Our Little Korean CousinPike, H. Lee M. (Henry Lee Mitchell)
General
Our Little Korean Cousin
Pike, H. Lee M. (Henry Lee Mitchell)
Children -- Korea -- Juvenile literature
But the procession was not over yet. A chair covered with red silk,
borne on the shoulders of sixteen chair-men, passed up to the temple.
"Who is in that chair?" asked Yung Pak of his companion.
"The crown prince," was Kim Yong's reply.
"He attends his royal father in all these ceremonies of state."
Yung Pak drew a long breath, but said nothing. He only thought what a
fine thing it must be to be a king's son, and wear such gorgeous
clothes, and have so many servants at his call.
And then he had a second thought. He would not want to exchange his
splendid father for all the glory and magnificence of the king's court.
After the king and the crown prince, with their attendant officials and
servants and priests, had gone into the temple, Yung Pak and Kim Yong
did not stay longer at their post. The order of the procession had
broken, and the king and his immediate retinue would return privately to
the palace after he should pay homage and offer sacrifice to the spirits
of his ancestors.
CHAPTER IV.
YUNG PAK AT SCHOOL
Little Korean boys have to go to school, just as you do, though they do
not study in just the same way. You would be surprised if you were to
step into a Korean schoolroom. All the boys sit upon the floor with
their legs curled up beneath them. Instead of the quiet, silent
scholars, you would hear a loud and deafening buzz. All the pupils study
out loud. They not only do their studying aloud, but they talk very
loud, as if each one were trying to make more noise than his neighbour.
The Koreans call this noise _kang-siong_, and it seems almost deafening
to one unused to it. You would think the poor teacher would be driven
crazy, but he seems as calm as a daisy in a June breeze.
[Illustration: "ALL THE BOYS SIT UPON THE FLOOR"]
The Korean boys have to have "tests" and examinations just as you do.
When a lad has a good lesson, the teacher makes a big red mark on his
paper, and he carries it home with the greatest pride,--just as you do
when you take home a school paper marked "100."
But Yung Pak was not allowed to share the pleasures and the trials of
the boys in the public school.
One day, soon after he was six years old, his father sent for him to
come to his private room,--perhaps you would call it a study or library.
With Yung Pak's father was a strange gentleman, a young man with a
pleasant face and an air of good breeding.
"This," said Ki Pak to his son as he entered the room, "is Wang Ken. I
have engaged him to be your teacher, or tutor. The time has come for you
to begin to learn to read and to cipher and to study the history and
geography of our country."
Yung Pak made a very low bow, for all Korean boys are early taught to be
courteous, especially to parents, teachers, and officials.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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