6 
 
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KIM SU BANG 
 
 AND OTHER STORIES OF KOREA 
 
GREAT SOUTH GATE, SONGDO. 
 
KIM .<0 BANG 
 
 AND OTHER STORIES 
 OF KOREA .esc 
 
 Bp Ellasue Canter Wagner 
 
 Nashville, Tenn.; Dallas, Tex. 
 Publishing House cf the M. E. Church, South 
 f Smith & Lamar, Agents 
 
 ! 
 
 LIBRARY OF PRINCETON 
 
 JAN 2 3 2008 
 
 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
Copyright, 1909 
 
 BY 
 
 Smith & Lamar 
 
Sritiratum 
 
 TO MY 
 
 DEAREST FRIENDS AND MOST HELPFUL TEACHERS 
 MY MOTHER AND MY FATHER 
 I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE VOLUME 
 
 Ellasue Canter Wagner 
 

 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 I HAVE read at a single sitting “Kim Su 
 Bang” and the other charming stories that 
 compose these Korean sketches. The unique 
 feature in each is that it is the Korean as he 
 sees us rather than as we see him. To him 
 we are the “Light Bringers,” and he rejoices 
 to see the light and to abide in it. Far beyond 
 any knowledge that he ever had or dreamed of 
 the true God, comes one with the story of 
 Jesus. It is a story that turns the world up- 
 side down, it changes all the old and cruel 
 Korean customs of thinking and conduct, but 
 it makes sweeter homes and more peaceful 
 lives. It comes as the leaven of a holy life 
 that causes these simple people to give up what 
 Jesus does not approve, though it be father or 
 mother, or husband or wife, or home or false 
 gods. 
 
 In no land has there ever been a more won- 
 derful and more continuous religious awaken- 
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
8 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 ing. This history of Korea could be added to 
 the Acts of the Apostles (the one unfinished 
 book of the Bible, as if it were intended that 
 later ages should add new chapters) and seem 
 part of the sacred story. This book, like the 
 Acts, tells of “the church in the house” and 
 how for the old household gods Jesus becomes 
 Lord of all. It is an illustration of the beau- 
 tiful parable of the growing corn: “First the 
 blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in 
 the ear.” Here too will be found the “seed 
 corn” of the future harvests in Korea. 
 
 Eugene R. Hendrix. 
 
 j 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 T HIS little book is sent forth with a heart 
 full of love for Korea, and with the 
 desire that those who read it may 
 he stirred to pity for the lot of the heathen 
 women. 
 
 If some one grasps a clearer vision of Ko- 
 rea’s need, or if one person is brought to more 
 loving, zealous service for the redemption of 
 our Korean sisters through the reading of these 
 simple stories, I shall feel that my work has not 
 been in vain. Ellasue Canter Wagner. 
 Songdo, Korea. 
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Kim Su Bang 13 
 
 Toksunie 43 
 
 Mittome 53 
 
 Come unto Me 77 
 
KIM SU BANG 
 
 I. 
 
 The Failure. 
 
 T HE emerald-decked hills stood clear and 
 distinct against the bright sky of the 
 springtime. From the crest of the high- 
 est hill one might look far down the valley, be- 
 yond the terraces of rice fields, to the little vil- 
 lage of To Kang Kol. A person unaccus- 
 tomed to Korean village life would not recog- 
 nize in this sight a group of houses, however; 
 for the one-story mud houses, with the straw- 
 thatched roofs, resembled nothing so much as 
 last year’s weather-beaten straw stacks, half 
 used to the ground. Viewed from the eleva- 
 tion of the hill, the village looked like a nest 
 of huge brown straw stacks. 
 
 The only house of To Kang Kol which 
 boasted a tile roof was that of Kim Su Bang, 
 the wealthiest man of the village. 
 
 There was great excitement and hustle at 
 
 03 ) 
 
14 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 this house to-day. From every direction came 
 people of the village, anxious to have a “sight- 
 see” of the wonders that were to be performed 
 there. Kim Su Bang’s first wife was an in- 
 valid, and this day had been set by the great 
 sorceress, or “mudang,” as the most opportune 
 time to drive out the demon which she an- 
 nounced had taken possession of poor Mrs. 
 Kim and was the cause of all this sickness. 
 
 An old woman with bent body, leaning on 
 a stick, slowly hobbled along toward the place 
 of interest, followed by a younger woman, her 
 daughter-in-law. 
 
 “No use to tell me,” nodded the old lady; 
 “I don’t believe the ‘mudang’ can do anything 
 for the inside of Kim Su Bang’s house [Mrs. 
 Kim]. Haven’t I seen the ‘wewun’ [native 
 doctor] try all these five years? Yes, and he 
 has done all he could — powdered tiger bones, 
 the saliva of a black cow, three live frogs, a 
 boiled hen filled with angleworms.” She enu- 
 merated them on her fingers. “Yes,” she 
 continued, “and you yourself know how we 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 15 
 
 have caught several snakes ourselves to make 
 broth for her. So if these don’t cure her, I 
 haven’t much faith in the ‘mudang,’ for I have 
 seen her fail too;” and the old dame shook her 
 head sadly and sighed. 
 
