Village Gentleman

At some time (it may be in the very far distant past—yes, as much as ten generations ago) some of his ancestors held office and were considered gentlemen by the king; and by virtue of this fact he has inherited certain rights and privileges that do not come to the common herd. The fact that he is a gentleman is sufficient ground for him to excuse himself from everything in the shape and form of common labor.

Yangban Politeness and Patience

In all the arts of politeness our village gentleman is a past master of the first degree. From the time he can walk and talk, the study of polite forms of speech and action are his daily duties.

He can easily forgive one for telling a falsehood or for taking too large a per cent of an amount of trust funds that passed through his hands, but to show any signs of impatience or impoliteness would be sins not to be pardoned.

Yangban’s Place in the Village

Not only does he use the low forms of speech when addressing other people, but he requires other people to address him in the high forms of speech. Thus the very language itself is a means of ever widening the chasm that separates the classes living in the same little village. He has little regard for the rights of his neighbors; whatever they may have that he wants he appropriates at his own price or at no price, as the"’ notion strikes him.

Village Girl

Our village girl plays about the house and yard with the other children of the ‘village until she is seven or eight years old, at which time she must be separated from the boys and men, taking her place in the woman’s department of the house, where she is not to be seen by men or boys unless they be her near relatives.

This cannot be strictly applied in the case of the middle and lower classes, where the girls must be seen as they go about the work which they must do. If there be a baby in the family, from the time the little girl can carry it she will spend most of her time with the baby tied on her back. When she goes out to play with other children, the baby is on her back if she goes out to work, baby also goes, not to work, of course, but to ride while sister works. In some of the schools that have been started by missionaries for girls, the girls come to school with babies strapped on their backs.

The parents do not consider her as a permanent part of the family, but only as a burden which is to be carried till such a time as she |Can be disposed of to the best advantage to themselves. This period is not very long, since in most cases the girl is betrothed and often sent to the house of her husband to-be before she is twelve^ years old.

Mothers-in-Law

These girl wives are literally the slaves of the household into which they are carried. The mother-in-law rules with a hand of iron and a rod of

steel. Many women have two, three, four, or more of these young daughters-in-law under their care, and take peculiar pleasure in making them understand what is what and who is who.

Daughters-in-Law and Wives

Is it any wonder that these young wives often find their burdens greater than they can bear and end the matter by taking their own lives ? They go on and on in the hopeless way that lies before them, till at last in their bondage and degradation the blackness of despair settles over them and all hope is forever lost. Then it is that in the quietness of the night many of them steal out to the village well and, standing there at its mouth, doubtless look up into the blue sky and gaze at the twinkling stars and wonder why the great spirits do not hear and answer prayer; they wonder why the days are so long and the nights so dark; why the burdens are so heavy and the way so long and ever without a change; then with a last glance at the bright stars reflected in the deep cold water below—and she is gone! Next morning somebody’s daughter-in-law is fished out of the village well, wrapped in a bit of straw matting, and laid in a shallow grave on the hillside; and in less than ten days another daughter-in-law has been duly installed in her place.

The one bright star that shines in the life of our village girl is the hope that inspires her to say something like the following: "Some day I too will be the happy mother of a son, and then it will not be long till I too shall have a daughter-in-law, and then I shall get even with the world. I shall then settle up all old scores. I shall then pay back in the same coinage all that I am now receiving, with interest thrown in for good measure."