good
-things to eat. Now I hear that you need medicine. Although you dress in
-Chinese silk and none are equal to you in the magnificence of your
-robes and the splendor of your Court, yet you are much like me in your
-wants, and you need a common knife string, as well as I. Is it not so?”
-
-“You are quite right, Old Man,” replied the king. “Yet I like this
-Cinnamon Rose and want her with me. I cannot do without her.”
-
-“Yes, Your Majesty. Yet, is it not true that if you keep company with
-the wise and prudent, your reign will be long, powerful and glorious?
-But if you consort with the foolish your house will fall? Did not three
-dynasties of the emperors of Great China fall because of the beautiful
-women who tempted their Majesties to forget their duties? If it were so
-with the ancients, how much more so is it now?”
-
-The king blushed, even to a deep crimson. He confessed his faults and
-reformed his life.
-
-It is said the lesson was not lost on the real human king. He dismissed
-his harem, sent away the dancing girls and ruled wisely till the day of
-his death.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-TOKGABI’S MENAGERIE
-
-(Cats and Dogs)
-
-
-There are many dogs, but few cats, in Korea. Nobody loves poor pussy
-there. They are not made pets and are rarely seen in the houses of the
-people. Even bull calves are more caressed by the children than are
-cats, and the puppy dog takes the place of Tabby or Grimalkin.
-
-Korean cats are not bob-tailed, like their cousins in Japan; nor is
-pussy ever used, as the Chinese kitten is, to tell the time of day by
-the width of the slits in its green eyes.
-
-Alas! the cats in Korea are too wild to enjoy the society of human
-beings, or human beings theirs! The presence of dogs is especially
-hateful to them. Mother cats tell their kittens wonderful stories of
-the cruelty of dogs and why cats and dogs do not agree.
-
-The native roof-scramblers can howl and caterwaul, arch their backs,
-blow up their tails, spit and scratch, or purr pleasantly, lick their
-fur, and wash their faces with their paws like cats in other countries.
-They are highly accomplished as mouse catchers and bird-eaters. Yet
-they have a hard time of it, for there are too many dogs to make a
-kitty’s life either easy or agreeable. The Korean cat hates to get its
-feet wet, yet it is often obliged to wade in the water to get rid of
-the dogs that chase it. As for the furry, purry kittens, one wonders
-how they ever escape the fierce dogs and grow up at all.
-
-Yet it all came about because a certain cat-ancestor laughed when it
-shouldn’t have done so. Although it was a lot of school-children that
-made Kitty laugh, the dog never forgave the cat for its frivolity. And
-this is how it happened.
-
-Long, long ago, one of the mountain fairies had come down into the land
-from the high peaks, and being kindly treated by an old man named Tip
-Pul, who kept a wine shop, called Tokgabi and bade him reward the old
-fellow with a precious stone.
-
-So, one night, Tokgabi dropped the gem into Tip Pul’s long-necked wine
-bottle. Strangely enough, after this, the wine never ceased. The bottle
-was always full. Every day Tip Pul sold plenty to his neighbors and it
-was good and cheap, so that the shopkeeper was very popular. Yet,
-without any refilling, the flask was always ready to overflow. So Tip
-Pul had no fear of poverty in extreme old age. Having neither wife nor
-children, his only companions were a dog named Su Nap, or Snap, for
-short, and a cat named Mee Yow. All three lived happily together in
-these times of long ago.
-
-But one day the bottle was found to be empty, and when Tip Pul shook
-it, nothing rattled inside. Somehow the magic stone had disappeared.
-Poverty now seemed certain. The old man was nearly paralyzed with grief
-and his neighbors all came in to sympathize with him. They knew well
-that they could buy no wine anywhere else so good and so cheap as they
-had long enjoyed at Tip Pul’s shop by the river.
-
-Yet this loss of the wonderful stone was the very making of Tip Pul’s
-pets. As for the cat, she became the most industrious kitty ever known.
-She at once began to ransack every rat’s quarters known, not only in
-her master’s home, but in every house in the village, in search of the
-missing stone. The racket which that cat kept up at night, among the
-rafters and beams under the roof, nearly drove some people crazy. They
-declared that Tokgabi had got drunk by tasting Tip Pul’s drams. Yet it
-was Mee Yow all the time. The cat knocked over tobacco boxes, scratched
-among hat covers hung on the wall, tipped up the hanging shelves and
-upset the crockery in the closet over the kitchen stove. In a word,
-this four-footed creature played every kind of mischief that people
-usually ascribe to Tokgabi, the sooty imp.
-
-Yet, when any one climbed up to the attic, looked among the rafters,
-and peered into the darkness, all he could see was a pair of green eyes
-that shone like the moon. Poking the uncanny thing with fishing poles,
-or throwing shoes or sticks at it, only caused spitting or snarling. So
-they knew it was a cat, and not Tokgabi, and betook themselves to bed
-again. Laying their topknots on their wooden pillows and their bodies
-on their oiled-paper carpet, they soon fell asleep again. The Koreans
-do not swear, but the way some good folks hurled bad words on all the
-ancestors of that cat, clear back to the time of Kija, was dreadful to
-think of. Indeed, some of their remarks are still preserved in
-tradition and proverbs. Nevertheless, with all his pains taken, Mee Yow
-could not find the magic wine-stone. As for Tip Pul, he got poorer and
-poorer.
-
-The dog could not climb like Puss among the rafters and the roofs, but
-being able to run fast and having a nose that could smell a tiger a
-mile off, he made excursions all over the country, even crossing the
-ice of the frozen river. Although he fought many another dog, chased
-many a rat into its hole, and worried about a hundred cats, even
-jumping into wood-sheds and running in and out among the cows and
-horses, he found nothing. Once, while in a stall where the pony, tied
-up with a belly-band by ropes to the ceiling, was enjoying its supper
-of bean soup, the poor dog was nearly kicked to death. The vicious
-brute, thinking that Snap was trying to steal some beans from its feed
-box, gave the dog a blow with its hoofs that made Snap go on three legs
-for a week afterward.
-
-The long winter passed away and the ice melted, but the river water was
-still cold. One day Pussy, while chasing a rat among the rafters of a
-house of a Yang-ban or gentleman, brushed its whiskers against a
-greenish soapstone box, such as the king often sends as a present to
-those whom he likes. Recognizing the smell of something inside as that
-of his master’s long-lost gem, he tried hard by tooth and claw to open
-it.
-
-All Pussy’s scratching, biting and clawing, however, were in vain. Nor
-could the dog help in the least. So a bargain was struck with the rats
-to gnaw open the box and get the magic stone. Both Su Nap and Mee Yow
-promised to let all rats and mice entirely alone for six months, if one
-of them would agree to gnaw open the box.
-
-Delighted at the prospect of peace and quiet for half a year, and
-especially while the grain should be ripening, both rats and mice
-worked together, until out of a hole gnawed in the box, polished and
-hard on their teeth as it was, they got the magic stone. Carrying it in
-their paws, they dropped it where their former enemies, now so
-peaceful, could get it. At once the dog took the gem in his mouth and
-ran to the river, Mee Yow following after.
-
-“Now, Kit,” said Snap, “get on my back and hold tight to my neck-hair
-with your claws, while I swim across. As I must breathe hard, put the
-gem in your mouth. Mind that you don’t open your jaws, or yawn, or
-laugh, till we get across. Do you hear?”
-
-Mee Yow wagged her tail and took the wine-stone firmly in her mouth in
-token of determination to deliver that precious gem safely to her
-master. All the time Mee Yow intended to jump ashore and run to her
-master, while the dog would be shaking off the water from his hair, and
-thus get the credit for first finding where the stone had been.
-
-It was a long, hard swim and the dog’s strength was nearly used up when
-only two-thirds across the river, but the cat was happy, for she had
-only to hold on and keep her feet dry. All went well until near the
-opposite shore.
-
-Now it happened just then that a party of children, out of school and
-ready for fun, caught sight of the odd pair. They had never seen
-anything so funny in all their lives, and at once they laughed
-uproariously. Snap was too serious to pay any attention to their glee,
-but Mee Yow, already tickled with vanity, became positively frivolous.
-She too joined with the children and laughed so hard that Snap’s body
-was badly shaken, so that he nearly got his nose under water and
-drowned them both. This made the light-headed and conceited cat laugh
-all the more. Finally bursting in a guffaw, Mee Yow dropped the gem out
-of her mouth, so that it was hopelessly lost in the river and fell to
-the bottom.
-
-That was too much for the dog, to have his labor thus wasted. Thinking
-only of his master the faithful and serious Snap dived to the bottom of
-the river, tumbling Mee Yow off. You may well believe though, much
-scratching and clawing took place before Puss let go and swam ashore.
-
-Alas! the dog could not find the precious gem, and when once on land he
-first shook himself to dry his hair and then rushed at the cat to give
-her a good shaking. But Mee Yow climbed up a tree, and though nearly
-frozen to death after her icy bath, kept up growling as long as the dog
-barked.
-
-After that, in Korea, the cats and dogs ceased to be friends. Indeed,
-they never spoke to each other. Wild, unloved and unpetted, the cat
-belongs to the bad animals in Tokgabi’s museum, while the dog is the
-faithful friend of man.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-CAT-KIN AND THE QUEEN MOTHER
-
-
-Korea is called the Land of the Plum Blossom, but in winter the rivers
-freeze over. Then the men cut through the ice which is often several
-feet thick, to catch with their fishing lines and hooks the fish that
-swim in the water beneath. Yet they are very glad to welcome any sign
-of the coming spring, and they watch eagerly for the pussy willows to
-show themselves.
-
-Now there was a farmer who lived in Nai-po, which is the grain garden
-of the Korean peninsula, who wanted a little daughter, though other
-parents cared more for sons.
-
-One day farmer Pak, for that was his name, discovered a pussy willow
-which seemed to him, after the long winter, like a light shining in a
-dark place. He plucked it and carried proudly home this branch full of
-fuzzy little buds. This was a sign of his happiness at the return of
-spring. He was tired of ice and snow and now he knew that soon the
-gloomy hills would burst into a glory of bright colors from the
-blooming flowers, and look like an army with flags.
-
-That same day his prayers were answered and a little girl was born into
-his home. Giving the pussy willow to his wife, he said: “We shall name
-our baby Cat-kin, that is Little Puss.”
-
-Cat-kin never saw a cradle, for the Korean mothers carry their babies
-on their backs. She was soon out of infancy, and then it was not long
-before she was standing up and toddling about and playing with her
-doggie and pet bull. These little pets on four legs usually take the
-place of kittens in a country home in Korea, for the cats are wild and
-do not allow children to fondle them.
-
-Long before she was a dozen years old, Cat-kin became very fond of
-fairy stories, of which Korea has a great many, besides thousands of
-tales of wonderful people and animals and what happened to them. She
-often looked up towards the high hills and distant mountains, where she
-thought the fairies, dragons, ogres and tigers lived. Here also dwelt
-the sen-nin or mountain spirits, wise and good, of whom the old people
-talked and the soldiers painted on their banners when they went to war.
-
-When about eight years old, Cat-kin wanted very much to walk up towards
-the north star, which her father showed her shining in the heavens. He
-had once traveled up into one of the Northern provinces, where during
-the daytime he could see afar off the great snow-white mass of the Ever
-White Mountain rising up to meet the azure sky. There, at the top he
-had heard, lay the Dragon Prince’s Pool, out of which flowed the two
-rivers that made Korea an island. One was named the Tumen and the other
-the Yalu, after the beautiful green and blue sheen on the feathers of a
-drake’s back, so richly colored were its shining waters. When her
-father told of his travels, Cat-kin also longed to go north to get to
-the very top and touch the sky.
-
-But this she knew she could not do, even if she had had long legs and
-were as strong as a man, for the tigers were very numerous and always
-roaming about. These yellow and black striped brutes were man-eaters.
-They loved nothing better for a good dinner than a young girl.
-
-So as she did not know any way of getting to the top of the Ever White
-Mountain and of seeing the deep blue waters of the Pool, except by
-riding on the back of a dragon, which she sometimes dreamed of, she
-kept waiting and waiting for one of these flying creatures to come, yet
-it never came.
-
-Cat-kin was bound to have the fairies visit her, if possible. So one
-day, sitting under a persimmon tree and reading a story, she held the
-book in one hand, while she struck the ground several times, saying
-earnestly:
-
-“Earth-spirit, earth-spirit, come to me; come up and see me.”
-
-All of a sudden the air seemed heavy with sweet perfume, and a silver
-mist like a cloud spread over her house and garden. Then a bright
-dazzling light flooded everything and there stood before her a
-glistening chariot, made of blue jade with golden wheels. It was drawn
-by milk-white horses and on a seat of shining silver sat the Western
-Heavenly Queen Mother herself.
-
-Attendant upon the Mother Queen were thousands of the most beautiful
-maidens, who were all dressed in resplendent robes. They wore amber
-ornaments, and silver girdles, and necklaces of precious stones and
-silken robes with many tassels. Their feet were shod with gold
-embroidered velvet slippers, and on their heads were caps of gold
-studded with glittering gems. Cat-kin could hardly count the rich
-ornaments, necklaces, breast chains and the jade wands, like sceptres,
-which they held in their hands. These were shaped like lotus flowers.
-The faces of all these maidens were rosy, their eyes sparkled, and all
-had small hands and feet.
-
-In a voice of great sweetness that sounded like music the Heavenly
-Queen Mother looked at Cat-kin and spoke to her, saying:
-
-“Come forward, little maid, fear not. I shall take you with me to my
-palace, in the Island of Gems and give you all you want, besides
-showering blessings on your people, if you will come.”
-
-Cat-kin did not feel at all timid or frightened, but came boldly
-forward and knelt at the base of the chariot.
-
-The Mother Queen first touched her with her milk-white jade wand, that
-was carved like a lotus bud, and made the little girl rise.
-
-In a moment more, a silver chariot, with wheels made of turquoise and
-drawn by two young milk-white dragons, wheeled up close to her, and the
-attendant lady in golden robes bade her step in.
-
-The dragons were fierce, powerful, fire-breathing creatures, with wide
-spreading wings, and their bodies and tails together were of the length
-of whales, while their eyes darted fire. Yet Cat-kin was not at all
-afraid, and thought it was great fun. Then up through and far above the
-clouds the host of bright beings flew. They followed the Queen Mother’s
-chariot until, far away, they poised in mid-sky. Cat-kin was then told
-to look over the side of the chariot to the earth and ocean, miles and
-miles below. She was asked if she could recognize her father’s cottage,
-but she could not. The whole village looked only like a grey mass of
-thatched roofs, and she could pick out only the temple.
-
-There, spread out, was the great sea, as blue as a sapphire, and in
-places deep green, like an emerald, but she could see no ships nor any
-coast or shores, nor any ranges of mountains, nor signs of the land of
-Korea. Nothing but ripples and waves were visible. Yet in the center of
-the azure sea was an island. The trees were emeralds and the roofs of
-the houses were of gold, and the windows diamonds. These were so full
-of light that no lamps were necessary.
-
-Beautiful beings, all maidens, as lovely in garb and face as those who
-filled the train of the Queen Mother, walked or played, or sang in the
-gardens. Or swam and sported in the sapphire waves, or rowed and sailed
-about in boats that seemed as if made of marble, they were so white.
-
-At a signal from the Queen the singing ceased. Then there rose up wave
-upon wave of sweetest melody from the players on instruments who were
-in the gardens below.
-
-Cat-kin thought she heard at intervals the chorus, sounding out the
-words, rising upward like pulses, through the air, “Welcome lovely
-mortal! Our Queen invites and we greet thee! Manifold be her gifts to
-thee and thine! Come, thou honored among all Korean maidens! Come to us
-and join our band and we shall love thee as one of ourselves.”
-
-In the wink of a falcon’s eye—so short a time it seemed—the Mother
-Queen and her host descended.
-
-As the chariots touched the island, a bevy of radiant maidens came
-forward, some to attend the Queen Mother and some to lead Cat-kin into
-her own room in the palace. There the most gorgeous robes were put on
-her, beside a cap begemmed with glittering, precious stones of various
-colors, and a pair of gold-embroidered velvet slippers.
-
-Cat-kin was surprised when one of the shining maidens set a royal tiara
-adorned with five gems upon her brow.
-
-“For me?” she asked in surprise.
-
-“Yes for you, whom the Heavenly Mother Queen would honor.”
-
-“And what do these five gems, jade, crystal, malachite, amber and agate
-signify?” asked Cat-kin.
-
-“Ah, that is not for us to tell you, but the Queen Mother ordered
-these. Tomorrow she will explain to you the secret of each gem.”
-
-Cat-kin walked about freely, enjoying the lovely sights and sounds. She
-also ate with keen appetite and to her full of the delicacies set on
-the table before her. Yet never once did she feel sleepy, nor see any
-beds, nor hear anyone talk of retiring. She wondered what they meant
-when they said “tomorrow”; for she could see no sun or moon or
-twilight. However, she did not think long about such things, and by and
-by forgot all about them.
-
-When the entire court and all the hosts of the Queen Mother’s
-attendants had assembled, Her Majesty’s chamberlain read the
-proclamation, which declared that the Queen looked with great favor
-upon the Korean people, and had decided to bestow great gifts upon
-them. For this purpose, she had selected and brought to her palace the
-Korean maid named Cat-kin, to endow them through this, their daughter,
-with five precious traits of disposition and character. In token of
-gracious thought and tender love, Her Majesty would now present and
-explain the meaning of the five precious gems. These were jade,
-crystal, malachite, amber, and agate.
-
-Cat-kin kneeled down before the Queen, who placed in Cat-kin’s hands
-the shining gems, while an attendant fairy took them from her opened
-palm and placed each one of them on vermilion velvet, edged with gold.
-Then five maidens stood by, each with a gem laid on a cushion.
-
-After the ceremony of presentation was over, the Queen made a speech,
-which told the Korean maiden’s fortune and her future.
-
-Cat-kin would be sent back over the clouds and ocean to the King’s
-palace in the capital of her home land, and there be made a princess.
-Many nobles and king’s sons from other countries, hearing of her beauty
-and her wonderful visit to the Island of Gems would come to pay her
-court as suitors. Many would ask for her hand, to be wedded to her; but
-she was to marry none but the king’s son, a prince of her own people.
-
-“Take these gems, fair maiden, and bestow their virtues and what they
-mean upon your people,” said the Queen. “A thousand years from now—as
-men count time—we together will visit Korea again.”
-
-Then both the Queen and Cat-kin, stepping into the silver chariot,
-drawn by the fire-breathing dragons, plunged on and mounted up into
-space. First they sailed above the clouds and then dipped downwards,
-steering to Korea and over the mountains, bearing their precious charge
-to the capital. They reached the ground in a cloud and the wheels of
-the chariot stood still before the palace gate.
-
-Yet before any mortal eyes could see their full forms, the Queen Mother
-and the dragons had disappeared, and Cat-kin stood alone, a resplendent
-maiden of dazzling appearance and in the robes given by the Heavenly
-Queen Mother, which all recognized at once as coming from the Island of
-Gems.