 As the two women neared the house the 
 sound of drums and brass gongs was deafen- 
 ing, and they pushed forward with great inter- 
 est. There on a straw mat in the center of the 
 courtyard lay the sick woman, grumbling in a 
 cross, fretful voice, pale and emaciated, her 
 face drawn and haggard with suffering. Near 
 by were spread foods of different kinds for the 
 spirits. 
 
 The “mudang” was in the midst of the cere- 
 mony of exorcism. She was a middle-aged 
 woman of evil countenance, dressed gaudily in 
 flowing silk robes, gesticulating and posturing, 
 then making long speeches to the sick woman. 
 This went on for some time. Food was thrown 
 for the spirit, and the “mudang” began to 
 grow excited and “possessed.” She leaped and 
 danced, screaming at the top of her voice, while 
 
16 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 the excited, wondering crowd stood by, wide- 
 eyed with interest and terror. After an hour 
 or so of this weird performance she ran to a 
 tree, wailing all the time, and announced that 
 the work was done and the spirit was impris- 
 oned elsewhere. 
 
 The people turned with interest to the sick 
 woman lying in the broiling hot sun; she had 
 fainted. The “mudang” pocketed her large fee 
 and departed. Servants lifted the sick woman 
 and carried her into her room, where she soon 
 returned to renewed consciousness and suf- 
 fering. 
 
II. 
 
 The New Doctrine. 
 
 K IM SU BANG had been to the city dur- 
 ing this time, and the day after the 
 “mudang’s” efforts he returned home 
 on his donkey (an aristocratic animal, much 
 used by high-class gentlemen). When he heard 
 of the failure of the sorceress, he smiled sar- 
 castically as he replied : “Those women are so 
 foolish ! Of course she failed ; they always do. 
 I have been hearing of a new doctrine since I 
 went to the city — the Jesus doctrine. There 
 are many people there who believe, and I have 
 brought some books home to study it for my- 
 self; and he carefully unrolled two little red 
 books, the Gospel of Matthew and the Acts. 
 
 Kim Su Bang was not a bad man. He was 
 not conscious of any shortcomings in his life. 
 He got drunk occasionally — that was expect- 
 ed. He had two wives — yes, certainly ; he had 
 
 (17) 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 sufficient means to support more if he cared to. 
 The first wife, who was much older than he, 
 had been chosen for him by his parents, ac- 
 cording to Korean custom. That he did not 
 care for her was no fault of his, and he did not 
 ill treat her; he simply let her alone. What 
 she did interested him little or not at all. The 
 second wife he chose for himself — a mild lit- 
 tle woman, with sweet face and gentle ways, 
 who had not known it was wrong to become a 
 “little wife.” This woman he had learned to 
 love, and during the months which followed 
 his return from the city he turned to her with 
 , the wonderful truths he had found in the lit- 
 tle red books. She was an exceptional Korean 
 woman, for she could read well, and, in fact, 
 strove to make an interesting companion for 
 her husband. If the truth were told, it would 
 be found that deep in her heart she knew that 
 if she ceased to interest and attract him she 
 would be supplanted by a younger, a fairer 
 woman. She thus made an effort to keep the 
 love she had gained. 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 19 
 
 Together they studied the books — Kim Su 
 Bang and his second wife — not knowing that 
 the doctrine of that faith would sever their 
 ties for life. They decided to believe and to do 
 the doctrine ; and several months later, when a 
 native preacher passed through their village, he 
 found their hearts fertile ground for sowing 
 the seeds of the kingdom. 
 
 After instructing them in the way of life and 
 in the laws of the Church, the preacher said: 
 “Now, Kim Su Bang, there are many things 
 you will have to give up and many sacrifices 
 you must make for Christ; but his peace and 
 love are worth it all ; I, too, have been through 
 it.” 
 
 “Yes,” answered the new follower, “I already 
 have peace and comfort I never knew before. 
 Only tell me what to do.” 
 
 “Well,” continued the teacher, “you have two 
 wives. A Christian can have but one at a time, 
 and while she lives he must be true to her.” 
 “Yes, I have thought of this, and I am pre- 
 pared to put away my first wife.” 
 
20 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 “O, but that won’t do! The rules of our 
 Church require that you put away the second.” 
 At these words the listener’s face turned 
 pale. “What? But she is the mother of my 
 children ! The first one is cross, sick, and old, 
 and she won’t hear to this new doctrine. How 
 can I give up the wife I care for? That is 
 asking too much.” 
 
 Then all through the night they talked and 
 prayed and argued. “I will go now and talk 
 with Mary — she wants to be baptized ‘Mary’ — 
 and see what she says. It will be harder for 
 her than for me, for she has no home but this. 
 If she consents, I will too.” 
 
