Page:Village life in Korea (1911).djvu/97

Rh In most of the inns two rooms are found which are kept for the use of guests. One of these is always open for any and everybody that may chance to come along. It is usually, occupied by the horsemen and tradesmen that call for lodging or meals. The other is kept for officials or other gentlemen that stop for the night. As for the difference of choice in the two rooms, it is hardly worth mentioning but for the fact that one may be a little less crowded than the other, sometimes a little less dirty, since it is not in constant use. There is no charge made for the use of the rooms, but only for the food that is served. The landlord will be out nothing, and there will be no more bed linen to wash after a dozen men have occupied the room than if only one had occupied it. This is because there is no bed linen nor other furnishing of any description in the room except a block of wood that is used for a pillow. The warm floor, covered with a straw mat, is all the bed that one ever gets in the best inn that I have seen in Korea, and I have spent scores of nights in the inns of this land. The guest room is usually about eight by sixteen feet, and is often occupied by fifteen or twenty men at the same time. Many of the rooms are only eight by eight, and will be so filled with men sleeping on the floor that it reminds me of the saying "Packed like sardines in a box." Some time since I slept in a room with three or four men; and when I insisted on leaving the door open an inch so we might have a breath of fresh air, one of the guests was so horrified that he arose from his place on the warm floor and left the room for good,