-
-A throng of court ladies and palace attendants and a long line of
-nobles and princes were already waiting for the maiden, who they knew
-came gift-laden from the Queen Mother, of whom all had heard from
-childhood. The five gems were laid, each in a covered casket of
-perfumed wood, encrusted with gold on top and inlaid with
-mother-of-pearl.
-
-Escorted into the throne room by a bevy of princesses, the Heavenly
-Mother’s gifts in the five caskets were reverently placed on silken
-fans, spread out on a table having on its top the five cushions of
-crimson velvet.
-
-Then, by lot and word of the diviners, the choice of a first drawing
-was awarded to a prince of fair face and mien. The other four nobles,
-one by one and in turn, approached and each was allowed to choose one
-of the caskets, all of which looked alike, and none was to be opened
-until the possessor was in his own home.
-
-Now these were the gifts for body and mind, of which the polished gems
-were the tokens. According as each prince chose and received, so with
-the trait, which each gem signified, would his children and posterity
-be endowed. In the course of centuries, these would become the national
-features, of twenty millions of Koreans.
-
-One by one the caskets were opened by each prince, and therein he
-discovered what was a trait in the character of the Korean people.
-These were:
-
-Procrastination—Putting off until tomorrow, or some other time, what
-ought to be done today, and keeping back not only one person but the
-whole nation.
-
-Hospitality—Always glad to see friends, to entertain people, even
-strangers, and to take care of relations, even to the making of one’s
-self poor—a habit carried too far as the years and centuries rolled on.
-
-Inexactness—The habit of not usually thinking clearly, counting
-correctly, or stating facts precisely, and when telling a story of
-“blowing a conch;” that is, of exaggerating.
-
-Love of family—How the mothers and fathers in Korea do love their
-children, their kinsfolk and their relatives!
-
-Sense of humor—A Korean can always see the funny side of things. He
-loves to joke and he bears his troubles well, because he likes to
-smile. As for the girls, they laugh as easily as the rain falls, or the
-flowers bloom.
-
-And what the Queen Mother predicted came true. Just as five fingers
-make up the hand, so the average people among the Koreans are known by
-the five traits, for better or for worse.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE MAGIC PEACH
-
-
-Out on the ocean, so far away that no ship ever sailed there, is an
-island on which stood the seven storied palace of the royal lady, Su
-Wang Moo. In our language, this title means Western Queen Mother. She
-is always ready to help good mortals with her gifts and favors.
-
-On this island thousands of genii wait to obey the commands of the
-Queen Mother. She has also chariots of silver and gold drawn by
-dragons, by which she sends her messages everywhere.
-
-The genii and most of the shining maidens stay at home to fulfill the
-Queen’s commands. In addition to these servants, she has hundreds of
-azure pigeons, which she often despatches to far-off places. In their
-bills, or under their wings, they carry some gift or promise to make
-people happy.
-
-In the mind of many a Korean maiden there rises the dream, or there
-wells up the hope, that some day the Western Queen Mother will send to
-her pretty clothes of silk, with necklaces of jewels, a handsome youth
-to wed her, and a silver ring for the marriage ceremony.
-
-Then she pictures to herself how splendidly she will be arrayed and how
-fine she will look in the costume of a bride; how her long black hair
-will be done up very high, with flowers and rosettes over the crown of
-her head, and ermine-edged slippers will be put on her feet. She
-wonders how she will feel when she drinks the cups of sacramental wine
-that make her a wife, after which she will go with her husband and bow
-to the memorial tablets of his ancestors.
-
-She goes all over in her mind the happy times she will have in her
-husband’s home. What she hopes for most, after all these things, is to
-have a kind mother-in-law. Then she will be a queen in her own little
-kingdom, with plenty of rice and kimchi, and cakes and goodies.
-
-So it is that many Korean maidens go out under the blue sky to look up
-at the stars, or on moonlight nights scan the heavens to see if the
-birds are coming. Hoping to greet the azure pigeons, they put on their
-best clothes and watch. Many are their dreams.
-
-Oh! how many lads also dream of the genii and of the riding on the
-dragon’s back, to cross the mountain ranges and the great oceans, and
-to visit strange, far-off countries; or, they think of the pink coat
-which they will wear. The pink coat shows that the lad is engaged to be
-married and will, when grown up, be a husband to the little girl who
-may be in her cradle days; for in Korea children and even babies in
-arms are engaged to be married to other children.
-
-Then the boy pictures the day when the long braid of hair, which he now
-has to wear down his back, shall be tucked up into a topknot, like a
-man’s. No matter how old a bachelor may be, he must wear this boy’s
-braid of hair. He must not speak, or talk with his elders, without
-first asking permission. He must be “seen and not heard” in company,
-and every one treats him as a child. So the boy also waits for the
-azure pigeons to come, for to be engaged to be married even when quite
-young, or to have a wife when older, means a great deal.
-
-Then the young husband will wear a wide brimmed hat after school and go
-up to the city, with his fellow villagers, to try at the literary
-examinations. They will all march together, under a banner tufted at
-the top with pheasant feathers. If he passes successfully, he will be
-welcomed home with a parade and band of music. By and by, he will
-become a magistrate and have a string of amber beads over his ear, and
-wear on his breast a square of gold-embroidered velvet. Servants will
-carry him in a palanquin and his men will carry wooden paddles to
-punish folks who break the laws. Then he can strut about, in starched
-white flowing clothes, with the common people all afraid of him. No
-wonder that the boy waits for the coming of the blue pigeon!
-
-Now in the gardens of the Queen’s Palace, on the Island of Gems, there
-grow wonderful fruits of a rich, ripe color, brilliant with light and
-sheen. These, when served at the banquets and eaten, have the power of
-making the guest live very long, even for thousands of years.
-
-Especially powerful is the celestial peach of longevity, which is
-served on little golden tables, its juice makes an old person’s body
-new, so that one who eats the peach will live hundreds of years.
-
-Sometimes the Queen sends one of these fruits to her favorites on the
-earth. Yet no one can ever get any of these peaches, unless the Queen
-herself gives them, and the peach trees are always jealously guarded by
-genii and dragons. None, even of the Queen’s servants, or her waiting
-maids, or any of the genii, or dragons, can bestow the peach of
-longevity on mortals.
-
-
-
-Now it happened that the Queen, hearing of the virtues of a certain
-king’s son, despatched one of her lovely maidens, in one of her ten
-thousand dragon chariots, inviting him to visit Her Majesty, in the
-Island of Gems. She sent a message also to the prince’s parents,
-telling them that their son would return before the end of the moon,
-which was then in its first quarter.
-
-His anxious mother, who had a bride already picked out for her son to
-wed, warned him against looking too long at the lovely princesses, or
-pretty maids in the Queen’s Palace of Gems. In truth she had her
-lurking suspicions. She feared for her darling son, that, beneath their
-rosy faces and moon-like eyes, they were really sirens, possibly even
-sea monsters in female form, and might eat him up.
-
-She also urged him to be very careful as to etiquette. He must be
-especially decorous, because the code of behavior and manners might not
-be the same as those among polite people upon the earth. Moreover, he
-must notice and hear everything and, when he came back home, tell her
-all about it.
-
-On the other hand, the Queen of the Island of Gems warned the lovely
-maiden, a princess whom she sent, to beware lest the prince might fall
-in love with her, either on the way, or when at the island. If he tried
-to persuade her to marry him and to stay on the earth and not come back
-to the Island of Gems, and to her duties to the Queen, the palace maid
-would be disgraced and die early.
-
-Although the Queen laughed when she said it, and quoted the proverb,
-“Don’t trust a pigeon to carry grain,” she was really very serious, and
-the maiden knew that it would not do to thwart the royal wishes.
-
-So this discreet princess made a firm resolve to be very careful. She
-decided that when she met the prince she would be very cold in her
-bearing. When delivering the Queen’s invitation, she would appear to
-think it only a matter of business, though very important. She would
-not stay more than an hour in the prince’s mansion.
-
-When the dragon chariot was returning homeward she would be silent. She
-would hold no conversation, nor speak a word, nor let the prince sit
-beside her, but she would keep in the front seat nearest the dragon,
-while he should ride on the great creature’s back.
-
-So it was a very quiet journey which the prince made, while the chariot
-sped over the clouds, with the earth and oceans lying far beneath. Part
-of the time he sat on the dragon’s back, as if in a saddle, but after a
-while he climbed back into the chariot again, and all the time he was
-so thrilled with the speed and the grandeur of it all that, to tell the
-truth, he forgot all about the lovely princess who had brought the
-Queen’s message, until he found himself at the Queen’s Palace of Gems
-and was invited to step out of the chariot.
-
-Soon he was seated with others, similarly honored, at the table which
-was loaded down with dishes of gold and silver which were heaped with
-the choicest viands. The guests, all in fine clothes like the prince,
-were waited on by shining maidens of exquisite beauty and robed in
-golden garments gemmed with glittering jewels of the most precious
-workmanship.
-
-Upon one of these lovely creatures, a maiden who seemed to be about
-sixteen, not far away from where he sat, the prince cast his eyes. She
-was kneeling on the floor ready to do his bidding. He was so filled
-with admiration at her loveliness that he could hardly pay any
-attention to the talk at the table. Despite his mother’s warning, he
-made several mistakes in propriety.
-
-Yet his appetite was very good after his long journey and he ate
-heartily of the delicious fare. Towards the end of the feast, feeling
-in a jolly mood, he picked up one of the peaches. Then he pared and
-sliced it, greatly enjoying its juicy nectar. Every morsel of the pulp,
-as he put it in his mouth, made him feel as if he were gaining a
-century of vigor. He knew he was lengthening his life and increasing
-his power to enjoy the pleasures of which he had always been very fond.
-
-Indeed the prince was far less of a scholar and student than he ought
-to have been. Often at home when his teachers were all present and
-ready to begin the tasks of the day, the lad was still out at play. His
-older sister used to say laughingly of her brother, “He never let his
-studies interfere with his education.”
-
-Yet every moment this maiden kneeling near him seemed to grow more
-charming in both face and form, dress and adornment, ease and grace of
-motion. Indeed she seemed the very embodiment of all loveliness, and
-the prince could not keep his eyes off her. He did not know that this
-was the effect of eating the peach of longevity, for the maiden was
-really no prettier at the end of the banquet than she had been at the
-beginning. The change was in him, not in her.
-
-So intoxicated was the prince, that he so far forgot himself and what
-his mother had told him not to do, that he picked out one of the
-finest-looking of the peaches from its golden basket on the table and
-tossed it over to the pretty maiden.
-
-On her part the maid of honor had herself been so wrapped up in
-admiration of the young and princely guest, that when he motioned that
-he was about to toss a peach to her she broke the rule of the Palace of
-Gems. She threw out her hands and caught the peach deftly, as if
-playing ball.
-
-The palace ladies were all horrified. They had been taught that, except
-to perform the duties of waiting and serving, they were to pay no
-attention to anything the guests might say or do. When heated with wine
-the guests might be only making sport of the attendants. They were to
-decline any personal attentions and continue in their duty of serving.
-But instead of averting her gaze, or bowing low with her face to the
-ground, or having her eyes downcast, the maid, actually threw out her
-hands, caught the peach and, to the horror of all who saw her, bit into
-it and swallowed the morsel.
-
-What it was that happened the very next moment even the fairies could
-not tell or exactly remember; for a golden mist seemed to fall in the
-banquet hall, enveloping everything.
-
-
-
-It happens that just here in the story a great gap occurs. At such a
-pause the Korean story-teller, who sits in his booth in one of the back
-streets of Seoul, would stop and send his boy to take up a collection
-from the crowd. Nor would he go on, until all had been invited to give
-and the coins rattled in the gourd shell.
-
-When he began again some said it was the same story continued. Others
-were sure it was a new story, but that the palace maid and the prince
-were the same who had been in the banquet hall of the Western Queen
-Mother, in the Island of Gems and that the peach had never lost, since
-it never could lose its virtues, because given by the Queen. But such
-as it was, this is the way the story ran on:
-
-
-
-More than a thousand years afterwards it was known that in the high
-mountains of the Ever White range lived a holy man, a hermit, who was
-honored, almost worshiped by the people in that region. In the summer
-time hundreds of pilgrims visited his hut to hear wise words about how
-to live and do good, and then to receive the hermit’s blessing. Even
-the wild beasts appeared to be tame in his presence. At any rate, they
-never tried to bite or devour one another, or hurt the old man or to
-destroy his humble shelter. The tigers, the leopards and the bears
-seemed to forget they had claws, or teeth; while their little cubs
-played peacefully with each other.
-
-The dress of this hermit was of the ancient style of a thousand years
-before, of the time of the ancient dynasty of Ko.
-
-One day while out on one of his walks this old, white-bearded hermit
-met a woman of fair countenance, who seemed to be quite young, for her
-face was unwrinkled and rosy. It appeared that she had travelled far,
-yet she walked with the springing step of a maiden who was still in her
-teens. Her dress betokened that of ages gone, for it was of the sort
-and fashion which are revealed in the cave pictures painted on the
-walls of the dolmens, or the colossal stone chambers, in which kings
-and mighty men were buried, ten or fifteen centuries ago, which are
-very many in Korea.
-
-The hermit and maid met in the path under the tall pine tree and
-exchanged greetings, the lady bowing very low. Then, as she looked up
-in his eyes, her face became radiant with joy as if she recognized a
-dear friend.
-
-The sage inquired who she was, and whether she were the wandering lady,
-of whom rumor spoke of having been seen during centuries, over all the
-nine provinces of Korea, by people who were great grandfathers, as well
-as by the children of that day.
-
-Then she told her story.
-
-She was the same palace maid, who, in the Western Queen Mother’s palace
-on the Island of Gems had waited upon him, once a gay prince and now
-the holy hermit. Then again she bowed low.
-
-For catching and eating the peach which the princely guest had tossed
-to her, and thus breaking the rules of the palace, the Queen had
-ordered her banishment for a thousand years.
-
-But during all this time she had been seeking the prince who tossed her
-the peach of longevity; for she knew that neither she nor he could die,
-till the thousand years had passed. Yet none of the men she met,
-however handsome, learned or wealthy, reached her ideal of the youth
-she had seen so long ago. Not finding him, she went back to the Island
-of Gems, traveling on a dragon’s back, and humbly begged the Queen to
-extend her term of life, until she should meet the one she loved so
-dearly, even if she found him only after hundreds of years more of
-wandering and of hope deferred.
-
-The Mother Queen listened to her petition and was gracious and extended
-the maiden’s life. So on the earth she kept up her wanderings. Now,
-having met the holy hermit she was happy, for she felt sure that she
-had found the same prince, venerable in appearance though he was, for
-she could see his soul.
-
-The hermit listened with delight to the lady’s story of her life in the
-palace and of her wanderings, during a thousand years in search of one
-she loved; and, especially, that she had been willing to have the
-Mother Queen order her future.
-
-As for the hermit, his long white beard which swept his breast fell
-off, his bald head was in a moment covered with luxuriant black hair,
-and he became young again in her presence, with springing step and
-bright eyes. He could not be more rosy in countenance, for the pure
-life he had led had kept his skin pink. They spent many hours together,
-in talking long and joyfully over their experiences in the Island of
-Gems.
-
-Then both agreed that now, since they had met again, they would bow
-gladly to the Queen’s decision concerning them both, and do whatever
-Her Majesty ordered.
-
-But already by a flying dragon that was famous for gathering up news
-from all parts of the universe, the Queen had been told of the meeting
-of the lovers in the mountain path, and of their pious resolve to
-commit their future to Her Majesty in the Island of Gems.
-
-Suddenly the pair of lovers heard near the mountain top a sound of
-sweet music, as of some fairy playing on a lute, and at every second
-the sounds seemed to come lower and nearer. Soon a great white cloud of
-sweet smelling odors, like incense, enveloped them. What was their
-surprise to see a golden chariot drawn by two dragons, whose eyes were
-like emeralds, come up close to where they stood. Both of them,
-prince-hermit and maid were then taken up into the chariot and borne
-swiftly over cloud, and mountain and sea, to the Island of Gems. There
-the Queen ordered them to be married, and, after a splendid wedding,
-they lived happily ever after.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE GREAT STONE FIRE EATER
-
-
-Ages ago, there lived a great Fire Spirit inside of a mountain to the
-southwest of Seoul, the capital of Korea. He was always hungry and his
-food was anything that would burn. He devoured trees, forests, dry
-grass, wood, and whatever he could get hold of. When those were not
-within his reach, he ate stones and rocks. He enjoyed the flames, but
-threw the hard stuff out of his mouth in the form of lava.
-
-This Fire Monster spent most of his time in a huge volcano some
-distance away, but in sight of the capital. The city people used to
-watch the smoke coming out of the crater by day and issuing in red
-fire, between sunset and sunrise, until all the heavens seemed in
-flames. Then, they said, the Fire Spirit was lighting up his palace. On
-cloudy nights the inside of the volcano glowed like a furnace. The
-moulten mass inside the crater was reflected on the clouds, so that one
-could almost see into the monster’s belly.
-
-But nothing tasted so good to the Fire Eater as things which men built,
-such as houses, stables, fences, and general property. An especial
-titbit, that he longed to swallow, was the royal palace.
-
-Looking out of its crater one day, he saw the king’s palace all silver
-bright and brand new, rising in the City of Seoul. Thereupon he
-chuckled, and said to himself, for he was very happy:
-
-“There’s a feast for me! I’ll just walk out of my mountain home and eat
-up that dainty morsel. I wonder how the king will like it.”
-
-But the Fire Spirit was in no hurry. He felt sure of his meal. So he
-waited until his friend, the South Wind, was prepared to join him.
-
-“Let me know when you’re ready,” said the Fire Spirit to the South
-Wind, “and we’ll have a splendid blaze. We’ll go up at night and enjoy
-a lively dance before they can get a drop of water on us. Don’t let the
-rain-clouds know anything about our picnic.”
-
-The South Wind promised easily, for she was always glad to have a
-frolic.
-
-So when the sun went down and it was dark, the Fire Spirit climbed out
-of his rocky home in the volcano and strode toward Seoul. The South
-Wind pranced and capered with him until the streets of the capital were
-so gusty that no one with a wide-brimmed hat dared go outdoors, lest,
-in a lively puff, he might lose his head-gear. As for the men in
-mourning, who wear straw hats a yardstick wide and as big and deep as
-wash-tubs, they locked themselves up at home and played checkers. By
-the time all the palace guards were asleep the Fire Spirit was ready.
-He said to the South Wind:
-
-“Blow, blow, your biggest blast, as I begin to touch the roofs of the
-smaller houses. This will whet my appetite for the palace, and then
-together we’ll eat them all up.”
-
-Not till they heard a mighty roar and crackling did the people in Seoul
-push back their paper windows to find out what was the matter. Oh, what
-a blaze! It seemed to mount to heaven with red tongues that licked the
-stars. Those who could see in the direction of the palace supposed the
-sun had risen, but soon the crash of falling roofs and mighty columns
-of smoke and flame, with clouds of sparks, told the terrible story. By
-the time the sun did rise, there was nothing but a level waste of
-ashes, where the large buildings had been. Even the smoke had been
-driven away by the wind.
-
-When the king and his people in the palace enclosure, who had saved
-their lives by running fast, thought over their loss, they began to
-plan how to stop the Fire Monster, when he should take it into his head
-to saunter forth on another walk and gobble up the king’s dwelling.