 As the first streaks of dawn were tinting the 
 east with gold, the sad-hearted man entered his 
 wife’s room and told her all the preacher had 
 said. At first she was shocked and silent, and 
 only the twitching of the drawn, white face 
 told of the suffering and struggle within. But 
 when she heard he had left the decision with 
 her, she wrung her hands and moaned aloud in 
 her anguish. “My babies!” she whispered at 
 
KOREAN CHAIR. 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 21 
 
 last. “What about them? Must I give them 
 up, too?” And she drew the youngest of the 
 little ones to her and crushed him in her arms 
 till he cried. 
 
 “No,” he answered with a sob in his voice; 
 “you are to keep them with you, and I give 
 you your part of all my possessions. The chil- 
 dren are mine, all I have ; and I love them too, 
 you know.” 
 
 Then she realized that she was not the only 
 one making a sacrifice. “Go — go away awhile 
 and leave me to think alone,” she cried. 
 
 The newly risen sun looked down on the 
 man as he made his way with languid step 
 to the top of the nearest hill. There at the 
 foot of a lone pine tree he fell on his knees 
 and, alone with his God, fought the fight with 
 self and — won. 
 
 A week later, all preparations having been 
 made, we find Mary and her two children at 
 the door ready to start on her long journey of 
 two days back to her mother’s house. 
 
 The sedan chair and servants were waiting 
 at the door, and quietly she bade all good-by. 
 
22 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 O, yes, it was hard! The fight had been a 
 bitter one, the sacrifice great ; but Christ in her 
 heart had conquered. 
 
 Let those who do not care for foreign mis- 
 sions and those who ask sneeringly what kind 
 of Christians converted heathen make, look 
 into their own hearts and see if they have made 
 a sacrifice so great for Christ’s sake. 
 
 With rhythmic tread the chair bearers passed 
 out of the courtyard, through the village, and 
 along the path by the rice field just as the sun 
 was peeping up from behind the hill. 
 
 There on the hilltop Mary saw a lonely fig- 
 ure by the pine tree. How well she knew that 
 form! Yes, it was Kim Su Bang; that lone 
 hilltop had become his favorite place of prayer. 
 
 Mary covered her face with her hands, while 
 the sobs shook her slender body. The children 
 seated with her exclaimed over the new and 
 wonderful things they saw, and asked many 
 innocent questions about them which the moth- 
 er did not answer, which she did not hear ; for 
 her thoughts were with the lonely man on the 
 hilltop. Thus she passed out into the new day. 
 
III. 
 
 Mrs. Kim. 
 
 M ARY had been gone several weeks. 
 
 Household life was much the same, 
 only in one man’s bosom was there 
 an empty, aching heart; he cared only that 
 sweet, bright Mary had gone forever, and that 
 the prattle and noise of little children were no 
 longer heard there. 
 
 Mrs. Kim was still sick and cross. What 
 did she think of Mary’s departure? For sever- 
 al days she wondered at it. Kim Su Bang said 
 it was for the sake of his new religion, and 
 that she, Mrs. Kim, was the only wife he was 
 going to have. Of course he was lying. She 
 knew he was lying to her, while he was at the 
 same time, very likely, just trying to find an- 
 other one better looking. As for the new reli- 
 gion, she had no use for it. It was all foolish- 
 ness, and she wouldn’t listen to it at all. There 
 
 (23) 
 
24 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 were some things about it that puzzled her, 
 however. Why did Kim Su Bang send the two 
 boys away with Mary ? Every man must sure- 
 ly want all the boy children possible. If they 
 had been girls, she could have understood that ; 
 but this was strange. Then, too, he was cer- 
 tainly more thoughtful of her than ever before 
 and very kind. But pshaw! she knew there 
 was some bug under the chip. Kim Su Bang 
 was trying hard to bring the cross, suspicious 
 old woman to see his motives, and wanted her 
 to accept the religion he knew was the only 
 true way of life, but to' all entreaty she turned 
 a deaf ear. No, he could be a fool if he want- 
 ed to; as for her, she would be as were her 
 fathers. 
 
 She looked out of the door one day and saw 
 him coming across the court, in his hand a 
 book. “O, coming again to talk your foolish- 
 ness !” she jeered in a high-pitched voice. 
 
 “I am coming to tell you more about Christ 
 Jesus. If you only knew more about this doc- 
 trine and the peace and joy it brings to your 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 25 
 
 soul, you would not laugh and taunt, but thank- 
 fully receive it,” he answered quietly as he seat- 
 ed himself on the straw mat at her side. 
 
 “I won’t listen!” she screamed as she 
 rammed her fingers into both ears and contin- 
 ued to pour forth a stream of abuse. 
 
 Quietly he sat and listened, and when he saw 
 she had worked herself into such a frenzy that 
 it would be useless to stay longer he departed 
 with a silent prayer that she might soon be 
 brought to seek the paths of peace. As he 
 slowly made his way across the courtyard, Mrs. 
 Kim’s high, angry words still followed him. 
 Did he think of Mary’s sweet face and gentle 
 voice, now far away in her home village ? 
 
IV. 
 
 Unprotected. 
 
