Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/499

 bones, wny the full moon contains a picture of a tree with a rabbit beneath, why sorghum seeds are enveloped in a red case, why clams are simply birds that have fallen into the sea, how the serpent and the octopus had a fight and as a result the serpent had to surrender his four feet to the octopus, how the earthworm had his feet all taken away and given to the centipede, - all these and many another quaint and curious freak of nature is explained to the satisfaction of the Korean.

Thus far we have been able to classify roughly the different types of Korean folk-tales, but outside these limits there is a whole realm of miscellaneous fiction, so varied in its character as to defy classification; and we can enumerate only individual types. I should include under one head all those tales which draw their inspiration from the workings of human passions. Of the love-story, as we know it in the West, Korean lore is entirely innocent. Social conditions, which prevent personal contact between men and women of a marriageable age, sufficiently account for this; and it is this limitation along the line of legitimate affection that is to blame for a wide range of popular literature which cannot be discussed with propriety. Love between man and woman is a thing never spoken of among respectable Koreans.

Many tales are based upon the passion for revenge. Without doubt the prevalence of this type results from a state of society in which even-handed and blindfold justice finds no place; where the principle, " to the victor belongs the spoils," applies equally in the political, industrial and social life. It is a condition in which " pull " in its most sordid sense is the main asset of the politician, the merchant and even the coolie. Here the passion for revenge has daily and hourly food to feed upon, and we see a clear reflection of it in the folk-tales.

A woman has been robbed of her ancestral burial-place by a bad prefect, and she is told by a fortune-teller that she will recover the property as soon as she is able to make one egg stand upon another without falling off. One night, several