-
-A council of wise men was called to decide upon the question. Many long
-heads were bowed in hard thought over the matter. All the firemen,
-stone-cutters, fortune-tellers, dragon tamers, geomancers and people
-skilled in preventing conflagrations were invited to give their advice
-about the best way to fight the hungry Fire Demon.
-
-After weeks spent in pondering the problem they all agreed that a
-dragon from China should be brought over to Korea. If kept in a swamp
-and fed well, he would surely prevent the Fire Imp from rambling too
-near Seoul. Besides, the dragon knew how to amuse and persuade the
-South Wind not to join in the mischief.
-
-So, at tremendous cost and trouble, one of China’s biggest dragons,
-capable of making rain and of spouting tons of water on its enemies,
-was shipped over and kept in a swamp. It was honored with a royal
-decoration, allowed to wear a string of amber beads over its ear, given
-a horsehair hat, a nobleman’s girdle and fed all the turnips it desired
-to eat. In every way it was treated as the king’s favorite.
-
-But it was all in vain. Money and favor were alike wasted. The petted
-dragon made it rain too often, so that the land was soaked. Then when
-told not to do this, it grew sulky and neglected its duty. Finally it
-became fat and lazy and one night fell asleep when it ought to have
-been on guard, for the winds were out on a dance.
-
-Seeing his jailer thus caught napping, the Fire Imp leaped out of its
-volcano prison, rode quickly on the South Wind to Seoul and in a few
-hours had again swallowed the royal palace. There was nothing seen next
-day except ashes, which the Fire Monster cared no more for than we for
-nutshells when the kernels are eaten up.
-
-With big tears in their eyes, the king and his wise men met together
-again to decide on a new scheme to keep off the Fire Imp. They were
-ready to drown him, or to see him get eaten up, because he had twice
-swallowed up the palace. They sent the Chinese dragon home and this
-time, besides the fortune-tellers and the stone-cutters, the
-well-diggers were invited also. For many days the wise men studied
-maps, talked of geography, looked at mountains, valleys, and the
-volcano, and studied air currents. Finally one man, famous for his deep
-learning about wood and water, forests and rivers, spoke thus:
-
-“It is evident that the fire has always come from the southwest and up
-this valley,” pointing to a map.
-
-“True, true,” shouted all the wise men.
-
-“Well, right in his path let us dig a big pond, a regular artificial
-lake and very deep, into which the Fire Monster will tumble. This will
-put him out and he can get no further.”
-
-“Agreed, agreed,” shouted the wise men in chorus. “Why did we not think
-of this before?”
-
-All the skilful diggers of wells and ditches were summoned to the
-capital. With shovel and spade they worked for weeks. Then they let in
-water from the river until the pond was full.
-
-So everybody in Seoul went to bed thinking that the king’s palace was
-now safe surely.
-
-But the Fire Imp, seeing the dragon gone and his opportunity come,
-climbed out of his volcano and moved out for another meal. This time,
-the South Wind was busy elsewhere and could not go with him. So he went
-alone, but coming to the pond, tumbled and wet himself so badly that he
-was chilled and nearly put out when he got to the palace, which was
-only half burned. So he went home growling and hungry.
-
-Again the wise men were called and the first thing they did was to
-thank the boss well-digger, who had made the pond. The king summoned
-him into his presence to confer rank upon him and his children. He was
-presented with four rolls of silk, forty pounds of white ginseng, a
-tiger-skin robe, sixty dried chestnuts and forty-four strings of copper
-cash. Loaded with such Korean wealth and honors, the man fell on his
-hands and knees and thanked His Majesty profusely.
-
-Then they called the master stone-cutter or chief of the guild and
-asked him if he could chisel out the figure of a beast that could eat
-flames and be ugly enough to scare away the Fire Imp.
-
-The master had long hoped that he would be invited to rear this bit of
-sculpture, but hitherto the king and Court had feared it might cost too
-much.
-
-So the order was given, and out of the heart of the mountains, a mighty
-block of white granite was loosed and brought to Seoul on rollers,
-pushed, pulled, and hoisted by thousands of laborers. Then, hidden
-behind canvas, to keep the matter secret, lest the Fire Imp should find
-it out, the workmen toiled. Hammers and chisels clinked, until on a
-certain day the Great Stone Flame Eater was ready to take his permanent
-seat in front of the palace gate, as guardian of the royal buildings
-and treasures.
-
-The Fire Imp laughed when the South Wind told him of what the Koreans
-in the capital were doing, even though she warned him of the danger of
-his being eaten up.
-
-“I shall walk out and see for myself anyhow,” said the Fire Imp.
-
-One night he crept out quietly and moved toward the city. He was nearly
-drowned in the pond, but plucking up courage, he went on until he was
-near the king’s dwelling. Hearing the Fire Imp coming, the Great Flame
-Eater turned his head and licked his chops in anticipation of
-swallowing the Fire Imp whole, as a toad does a fly.
-
-But one sight of the hideous stony monster was enough for the Fire Imp.
-There, before him, on a high pedestal was something never before seen
-in heaven or on earth. It had enormous fire-proof scales like a
-salamander, with curly hair like asbestos and its mouth was full of big
-fangs. It was altogether hideous enough to give even a Volcano Spirit a
-chill.
-
-“Just think of those jaws snapping on me,” said the Fire Imp to
-himself, as he looked at them and the fangs. “I do believe that
-creature is half alligator and half water-tortoise. I had better go
-home. No dinner this time!”
-
-So by his freezing glance alone, the Great Flame Eater frightened away
-the Fire Imp, so that he never came again and the royal palace was not
-once burned. To-day the ugly brute still keeps watch. You have only to
-look at him to enjoy this story.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-PIGLING AND HER PROUD SISTER
-
-
-Pear Blossom had been the name of a little Korean maid who was suddenly
-left motherless. When her father, Kang Wa, who was a magistrate high in
-office, married again, he took for his wife a proud widow whose
-daughter, born to Kang Wa, was named Violet. Mother and daughter hated
-housework and made Pear Blossom clean the rice, cook the food and
-attend to the fire in the kitchen. They were hateful in their treatment
-of Pear Blossom, and, besides never speaking a kind word, called her
-Pigling, or Little Pig, which made the girl weep often.
-
-It did no good to complain to her father, for he was always busy. He
-smoked his yard-long pipe and played checkers hour by hour, apparently
-caring more about having his great white coat properly starched and
-lustred than for his daughter to be happy. His linen had to be beaten
-with a laundry club until it glistened like hoar frost, and, except his
-wide-brimmed black horsehair hat, he looked immaculately white when he
-went out of the house to the Government office.
-
-Poor Pigling had to perform this task of washing, starching and
-glossing, in addition to the kitchen work and the rat-tat-tat of her
-laundry stick was often heard in the outer room till after midnight,
-when her heartless stepsister and mother had long been asleep.
-
-There was to be a great festival in the city and for many days
-preparations were made in the house to get the father ready in his best
-robe and hat, and the women in their finery, to go out and see the king
-and the royal procession.
-
-Poor Pigling wanted very much to have a look at the pageant, but the
-cruel stepmother, setting before her a huge straw bag of unhulled rice
-and a big cracked water jar, told her she must husk all the rice, and,
-drawing water from the well, fill the crock to the brim before she
-dared to go out on the street.
-
-What a task to hull with her fingers three bushels of rice and fill up
-a leaky vessel! Pigling wept bitterly. How could it ever be done?
-
-While she was brooding thus and opening the straw bag to begin
-spreading the rice out on mats, she heard a whir and a rush of wings
-and down came a flock of pigeons. They first lighted on her head and
-shoulders, and then hopping to the floor began diligently, with beak
-and claw, and in a few minutes the rice lay in a heap, clean, white,
-and glistening, while with their pink toes they pulled away the hulls
-and put these in a separate pile.
-
-Then, after a great chattering and cooing, the flock was off and away.
-
-Pigling was so amazed at this wonderful work of the birds that she
-scarcely knew how to be thankful enough. But, alas, there was still the
-cracked crock to be filled. Just as she took hold of the bucket to
-begin there crawled out of the fire hole a sooty black imp, named
-Tokgabi.
-
-“Don’t cry,” he squeaked out. “I’ll mend the broken part and fill the
-big jar for you.” Forthwith, he stopped up the crack with clay, and
-pouring a dozen buckets of water from the well into the crock, it was
-filled to brimming and the water spilled over on all sides. Then
-Tokgabi the imp bowed and crawled into the flues again, before the
-astonished girl could thank her helper.
-
-So Pigling had time to dress in her plain but clean clothes that were
-snow-white. She went off and saw the royal banners and the king’s grand
-procession of thousands of loyal men.
-
-The next time, the stepmother and her favorite daughter planned a
-picnic on the mountain. So the refreshments were prepared and Pigling
-had to work hard in starching the dresses to be worn—jackets, long
-skirts, belts, sashes, and what not, until she nearly dropped with
-fatigue. Yet instead of thanking and cheering her, the cruel stepmother
-told Pigling she must not go out until she had hoed all the weeds out
-of the garden and pulled up all the grass between the stones of the
-walk.
-
-Again the poor girl’s face was wet with tears. She was left at home
-alone, while the others went off in fine clothes, with plenty to eat
-and drink, for a day of merrymaking.
-
-While weeping thus, a huge black cow came along and out of its great
-liquid eyes seemed to beam compassion upon the kitchen slave. Then, in
-ten mouthfuls, the animal ate up the weeds, and, between its hoof and
-lips, soon made an end of the grass in the stone pathway.
-
-With her tears dried Pigling followed this wonderful brute out over the
-meadows into the woods, where she found the most delicious fruit her
-eyes ever rested upon. She tasted and enjoyed, feasting to the full and
-then returned home.
-
-When the jealous stepsister heard of the astonishing doings of the
-black cow, she determined to enjoy a feast in the forest also. So on
-the next gala-day she stayed home and let the kitchen drudge go to see
-the royal parade. Pigling could not understand why she was excused,
-even for a few hours, from the pots and kettles, but she was still more
-surprised by the gift from her stepmother of a rope of cash to spend
-for dainties. Gratefully thanking the woman, she put on her best
-clothes and was soon on the main street of the city enjoying the gay
-sights and looking at the happy people. There were tight rope dancing,
-music with drum and flute by bands of strolling players, tricks by
-conjurers and mountebanks, with mimicking and castanets, posturing by
-the singing girls and fun of all sorts. Boys peddling honey candy,
-barley sugar and sweetmeats were out by the dozen. At the eating-house,
-Pigling had a good dinner of fried fish, boiled rice with red peppers,
-turnips, dried persimmons, roasted chestnuts and candied orange, and
-felt as happy as a queen.
-
-The selfish stepsister had stayed home, not to relieve Pigling of work,
-but to see the wonderful cow. So, when the black animal appeared and
-found its friend gone and with nothing to do, it went off into the
-forest.
-
-The stepsister at once followed in the tracks of the cow but the animal
-took it into its head to go very fast, and into unpleasant places. Soon
-the girl found herself in a swamp, wet, miry and full of brambles.
-Still hoping for wonderful fruit, she kept on until she was tired out
-and the cow was no longer to be seen. Then, muddy and bedraggled, she
-tried to go back, but the thorny bushes tore her clothes, spoiled her
-hands and so scratched her face that when at last, nearly dead, she got
-home, she was in rags and her beauty was gone.
-
-But Pigling, rosy and round, looked so lovely that a young man from the
-south, of good family and at that time visiting the capital, was struck
-with her beauty. And as he wanted a wife, he immediately sought to find
-out where she lived. Then he secured a go-between who visited both
-families and made all the arrangements for the betrothal and marriage.
-
-Grand was the wedding. The groom, Su-wen, was dressed in white and
-black silk robes, with a rich horsehair cap and head-dress denoting his
-rank as a Yang-ban, or gentleman. On his breast, crossed by a
-silver-studded girdle, was a golden square embroidered with flying
-cranes rising above the waves—the symbols of civil office. He was tall,
-handsome, richly cultured, and quite famous as a writer of verses,
-besides being well read in the classics.
-
-Charming, indeed, looked Pear Blossom as she was now called again, in
-her robe of brocade, and long undersleeves which extended from her
-inner dress of snow-white silk. Dainty were her red kid shoes curved
-upward at the toes. With a baldric of open-worked silver, a
-high-waisted long skirt, with several linings of her inner silk robes
-showing prettily at the neck, and the silver bridal ring on her finger,
-she looked as lovely as a princess.
-
-Besides her bridal dower, her father asked Pear Blossom what she
-preferred as a special present. When she told him, he laughed heartily.
-Nevertheless he fulfilled her wishes and to this day, in the boudoir of
-Pear Blossom, now Mrs. Su-wen, there stands an earthen figure of a
-black cow moulded and baked from the clay of her home province, while
-the pigeons like to hover about a pear tree that bursts into bloom
-every spring time and sheds on the ground a snowy shower of fragrant
-petals.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE MIRROR THAT MADE TROUBLE
-
-
-The city of Seoul lies near the Han river, which flows all the way
-across Korea from the high mountains to the level sea. To most Korean
-people, in the old days when no one traveled abroad, Seoul was the
-center of the universe.
-
-All roads in the kingdom led to this wonderful city, in which there
-were big shops and stores, and gay streets full of lively people in
-rich clothing. The gentlemen in their stiffly starched and glistening
-white clothes walked very proudly with their heads up in the air. When
-they straddled the little Korean ponies, which are not much bigger than
-Newfoundland dogs, it seemed as if elephants were trying to ride on
-donkeys.
-
-From morning to night the avenues were full of traffic and business.
-All the wonderful things brought by the Arabs from India, and by the
-merchants from Japan and China, could be bought in the Korean capital.
-
-A thousand bulls loaded with dry grass and fire-wood came through the
-city gates into Seoul every day. They could be seen passing along, but
-not much besides legs, tail and horns were visible. At breakfast and
-supper time clouds of blue smoke rose up from ten thousand low, and
-often underground chimneys, carrying the heat and fire from the
-kitchens, where good things to eat were cooked. The cartloads of bags
-of rice, millet, barley, fruits and vegetables, goodies and cookies,
-jars and crockery, seen in the shops, would make a mountain.
-
-Palaces, pagodas, temples and mansions of the nobles and wealthy people
-made the place in which the king lived very beautiful, while out beyond
-were the high stone city walls, white or covered with vines.
-
-When the sun dipped below the mountains the gates were shut, and after
-that no one could enter until morning. At every closing and opening of
-the gates the musicians played lively tunes and the great bell tolled
-out the time of sunrise and sunset. In the band were drums, fifes,
-trumpets and stringed instruments.
-
-At night from inside the house and wineshops, one could hear the sounds
-of revelry, music, song, dancing and feasting, which often lasted till
-morning.
-
-Out on the Great South Mountain, a mighty fire burned and the flames
-shot high up in the air. This was the welcome message that all was
-peaceful throughout the whole kingdom. On hilltop and mountain, from
-the snowy peaks of the Ever White Mountain to the islands out in the
-Southern Sea, and from the east to the west coast, these signal fires
-blaze. Flame answering flame made a telegraph announcing that all was
-well.
-
-But at nine o’clock Seoul outdoors was a woman’s city. All boys and men
-must be off the streets. Any male person caught by the police would be
-taken to the magistrate’s office and there receive a severe beating
-with wooden paddles by the public spankers. Then the women and grown-up
-girls, old and young, went outdoors, breathed the air, took their
-walks, made their visits, and had a delightful time with play and chat
-and gossip. But by midnight every one must be indoors.
-
-It was no wonder then that in the country the farmers and the village
-folk thought that Seoul, the capital, was the most splendid city on
-earth. If they ever heard of London and Paris and New York, they
-supposed that these places on the map were only villages. How was it
-possible that any city could equal or surpass Seoul? Why, the very idea
-was nonsense!
-
-In every hamlet even the children hoped some day to see the city. Often
-they dreamed of riding through the air on a dragon’s back in order to
-get there. It was thought that anything which a mortal man or even the
-insatiable Tokgabi should require, could be bought in Seoul.
-
-Now in a village up north, which in English we should call
-Cucumberville, lived a miller, Mr. Kim and his wife Cho. The man had
-worked hard for many years and heaped up piles of iron and brass cash,
-which he kept hidden under a rafter beneath the roof. He had long
-intended to see the royal city, and his wife encouraged him, for she
-wanted a new dress, and a comb and a pair of shoes, such as city people
-wear. His daughters said they would like to have girdles,
-ermine-trimmed slippers and silver hair pins. Kim felt that he must
-surely go, to please both himself and his family.
-
-So one fine May morning he started off to walk to Seoul and see the
-sights. His wife and daughters, bowing down with their faces to the
-paper carpet, begged him to bring them the pretty things they talked
-about so much, and also whatever might please himself.
-
-His faithful spouse bade him beware of thieves and robbers and not to
-let his money lie around loose in the inns by the way. When in Seoul he
-must not go into the wineshops, or to see the dancing girls called
-ge-sang (or geisha), or to spend his cash foolishly. There were many
-wicked men about and she had heard that beside the polite people there
-were boors even in the capital. This she thought must surely be the
-fact, for there was a proverb that said so.
-
-On his part Kim cautioned his wife, since it was still chilly weather,
-to keep the kitchen fires burning, so as to have the house warm and not
-let the girls take cold. She must beware also of robbers. These bad men
-had the habit of coming after midnight, when the fire was out, and of
-quietly loosening the stones of the foundations under the floor and
-getting inside, and also into the rooms through the flues. The house
-must be well locked up and the door barricaded at night, so that no
-prowling leopard or tiger roaming around should get in. If she heard
-any scratching or clawing on the roof, she was to strike the gong. This
-would alarm the villagers, and then the men would rush out with torches
-and drive off the beasts of prey. If she should hear the pigs squealing
-out in the pen, she must sound the alarm for the tigers loved Korean
-pork even more than Korean people.
-
-Now Kim was a first-rate fellow. When at home he was pretty sharp at a
-bargain while buying beans, millet or rice, and was skilful in grinding
-barley or chopping up straw for the donkeys. But when he was once
-inside the walls of the big city, one would think “he carried his head
-under his armpits,” as the Koreans say.
-
-For amid so many strange sights and sounds he was dazed. Like a great
-gawk he stood on the main street, with his mouth open. As the crowds
-went by, he wondered where all the people came from, and how they all
-got a living.
-
-He found the saying true that “There are rude people, even in Seoul,”
-for one fellow shouted at him asking him whether he intended to swallow
-the moon. Some of the boys laughed at him and one said his mouth was
-like a bird box, and something might fly in.
-
-Kim looked at many things in the shops, but when he asked how much they
-cost he nearly fainted. He was truly scared at the price, and walked
-on. However, he bought some pretty things for his wife and daughters,
-such as a fan, a roll of silk for a dress, a box of hairpins, some
-amber beads, and a silver ring, so that when his oldest daughter, who
-was soon to marry, became a bride, she would have everything ready.
-
-While in the silk shop the clerk who sold him the goods saw that Kim
-was from the country and thought he would have a little fun. So he told
-Kim about the fairies, and pointed out a shop across the way. There, if
-he looked at the round thing which the shop man would gladly show him,
-he would see and feel as he never felt or saw before.
