Page:Village life in Korea (1911).djvu/81

Rh poor man covers his floor with a straw mat instead of the oiled paper. Even the poorest have the mat. Every house has at least two rooms, the living room and the cook shed. For the latter always, even in the best houses, there is nothing more than mother earth for the floor. In the cook shed the fireplace is located, being nothing more than the entrance to the flues that run under the floor. Here the pot for cooking the rice is fixed hard and fast in the furnace, and when the rice is cooked the fire at the same time heats the stone floor. In ordinary weather there is no other fire needed to make the room warm enough for the night. If the weather is very cold, a little more fire will be made just before retiring. By the way, it is not much trouble to get ready to retire in Korean style. The shoes are left outside the door on entering the room. The bed is always ready, since there is none except the floor. Those who are able to afford such luxuries have quilts which are spread on the floor when it comes time to retire. Absolutely nothing in the way of bedsteads or chairs is to be found in these houses.

The well-to-do will have a large house, but always on the same plan as described above. It is built in a rectangle around an open court, which lets in a little sunshine, that may find its way into the rooms late in the afternoon or early in the morning. The low pitch of the house, with the fact that the eaves always extend out two or three feet, makes it almost impossible for the sun's rays to find their way into the rooms. As a rule there is nothing that can be dignified by calling