Page:Korea (1904).djvu/171

Rh They dread the assumption of rank and the semblance of authority. Their fear of a disturbance is so great that, although they may murmur against the impositions of the magistrate, they continue to meet his demands.

At the present day the farmer of Korea is the ideal child

THE KOREAN AND HIS BULL

of nature; superstitious, simple, patient and ignorant. He is the slave of his work, and he moves no further from his village than the nearest market. He has a terrified belief in the existence of demons, spirits and dragons, whose dirty and grotesque counterfeits adorn his thatched hut. There are other characteristic traits in this great section of the national life. Their capacity for work is unlimited; they are seldom idle, and, unlike the mass of their countrymen, they have no sense of repose. As farmers, they have by instinct and tradition certain ideas and principles which are excellent in themselves. To the wayfarer