-
-At once Kim went across the street and over to the shop, where they
-made metal things, bright, shining, polished and silvery. There he
-stood in front of a round thing like the moon. In it was a man’s face.
-It was the face of some one he thought he knew. It was a man about his
-own age he fancied, yet he could not tell just who it was or call him
-by name, but he was sure he had seen the person before. When he turned
-around suddenly, hoping to surprise a friend, and perhaps a neighbor,
-from his home town, there was nobody near. He looked again. There it
-was! Had his friend hid himself and then come back?
-
-When Kim dodged he lost sight of the face, but when standing in front
-of this round thing, there was the same man again in the mirror, for
-that is what the shining metal was.
-
-When Kim laughed the fellow laughed too. When he made a wry face or
-grimaces, the other person, whoever he was, did the same. No matter how
-quickly Kim might turn around to catch him, he was gone.
-
-Now Kim had never before seen a mirror and did not know what it might
-be. Yet thinking it was almost like fairy magic, he bought the metal
-disc and took it back with him.
-
-When he arrived home he must first of all unpack the boxes containing
-the pretty things for the women of his family, for the girls were
-impatient to see what their father had brought them.
-
-They were so absorbed in their gifts that they did not notice what Mr.
-Kim had bought for himself. So he laid the case containing the mirror
-on the table and put some other purchases away in the big cabinet,
-inlaid with mother-of-pearl, that stood in the best room. Then he went
-out to look after his mill, and the pigs, the donkey, and the bull.
-
-No sooner had the girls opened the mirror case, than terrible things
-happened. The mother, who was behind the daughter, saw the face of a
-young woman and was startled at beholding a stranger, as she thought,
-in her house. Instantly she broke out in a fit of jealous passion.
-
-“Your father has brought home another woman, a ge-sang, from Seoul, to
-take my place. What does he mean?”
-
-At the same time the daughter, seeing a face in the polished metal,
-cried out, “No mother, we won’t have any strange woman in your place.
-Besides she’s too young and will be a tyrant to us.”
-
-Hearing the loud voices and crying, the grandmother hobbled in and
-asked what was the matter.
-
-“Look, see for yourself, what our daddy has brought home to us to make
-us miserable.”
-
-Seeing the mirror, Granny looked into it for a moment. Then she too
-burst into a passion, and cried out, “I won’t have this old woman in
-our house. It’s enough for my son to support me and his family. Oh, why
-did he go to Seoul?”
-
-By this time there was such a racket with four women, young,
-middle-aged, and old, crying so lustily, that each one quickly used up
-three paper handkerchiefs apiece, before they could dry their tears.
-
-While still crying out, “ugo, ugo!” very loudly, grandfather came in,
-shaking his stick and ordering them to be quiet. Then, looking at their
-streaming faces and dropping tears, he demanded to know the cause of
-the trouble.
-
-“See for yourself,” said his wife. Then she handed him the metal
-trouble-maker, such as had never before been seen in the village.
-
-At once the old man turned almost purple with rage.
-
-“What,” cried he in his cracked voice, “is my son so unfilial as to
-bring another old man into the house? How can he support two fathers?
-Where will he get the kimchi and millet for the old fellow to eat?”
-Then he threw the mirror into its box and slammed down the lid tight.
-
-All this time while jealousy was eating up these angry people and
-threatening to disrupt the family, the noise increased so greatly, that
-the husband left his pigs and his mill, and rushed in to see what was
-the matter.
-
-At once his wife, who was a very strong woman, flew at him, and seizing
-his topknot, pulled him and dragged him over the floor and outdoors,
-and along into the street, never stopping till she reached the house of
-the judge to tell her troubles. There she made out a terrible story.
-
-Once in the presence of the great man who wore a mighty hat and had a
-string of amber beads hung over his ear, she told the story of what her
-husband had brought from Seoul, to destroy the peace of his family.
-Surely, he meant to go back to the capital and have a young wife! In
-her anger her tongue never stopped a moment.
-
-She charged her husband with all the crimes known in the codes. Yet all
-that she could prove against him was that he had brought something
-round, made of metal, into the house. She assured the judge that it was
-as full of evil magic as Tokgabi and all his imps.
-
-Now the other members of the family joined in accusation of the miller.
-Besides supporting the wife’s story, they all declared that it was true
-in every detail; because the five witnesses all agreed in their story.
-
-When the flood of talk had subsided somewhat, the judge, who meanwhile
-had kept on smoking a brass-bowled pipe, the stem of which was a yard
-long, while the bowl was only as big as a chestnut, asked,
-
-“In what form did you say this evil magic came?”
-
-At this, the miller’s old father produced the box, opened it, and
-handed the metal mirror to the judge, who had never before seen
-anything like it. In fact, he had never been out of his district except
-once, when he went to the examinations, years before, in Seoul. Even
-then he was so much with his fellow students and so long shut up in his
-little cell writing out his essays that he saw hardly anything of the
-city.
-
-When he held up the mirror before his eyes he suddenly became like a
-demon in his rage, and behaved just like the other people in the
-court-room.
-
-On the face of the round thing which he held in his hand he saw a man
-in official robes, such as only men of eminence wear. He had on his
-head a high round hat, like those which only magistrates ever put on,
-while on his right ear hung a string of twenty-eight big round amber
-beads.
-
-When he held the mirror down in front of him he discerned also the
-embroidered breastpiece, and the little silver stork, that served to
-hold together the folds of a judge’s coat of office, while around his
-waist was a decorated girdle.
-
-All this made him almost choke with anger, at the idea that another
-magistrate should come into the village of Cucumberville, to take his
-place.
-
-What should he himself do for a salary? If he lost his position how
-would he support his old parents and his twenty-five poor relations? He
-saw himself a pauper in his old age.
-
-Speechless with rage there was silence in the court-room for at least
-half a minute. Even the women’s tongues did not wag. All looked at each
-other to see what would come next.
-
-But the peace lasted no longer than thirty seconds, for the storm broke
-out again in full force when the jealous wife seized her husband by his
-topknot to drag him home. She feared that the magistrate was himself so
-angry and jealous, that he might adjourn the court.
-
-Just when the hullaballoo was at its height, a messenger rushed into
-the court-room, to announce that the royal inspector direct from the
-king was on his travels of observation in the province. Within five
-minutes he would be at the gate of the court house.
-
-Instantly the jealous wife let go her husband’s topknot. The magistrate
-called for order and posted his under officers in their places,
-according to the etiquette of welcoming the king’s agents. Then the
-magistrate adjusting his hat and topknot which had been badly tumbled
-in his passion went out to greet his worship, the Royal Inspector.
-Salutations over, he waved his hand to his superior to take to the
-chief seat of honor.
-
-As soon as all formalities were over, the high officer inquired into
-the cause of the troubles and into the merits of the case.
-
-The local magistrate put the mirror on a silken cushion and handed both
-to his highness, the inspector, saying:
-
-“Please, your worship, it is this that has turned us all into devils of
-jealousy. What is it?”
-
-Then this gentleman from the capital, who was every day accustomed to
-the comforts and conveniences of the great city and the splendor of the
-palace, explained what a mirror was. He gave them all a mild scolding
-for their folly and dismissed them, telling them that whenever he or
-she felt angry, or jealous, to go out and pull the tops off five
-turnips; or, to drink slowly a cup of rice water before speaking an
-angry word.
-
-Thereupon, the miller’s wife fell on her face and begged pardon of her
-husband. Then, all the family, young and old, while walking home,
-laughed heartily at their mistakes.
-
-When a Korean begins to laugh, it is sometimes hard for him to stop;
-but after half an hour, all was quiet again. After that, nearly every
-one who could afford it bought a mirror. All the girls in the village,
-sooner or later, possessed one.
-
-They used to look into its face so often to see their own, that the
-oiled-paper carpet fronting the mirror was, in many houses, soon worn
-out.
-
-In Seoul, the mirror-makers wondered what had happened in
-Cucumberville, the village, so long famous only for its cucumbers, but
-they slapped their thighs for joy and grew rich.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-OLD TIMBER TOP
-
-
-The fairies in the Korean province of Kang Wen, which means River
-Meadow, were having great fun, when one of their number told how they
-played a trick on an ox-driver whom they called Old Timber Top. How he
-got such a strange name this story will tell.
-
-This driver was a rich and stingy fellow who had made a fortune in
-lumber. He used to buy up all the trees he could. Then he would have
-them cut down and sawed up into logs and boards. His men would haul
-them away in their rough carts, drawn by stout bulls, to his lumber
-yard. In winter time sleds were used, but whether it was the season of
-snow and ice, or of tree blossoms and flowers, the animal used to draw
-sleds or carts was always a bull.
-
-For in Korea, horses or donkeys do not know how to pull anything. The
-ponies and donkeys are too small. Not being used to the work, if
-harnessed they would kick the wagon all to pieces.
-
-They can carry loads on their backs, but the bulls can do this also, so
-the creature with horns is considered to be the most valuable of beasts
-of burden. Besides, he fills the purse and makes good dinners when his
-owner is through with him.
-
-You can see these patient carriers loaded with brushwood or sticks
-piled so high they seem to be carrying small mountains of twigs, grass
-and leaves for kindlings, or with heavy logs of wood for fuel. Yet when
-the bull is very young, a mere baby, he has a happier time than a colt
-or little donkey, for he lives in the house and is the children’s pet.
-
-Old Timber Top sold his logs and boards at such high prices that the
-poor suffered. This was because they were cold and could not afford to
-pay so many strings of cash for fuel. The people used to say that the
-old fellow would skin a mosquito for his hide and tallow. So sometimes
-they gave him the nickname of Skin-flay.
-
-Not many of the villagers were able to buy planks of wood thick and
-heavy and strong enough to keep their pigs from the tigers, which came
-down from the mountains and prowled about at night in the villages.
-These long-haired and black-striped beasts got to be so fond of pork,
-that even in the snow they would, without fearing the cold or the guns
-of the hunters, claw up the tops of the pens and get down among the
-squealing prey. They might get a baby pig at once or perhaps drag out
-and carry off enough of a big pork to feed their cubs for a week. All
-the stables and cow-houses had to be made very strong, for the tigers,
-when they had gone a good while without food, seemed to be hungry
-enough to eat a horse with all his harness on, and even a grown-up cow
-or ox. Yet as a rule, no tiger cared to taste either beef or horse
-meat, if he could get young pork or veal.
-
-Old Timber Top was not satisfied to make money at his lumber yard only.
-It is the custom in Korea to plant the most beautiful trees around
-tombs or in the cemeteries. When this skin-flint heard of a family
-which had become so poor that they must needs sell the splendid trees
-which had been planted around their ancestors’ graves he sent his
-agents to buy the timber. These fellows would load up a horse with long
-ropes, of copper and iron cash, coins that had a square hole in the
-middle and were strung together with twine made of twisted straw. It
-was a heavy horse load to carry twenty dollars’ worth of coin. Arrived
-on the spot, after beating the owner down to the lowest price possible,
-Old Timber Top’s men would go out, chop down and saw up the grand
-trees, leaving only the sawdust on the graves, while the people wept to
-lose what they loved.
-
-In this way the landscape was spoiled and this made many villagers very
-angry at such a man, for the Koreans love natural scenery and almost
-worship fine trees, which had made the country beautiful for centuries.
-
-But what cared Old Timber Top, provided he could pile up his strings of
-cash and jingle his silver?
-
-In time, this hard old fellow could think of nothing else but how to
-get richer out of the wants and sufferings of other people. The
-wealthier he became, the more he wanted. Yet he did not get any
-happier. Nobody loved him, while many hated him.
-
-At last he thought he would make a trip to Seoul, the great capital
-city, which every Korean hopes to see sometime. There he expected to
-receive honor and appointment to rank and office. Timber Top had a
-relative who was high in the king’s service, who, he thought, would
-assist him; for all Koreans are kind and helpful to each other,
-especially when they are related.
-
-To be an officer Timber Top knew would permit him, even to wear a
-gorgeously shining mandarin’s hat with wide flaps or wings on it and a
-long white silk coat with a big square on the breast of velvet or
-satin, embroidered with storks or dragons, clouds and waves. When he
-went out on the streets he could strut about, as if he were the lord of
-the universe; for he would then wear a hat so high and with such a
-round wide brim, that he would not dare to go out during a high wind,
-for fear of being blown away, like a ship in a tempest. In such a
-costume he would be saluted by servants and the common people, who
-would bow down before him, because they would think him a great man.
-
-But how could he win such a position and gain the glory of it?
-
-He was not a scholar, learned in books, or in law, or a doctor of
-medicine. Not being a soldier, either, he knew nothing of war. He could
-not ride on a monocycle, as a general did, drawn or pushed by four men
-and dressed in a long red coat studded all over with shining metal with
-a brass helmet on his head, on the top of which was a little dragon. He
-feared, even if he were appointed, he might fall off the one-wheeled
-vehicle and show what a fool he was.
-
-Nevertheless this old fellow was so vain and full of conceit that he
-followed what was once the common custom in Korea. He took his journey
-to Seoul, leaving his family behind him to live on the cheapest kind of
-kimchi, with turnips and millet.
-
-Now the Koreans are all famous for giving welcome and showing
-hospitality to their poor relations, and often they do this even to
-tramps and lazy people. When a man becomes rich or holds a high office,
-he usually has around him many hangers on. Some, we should even say,
-were loafers.
-
-So on arriving in Seoul, Old Timber Top took up his quarters in one
-part of his relative’s big house. There he lived a long time and was
-treated decently, for he always was saying soft things and making
-flattering speeches to his host. In fact, he bowed down like a slave
-when in presence of his august master. Yet, in truth, he was despised
-even by the servants and work people.
-
-In order not to wear his welcome entirely out he had to make from time
-to time a handsome present to his patron. This steadily reduced both
-his income and his fortune, and while these were shrinking his family
-at home suffered, so that, by and by, he received notice by letter that
-his business had dried up and soon no more money could be sent to him
-in Seoul. While he lingered news from home grew worse and worse. His
-wife was obliged to sell their house to pay debts. The next item was
-that she and her daughter were living in a wretched shanty at the end
-of the village and were no longer in society.
-
-All this time those in Seoul who knew that the foolish fellow was as
-ambitious as ever to wear the fine white clothes of a scholar, or the
-gay colors of a soldier, declared that Old Timber Top had no brains.
-They even jested about a pumpkin set on shoulders, or they laughed when
-they declared that the wood, which he had sold so long, had gone to his
-head. They debated in the wine shops whether, if his skull were opened,
-pumpkin seeds or timber would be found inside of it.
-
-So they, also, called him “Old Timber Top,” meaning that inside his
-skull was a wooden head and no better than that of an idol carved out
-of persimmon wood, such as were so plentiful in the Buddhist temples.
-Others declared that he had a real head of bone and brains, but “he
-carried it under his arm pits,” as the saying was.
-
-When the fairies heard all this, they unanimously resolved to reform
-the old fellow, even if they had to make an ox of him.
-
-Timber Top, now poor and bankrupt, knew he must leave Seoul and go home
-and work for a living. When he made his final call on his rich Seoul
-relative and told him he must, to his great regret, take his leave and
-go back to his native village, he was not well received. Being too poor
-to buy a present to give to his host, on whose bounty he had lived so
-long, he was answered coldly and told to go and do as he liked.
-
-And this, after years of fawning and gift-making! Not a word of thanks
-or appreciation! Poor Timber Top was down in the mouth and his heart
-was cold in his bosom. He knocked on his head with his fists, to find
-out whether, after all, it had really turned into timber.
-
-On his way back, a big storm came on and when he came to a village inn,
-cold, wet and hungry, he begged for shelter over night. The woman who
-kept it was the wife of a butcher, who was then away from home. This
-was an awful blow to Timber Top’s pride, for butchers were held to be
-the lowest of people, and they were not even allowed to wear hats, like
-the rest of the men in Korea.
-
-The woman was kind to the traveler. She gave him a hot supper and let
-him sleep in that room of the house which had the best stone floor,
-under which the flues from the kitchen fire ran. So he warmed himself
-and baked his clothes, which were sopping wet, until they were dry. He
-was so tired that he kept on sleeping till very late next morning, and
-nearly to the noon hour. He was altogether so comfortable that to him
-it seemed as if he were a great man in the capital, thus to receive
-such kind treatment.
-
-Waking up from one of his naps, he heard what he thought was the big
-butcher, who had come home, asking of his wife in a gruff tone of
-voice, “Where is that ox? I must sell him this morning, for it is
-market day,” he said.
-
-In less than a minute more, the man and his wife entered the room with
-four sticks which the fairies had put there, a halter, and a rope, made
-of twisted rice straw, besides a thick iron ring, such as they put into
-bulls’ noses, to make them obey their masters. Throwing down the iron
-ring and rope on the floor, in a trice they had thrust the stick under
-Old Timber Top’s back. In a moment more, he felt horns growing out of
-his head, and his lips becoming thick as sausages. His mouth was as
-wide as a saucer and had big teeth growing on the upper jaw. A tail
-sprouted at his other end and the four sticks became four legs.
-
-Before he could quite understand just what was going on, or what the
-matter could be, Old Timber Top was standing on four legs and the
-butcher was slipping the ring through his nose. Oh how it did hurt!
-
-It was an awkward job to get the animal out of the room and through the
-narrow door, and some of the paper on the walls and the furniture
-suffered. But finally when out in the open air the bull, that was no
-other than what had been the man Timber Top, went quietly along to the
-market place. Any attempt to pull his head away, or to stop or run off,
-or in any way to misbehave, hurt his nose so dreadfully, that he
-quickly quit. The butcher needed to give only a slight jerk of the rope
-when the bull changed his gait and was as quiet as a lamb, even though
-as an animal he was big enough to gore the man and toss him on its
-horns, or crush him by trampling on him with his hoofs, if once he got
-angry.
-
-One would have supposed that Timber Top would be a fighting bull, but
-no! In the market place he stood patiently and quietly for hours,
-hardly even stamping, when the flies began to bite.
-
-“Oh that I had been as diligent and kept on at my honest occupation in
-my native village, as that fly!” mused the bull, that still had a man’s
-memory.
-
-At last there came a man with money to buy. He was a drover, who
-unloaded his pony and paid down many strings, or about twenty pounds,
-of copper and iron cash. The owner put the halter in the buyer’s hand,
-and the new master then led off Timber Top to be sold to a butcher who
-lived up in his home town in the north. This fellow intended first to
-fatten the animal and then turn him into steaks and stewing meat.
-
-But on his way the new owner thought that, because he had made a good
-bargain, he must stop at a wine shop and have a drink. So he tied
-Timber Top’s nose with the rope to the low wall, which enclosed a
-turnip field, and went inside the shop.
-
-But while the drover’s wine went in his wits went out, and he fell
-asleep and stayed in the shop a long time. In fact, it was as the old
-song said:
-
-
-           “First the man takes a dram,
-            Then the dram takes another dram;
-            Then the dram takes the man.”
-
-
-Meanwhile Timber Top looked over the low wall, and, yielding to
-temptation, pulled up with his teeth some of the plants by the roots,
-first chewing the green leaves and then grinding the turnips and
-swallowing them.
