Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/503

 a cargo of them. As they were being unloaded, some escaped into woods, and ever since that time Korea has had her ophidians like other lands.

The scientific value of a study of folk-lore is the opportunity it affords for comparison. We want to know what are the affinities of Korean folk-lore in order to establish its ethnological relationships. Such comparison seems to be possible when we note that in Korea we have stories that are almost the exact counterpart of that of Cinderella, The Forty Thieves, Brer Rabbit, Haroun al Raschid, Jonah and the Whale, Red Riding Hood, Aladdin's Lamp, Sinbad the Sailor and many another type familiar to the scientific folk-lorist of the West.

In spite of the lack of a literature that is largely accessible to the common classes, the people have developed a keenness of insight and a terseness of expression that is surprising. The lack of books has resulted in a refinement of the art of storytelling, and this in turn has brought out a large volume of terse and witty sayings which correspond to our saws and proverbs. The Koreans use these much more frequently than we do, and it adds a spice to their talk that is often lacking in ours.

Where we would use the very humdrum formula "Make assurance doubly sure," they would say, "Even though the crab is boiled, you must pull its legs off first and eat them." There is a whole sermon in the proverb, "A finger prick will demand attention, though the worms be eating the heart unknown." The value of personal observation is illustrated by the saying, "If you want to know how deep the river is, wade in and see." "The blind man stole his own hen and ate it" is a finely ironical way of saying that the covetous man will overreach himself. Our proverb, "Lock the barn-door after the horse has been stolen," is expressed equally well in the Korean, "Fill out the prescription after the friends of the sick man have put on mourning."