Page:Village life in Korea (1911).djvu/120



Korea, as elsewhere in the world, there are just two classes of children—namely, boys and girls. The boys are always welcomed at birth and considered a great blessing, while the girls are received amid many regrets and expressions of sorrow. One Korean lady, when condoling with an American lady who was the happy mother of a little girl, said: "When a boy is born we are always very, very glad, but only a little glad when a girl is born." I fear that this is somewhat overstating the case, since in most cases there is sorrow instead of the "little gladness" at the birth of a little girl. I very well remember how, when a little girl came to gladden our home, my teacher, a Korean gentleman, being told that a baby had been born, with a broad smile said: "A son?" My answer was: "No; a daughter." Whereupon his face took on a deep expression of sympathy, and he replied, "Chum sup-sup-ham-nai-ta," which means, "I am some sorry." I told him that we did not need his sympathy in this matter, since we were just as glad at the birth of a daughter as at that of a son.

Thus we see that our village girl is handicapped from the hour of her birth, and cannot in the very nature of the case have a fair chance in the race of life. She comes into the world unbidden and unwelcomed, and is considered as an intruder in the (106)