-
-Presto! The horns drew in and shrivelled up. The ring dropped out of
-his nose and fell with a crash on the stones of the village path. His
-two forelegs turned into arms, the hair and hoofs became human legs and
-Old Timber Top was a man, and himself once again. To make sure of it he
-felt himself all over; pulled his own nose, felt around his back to see
-if he had a tail, and rubbed his head for horns. None there! He looked
-down and found he had only two legs. Then he swung his arms with
-delight, at being once more a man.
-
-“Well named, Turn-up thou,” he mused, “thou green plant with a
-mustard-like taste. Thou hast turned me inside out. Or, have the
-fairies been busy?”
-
-He had hardly got these ideas through his half wooden head, that he was
-on two legs and a man once more and could think like one, than he
-started on the road home. Just then the drover rushed out of the wine
-shop and accosted him, saying:
-
-“Have you seen a stray bull anywhere near this place?”
-
-Of course Timber Top using fine language, like a yang ban, said there
-was no bull in the neighborhood that he could see or knew of, and he
-had heard none bellowing. Then he gave the drover a look of contempt
-for being so stupid, and for asking of him, a gentleman, so foolish a
-question.
-
-Yet after he was out of sight of the drover he slapped his thighs, as
-Koreans do when they are amused at their own smartness, and went on
-joyfully. He kept on repeating to himself, “sticks and turnips, turnips
-and sticks.”
-
-Then a big idea struck him, as if it were a tap on a wooden drum, such
-as one sees in Buddhist temples. It hit his brain so hard and so
-swelled his head, that his big Korean hat nearly toppled off.
-Immediately he put this idea into action.
-
-He returned hastily to the inn and into the room in which he had been
-turned into a bull and stole the butcher’s four fairy sticks, which
-stood in a corner, then he hied at once over the roads towards the
-capital.
-
-Reaching Seoul, he went to the house of his rich relative, where he had
-waited ten years for the fortune and the favor which did not come.
-Going into his host’s bedroom, he tapped the high lord of the house
-with the fairy sticks, not hard, but only lightly.
-
-Forthwith the man’s head became horns at the top, with muzzle of thick
-lips in front. His hands turned into front hoofs and his legs into the
-hind quarters of a bull. Yet he was not entirely an ox, but only half
-animal and half man.
-
-Old Timber Top stopped tapping and then went away, to await events,
-leaving the creature half man and half ox. He knew that soon he would
-be called in.
-
-When the family of wife, many sons, several daughters, servants,
-retainers, hangers-on, and what not, saw their master half man and half
-ox, with horns and hoofs, they were distracted. Each one had his own
-notion of how to get him back into human form and like his former self.
-Each one ran all over town and into the adjoining villages to get and
-call in the mudangs.
-
-These mudangs were the people, mostly women, whose business it was to
-drive out the imps and bad fairies, such as had, in this case, done the
-mischief. The kitchen maids stoutly declared that Tokgabi had wrought
-the change upon their master. They felt quite sure of it; but the men
-thought that the gods of the mountains were punishing him for his sins.
-On the other hand, the mudang woman said she would find out and get him
-back into his human skin, if they paid her enough money.
-
-With drums and dancing and songs, screams, yells, and every sort of
-noise, the mudangs kept up such a terrible racket that it almost
-deafened the family. There were several of them called in, and they
-knew that they would all be well paid.
-
-Meanwhile the doctors also kept on with their awful medicines, besides
-rubbing, pounding, blowing, and sticking needles into the bull and
-burning moxa, or little balls of cottony mugwort, on its hide.
-
-Yet not a hoof or horn, not even a hair changed.
-
-The mudangs declared that the imps had got inside the man and they must
-get them out. One fellow carried a big bottle to trap the imps and cork
-them in. Another insisted that they would have to use scissors and snip
-the skin in about a hundred places, thus making small holes to let the
-evil creatures out. Then they must bottle them up, lest they should get
-out and overrun the house and infest the whole town.
-
-There seemed not so many chances of getting well as “one hair among
-nine oxen”; but the wife pleaded that they would put off using the
-scissors until all other means had failed. She did not want to see her
-dear husband’s skin made into a colander, or sieve, if it could be
-helped.
-
-At this point, when the din and the despair were worst and had come to
-a climax, Old Timber Top appeared. As some of the family had collapsed
-and lay helpless on the floor, and as all were too tired to ask
-questions, they at once made way for him. After looking at the patient
-with a face as wise as an owl’s, Old Timber Top solemnly announced that
-only one thing could save him and that was a rare and wonderful drug,
-of which only he knew the secret, but which he could speedily procure.
-Of course the wife, sons and daughters instantly promised to give up
-their all, to see their husband and father himself again.
-
-So while Timber Top went out to get the famous medicine, they all fell
-asleep, tired out, while the ox-man lay over on his side resting his
-horns and hoofs on the floor bed; for in Korea they do not have
-bedsteads, that is, beds raised up from the floor.
-
-As for Old Timber Top, when once out on the street, he immediately
-began saying to himself, over and over again, “Turnips and sticks,
-sticks and turnips.”
-
-Going to a vegetable shop, he bought a fine large turnip, or
-turnip-radish, of the kind that grows in Korea, silvery white and about
-four feet long. He first peeled, then sliced, and finally pounded it
-into a sauce very fine. Then entering the house in triumph, he woke up
-the doctors, kicked the servants awake, and announced that the potent
-drug would soon restore their master. He solemnly bade them all watch
-and see him do it.
-
-Pulling and hauling all together, five or six fellows were able to get
-the man-bull on his two hoofs and two feet and then Timber Top put a
-spoonful of the sauce on the big tongue.
-
-At once a most marvellous change took place!
-
-The horns shortened until they disappeared, the lips thinned, the mouth
-became smaller. Hoofs, hair, and hide departed into empty air. In the
-wagging of a dog’s tail, the mighty man of the house had become himself
-again.
-
-All the doctors, jugglers, and mudangs packed up their imp-bottles and
-medicines, and with their drums, flutes, bags, boxes and wares slunk
-away, while the family loaded Old Timber Top with grateful thanks and
-compliments.
-
-As for the master, he declared Timber Top the greatest physician the
-world ever knew. He invited him to make the house his permanent home
-and showered upon him many gifts, with plenty to eat, and white clothes
-starched as white as snow. The hats with which he presented Timber Top
-were so big around and had a brim so wide, that he used them when
-covered with oiled paper covers as umbrellas in rainy weather, but he
-never went out doors when the wind was blowing, for fear he would be
-whirled down the street. Besides this, he feared there was still much
-wood in his head, which might turn into a top and spin round, if he
-were not careful.
-
-Old Timber Top set up a medicine office, practiced among the nobility
-and became physician to the king. When he visited the palace, he used a
-red visiting card, a foot long. He had a plastron, or square of velvet
-embroidery on his breast. He wore a string of amber beads as big as
-walnuts over his ears. He soon became fat with a double chin and plump
-fingers, showing that he reeked with prosperity. He lived to a good old
-age, his family were made comfortable, his sons and daughters married
-well, and he had seventeen grandchildren before he died.
-
-Yet all the time, the fairies claimed that they did it all. They made
-the sticks work one way, and the turnips another, and they still play
-their tricks on the Koreans, especially those with more or less wood in
-their heads.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-SIR ONE LONG BODY AND MADAM THOUSAND FEET
-
-
-In the land of Morning Radiance, where the family names have only one
-syllable, such as Kim, Yi, Pil, Wun, Hap, etc., they wear shoes, but
-these are not made of black leather. The people neither stand up on
-wooden clogs as in Japan, nor case their feet in straight soled
-gaiters, without heels, as in China. The gentlemen put on white socks
-with tough hide soles, and the ladies don dainty slippers with the
-pointed toes turned up. Common folks’ sandals are made chiefly of straw
-and twine and it takes a good deal of cordage to complete a pair.
-
-Now there once lived under an old stone below a persimmon tree a fair
-young creature named Miss Thousand Feet. She wore lead-colored clothes
-and had so many toes to take care of that any one who tried to count
-them soon got tired; so he stopped and called the whole amount a
-thousand, which was a number as round as herself. She was as proud of
-each one of her many little feet as a Chinese lady, who has only two of
-them. Miss Thousand Feet was very modest, however, and if any one
-stepped on her toes, or touched her, she curled up, first into a ring
-and then into a ball, so that men, by a pun on her family name, called
-her “a pill millipede,” for she belonged to the Pil family, one of the
-most famous in all Korea.
-
-Miss Thousand Feet was very happy living under a damp stone in the cool
-earth and she played a good deal. But by and by, when she grew up, her
-parents told her it was time for her to get married. So they looked
-around, to see if any gentleman in the whole creation was worthy of
-her, not only to make a suitable husband, but also a good match.
-
-Now in another village lived a rich, fat, young and promising male
-creature, named Mr. Long Body, of the Wum family. His business was to
-eat his way through the ground, and pile up little curled heaps of mud
-on the surface, and at this work he was kept very busy. He had to look
-out for the birds, for they enjoyed eating folks like him, he was so
-soft and sweet. Constant exercise in moving through the ground kept his
-body shining, so that altogether, as earthworms go, he was quite
-handsome and considered a good catch for Miss Thousand Feet.
-Furthermore, as he had no feet and she had so many, while his body was
-long and hers quite short, it was supposed that one would make up where
-the other lacked and that both would be happy together as husband and
-wife.
-
-Mr. Long Body, when he heard of the charms of Miss Thousand Feet, was
-of the same opinion. All his friends were pairing off, the males
-bringing home their brides to their fathers’ houses and setting up
-housekeeping. As he had come of age, he also determined to marry.
-
-So he sent letters and opened the business, according to Korean
-etiquette, through a “go-between,” as the lady who arranges marriages
-is called. This person goes to see each of the two families, praising
-to one the beauty and graces of the promised bride and to the other the
-strength and wealth of the future husband. Indeed, she gives both of
-them a very good character. Finally the “six proprieties,” or “half
-dozen rules,” had been completed and the engagement of Mr. Wum and Miss
-Pil was announced.
-
-What a clatter of gossip was at once heard in both villages! No one
-ever thought that such a handsome fellow as Mr. Long Body Wum would
-ever marry into the Pil family. Some jealous folks hinted that Mr. Long
-Body, if he took a wife with a thousand feet, would never be able to
-pay his shoemaker. On the other hand, so long as his bride would be
-content with plain twine shoes all might go well; but for extra
-occasions, or if his wife were extravagant and wanted lady’s turned up
-house foot-gear made of red morocco such as only the rich folks
-wear,—well there would be trouble in the household. How could he keep
-her in shoes? Other persons, however, who knew that the Pils were
-famous people, wondered how Mr. Wum ever managed to get such a prize as
-Miss Pil.
-
-In the other village, the tongues of the gossips ran on in much the
-same way. What did she see to admire in that fellow without legs? When
-the honeymoon would be over and it came to making gentleman’s clothes
-for her husband, had she any skill with the needle? Could she make a
-long coat and one trouser leg big enough to fit him? And think of the
-many days of work necessary to cut and sew the garment, to say nothing
-of weary hours to be spent in washing, starching and giving a gloss to
-such clothes. The idea! Why, she would have to be nothing but a slave.
-
-As her husband’s semptress, tailor, and laundress she would get no
-rest. Think of washing, starching, and beating to a fine gloss the
-one-legged trousers, which Mr. Wum would often have to change; for he
-lived in the dirt!
-
-Now, Mr. Long Body Wum was so busy with his work of excavating the
-ground that he had no time to pay attention to the village
-chatterboxes. Miss Pil, however, couldn’t help hearing what the women
-and others said about her, and especially the talk concerning the
-terribly hard duties that awaited her if she took a husband. While Mr.
-Wum kept digging at the tunnel three yards long, which he was
-excavating underground, so as to save up and be ready for his wedding,
-Miss Pil brooded over what the gossips talked about and over those
-awfully long coats and one-legged trousers she would be obliged to sit
-up at nights to make, wash, starch and gloss. Already she imagined her
-arms tired in anticipation of starching and beating on the Korean
-lustre, without which no gentleman in the Land of Morning Calm ever
-goes outdoors. If his coat didn’t have that fashionable shine which
-long beating gives, the women would notice it immediately and pretty
-soon the men also.
-
-Miss Pil’s broodings night and day over the matter did not help
-affairs, and finally wore upon her nerves. She refused to prepare her
-own trousseau, and despite all her friends told her in praise of Mr.
-Long Body Wum, she decided to write a letter to him, telling him that
-on account of his long trunk without limbs, and the great labor
-necessary to make him proper clothing and of starching and glossing it,
-to say nothing of keeping it in order, she felt unable to hold to the
-marriage engagement and must break it off.
-
-But before she had dropped the water on the ink stone and begun to rub
-up the ink, or taken brush-pen and paper in hand, Mr. Long Body had got
-wind of her complaining and it worried him. Why should he marry one who
-didn’t want him?
-
-Then, as he thought it over, being a very thrifty and economical
-bachelor, be began to doubt whether he could buy shoes enough to fit
-all the feet of his betrothed. He had not looked on her face or figure
-yet. Indeed it was hardly Korean etiquette that he should—openly at
-least. So far, he had not seen her tiny feet to count them up, but he
-suspected that, since she belonged to the Pil family, she must have a
-thousand feet according to her reputation. When he came to calculate
-what it would cost him, even in cheap twine sandals, he was startled.
-When he figured out what ladies’ turned up kids would come to he was so
-alarmed that he nearly fainted. At the sight of five hundred pairs of
-shoes, however tiny, his breath almost failed him and he saw himself
-ruined. What should he do?
-
-And when she took off her foot-gear at night, where should he stow it
-away? Then, what a noise she would make, if she put on rough-soled
-shoes, while at her work around the house and yard. It was horrible for
-a quiet bachelor even to think of the clatter she would make. Already
-he felt deafness coming on. Should he break off the engagement? Yet how
-could any one of the Wum family honorably do such a thing? What would
-the neighbors say? Could he, if prone to breaking his word, get another
-bride of a family so respectable as that of the Pil?
-
-However he would sleep over it, as there were some days before the
-wedding. But next morning the matter cleared up, and he was able to
-crawl into his hole and out of sight with comfort. He sent a letter to
-Miss Pil, setting forth the facts, and asking for a release from the
-engagement to marry. The substance of what he wrote was this; that
-owing to his small fortune he would be unable to buy her all the shoes,
-and of the kind which a lady of her quality and tastes required. He
-therefore could not think of asking her to share his poverty, but
-begged her to secure another husband who could do so.
-
-Now it happened that the letters crossed on the road. Each had a
-refusal before the ink was dry; so neither could complain.
-
-So there was no wedding, nor any frolic among the young folks, or
-feasting of relatives, and to this day Miss Pil remains single and Mr.
-Wum has no wife. They were very severe on the girl. All the gossips say
-that it served the thousand-footed hussy right. Folks had better look
-on the good points in a person’s character and not dwell upon his
-faults and defects. On the other hand, in Mr. Wum’s village, all
-declare with one voice that bachelors should count up all the expense
-in getting married. Miss Pil still goes shoeless hiding from light
-under a stone, and Mr. Wum keeps out of sight underground, for he has
-nothing to wear.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE SKY BRIDGE OF BIRDS
-
-
-No bird is more common in Korea than the magpie. They are numbered by
-millions. Every day in the year, except the seventh day of the seventh
-month, the air is full of them. On that date, however, they have a
-standing engagement every year. They are all expected to be away from
-streets and houses, for every well-bred magpie is then far up in the
-sky building a bridge across the River of Stars, called the Milky Way.
-With their wings for the cables, and their heads to form the floor of
-the bridge, they make a pathway for lovers on either side of the Silver
-Stream.
-
-Boys and girls are usually very kind to the magpies, but if a single
-one be found about the houses, on the roofs, or in the streets on the
-seventh of August, woe betide it! Every dirty-faced brat throws sticks
-or stones at the poor creature, for not being about its business of
-bridge-building across the Starry River. By evening time the magpies
-return to their usual places, for they are then supposed to have
-attended to their tasks and built the bridge.
-
-To prove beyond a doubt that the bridge was made and walked over, you
-have only to look at the bare heads of the magpies at this time. Their
-feathers have been entirely worn off by the tramping of the crowd of
-retainers who follow the Prince of Star Land across the bridge to meet
-his bride.
-
-If it be wet weather on the morning of this day of the Weaver Maiden
-and the Cattle Prince, the rain-drops are the tears of joy shed by the
-lovers at their first meeting. If showers fall in the afternoon, they
-are the tears of sadness at saying farewell, when the prince and
-princess leave each other. If any thunder is heard, every boy and girl
-knows that this comes from the rumble of the wagons which carry the
-baggage of the prince and princess, as they move away, each from the
-other, homeward.
-
-Now, this is the story which the Korean mothers tell to their children
-of the Bridge of Birds.
-
-Long, long ago, in the Kingdom of the Stars, a king reigned who had a
-lovely daughter. Besides being the most beautiful to behold, she was a
-skilful weaver. There was no good thing to be done in the palace, but
-she could do it. She was not only highly accomplished, but of sweet
-temper and very willing. Being a model of all diligence, she was very
-greatly beloved of her parents and her influence over her father was
-very great. He would do almost anything to please his darling daughter.
-
-In due time a young and very handsome prince, who lived in Star Land,
-came to her father’s court and fell in love with the pretty princess.
-Her parents consenting, the wedding was celebrated with great splendor.
-
-Now that she was a wife and had a home of her own to care for, she
-became all the more a model of lovely womanhood and an example to all
-the maidens of Korea forever. Besides showing diligence in the care of
-clothes and food and in setting her servants a good example of thrift,
-she thought much of their happiness. Her service to her husband was
-unremitting. Her chief ambition was to make his life one of constant
-joy.
-
-But the prince, instead of following his bride’s good example, and of
-appreciating what his beautiful and unselfish bride was doing for his
-happiness, gave himself up to waste and extravagance. He became lazy
-and dissipated. Neglecting his duties, he wasted his own fortune and
-his wife’s dowry. He sold all his oxen and calves to get money only to
-lose it in gambling. He borrowed many and long ropes of coin from any
-one who would lend him the brass and iron money. Finally he was so
-scandalously poor, being on his last string of cash, that he was in
-danger of being degraded from his rank as prince, and of having his
-name spoken with contempt.
-
-The King of the Stars, having seen his son-in-law on the downward way,
-had more than once threatened to disinherit, or banish him, especially
-after the prince had parted with his cattle. Yet when his daughter, the
-young wife, interceded and begged pardon for her husband, the king
-relented, paid his son-in-law’s debts and gave him another chance to do
-better. When, however, the worthless fellow fell back into his old
-ways, and grew worse and worse, the king resolved to separate the pair,
-one from the other. He banished the prince, far, far away, six months’
-distance from the north side of the River of Heaven, and exiled the
-princess a half year’s measure of space from the south side of the
-Starry Stream.
-
-Although the king in his wrath had hardened his heart, even against his
-own beloved child, and had driven her from court and palace, because of
-her worthless husband, yet, as a signal proof of his compassion, he
-ordained that on one night of the year, on the seventh night of the
-seventh moon, they might meet for a few hours.
