Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/498

 of the sun, the Korean gives us the reason why the bedbug is so very flat. Instead of fancying that the cirrus clouds are flocks of sheep feeding in ethereal pastures, the Korean tells us why sparrows hop on both feet while magpies walk by putting one foot before the other. The Greek mythology is telescopic, the Korean microscopic. If you want to know the origin of fire, of the precession of the equinoxes, of echo or of lightning, you must go to the Greek; but if you desire to learn why the ant has such a small waist, or why the louse has a black spot on its breast, or why crabs walk sideways, you must consult Korean lore. A single sample will suffice.

The flies and the sparrows had a quarrel and agreed to arbitrate. The governor of Pyeng-an was chosen to settle the matter. The flies charged the sparrows with stealing the rice from the harvest fields and of building their nests under the eaves of the houses and causing all sorts of disturbances. Without waiting to hear the other side of the case, the governor ordered the sparrows to be beaten on the legs. As the blows began to fall, the sparrows hopped up and down in pain and begged that their side of the story be heard. The governor complied, and then the advocate of the sparrows charged the flies with laying eggs in the standing rice and ruining whole crops, with entering houses and defiling the food and waking the sleepers in the early morning. The governor would hear no more, but ordered the flies to be beaten unmercifully. It was their turn to be humble then. They came before the governor and, rubbing their hands together as Koreans always do when supplicating, asked that they be let off. After thinking it over, the governor pardoned both sides, but, in order that neither the sparrows nor the flies should forget the warning, he decreed that for all time the sparrows should hop instead of walk, and that whenever a fly alighted he should rub his hands together, as they had just done before him.

In like manner Korean lore tells why flounders have both eyes on the same side of the head, why shad have so many