Page:Village life in Korea (1911).djvu/203

Rh death of but one Korean, and he was a low-class man, but I can assure you that it was a sad sight. The dying man was lying on the floor, and around him were gathered the mother, wife, and other friends. They were all more or less excited, while some of them were busy talking to him, though he was entirely unconscious. They were saying to him "Why do you labor so hard? Hurry up and go. Hurry up and go." All the while his face was covered with a cloth, making breathing much more difficult. When at last he was dead, every one turned from him and set up such a wail as I had never heard before and hope I shall never hear again.

As soon as the death is announced, or soon thereafter, some one hastens to the kitchen and prepares three bowls of rice. At the same time three pairs of straw shoes are prepared, and these, with the rice, are taken to a convenient place and left as an offering to the spirits. The place is sometimes the top of the house or a near-by hill; or it may be they are carried to a crossroads and placed on the ground. Thus more than once in my travels have I seen the rice and the shoes beside the road. These are supposed to be for the spirit of the one who has just died, and for the two policemen who have come to accompany him on the long journey. This journey is a long one, so they must be well fed and shod before they start. This custom, if there were nothing else, is proof of the belief of the Koreans in a future state. Soon after death some friend of the deceased takes an inner garment of the dead man, and, going to the top