 M ARY had not been long in her moth- 
 er’s house before all around for many 
 miles knew of it. They knew that 
 she was a Jesus believer now, and that Kim Su 
 Bang had liberally provided for her and her 
 children. But few believed the story she told. 
 They laughed and sneered in her face. “Such 
 nonsense !” they said. “We know he just got 
 tired of you, as men so often do. Just wait and 
 see if he isn’t getting a younger, prettier wife.” 
 Poor Mary! Her life was not an easy one, 
 for it was hard to bear this scoffing. These 
 people could not understand her motives, and 
 to all her actions false motives were imputed. 
 
 Ye Tab Young was a wealthy man, the in- 
 fluential man of that part of the country. He 
 was older than Mary’s father, who had been a 
 poor man, but was now dead. Ye Tab Young 
 (26) 
 
KIM SU BANG 
 
 27 
 
 was a wicked wretch who never put a check on 
 his passions. A drunkard and a libertine, he 
 was also an official; and with him to desire a 
 thing meant to use every means in his power to 
 get it. There was none in that country who 
 dared to say “No” to this wicked man. 
 
 That Ye Tab Young had many concubines 
 was no reason why he should not have Mary 
 also, for he had heard that she was fair and 
 lovely. He forthwith sent a matchmaker, an 
 old woman, to Mary’s house to make the usual 
 arrangements, never once dreaming that she 
 would refuse the honor, for had she not been 
 driven from her husband’s house? 
 
 What were his anger and rage when the 
 woman returned and told him that Mary quiet- 
 ly and firmly refused to listen to one word, sim- 
 ply saying that she was a Christian and could 
 not listen even to such a proposition ! 
 
 In his fury he stormed and swore that she 
 should be killed for her impudence to an of- 
 ficial, but in his heart he wanted her more than 
 ever. He had never before been forbidden 
 
28 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 anything he really desired, and this but made 
 his determination the stronger that, at any 
 cost, have her he would. 
 
 Widow-stealing is an awful curse. By this 
 means, when a woman young and attractive 
 is left without protection, the man who wants 
 her gets up a crowd of ruffians and, going to 
 her house, throws a sack over her head and 
 carries her away to a life of shame. 
 
 Ye Tab Young was not long about gather- 
 ing a rough crowd of seven or eight men, and 
 stealthily they made their way toward Mary’s 
 house. 
 
 That evening, without any thought of the 
 evil that was so near, Mary and her mother sat 
 on the floor by the light of the flickering can- 
 dle. Mary was explaining the Bible and teach- 
 ing her mother the blessed truths of her reli- 
 gion. The old lady was listening eagerly 
 while the daughter talked of Jesus’s love; the 
 Book had fallen unheeded to the floor, when 
 suddenly on the silent night air were borne the 
 loud voices of men angrily demanding admit- 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 29 
 
 tance. Before Mary realized what it meant, 
 came the noise of the crashing timbers of the 
 gate. Her mother pushed her hurriedly into 
 the closet and turned to meet the men at the 
 door, who rushed roughly into the room. 
 
 “Get out of my way, old woman, and tell 
 us where that girl is,” demanded the leader. 
 “We know she is here, and you can save your- 
 self the trouble of lying.” 
 
 “She is gone,” answered the old lady, trem- 
 bling with terror, for she recognized the man. 
 
 “Here, give me that rope to tie the old 
 thing; she won’t tell the truth; we will search 
 for ourselves.” 
 
 Then, much to their surprise, the closet door 
 opened, and out stepped the girl. 
 
 Why didn’t they throw the sack over her 
 head and carry her off then ? Why was it that 
 when they saw the calm purity of her face they 
 fell back a step instead of seizing her as they 
 had intended? 
 
 Then her calm, sweet voice sounded through 
 the room : “I know why you are here. You 
 
30 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 thought you could carry me away. Look you ! 
 I am a Christian; and I am not afraid of you, 
 for you can’t touch me! The God I serve is 
 God of all. He protects me. I have his prom- 
 ise: ‘Lo, I am with you alway.’ He is with 
 me now; you can’t touch me.” 
 
 These strong, rough men looked at her in 
 wonder and amazement — a frail little woman, 
 unprotected, to so defy them! They stood 
 there thus a moment ; then fear and consterna- 
 tion seized them, and, turning with one ac- 
 cord, they fled from the house and down the 
 road as though a legion of angels were after 
 them. 
 
 What was it in that little woman, seeming- 
 ly alone and unprotected, that drove away 
 those men who would have carried her to 
 a life worse than death? Ask Mary. Her 
 faith and earnestness increased, and from that 
 day those who sneered and laughed at her be- 
 fore came to hear her words and to listen as 
 she read the Book. 
 
 Thus it came about that when, several 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 31 
 
 moons later, Pastor Chang came to see how 
 she was getting along, he found a good-sized 
 group of Christians anxious for a Church to be 
 organized in their village. 
 
 Now any day in that place one may see Mary 
 with her white veil over her head, going un- 
 molested from house to house among the poor 
 and sick, always carrying cheer and comfort. 
 All recognize her as a child of God — one whose 
 sweetness and purity of life have led many to 
 Christ. 
 