-
-The young people parted and took their sad journey to the edge of the
-starry heavens, but they loved each other so dearly that, as soon as
-they arrived at their place of banishment, they turned round to meet
-each other on August 7th.
-
-So when the day came, after six months’ weary journeying, they had
-reached the edge of the Starry River, and there they stood, catching
-glimpses and waving their hands, but unable to get closer to each
-other. There one may see them on summer nights shining on opposite
-sides of the broad Stream of Stars, loving each other but unable to
-cross.
-
-Feeling that the great gulf of space could not be spanned, the loving
-couple burst into tears. The flood from their eyes, making the river
-overflow, deluged the earth below, threatening to float everything,
-houses, people, animals away. What could be done?
-
-The four-footed creatures, fish and fowls, held a convention, but it
-was agreed that only those birds with strong wings and able to fly high
-could do anything. So the magpies, with many flattering speeches, were
-commended to the enterprise.
-
-When these noisy and chattering creatures, that are nevertheless so
-kind and friendly to the sparrows, heard of the lovers’ troubles aloft,
-they resolved to help the sorrowing pair over the River of Stars. Out
-of their big, ugly nests they flew gladly to the convention that voted
-to build the bridge. Sending out word all over the world, millions of
-magpies assembled in the air. Under the direction of their wisest
-chiefs, they began their work of making, with a mass of wings, a flying
-bridge that would reach from shore to shore of the Starry Stream.
-First, they put their heads together to furnish a floor, and, so
-closely, that the bridge looked as if it were paved with white granite.
-Then with their pinions they held up the great arch and highway, over
-which the prince crossed to his bride with all his baggage and train of
-followers. The tables were soon spread and the two royal lovers enjoyed
-a feast, with many tender words and caresses.
-
-Every year, for ages past, on the seventh day of the seventh month, the
-magpies have done this. Indeed, although the star lovers meet only once
-a year, yet as they live on forever the wife has her husband and the
-husband his wife much longer than mortal couples who live on earth. It
-is law in the magpie kingdom that no bird can shirk this work.
-
-Any magpie that tries to get out of the task and that is too bad or
-lazy to do its part in bridge building, is chased away by the Korean
-children, who want no such truant around. For does not every girl hope
-to be as diligent and accomplished as the Star Princess, so that when
-she grows up she may make as good a wife as the lovely lady that every
-year stands by the Starry River to meet her lord? As for the boys, it
-is hoped that they will become as faithful husbands as the penitent
-bridegroom, who every year, on the night of August 7th, awaits his
-bride on the shining shore of the River of Stars.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-LONGKA, THE DANCING GIRL
-
-
-After the islanders in the Eastern Ocean had found out how rich Korea
-was, they were not satisfied with their own land. They seemed to have
-eyes like dragon flies, that wanted everything they saw. They kept on
-borrowing until they got many of the plants and animals which they now
-possess, which as everybody knows came from the Land of Morning Glory.
-
-Even the neko, or Korean cat, was carried over to the islands; though
-in some way it lost its tail on the voyage or else had it bobbed. This
-is the reason why poor pussy in these islands seems to carry around
-with her something like a corkscrew, instead of a tail. Moreover, when
-the Korean puss, that had so long been accustomed to scrambling over
-the roofs and back alleys at home, was introduced into the islands, it
-was thought to be a wild animal, and for a long time was treated as a
-fox or badger would be. However, because it kept down the rats and the
-mice this bob-tailed puss was highly valued.
-
-Yet not content with borrowing so many things, the greedy islemen
-thought they might as well have all Korea and everything in it, and
-then go further and overrun China.
-
-So they sent a great army in a mighty fleet of ships to invade the
-Koreans’ country. They took horses with them, but as their soldiers
-were fed chiefly on rice, salt fish and pickles, they did not need any
-wagons. They had only oxen to draw their carts, for they had never
-trained horses to pull anything, but only to be pack and saddle
-animals.
-
-This army of islanders marched to the capital, in which were palaces,
-and pagodas. Then they sent one of their armies along the sea front and
-another along the west coast. They expected to march into China, but
-two things happened to prevent this. So, after they had wasted and
-tarried in the country for five years, they gave it up and were sent
-home flying.
-
-From the north a Chinese army came to the help of the Koreans and drove
-the islemen to the coast. But when they got there they found their
-ships were gone. A clever Korean admiral had invented an iron-clad ship
-that rammed and sunk their war junks. So their army had to wait till a
-new fleet of ships had been built and then came over to take them back.
-
-But before the islanders left Korea they smashed statues and monuments,
-broke up images and even the observatories for the study of the stars.
-They took marble pagodas apart to load on their ships and carry away.
-They enticed, or forced to go with them, hundreds of the Korean
-potters, artists, and craftsmen.
-
-For, by this time, the islanders had given up living in huts of straw
-and roving about like Arabs or gypsies. They had cities with paved
-streets, like as in Korea, though they had none of the beautiful marble
-pagodas and images and temples, for everything was of wood, while
-thousands of large buildings and images in Korea were of stone,
-chiseled into beautiful forms.
-
-Now in Korea there were some beautiful daughters of the land and many
-noblemen and men of courage, who determined not to be carried away from
-their dearly beloved country. Of this, in southern Korea, the Rock of
-the Fallen Flower is to this day the witness.
-
-Over three hundred years ago, when “the terrible fighting dwarfs,” as
-the Koreans called their enemies, came, they encamped in a town where
-lived a beautiful dancing girl named Longka. Being a ge-sang, (gei-sha)
-or accomplished young lady, she could sing beautifully. The islanders
-took this lovely damsel prisoner and made her a waitress in the
-general’s tent.
-
-One night a great banquet was given in a famous pleasure hall named the
-Cliff House, because it was built on the high bank overlooking a deep
-river. All the chief captains were invited and the large room was
-illuminated with a thousand wax lights. These were tall and square
-candles, moulded into a beautiful shape, and each one was painted and
-decorated with figures of flowers, birds and pet animals. Very odd and
-ornamental is a Korean candle.
-
-O how charming was the dancer, and what a beautiful sight to behold,
-was her graceful posing! For, Korean dances tell stories of birds and
-flowers, of summer, and of lovely snow-covered landscapes in winter, of
-a boat in a storm, of a tiger in a trap, of a brave soldier in battle,
-or a sad lady in the palace, or of the fairy tales of the Western Queen
-Mother and many others. Those who watch the dance and know the manners
-and customs, the dancer’s gestures and poses, the motions of her fan
-and sleeves, besides the games of the children, the sports of the
-people, the harvest songs and the fun at the festivals, can read,
-because they see, the story of each told in most graceful motions.
-There are several languages, besides words which are spoken, and these
-appeal to the eye, instead of the ear.
-
-The pretty dancer was robed in pure white, with ermine-edged slippers,
-and jeweled girdle, and her shining hair was done up like a queen’s.
-Loud was the applause among the spectators at the end of every dance.
-
-After the dinner was over, the general of the islanders grew very
-lively, because he had drunk much wine, and was not satisfied to see
-the dances of the lovely girl. Some of the rude soldiers also wanted to
-waltz with the beautiful maiden. But it was not the custom for Korean
-virgins to dance, or waltz, with male partners; for in this Country of
-Gentle Manners, dancing is by the sexes apart.
-
-Yet the rough islanders insisted and forced her so hard, that she felt
-that both her own modesty and her country were outraged. She thought of
-the thousands of her countrymen, brothers, fathers and friends, who had
-died on the battle field, in defending their beloved land. Why should
-not she? So, pretending to yield to her country’s enemies, she drew the
-general out of the banqueting hall and down toward the river, close to
-the edge of the rock.
-
-Before he knew her purpose she seized his hands and leaped out,
-dragging her enemy with her over the cliff, and both passed into the
-other world.
-
-She died for her country. To this day, the Rock of the Falling Flower
-is pointed out, and the story is told that here was exhibited a woman’s
-devotion to her country. Around this rock poets have entwined their
-verses, while romantic associations cluster like the azalea flowers,
-that cover the hills of Korea with a riot of color, making their land
-seem to the natives the most beautiful on earth.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-A FROG FOR A HUSBAND
-
-
-Off in a valley among very stony mountains, lived an old farmer named
-Pak We and his wife. His land was poor and he had to toil from sunrise
-to sunset and often in the night, when the moon was shining, to get
-food. No child had ever come to his home and he was in too great
-straits of poverty to adopt a son. So he took his amusement in fishing
-in the pond higher up on the hills, that fed the stream which watered
-his millet and rice fields. Being very skilful he often caught a good
-string of fish and these he sold in the village near by to get for
-himself and his wife the few comforts they needed. Thus the old couple
-kept themselves happy, despite their cheerless life, though they often
-wondered what would become of them when they got too old to work.
-
-But one summer Pak noticed that there were fewer fish in the pond and
-that every day they seemed to be less in number. Where he used to catch
-a stringful in an hour, he could hardly get half that many during a
-whole day.
-
-What was the matter? Was he getting less skilful? Was the bait poor?
-
-Not at all! His worms were as fat, his hooks and lines in as good
-order, and his eyesight was as keen as ever.
-
-When Pak noticed also that the water was getting shallower, he was
-startled. Could it be that the pond was drying up?
-
-Things grew worse day by day until at last there were no fish.
-
-Where once sparkled the wavelets of a pond was now an arid waste of
-earth and stones, over which trickled hardly more than a narrow rill,
-which he could jump over. No fish and no pond meant no water for his
-rice fields. In horror at the idea of starving, or having to move away
-from his old home and become a pauper, Pak looked down from what had
-been the banks of the pond to find the cause of all this trouble. There
-in the mud among the pebbles he saw a bullfrog, nearly as big as an
-elephant, blinking at him with its huge round eyes.
-
-In a rage the farmer Pak burst out, charging the frog with cruelty in
-eating up all the fish and drinking up all the water, threatening
-starvation to man and wife. Then Pak proceeded to curse the whole line
-of the frog’s ancestors and relatives, especially in the female line,
-for eight generations back, as Koreans usually do.
-
-But instead of being sorry, or showing any anger at such a scolding,
-the bullfrog only blinked and bowed, saying:
-
-“Don’t worry, Farmer Pak. You’ll be glad of it, by and by. Besides, I
-want to go home with you and live in your house.
-
-“What! Occupy my home, you clammy reptile! No you won’t,” said Pak.
-
-“Oh! but I have news to tell you and you won’t be sorry, for you see
-what I can do. Better take me in.”
-
-Old Pak thought it over. How should he face his wife with such a guest?
-But then, the frog had news to tell and that might please the old lady,
-who was fond of gossip. Since her husband was not very talkative, she
-might be willing to harbor so strange a guest.
-
-So they started down the valley. Pak shuffled along as fast as his old
-shins could move, but the bullfrog covered the distance in a few leaps,
-for his hind legs were three feet long.
-
-Arrived at his door, Mrs. Pak was horrified at the prospect of boarding
-such a guest. But when the husband told her that Froggie knew all about
-everybody and could chat interestingly by the hour, she changed her
-manner and bade him welcome. Indeed, she so warmed in friendliness that
-she gave him one of her best rooms. All the leaves, grass and brushwood
-that had been gathered in the wood-shed to supply the kitchen fire and
-house flues, was carried into the room. There it was doused with tubs
-of water to make a nice soft place such as bullfrogs like. After this
-he was fed all the worms he wanted.
-
-Then after his dinner and a nap, Mrs. Pak and Mr. Pak donned their best
-clothes and went in to make a formal call on their guest.
-
-Mr. Bullfrog was so affable and charming in conversation, besides
-telling so many good stories and serving up so many dainty bits of
-gossip, that Mrs. Pak was delighted beyond expression. Indeed, she felt
-almost like adopting Froggie as her son.
-
-The night passed quietly away, but when the first rays of light
-appeared, Froggie was out on the porch singing a most melodious tune to
-the rising sun. When Mr. and Mrs. Pak rose up to greet their guest and
-to hear his song, they were amazed to find that the music was bringing
-them blessings. Everything they had wished for, during their whole
-lives, seemed now at hand, with more undreamed of coming in troops. In
-the yard stood oxen, donkeys and horses loaded with every kind of box,
-bale and bundle waiting to be unloaded and more were coming; stout men
-porters appeared and began to unpack, while troops of lovely girls in
-shining white took from the men’s hands beautiful things made of jade,
-gold and silver. There were fine clothes and hats for Mr. Pak,
-jade-tipped hairpins, tortoise-shell and ivory combs, silk gowns,
-embroidered and jeweled girdles and every sort of frocks and woman’s
-garments for Mrs. Pak, besides inlaid cabinets, clothes-racks and
-wardrobes. Above all, was a polished metal mirror that looked like the
-full autumn moon, over which Mrs. Pak was now tempted to spend every
-minute of her time.
-
-Four or five of the prettiest maidens they had ever seen in all their
-lives danced, sang and played sweetest music. The unpacking of boxes,
-bales and bundles continued. Tables of jade and finest sandalwood were
-spread with the richest foods and wines. Soon, under the skilful hands
-of carpenters and decorators, instead of oiled paper on the floors,
-covering old bricks and broken flat stones set over the flues, and
-smoky rafters and mud walls poorly papered, there rose a new house. It
-had elegant wide halls, and large rooms with partitions made of
-choicest joiner work. It was furnished with growing flowers, game
-boards for chess and had everything in it like a palace. As for the
-riches of the larder and the good things to eat daily laid on the
-table, no pen but a Korean’s can tell of them all. In the new
-storehouse were piles of dried fish, edible seaweed, bags of rice, bins
-of millet, tubs of kim-chi made of various sorts of the pepper-hash and
-Korean hot pickle in which the natives delight, to say nothing of
-peaches, pears, persimmons, chestnuts, honey, barley, sugar, candy,
-cake and pastry, all arranged in high piles and in gay colors.
-
-The old couple seemed able to eat and enjoy twice as big dinners as
-formerly, for all the while the adopted Bullfrog was very entertaining.
-Mr. and Mrs. Pak laughed continually, declaring they had never heard
-such good stories as he told. The good wife was, however, quite equal
-to her guest in retailing gossip. One of her favorite subjects, of
-which she never tired, was the beauty and charm of Miss Peach. She was
-the accomplished daughter of the big Yang-ban, or nobleman, Mr. Poom,
-who lived in a great house, with a host of servants and retainers in
-the next village, and Mrs. Pak insisted there was no young woman in the
-world like her. It was noticed that Mr. Bullfrog was particularly
-interested when Miss Peach Poom was the subject of the old lady’s
-praises.
-
-After a week of such luxury, during which Mr. and Mrs. Pak seemed to
-dwell in the Nirvana, or Paradise, which the good priests often talked
-about, Mr. Pak’s full cup of joy was dashed to earth when the Bullfrog
-informed him that he intended to marry, and that Mr. Pak must get him a
-wife. Still worse than that, Pak was informed by the Frog that he would
-have no one but Miss Peach, the daughter of Poom, so renowned for her
-beauty and graces.
-
-At this, old Pak went nearly wild. He begged to be excused from the
-task, but the Bullfrog was inexorable. So, after inprecating his wife’s
-tongue, for her ever putting it into the frog’s head to marry Miss
-Peach, he donned his fine clothes and set out to see Mr. Poom. He
-expected to be beaten to death for his brazen effrontery in asking a
-noble lady to marry a frog.
-
-Now this Mr. Poom had long been the magistrate of a district, who had
-squeezed much money wrongly from the poor people over whom he ruled,
-and having won great wealth, had retired and come back to his native
-place to live. This man had two daughters married, but the third, the
-youngest and most beautiful, Miss Peach, was now eighteen years old.
-
-Arriving at the Pooms’ grand mansion, Mr. Pak told of the suitor’s
-wealth, power and fame, high position and promise, and how he had made
-the old couple happy.
-
-Old Poom had pricked up his ears from the first mention of riches and
-power, and became highly interested as Pak went on sounding the praises
-of his prospective son-in-law.
-
-“And what is his name?” asked Mr. Poom.
-
-Here Pak was in a quandary. He knew that the frog family was the oldest
-and most numerous in the world and was famous for fine voices. He fell
-into a brown study for a few minutes. Then, looking up he declared that
-he had so long thought of the suitor’s graces and accomplishments, that
-he had forgotten his name and could not then recall it.
-
-So Mr. Poom, in order to help Pak out, ran over the list of famous
-families in Korea, reciting the names of the Kims, Sims, Mins, the Hos,
-Chos, Kos, Quongs and Hongs, etc., etc., for Mr. Poom was an authority
-on the Korean peerage.
-
-“It is none of these,” said Pak. “I deeply regret that I cannot recall
-the name.”
-
-“Strange,” said Mr. Poom. “I have named all the families of any
-standing in the kingdom. What is his office or rank and where do his
-relations live?”
-
-Pak was pressed so hard by Mr. Poom’s searching questions that at last
-he had to confess that the suitor for the beautiful maiden was not a
-man but a frog.
-
-“What! do you want me to marry my daughter to a pond-croaker? You shall
-suffer for thus insulting me in my own house. Slaves, bring the
-cross-bench and give this wretch twenty blows.”
-
-Forthwith, while four men brought out the whipping bench, three others
-seized poor Pak, stripped off his coat, and bound him with feet and
-arms stretched out to the bench. Then a tall, stalwart fellow raised
-the huge paddle of wood to let fall with all his might on the bare
-flesh of the old man.
-
-But all this while the sky was darkening, and, before the first blow
-was given, the lightning flashed, the thunder rolled, and floods of
-rain fell that threatened to overwhelm house, garden, and all in a
-deluge. The hail, which began to pelt the cattle, was first the size of
-an egg and then of stones, like cannon-balls.
-
-“Hold,” cried the frightened Mr. Poom. “I’ll wait and ask further.”
-
-Thereupon the lightning and thunder ceased, the sun burst out in
-splendor.
-
-Mightily impressed by this, Mr. Poom at last agreed to let his daughter
-become the bride of the frog, not telling her who her husband was to
-be. Within an hour, while she was getting ready, a string of fine
-horses and donkeys with palanquins loaded with presents for the bride
-and her family appeared. Besides boxes of silk dresses and perfumes,
-head-gear and articles for a lady’s boudoir, there were troops of
-maidens to wait on the bride. Arraying Miss Peach in the loveliest of
-robes, they also dressed her hair, until, what with satin puffs and
-frame, jade-tipped silver hairpins, rosettes and flowers, her head-gear
-stood over a foot high above her forehead, on which was the bride’s red
-round spot. Then when the happy maiden had sufficiently admired herself
-in the metal mirror and heard the praises of her attendant virgins, she
-entered the bridal palanquin—a gorgeous mass of splendor. According to
-custom, her eyes were sealed shut and covered with wax, for a Korean
-bride sees nothing of her husband until the end of the feast, when she
-meets him in the bridal chamber.
-
-So to his house she was carried in great pomp and with gay attendance
-of brilliantly arrayed maidens. The marriage ceremony and the grand
-supper were happy affairs for all the guests, even though the bride,
-according to Korean etiquette, was as if blind, quietly and patiently
-waiting sightless throughout the whole joyful occasion. The actual
-ceremony was witnessed only by the foster-parents and the bridegroom.
