Page:Village life in Korea (1911).djvu/64

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56
Village Life in Korea.

asleep in the shadow of his ox, which is loaded with wood, standing and waiting for a customer to call and wake his master. We notice that the women have a green garment thrown over the head and reaching almost to the ground. This is the veil that is worn by every decent woman every time she goes on the streets. See there the great, boxlike things that the men are carrying with a rush, as if they meant to get somewhere before the sun goes down. These are the sedan chairs in which the high-class ladies and gentlemen ride. The lady's chair is completely closed, so that no one can see the occupant. The gentleman's is often open so that the rider is exposed to full view. The man coming there with the hat that would hold three pecks of shelled corn is a mourner. See the piece of sackcloth behind which he hides his face. His long coat is also made of sackcloth, and has sleeves as large as a flour bag. See that crowd of boys coming down the street all dressed in their "birthday" suits. That is quite common for boys in summer till they are six or eight years old. The small boy just coming out of the alley there is engaged to be married, as may be known from the fact that he has a topknot and wears the little yellow straw hat. See, all the other boys are bareheaded, with their hair braided and hanging down the back.

But the morning will, soon be gone and we shall not have reached the top of Nam San. Let us hurry across this stream, which flows from the spring yonder under the cliff of the mountain. See, these women are washing; see how they beat the clothes on the flat