 In all that province there is no one more 
 revered or better loved than Kim Mary. 
 
V. 
 
 In War’s Path. 
 
 T HE next spring Pastor Chang again 
 neared the village which was once the 
 home of Kim Su Bang and Mary. As 
 he came around the curve of the hill he stopped 
 suddenly, with surprise and dismay written all 
 over his face. What does this mean? On ev- 
 ery side he saw the charred remains of a burned 
 village, and he looked in vain for the familiar 
 house of Kim Su Bang.. 
 
 While he stood thus in questioning attitude 
 he saw a man slowly descending from the near- 
 est hill. Yes, it was Kim Su Bang; and the pas- 
 tor made his way eagerly toward him, anxious 
 to hear the explanation of all this devastation. 
 
 Kim Su Bang led him around the curve of 
 the hill toward what was once the house of one 
 of his servants and which was now all that was 
 left to him. As they passed slowly and sadly 
 
 (32) 
 
<c^ 
 
 
HULLING RICE 
 
KIM SU BANG 
 
 33 
 
 down the path, Pastor Chang heard Kim Su 
 Bang’s story, which, alas! is not an unusual 
 one in these times of trouble in Korea. 
 
 After the Japanese took control of Korea at 
 the close of the Japanese-Russian War, the Ko- 
 rean rebels, or insurgents, were very numerous 
 in this part of the country. It was worth a 
 man’s head in those times to take sides with 
 either party; and seeing the hopelessness of 
 his country’s independence, Kim Su Bang re- 
 frained from taking any active part. 
 
 One night during the winter, however, a 
 company of Korean insurgents entered the vil- 
 lage, and at the point of guns demanded food 
 and shelter from the people. 
 
 The next day, not long after the insurgents 
 had departed, the Japanese army marched into 
 the village. Finding that the people had shel- 
 tered and fed the insurgents, the Japanese set 
 fire to the village, took all the rice and provi- 
 sions, and led out many of the villagers to ex- 
 ecution as examples of patriotism. 
 
 “So,” continued Kim Su Bang, “I saw many 
 
 3 
 
34 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 neighbors led forth to be shot. I lost all my 
 earthly possessions, and barely escaped with 
 my life. But I am still able to praise God and 
 thank him for his peace and joy; and while I 
 can’t understand all these things, I am trusting 
 my Father in the dark.” His face was radiant 
 as he spoke. 
 
 As the two men came near the tiny house 
 which had once been the servants’, the fretful 
 voice of Mrs. Kim sounded on their ears. 
 
 “How is Mrs. Kim? Has she yet accepted 
 Christ?” 
 
 “No,” sadly replied Kim Su Bang; “and she 
 seems to get worse and more bitter against the 
 Church. She says it is my foolishness that 
 has brought all this misfortune upon us. Now 
 we have just one little servant girl to do all 
 the work, when she once had many servants 
 and slaves. Not much to eat now. Yes, I 
 know it’s hard,” he sighed ; “for she hasn’t the 
 consolation I have, and she blames me with it 
 all.” 
 
 “Kim Su Bang, I sympathize with you from 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 35 
 
 the depths of my heart; for I, too, have had 
 an experience not unlike yours. I want special- 
 ly to tell you of the wonderful American doc- 
 tor in the city, who, I believe, can cure your 
 wife of her sickness if you could get her to go.” 
 
 “I don't know whether she would go or not, 
 she is so set against Christianity and all its 
 workers.” 
 
 The subject was very tactfully taken to Mrs. 
 Kim's notice, and she was told that there was 
 a great doctor in Seoul who had cured many 
 who were much worse than even she. She lis- 
 tened doubtfully. At first she fussed and quar- 
 reled. “Let me die peacefully here at home,” 
 she said ; “the sooner the better. I don’t want 
 to be cut up and made into medicine for Amer- 
 icans to eat.” 
 
 But by degrees the stories of how others 
 were cured took root in her mind and bore 
 fruit, and she listened to the proposition that 
 she should go. Finally she reluctantly con- 
 sented. “But,” said she, “I am not so sure but 
 that you just want to get rid of me.” 
 
36 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 Now, ’ asked Pastor Chang - , “how will you 
 get her there ? You can’t afford a chair as you 
 once could and chair bearers to take her.” 
 
 I will carry her on my back,” answered 
 Kim Su Bang. “She is very light, and since I 
 have had to* work I have learned to carry a 
 ‘jiggy.’ Of course one hundred and fifty li 
 [fifty miles] is a long way, and she will be 
 tired; but that is the best I can do, and I be- 
 lieve the great doctor will give her life.” 
 
 The simple preparations were soon complete 
 for the trip, and the man with his strange bur- 
 den started toward the great city, thinking not 
 of himself, but of the cure of his wife. 
 