-
-When in the bridal chamber, the bride having unsealed her eyes, and her
-vision being clear, she looked up at the one she had married and found
-not a man, but a frog, she was furiously angry. She burst out into a
-protest against having such a bridegroom.
-
-Gently and in tenderest tones the bridegroom attempted first to comfort
-her. Then, handing her a pair of scissors, he begged her to rip open
-the skin along his back from shoulder to thigh, for it was very tight
-and he was suffering pain from it.
-
-In her bitter disappointment at being married to a frog, she seized the
-scissors and almost viciously began to cut from nape to waist. Her
-surprise was great to find what seemed to be silk underneath the
-speckled skin. When she had slit down two yards or so, her husband the
-frog stood upon his hind legs. He twisted himself about as if in a
-convulsion, pulled his whole speckled hide hard with his front paws,
-and then jumping out of his skin, stood before his bride a prince.
-Fair, tall, of superb figure, and gorgeously arrayed, he was the ideal
-of her dreams. A jeweled baldric bound his waist, embroidery of golden
-dragons on his shoulders and breast told of his rank, while on his head
-was the cap of royalty with a sparkling diamond in the center. Yet no
-clothes, handsome as they were, could compare in beauty with his
-glorious manhood. Never had she seen so fair a mortal.
-
-Happy was the bride whose feelings were thus changed in a moment from
-repulsion and horror to warmest affection and strongest veneration. The
-next morning when, to the amazement of his foster-father and mother,
-Mr. and Mrs. Pak, the prince presented himself and his bride at
-breakfast, he told the story of his life. As son of the King of the
-Stars he had committed some offense, in punishment for which his father
-condemned him to live upon the earth in the form of a frog. Furthermore
-he had laid upon his son the duty of performing three tasks. These must
-be done before he should be allowed to come back and live in Star Land.
-These were, to drink up all the water in the lake, to eat all the fish,
-and to win a human bride, the handsomest woman in the world.
-
-All the precious things which he had presented to Pak and his wife to
-make their old days comfortable, and the gifts sent to the bride’s
-house before her wedding-day, had come by power from the skies. Now,
-leaving his foster-parents on earth to enjoy their gifts, he must
-return home to his father, taking his bride with him. Scarcely had he
-spoken these words than a chariot and horses, silver bright, appeared
-at the door of the house. Bowing low to his foster-parents, and
-stepping in with his bride, the pair disappeared beyond the clouds.
-
-From this time forth a new double star was seen in the sky.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-SHOES FOR HATS
-
-
-Many centuries ago when Korea was named Chosen, or the Land of Morning
-Splendor, the island-kingdom out in the eastern sea, where the sun
-rises, was called The Land of the Dragon-Fly; which some foolish people
-call “the Devil’s Darning Needle,” because its body is so slender, its
-wings so wide and its eyes so big. The Koreans called these islanders
-“dwarfs,” because they were not tall of stature, though they were very
-warlike and brave. The isle men had no books or letters, and were very
-rude in their manners.
-
-Therefore, many kind teachers, filled with the spirit of Great Buddha,
-crossed the sea, from Everlasting Great Korea, to teach these islanders
-politeness, and how to read and write, and to build pagodas, and
-temples and schools.
-
-This is the reason why these islanders, who had no story books or
-writing before the coming of the Korean teachers, have no ancient
-history of what happened long, long ago when Korea was a great country.
-So the grandmothers in the islands used to tell their children the good
-old fairy tales, which many elderly people know by heart, and can
-relate without reading, thinking that the kings and queens they talked
-about were real people, when they were only dreams.
-
-The islanders call their country The Land Where the Day Begins, and
-there are many fairies in these islands, some good, some bad.
-
-So today, these island people make pictures in books and plays on the
-stage, and “movies” about these Koreans. They get up tableaux and
-pageants to tell how first the fairies and the King’s servants from
-these far off islands, long ago came to Korea. They wanted to learn
-politeness, how to make and wear the proper kind of clothes, and how to
-draw and paint, how to make pictures, how to build houses, how to dance
-and sing, and make music and play on instruments, how to teach and have
-schools. For the good fairies always like to do pretty things.
-
-Yet instead of being grateful for what they had received from Korea,
-there was one of these island people, a famous woman, who was envious
-because she lived in a poor land while the Koreans had a rich and
-beautiful country. Instead of swamps and grassy plains, with plenty of
-wild beasts and birds, and only a few people, poor and miserable, Korea
-was rich in rice fields and orchards full of fruit. Flowers grew in
-plenty. Birds, deer, and rabbits were numerous in the mountains and the
-scenery was beautiful.
-
-In the warm waters millions of fat fish swam and were easily caught. So
-the people had plenty of food to eat. Down along the bottom of the sea
-were most lovely water plants of rich colors, yellow, purple, green and
-white, with sea weeds, corals and sponges. In some of the sea caves
-lurked the giant crabs, cuttle-fish and every sort of marine monster.
-
-Still further down, below, deeper than any line could fathom, dwelt the
-Dragon King of the World Under the Sea and his Queen, with genii and
-dragons, and all her attendant maidens. These made sweet music, and
-here amid the mermaids the fairies had a happy time.
-
-These islanders had priests who went down by the seaside when the tide
-was low. There they called on the spirits of the deep to grant them a
-safe voyage, good luck, victory over the Koreans, and safe return.
-There they stood and watched the rippling waves as the breezes blew
-over the sea.
-
-The first living thing that poked its nose above the waters was the
-guardian of the seashore and the tides, called the Salt Water Giant. He
-came up with his head all covered with clam and oyster shells, sea
-weed, shrimps and whatever grows in the sand or bottom of the ocean. He
-had to push aside hundreds of white jelly fish that bumped against him,
-as the clumsy old chap made his way up to the surface and then waded to
-the shore.
-
-Now this giant fairy was a grumpy sort of a fellow, and seeing the
-Queen and her soldiers he growled out: “What do you want?”
-
-Very politely the Queen’s messenger made a soft answer to the big
-fellow and begged him to announce to his master, the Dragon King of the
-World Under the Sea, that the Queen wished him to help her.
-
-Would he please order all the great fish and every sea monster to go
-ahead and pull her ship forward?
-
-Would he also present her with the two sparkling tide-jewels, which
-govern the ebb and the flood tides? If he would do so, then, in the one
-case her enemies might be overwhelmed. In the other case, the ships of
-the Koreans would be left high and dry on the shore. Then she could
-march through the country and get all the gold and gems, and furs and
-jewels, and clothes and nice things to eat, and bring them back to her
-own country.
-
-With the tide jewels in her hand she could certainly conquer.
-
-“And if you please, one thing more,” added the messenger.
-
-“What else do you want?” growled the Salt Water Giant.
-
-“Have your master, the Dragon King, give our queen power to capture
-many hundreds of the Korean artists, craftsmen, teachers, and men of
-books and letters. We shall make these men prisoners and bring them to
-our country and be civilized.”
-
-“And what will you do in return to me and my master for all this?”
-roared the Salt Water Giant. His voice was like a booming cannon for he
-was as mad as fire.
-
-“As soon as we get back safely to these shores, our Queen will build a
-temple in honor of the Dragon King. We shall burn incense to him, and
-our people will pay him our devotions.”
-
-“Well then, what else?” roared the Salt Water Giant.
-
-“There will be a shrine also dedicated to you, my lord, and we’ll get
-the best Korean artists to decorate it it in wave patterns, with drops
-of foam.”
-
-The Salt Water Giant bowed and disappeared with a tremendous splash.
-Down, down, down, he went to report to his master, the Dragon King of
-the World Under the Sea.
-
-It was necessary for the dignity of His Majesty, that the Queen and her
-soldiers should wait until flood tide; for the Dragon King never
-appeared except at high water. So the Queen’s servant launched her ship
-and waited out on the waves for the answer they hoped to get.
-
-No sooner did the tide mark on the sea beach show that the waves had
-reached the highest point of flood tide, than the sea opened. The white
-foam curled round the Queen’s ship while all on board held their
-breath, to see what was coming. They knew they would soon behold a
-sight to make them shiver, for the great deep was mightily stirred.
-
-First rose into view a terrible dragon’s head, on the helmet of the
-King. It had eyes that seemed to flash fire. Then His Majesty appeared.
-In a great sea shell, as big as a bushel and held in both hands, he had
-the two tide jewels.
-
-These he presented to the Queen and then quickly disappeared beneath
-the waves. The last thing they saw was the dragon’s head, which,
-besides the two eyes like lightning, had teeth that could bite a boat
-in half, even when full of men. This monster could swallow down the
-whole crew in his mouth, that was as wide as a man-eating shark’s. His
-enormously long black moustaches were as stout as ships’ cables.
-
-Immediately after receiving the tide jewels, the Queen of the
-barbarians landed on the southern coast of Korea. After a few weeks,
-having fought many battles with the Koreans, she made them bring to her
-their gold, jewels, furs, fans, rice and pretty things.
-
-She and her people cared nothing about slaves, or common prisoners, but
-whenever and wherever they could find a painter, an artist, a costumer,
-a maker of pottery, or a man of books, or a priest, they seized and
-took him along. They carried over with them, to the island, a great
-treasure of gems, gold, ornaments and pretty clothes. They also took
-away many seeds of flowers and fruit trees, such as lemons, oranges,
-apples and pears.
-
-In the islands to which they came, these smart men of skill and
-knowledge from Korea taught the islanders, who had lived like gypsies
-or Indians, how to build houses, palaces, and temples, to make fine
-clothes, to paint pictures, and to be like the Koreans and Chinese who
-knew all about these things. So the islands became rich in fruit, rice,
-grain, pagodas and temples. After this the island people wore lovely
-clothes, and had fine manners.
-
-Now the islanders were great borrowers. They invented very few things
-themselves, but depended on their neighbors for much of what they had.
-So they filled both their heads and pockets from what they had brought
-from Korea. But they often made funny mistakes. When they wanted to
-learn about fine manners and fine clothes, they asked what, on solemn
-occasions, and in time of ceremony, they should put on their heads.
-
-The Koreans were greatly offended at these savages from over the sea
-for invading their country and taking away their artists and craftsmen.
-So they now resolved to play a trick on the islanders.
-
-So when men from the isles in the ocean sent a company of men to Korea
-and asked for caps to put on their heads, and be shown how do to things
-properly, the Koreans in contempt gave them their old shoes, which had
-strings on them to tie over their feet.
-
-But the islanders, who loved to go about with little clothing on their
-backs, and usually went barefoot, did not know what these shoes were.
-They thought these were some kind of head-gear, hats or bonnets.
-
-So they put them on their heads like skull caps and tied them with the
-white strings down under their chins. These were like tapes and held
-the caps on around their necks.
-
-So to this day the islanders, when making offerings to the fairies,
-wear this head-gear and think their shoe-caps are very fine.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE VOICE OF THE BELL
-
-
-When Tai Jo, the great general and first King of Korea, founded a new
-dynasty, he moved the capital near the great river Han and resolved to
-build a mighty city called Han Yang, or the Castle on the Han. It was
-to have a high wall around it and lofty gates on each side. However,
-the people commonly called the city Seoul, or Capital. All the roads in
-the kingdom lead to it.
-
-Happy was he when the workmen, in digging for the foundations of the
-East Gate, came upon a bell. It was a lucky omen and they carried it at
-once to the king. He had it suspended over the entrance to his palace
-and there it still hangs.
-
-But such a bell could only tinkle, while King Tai Jo wanted one that
-would boom loud and long. He was especially anxious about this, for in
-Silla, once a rival state, there had hung for centuries one of the
-biggest bells in the world and Tai Jo wanted one that excelled even
-that famed striker of the hours. He would have even a larger bell to
-hang in the central square in the heart of Seoul, that could be heard
-by every man, woman and child in the city. After that, it must be able
-to flood miles of hill and valley with its melody. By this sound the
-people would know when to get up, cook their breakfast, sit down to
-supper, or go to bed. On special occasions his subjects would know when
-a king’s procession was passing, or a royal prince or princess was
-being married. It would sound out a dirge when, His Majesty being dead,
-all the land must mourn and the people wear white clothes for three
-years and Korea becomes the land of mourners. The guardian spirit of
-the city would have its home in the bell.
-
-Word was sent out by messengers who rode on big horses, little ponies,
-donkeys and bulls to all the provinces, publishing the king’s command
-to all governors, magistrates and village-heads to collect the copper
-and tin to make the bronze metal. The bell was to stand ten feet above
-the ground and be eight feet across; that is, as high and wide as a
-Korean bedroom. On the top, forming the framework, by which the bell
-was to be hung, were to be two terrible looking dragons. Weighing so
-many tons that it would balance five hundred fat men on a seesaw, only
-heavy beams made of whole tree-trunks could hold it in the belfry,
-which must be strong enough to stand the shaking when the monster was
-rung. It had no clapper inside, but without, swung by heavy ropes from
-pulleys above, was a long log. This, men pulled back and then let fly,
-striking the boss on the bell’s surface. This awoke the music of the
-bell, making it toll, boom, rumble, growl, hum, croak, or roll sweet
-melody, according as the old bellman desired.
-
-So the procession of bullock carts on the roads to Seoul creaked with
-the ingots of copper. Many a donkey had swallowed gallons of bean soup
-at the inn stables before he dropped his load of metal in the city,
-while hundreds of bulls bellowed under their weight of the brushwood
-and timber piled on their backs to feed the furnaces, which were to
-melt the alloy for the casting of the mighty bell.
-
-Deep was the pit dug to hold the core and mould, and hundreds of
-fire-clay pots and ladles were made ready for use when the red-hot
-stream should be ready to flow. All the boys in Seoul were waiting to
-watch the fire kindle, the smoke rise, the bellows roar, the metal run,
-and the foreman give the signal to tap.
-
-When the fire-imp in the volcano heard of what was going on, he was
-awfully jealous, not thinking ever that common men could handle so much
-metal, direct properly such roaring flames, and cast so big a bell. He
-snorted at the idea that King Tai Jo’s men could beat the bells that
-hung in China’s mighty temples or in Silla’s pagodas.
-
-But when there was not yet enough and the copper collectors were still
-at their work, one of them came to a certain village and called at a
-house where lived an old woman carrying a baby boy strapped to her
-back. She had no coin, cash, metal, or fuel to give, but was quite
-ready to offer either herself or the baby. In a tone that showed her
-willingness, she said:
-
-“May I give you this boy?”
-
-The collector paid no attention to her, but passed on, taking nothing
-from the old woman. When in Seoul, however, he told the story. Thus it
-came to pass that many heard of the matter and remembered it later.
-
-So when all was ready, the fire-clay crucibles were set on the
-white-hot coals. The blast roared until the bronze metal turned to
-liquid. Then, at the word of the master, the hissing, molten stream ran
-out and filled the mould. Patiently waiting till the metal cooled,
-alas! they found the bell cracked.
-
-The casting was raised by means of heavy tackle, erected at great
-expense on the spot, and the bell was broken up into bits by stalwart
-blacksmiths, wielding heavy hammers. Then a second casting was made,
-but again, when cool, it was found to be cracked.
-
-Three separate times this happened, until the price of a palace had
-been paid for work, fuel, and wages, and yet there was no bell. King
-Tai Jo was in despair. Yet, instead of crying, or pulling his topknot,
-or berating the artisans, who had done the best they could, he offered
-a large reward to any one who could point out where the trouble lay, or
-show what was lacking, and thus secure a perfect casting. Thereupon out
-stepped a workman from the company, who told the story of the old woman
-and said that the bell would crack after every cooling unless her
-proposal was accepted. Anyway, he said, the hag was a sorceress, and if
-the child were not a real human being no harm could be done.
-
-So the baby boy was sent for and, when the liquid metal had half filled
-the pit, was thrown into the mass. There was some feeling about
-“feeding a child to the fire demon,” but when they hoisted the cooled
-bell up from the mould, lo, the casting was a perfect success and every
-one apparently forgot about the human life that had entered the bell.
-Soon with file and chisel, the great work was finished. The hanging
-ceremonies were very impressive when the bell was put in place on the
-city’s central square, where the broad streets from the South Gate and
-those looking to sunrise and sunset met together. Suspended by heavy
-iron links from the staple on a stout timber frame, the bell’s mouth
-was exactly a foot above ground. Then, around and over it, was built
-the belfry. The names of the chief artisans who cast the bell and of
-the royal officers who superintended the hanging ceremonies were
-engraved on the metal. It was decided, however, not to strike the bell
-until it was fully housed and the sounder or suspended log of wood, as
-thick as the mast of a ship, was made ready to send forth the initial
-boom.
-
-Meanwhile tens of thousands of people waited to hear the first music of
-the bell. Every one believed it to be good luck and that they would
-live the longer for it. The boys and girls could hardly go to bed for
-listening, and some were afraid they might be asleep when it boomed.
-The little folks, whose eyes were usually fast shut at sunset, begged
-hard to stay up that night until they could hear the bell, but some
-fell asleep, because they could not help it, and their eyes closed
-before they knew it.
-
-“What shall the name of the bell be, your Majesty?” asked a wise
-counselor.
-
-“Call it In Jung,” said King Tai Jo. “That means ‘Man Decides,’ for
-every night, at nine o’clock, let every man or boy decide to go to bed.
-Except magistrates, let not one male person be found in the street on
-pain of being paddled. From that hour until midnight the women shall
-have the streets to themselves to walk in.” The royal law was
-proclaimed by trumpeters and it was ordained also that every morning
-and evening, at sunrise and sunset, the band of music should play at
-the opening and shutting of the city gates.
-
-So In Jung, or “Masculine Decision,” is the bell’s name to this day.
-
-But as yet the bell was silent. It had not spoken. When it did sound,
-the Seoul people discovered that it was the most wonderful bell ever
-cast. It had a memory and a voice. It could wail, as well as sing. In
-fact, some to this day declare it can cry; for, whether in childhood,
-youth, middle or old age, in joy or gladness, the bell expresses their
-own feelings by its change of note, lively or gay, in warning or
-congratulation.
-
-At nine o’clock in the first night of the seventh moon—the month of the
-Star Maiden of the Loom and the Ox-boy with his train of attendants,
-who stand on opposite sides of the River of Heaven and cross over on
-the bridge of birds, the great bell of Seoul was to be sounded. All the
-men were in their rooms ready to undress and go to bed at once, while
-all the women, fully clothed in their best, were on the door-steps
-ready, each with her lantern in hand, for their promenade outdoors.
-
-Four strong men seized the rope, pulled back the striking log a whole
-yard’s distance and then let fly. Back bounded the timber and out
-gushed a flood of melody that rolled across the city in every
-direction, and over the hills, filling leagues of space with sweet
-sound. The children clapped their hands and danced with joy. They knew
-they would live long, for they had heard the sweet bell’s first music.
-The old people smiled with joy.
-
-But what was the surprise of the adult folks to hear that the bell
-could talk. Yes, its sounds actually made a sentence.
-
-“Mu-u-u-ma-ma-ma-la-la-la-la-la-la——” until it ended like a baby’s cry.
-Yes! There was no mistake about it. This is what it said:
-
-“My mother’s fault. My mother’s fault.”