 Though his load seemed light at first, before 
 he had gone many miles the burden grew very 
 heavy and many stops were necessary, not only 
 for his sake, but for the sake of the sick wom- 
 an. Her position was not an easy one on the 
 rough framework of the “jiggy,” as it was 
 strapped to her husband’s back; the hot rays 
 of the sun were very uncomfortable. These 
 things did not sweeten the disposition of Mrs. 
 
Devil Posis. 
 
 WAYSIDE DEVIL POSTS. 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 Kim, who was used to thinking only of her 
 own comfort. This made it harder for Kim 
 Su Bang. Sometimes, when worn and weary 
 with the heat and the burden, he grew heart- 
 sick and wondered if, after all, it was worth 
 while, and whether she for whom he was en- 
 during all this would ever come to see the light. 
 
 The distance to' the city (fifty miles) Kim 
 Su Bang had often walked with ease in two 
 days, but with this unreasonable woman for a 
 traveling companion it was not till the close of 
 the sixth day of their journey that they drew 
 near to the gates of the city. 
 
 Drawing a towel from his girdle to mop the 
 dripping perspiration from his face, the tired 
 burden bearer stumped his toe on a rolling 
 stone and gave Mrs. Kim a rough jolt before 
 he could steady himself. 
 
 “There now! You will kill me yet before 
 we get there,” she shrieked. “Can’t you be 
 more careful?” she continued, giving his hair 
 a sharp twist and pull. 
 
 He did not answer; he heeded not the pain, 
 for his thoughts were beyond, in the great 
 city. 
 
VI. 
 
 At the Hospital. 
 
 I T had been four weeks since Mrs. Kim had 
 been brought to the hospital. She sat in 
 her room with the quiet, white-capped 
 nurse and listened to what was being said. 
 
 Can this woman with the eager eyes and 
 earnest voice be the same that was brought in 
 on her husband’s back? Yes, the same, but 
 very changed; for the tender ministrations of 
 physicians and nurses had made her wonder 
 and fear at first; then by degrees, as her 
 pain was eased, she accepted without doubt and 
 with gratitude whatever they offered her, 
 whether medicine or religious instruction. 
 
 Soon after her arrival the surgeons had per- 
 formed a delicate operation, which was quite 
 successful ; and after this she improved rapid- 
 ly. With the disappearance of the old aching, 
 throbbing pain came new interest in life and 
 
 (38) 
 
KIM SU BANG 
 
 39 
 
 renewal of faith in humanity, which had been 
 lost with her childhood. Best of all came faith 
 in Jesus Christ; and with this came an under- 
 standing of her husband’s motives and actions, 
 which before she had viewed with suspicion. 
 Only four weeks had passed, but with them 
 had passed away her old selfish nature; her 
 heart she freely gave to Christ, and eagerly lis- 
 tened to her teacher’s words of instruction. The 
 seed which Kim Su Bang had sown so faithful- 
 fully and under such difficulties were bearing 
 fruit at last. 
 
 Kim Su Bang had been obliged to go back to 
 the country; but this was the tenth day of the 
 sixth moon, on which day he said he would re- 
 turn. The nurse had said that visiting hours 
 would soon begin, and the patient listened 
 eagerly as she heard footsteps in the hall. The 
 nurse softly opened the door and said, “Your 
 husband, Mrs. Kim,” and then quietly closed 
 the door and left them alone. 
 
 “Kim Su Bang!” she cried, holding out her 
 hands, and for the first time in many years 
 
40 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 found herself embarrassed and without words 
 in his presence. 
 
 He gently and kindly took her hands in his 
 with words of greeting. 
 
 “O Kim Su Bang,” she said with tears in 
 her eyes, “I have so much to say. But first 
 I want to tell you that I see how wicked, self- 
 ish, and ugly I have been all these years, and 
 I want to ask you to please forgive me. Can 
 you forgive me?” she continued as he remained 
 silent. 
 
 “Forgive you?” he answered brokenly. “It 
 is I who should ask your forgiveness. Had I 
 been different from the first, you would not 
 have become so hardened. I was to blame. In 
 my ignorance and blindness I did not care 
 then, but the Lord has been leading us both. 
 From this time forth we will both do better.” 
 
 “I am a Christian, too, now,” she broke in 
 eagerly. “There are so much peace and happi- 
 ness in my heart, which once was full of hate 
 and fear, suspicion and misery, that it does not 
 seem it can be the same heart.” 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 41 
 
 “Thank the Lord!” he answered earnestly. 
 “I knew it would come. I have something to 
 tell you, too. During these weeks I have spent 
 much time on the hilltop by the pine tree. The 
 Lord has been with me, and he has told me 
 that he has other work for me to do; I am go- 
 ing to preach the gospel.” 
 
 She looked at him a moment with some- 
 thing more than interest dawning in her eyes, 
 then said slowly: “Well, I’m glad; for you can 
 then help others to know our Saviour. I am 
 only a poor, ignorant woman. I know I can- 
 not help much, but I want to do my part too ; 
 it may not be much, but I’ll do all I can.” 
 
 The doctor, coming to the door a little later, 
 opened it and looked in; then, seeing them 
 down on their knees in the middle of the room, 
 he softly closed the door and passed on to the 
 next ward with a thoughtful smile on his face 
 and thanksgiving in his heart. 
 
TOKSUNIE 
 
 I AM ten years old, and only a girl — just 
 a Korean girl — and my name is Toksunie. 
 My father, Mr. Pak, is a “yan-ban” (gen- 
 tleman), and I am terribly afraid of him. The 
 servants say there is really no reason to fear 
 him, and I suppose there isn't ; for once he pat- 
 ted me on the head, pinched my cheek, and 
 asked me which of the children I was. Of 
 course it is only natural that he should not 
 know us all very well; for I am only one of 
 the third wife’s children, and there are ever so 
 many of us altogether. 
 
 I believe in Jesus, but none of the rest do. 
 They laugh at me, but say that since I am only 
 a girl it doesn’t make much difference if I do 
 foolish things. 
 
 Where did I learn the Jesus doctrine? Why, 
 little Poke told me all about it. I listened for 
 hours under the great tree in her yard while 
 she told me the strangest, most beautiful things 
 
 (43) 
 
44 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 about Jesus. Poke’s father is class leader in 
 the little Church in the village. She has 
 taught me some of the sweet songs they sing 
 clown at the church ; and I love that one about 
 “Jesus loves me” best of all, because I feel so 
 different since I know that some one loves me. 
 
 Last year Poke went to school to the for- 
 eign ladies down in the big city of Songdo. I 
 never heard of such a thing as a school for 
 girls. Did you ? She said that there never had 
 been one in Korea until the Christians and 
 Christian teachers came. 
 
 I was so lonely after she left that I cried 
 a great deal. Then one day when I was cry- 
 ing Poke’s mother saw me and felt very sor- 
 ry for me. So she said: “I have been think- 
 ing about you; so don’t cry, little Toksunie. I 
 wonder if you would not like to go to the 
 school in Songdo with Poke?” 
 
 “O, yes!” I said. That was better than I 
 ever dreamed of. Do you know what that 
 would mean to me? Why, I would learn to 
 read my Bible and the sweet hymns in the lit- 
 
CHILD S WINTER DRESS IN KOREA. 
 
\ 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 45 
 
 tie hymn book and many more wonderful 
 things about the world and the people in all 
 the strange countries across the seas. But I 
 would be so very happy if I only knew a little 
 bit. 
 
 Poke’s mother, Mrs. Kim,* said that if my 
 father said I might go, the very next time that 
 Mr. Kim went to Songdo to take Poke’s rice 
 and clothes they would take me with them. 
 She said that the foreign ladies were very kind, 
 and she was sure they would take me in the 
 school, for father would pay for me. 
 
 It was that very night that I was so fright- 
 ened. Mother and the other women were 
 talking after they thought I was asleep. Moth- 
 er said : “It certainly is time that Toksunie was 
 
 *It will be noticed that the surname Kim is used 
 more than once in these stories. Those who have 
 been to Korea will know that this is because of the 
 fact that this name (Kim) is even more common there 
 than is “Smith” or “Jones” here. In fact, at least half 
 of the children in our school were “Kims.” There are 
 very few surnames; Kim, Pak, Ye, Chang, Na, and 
 Sung are the usual ones in use, and others are very 
 
 rare. 
 
46 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 married; she is ten years old now — quite a 
 large girl.” 
 
 “Yes, I have said so for a long time,” said 
 another. “She is getting so many queer 
 things into her head, too, that if she isn’t sent 
 to her mother-in-law’s very soon you may 
 have a hard time to get her off.” 
 
 I know that I am getting old, but I don’t 
 want to be sent to a mother-in-law’s; I want 
 to learn the lovely things I have heard about 
 Jesus. I lay there and trembled as I thought 
 of the fate which would be mine if I were 
 given to a man like those I hear about some- 
 times, who, because their wives are not pretty 
 or because they don’t like them, whip them so 
 dreadfully that they run away or else die ; then, 
 even if I did not die, I would soon be like all 
 the other women I know, who say that girls 
 ought not to study books, and that learning is 
 only for boys. After a long time I fell asleep; 
 but I had decided that the very next morning 
 I would go to father and ask him if I might 
 go to school, as Mrs. Kim said I could do. 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 47 
 
 The next morning I stayed around the “sa- 
 rang” (men’s quarters), hoping that father 
 would come. But after several hours Mr. 
 Kim’s kind voice said : “I have come to see 
 your father about you, Toksunie. Come in 
 with me.” So I went in, and they talked a 
 long time, though I did not say a word and 
 father didn’t pay any heed to me at all. I 
 don’t remember all that was said, nor his 
 words ; but at last father said that he supposed 
 the Jesus' doctrine was all well and good 
 enough for children and women ; it kept them 
 quiet and cut off mischief. He had been to 
 the city and admired the way they taught the 
 girls, for he had not thought girls able to learn 
 books. He said that perhaps if I went to 
 school he could get a richer husband for me; 
 that it was time I was married, and he had al- 
 ready had some good offers. He also said that 
 he had decided to send me to my mother-in- 
 law next month, but that since Mr. Kim was 
 interested in my going to school he would wait 
 two or even three years if I were put in school. 
 