-
-And to this day the mothers in Seoul, as they clasp their darlings to
-their bosoms, resolve that it shall be no fault of theirs if these lack
-love or care. They delight in their little ones more, and lavish on
-them a tenderer affection because they hear the great bell talk,
-warning parents to guard what Heaven has committed to their care.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE KING OF THE SPARROWS
-
-
-The Korean children are awakened every morning by the twittering of the
-sparrows. These little birds build their nests among the vines on the
-roof and along the eaves. The people plant melon, gourd, and mock
-orange seeds along the sunny sides of their houses in spring time. All
-through the summer, and until late in autumn, the walls and roofs are
-covered with the thick green leaves. Here, in these sheltered places,
-the sparrow mother lays her eggs and the father sparrow finds worms and
-feeds her, until the hungry birdies open their little mouths for
-something to eat. After this, both parents are kept busy in raising
-their brood and teaching them to fly.
-
-The greatest dangers to the birdlings come from cruel snakes that live
-on the roof and eat up the young sparrows. Sometimes, to help them
-against their enemy, the parent sparrows call in the aid of larger
-birds that are not afraid of the reptiles. These peck at the snake
-until they drive him away. There is always a lively chattering over the
-victory.
-
-One day, a young sparrow that had hardly learned to fly was almost
-seized, and might have been devoured by the roof-snake, but was saved
-by a big, brave bird that flew at the reptile. Although escaped from
-the snake’s jaws, the sparrow in falling caught its legs in the curtain
-made of split bamboo, which hung before the verandah of the house, and
-its limb was put out of joint. There it lay helpless between the
-splints.
-
-The owner of the house was a kind man, who loved the birds. Taking pity
-on the poor sparrow, he carefully lifted it up, smoothed its feathers,
-and quieted the little creature, while its heart kept beating so fast.
-Then setting its leg in place, he put some moist clay around the broken
-part, until it should be all right again. Meanwhile, he kept it warm,
-feeding the birdie until it was strong again. One day he took it in his
-hand and out-of-doors letting it fly away. Soon it came back and
-perched on the edge of the roof, twittering thanks to its kind friend.
-Then it spread its wings to fly to the King of the Sparrows, who lived
-in the city of Sparrow Capital, where it at once informed His Majesty
-about the good man who healed and befriended birds when they were in
-trouble and who had saved the young sparrow’s life.
-
-The King of Sparrow Land and all his wise counselors heard the story
-with great interest. Then they held a meeting and voted to reward
-richly so good a friend of all sparrows. So they went into the
-storehouse where were kept beautiful treasures which human beings love.
-From the collection they chose what they thought would please most
-their good friend, such as gold, jade, brocade, cups and saucers, rice,
-horses to ride on, oxen to bear heavy loads and pretty maids to wait on
-him, besides silk and cotton clothes of all sorts, with delicious
-things to eat and drink. By some magic process, they packed these into
-a seed and then gave it to the sparrow in its bill to carry to the good
-man. They charged the bird on no account to lose it and be sure to give
-it to no one but the right person.
-
-So the sparrow flew out of Sparrow Land and down to the house of its
-kind friend. Carefully laying down the seed, it kept near the paper
-window-frame and made a great twittering, until the man came out to see
-what was the matter. Recognizing his old acquaintance, he put out his
-open hand and the sparrow laid the seed in his palm, meanwhile
-chattering in a lively way and looking in his face as if to tell him
-how precious the treasure was.
-
-But the good fellow only took it in to his wife and told her how he got
-it, laughed over the matter and was going to throw it away, thinking it
-only sparrow fun.
-
-The wife, who was a wise woman, begged her husband to keep it and on a
-warm day in spring she planted it. It grew to be a luxuriant vine that
-clothed all one side of the house with its leaves. When one unusually
-fine large handsome gourd was nearly ripe, the man thought of plucking
-it for food; but, taking his wife’s advice, he waited until full autumn
-had come. By this time the gourd, having absorbed the sunshine all
-summer, was fully ripe.
-
-Then they took a saw to open it properly, and lo! a store of riches
-came out of that gourd, such as neither the man nor his wife had ever
-dreamed of.
-
-First issued something which spread itself out before them. It was a
-table of costly jade, such as an Emperor ever eats from. Next rolled
-forth a silver bottle of delicious wine and then the daintiest cups,
-that set themselves on the jade table. Soon a gold tea-caddy appeared
-filled with the fragrant leaf. Then rolls of silk, fine muslin, satin
-brocade, and a store of rich clothes, hats, shoes, girdles, and socks
-enough to last a lifetime appeared before their eyes. After these were
-rice and cooked food of all sorts ready for a feast. Looking out into
-the yard, they saw strong horses and fat oxen waiting to do their
-master’s bidding. Last of all, some lovely young girls, as fair as the
-moon, stepped out of the gourd and proceeded to serve the good things
-of the feast, as if they had been used to waiting on ladies and
-gentlemen all their lives. Following the feast, they danced, made music
-and gave no end of entertainment and service to the man and his wife,
-who were now as happy as king and queen.
-
-In their once humble home, now made over new, with all the store of
-good things and plenty of loyal servants and strong animals to serve
-them, the old couple lived without care and traveled where they
-pleased.
-
-But when a wicked man, that hated all sparrows and had often driven
-them away from his house, because he thought them too troublesome,
-heard of his neighbor’s good fortune, he was envious, and wanted to get
-riches in the same way. So he watched his opportunity and, when a
-sparrow came near, he threw a stick at the bird and broke its leg. Then
-he bound up the limb with clay and a bit of rag. He kept the poor
-sparrow until its leg was well, but dreadfully crooked, and then let it
-fly away.
-
-In the capital of Sparrow Land, the poor bird told about the bad man’s
-doings. The Sparrow King at once handed out a seed to be given to the
-enemy of the sparrows. When the naughty man saw the little bird with
-the crooked legs, he ran out, got the seed and planted it at once. He
-could hardly wait for the gourd to ripen. Wonderful to relate, however,
-the vine was most luxurious, covering the whole side of the house and
-all the thatched roofs of the three dwellings in one, which made up his
-home. Finally in the autumn he plucked the fruit. Then, sitting down
-before the pile, with knife and saw, he began to open them.
-
-But instead of good things, and lovely people, and the treasures that
-make men rich and happy, such as his kind neighbor had received, there
-came out, one after another, the twelve curses of Korea.
-
-First leaped forth a party of rope dancers, who put out their hands and
-demanded money. They threatened to live with him and eat at his table
-unless they got their pay.
-
-There was no help for it. So the cruel man had to give each dancer a
-long string of cash before he could get rid of the party.
-
-No sooner had he opened the second gourd than out stepped a line of
-Buddhist priests, who at once began begging for the temples. He was
-only too glad to buy off these shaven pates.
-
-The saw had no sooner let the light into another gourd, than forth came
-a band of hired mourners carrying a corpse. They began weeping, wailing
-and crying out loud enough to waken the dead. It required another rope
-of cash to get rid of these pests. By this time the cruel man was
-beginning to feel very poor.
-
-Almost afraid to touch the other gourds, but still greedily hoping for
-riches, he sawed them open; but one after the other yielded only what
-took his money and threatened to make him a beggar. From the fourth
-gourd issued a bevy of dancing girls, who refused to leave the house
-until he had paid them five thousand cash. From another gourd a pair of
-acrobats leaped out and began a performance. But knowing that they
-would charge the more for their tricks, if they were allowed to finish
-their program, the man bought them off as he had done the others.
-
-Getting poorer and poorer, with no sign of wealth coming from the
-gourds, he yet felt he must open more, but the result was the same. The
-strangest people, men and women, such as loafers from the government
-offices, fortune-tellers, jugglers, and blind folks appeared. These
-last had sticks in their hands to find the way, and bells at their
-belts to collect alms. Finally, of all living things, a giant stood
-forth, that threatened to eat up both the man and his wife.
-
-By this time there was not a coin or a cash left, and, besides being as
-poor as a rat, the man was hungry. When the twelfth gourd was opened it
-seemed to have in it all the smells of Korea. Holding their noses, the
-man and his wife ran out of their house. Happily for them that they did
-so, for just then a gale of wind blew down the house, and the thatch
-and timbers burst into flames from the fire that had heated the flues.
-
-Thus stripped of all their possessions, because of the man’s cruelty to
-the birds, the wicked fellow and his wife would have starved, except
-for the kindness of the good man who treated the sparrows kindly. For
-the rest of their days the old couple lived on their neighbor’s
-charity.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE WOODMAN AND THE MOUNTAIN FAIRIES
-
-
-Over a half thousand years ago there lived in a northern village, near
-Ping Yang, a wood-cutter named Keel Wee.
-
-He owned a sturdy bull that carried on its back the fuel which he daily
-cut on the mountains and sold on the main street of his village, at the
-fair, which was held every fifth day. The docile brute could carry a
-load of faggots and brushwood piled many feet high over his head and
-tied down with ropes, so that at a distance nothing but his legs were
-visible. This beast, although so huge, was the gentlest creature
-imaginable. The children were all very fond of the big fellow and were
-accustomed to play with him as if he were one of them, or at least like
-a pet dog. The reason of this was that when but a week old the
-bull-calf had been taken from his cow-mother and brought up in the
-family with the girls and boys. Only the puppy dog, that also occupied
-the house with the young folks, was a great favorite.
-
-On a fine summer morning, Keel Wee, leaving his beast behind, went up
-on the mountain and cut enough wood to load up and bring down on
-another day.
-
-His wife, as she shouted good-bye, told him to be sure and be home in
-time for supper, for their eldest son had gone a-fishing and a good
-string of perch was expected.
-
-Shouldering his axe, he started up the mountain path. He had to go
-pretty far, for near towns or cities in Korea all the timber had long
-since been cut away. Every year the woodmen have to search farther
-afield to find fuel.
-
-Arriving in the woods where there was a clearing, Keel Wee prepared to
-wield his trusty axe. He was about to take off his big hat and outer
-coat and lay about him, when he spied, at some distance off, two
-fairy-like beings. They had long hair, looked very wise and were
-dressed in costume of the Chow dynasty of two thousand years ago. They
-sat on stones and played the game of go-ban.
-
-Coming near, the woodman took a respectful attitude, and, looking on,
-soon became interested in the moves of the players. So far from being
-at all disconcerted at the presence of a stranger, the two fairies
-seemed by eye-winks to invite him to look on. Feeling quite proud to be
-thus honored, Keel Wee, leaning his chin upon the handle of his axe,
-became absorbed in the game and by and by grew quite excited.
-Forgetting himself and his manners, he stretched forth his right hand
-to move one of the pieces. At once the fairy nearest to him gave him a
-crack on the fingers for his impudence, and jerked Keel Wee’s arm away.
-Then without saying a word, he took out from his wallet something that
-looked like a persimmon seed and put in the woodman’s mouth. After this
-all three were perfectly quiet.
-
-Hour after hour the game proceeded and the players grew more intensely
-interested. As for Keel Wee, his eyes never winked, so hard did he look
-at the yellow board covered with the black and white pieces. Several
-times, when he thought he saw how the fairy on his right could beat in
-the game, or the one on his left make a better move, he felt like
-telling one or the other so. When, however, he tried to move his
-tongue, he found he could not speak, or utter a cry. Somehow he felt as
-if he were in a dream.
-
-Yet all the time he became more and more wrapped up in the game, so
-that he determined to see the end of it and know which player had
-beaten. He forgot that with mountain spirits there is no night or
-morning, or passing of the hours, nor do they care anything about
-clocks or bells, because in fairy-land there is no time.
-
-All the while Keel Wee was leaning with his chin on the stout
-axe-handle, holding it with both hands under his neck. He took no note
-of the sun or stars, daylight or darkness and he felt no hunger.
-
-Suddenly the timber of his axe seemed to turn to dust and his chin
-fell. The next thing he knew he had lost his support. Down went his
-head, and forward fell his body as he tumbled over, upsetting the
-checker-board, breaking up the game and scattering the round pieces
-hither and yon over the ground.
-
-Awaking as out of a sleep, and thoroughly ashamed of himself for his
-impoliteness, he tried to pick himself up and humbly apologize for the
-accident which he had caused by his own rudeness. He expected and was
-ready for a good scolding. But when he looked up, the fairies were
-gone. Nothing whatever was seen of them or of the playboard and
-checkers, nor any signs of their having been there, except that when he
-put his hand on the flat stones, which they had used as seats, he found
-them warm to his touch.
-
-But where was his axe-handle and what had happened? When he had left
-home, he had come straight from the barber shop, with his face smooth
-and clean shaven. Now he put his hand to his breast and found that he
-had grown a long white beard. As for the iron axe-head, it was there,
-but rusty and half buried in the ground. He had worn one of the big
-farmer’s hats, which, when turned upside down, might hold a bushel or
-two of turnips, and when fastened to his head spread over his shoulders
-like a roof. Where could it be? He looked about him to find it, but saw
-only the bits of the slats inside the frame and a few scraps of what
-remained, for the rest had long ago rotted away. Meanwhile he had
-discovered that his joints were stiff, and he felt like an old man. His
-clothes were a mass of rags, his hemp sandals were no more, and, on
-both fingers and toes, had grown long nails like bird’s claws. His hair
-had burst its topknot string and hung down his back like a woman’s,
-only it was grayish-white.
-
-Wondering what it all meant, Keel Wee hobbled down the mountain and
-found the road that ran into the main street of his village. Rocks and
-hills, rivers and rills were there, but what a change! Instead of the
-two grinning idol posts, of male and female faces, carved out of trunks
-and trees, with sawed-out teeth painted white, and artificial ear flaps
-of wood nailed on, such as had stood before every Korean hamlet since
-the days of Kija, there was a line of high thick poles, with iron wire
-stretching from one to the other and for miles in the distance. These,
-he found out afterward, were called “lightning-thread-trees” (telegraph
-poles). In place of the rambling and sprawling three-sided thatched
-houses and yards, divided off with mats hung from sticks, there was a
-well-built but odd-looking office of painted wood, with openings
-through which he saw Korean young men sitting. They were dressed in
-strange clothes and were fingering outlandish-looking clicking
-instruments.
-
-His curiosity prompted him to go up and look more closely, when
-something bumped against his nose and nearly knocked him over. When he
-tried again to get closer, his face was flattened, his nose nearly
-broken, and his lips knocked against his teeth so that they swelled.
-Feeling with his hands to solve the mystery, he touched something hard,
-which he could yet see through. Just then he heard a young man inside
-shout to him in Korean:
-
-“Here, you mountain daddy, let that glass alone.”
-
-“Glass? Glass?” thought Keel Wee. “What is that?” Yet he could not
-speak.
-
-He had hardly drawn a long breath when, looking down along two lines of
-shining iron in the street, he saw a house on wheels coming right at
-him. There was no horse, no donkey, no bull, no man pulling or pushing
-it, but overhead was a long pole, at the end of which, where it touched
-a string, as he thought, though it was an iron wire, was something that
-looked like a squirrel. It was going round and round as if turning
-somersaults and seemed to be pushing the moving house along. Inside,
-near the same stuff which he had already heard was glass, sat a dozen
-or so Koreans. The whole thing, wheels and all, nearly ran over him as
-it thundered by, and his mouth opened in wonder, while a man on the end
-shouted rudely:
-
-“Hello, old goblin, where did you get your pumpkin mouth? Look out or
-you’ll swallow the moon. Get out of the way of the trolley.”
-
-Thus did the man they called conductor, or guard, make fun of the poor
-old fellow, for indeed he did look like one of the mummers, who on New
-Year’s Eve amuse or scare the children by putting on their shoulders
-the huge round devil heads and false faces that represent the
-aborigines of Korea and the goblins that once lived in the mountains.
-These masks are usually shaped like a melon and are cut with eyes, nose
-and mouth, like those which American boys have fun with on All Hallow
-Eve.
-
-This was just the trouble. The woodman in tatters, with no topknot,
-long hair down his back and a white beard floating over his breast,
-leaning on a long white stick as he hobbled down the street, looked
-just like one of the ancient aborigines that had long ago been driven
-into the mountains. Nurses and old women frightened naughty children by
-simply mentioning their names. When one of these mountain men, odd
-creatures that were half savage in dress and ways, came into the town,
-all the children laughed and the big dogs barked, while the little ones
-ran away, for the sight was so unusual. Even the bulls bellowed, the
-donkeys balked, and the pigs squeaked, as Keel Wee came near. No wonder
-he was taken for a mountain granddaddy, or a bumpkin dressed up like
-one, for few of the city or village folks had really ever seen one of
-the mountain aborigines, any more than they had seen tigers, that are
-plentiful farther away, but which only the hunters ever caught sight
-of.
-
-More and more bewildered, Keel Wee wended his way further into the
-town. He saw that the men no longer wore topknots, or chignons, nor did
-the lads have on the long braid down their back, which showed that they
-were youths, but not married yet. Just then some rough boys, supposing
-that maybe some rustic gawk had mistaken the time of year, jeered at
-him and cried:
-
-“Hello, hermit, do you think it’s New Year’s Eve?”
-
-Keel Wee thought he had better ask some questions. So catching sight of
-a dignified looking gentleman, in black broad-brimmed hat and flowing
-white clothes, who was coming down the street and toward him, Keel Wee
-bowed his head low, almost to the ground. As he did so, the stone put
-in his mouth by the fairies dropped out, and his tongue was loosed. He
-inquired as follows:
-
-“Exalted sir, can you tell me where may be the wretched hut of my
-miserable wife and children? She was the daughter of Gee Kim, and your
-contemptible slave is Keel Wee.”
-
-The gentleman, whose dress showed that he was a scholar and person of
-rank, looked long and hard at the questioner, to satisfy himself that
-he was not being mocked, or imposed upon by a jester, rope-dancer,
-sorcerer, or some such disreputable person, and then cried:
-
-“Heavens! man, are you a beggar-spirit of the mountains? Your speech
-sounds like the dialect spoken in these parts five hundred years ago.
-In that time such a family lived here, but the head of it, a
-wood-cutter and fuel-seller, is reported to have gone up into the
-mountains and was eaten up by a tiger. Yonder in the graveyard are
-buried ten or more generations of his descendants.”
-
-“Tell me, kind sir, what has happened here since King Wang died. It was
-under his reign that I was born and lived in this village.”
-
-Still eyeing the questioner, as if expecting to see him jump out of his
-rags and declare himself a mummer and the whole affair a joke, the
-kindly gentleman proceeded to give in outline the history of Korea
-during the previous five hundred years. There had been many kings. The
-Tartars first, and then the Japanese had invaded the land. A great war
-between the Mikado’s men and the Chinese had taken place. It was just
-over and now people rode in cars, talked hundreds of miles over wires,
-and traveled over iron rails as fast as a dragon could fly, drawn by a
-steel horse that drank water and fed on wood and black stones that
-burned. In a word, Korea was in an “era of civilization.”
-
-This was too much for Keel Wee. He now realized that he had lived ten
-times longer than the average man. So, hobbling over to the graveyard,
-he stumbled among the mounds until he found that one of his clan where
-the bones of his wife and children lay. Next morning, all that was seen
-of Keel Wee was a mass of dust, rags, some bones, and much long white
-hair. Yet, when they buried him, there sprang up around and on his
-grave strange flowers that no one had ever seen in city or village, but
-which bloomed only on the high mountains.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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