48 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 I did not hear any more, for I was so happy 
 I had to slip away and think. 
 
 Finally the day came when we were to start 
 to the city. I thought it would never come. 
 The city was a long way off — sixty miles— r-but 
 I would not mind walking one hundred miles to 
 get to that wonderful place. My father would 
 have had a donkey to ride, I am sure; for he 
 always rides one when he goes tO' the city ; but 
 Mr. Kim is a poor man, and we had to walk. 
 He had a big bag of rice on his “jiggy” that 
 he carried on his back, and Mrs. Kim carried 
 some new clothes to Poke and helped me to 
 carry mine. 
 
 The first two days I got along all right, but 
 the third day my feet blistered cruelly; and 
 when we started out on the fourth and last 
 day I could scarcely walk. That day was so 
 long that I thought it would never end. 
 
 At last the city came into view — the largest 
 I had ever seen. So many straw-thatched 
 houses together looked like a forest of mush- 
 rooms. Mr. Kim led us through many long, 
 
JIGGY. 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 49 
 
 narrow, dirty alleys, and finally to the foreign 
 teachers. We went down the hill and into the 
 schoolhouse, which was a long, narrow, straw- 
 thatched mud house. There were two rooms 
 eight by sixteen feet, which seemed much too 
 small for all the children. They filled the 
 rooms, and just did have space to sit on the 
 floor by crowding each other. I wondered 
 where they all slept at night, and Poke said 
 that some went home in the city at night, and 
 that the others slept in these same rooms. Ev- 
 ery one seemed happy; and as they were all 
 very good to me, I was very happy too, al- 
 though my feet hurt dreadfully. There were 
 so many curious things to see that I almost for- 
 got the- pain. 
 
 Some of the girls were writing Chinese; 
 characters — yes, real Chinese, like the boys do. 
 All of them except the very smallest could 
 read and write the Korean beautifully. O, how 
 ashamed I was to be ten years old and know 
 nothing at all ! 
 
 The large girls came in from the foreign 
 4 
 
50 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 teacher’s room by and by with some queer- 
 looking books under their arms that they were 
 studying; they told me what they were, but I 
 have forgotten. Those big girls must know 
 a lot — even more than Mr. Kim, I suppose. 
 
 After they were through studying, one of 
 the foreign ladies came in. She had funny 
 white hair that looked like gold in the sun- 
 light. She said that it was time to sew, and 
 they all went to sewing. They were making 
 many kinds of beautiful flowers and other 
 things with silk. I wanted to do some very 
 much, too; but the sweet-faced lady with the 
 white hair said: “No; we must first go to the 
 house and talk about it.” 
 
 After a while we went up to the house where 
 the foreign ladies live. This was certainly the 
 strangest house I ever saw. They called it 
 “two stories” — that is, it has two houses, one 
 on top of the other. We never have that kind 
 in Korea. But it was much larger, cleaner, 
 and cooler than ours. I asked Mr. Kim if 
 heaven would be anything like this. He said 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 51 
 
 it would be much better, with no pain or sor- 
 row or even sickness there. 
 
 They told me to sit down on a chair instead 
 of on the floor, as we do ; but my feet went to 
 sleep in that peculiar position, and I . soon 
 slipped down to the floor. The teachers asked 
 Mrs. Kim many questions, and she told them 
 all about how I had become a believer, and 
 about my home, just as I am telling you. 
 When she finished, both the ladies had tears in 
 their eyes, and they talked to each other a long 
 time in a strange, foreign language that I 
 could not understand, though I tried hard; it 
 sounded like bird talk. 
 
 Then one of them said : “W e are very sor- 
 ry, but we cannot take her. We should like 
 to very much, but we have more girls now 
 than we can make comfortable, and have al- 
 ready turned some away. Then we have posi- 
 tive orders from headquarters to take no more 
 until we have a new building ; so we cannot do 
 otherwise.” 
 
 Now, I had never thought of that before. 
 
52 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 It did not seem possible that they would 
 send me back home. My heart was very 
 heavy and sad as we went back to the school- 
 rooms; for I knew that to go home meant to 
 go into another heathen home with my mother- 
 in-law, who would persecute me and impose 
 many hardships upon me; and besides this, it 
 meant giving up all the cherished plans that 
 had grown so dear to me. 
 
 They let me rest a few days until my feet 
 got well again. During those few days I saw 
 enough to make me know that I was missing 
 all that seemed beautiful and worth while in 
 life. 
 
 Now we are on the way back; to-morrow 
 we will be home again. I wonder what fa- 
 ther will do. O, I wish I were dead, for life 
 will be so hard now. I wonder if Jesus does 
 love me, after all? But the teacher said that 
 we must trust him in the dark. Yes, he cares; 
 I know he cares. But no one else does, I am 
 sure; for I am only Toksunie, a little Korean 
 girl, and why should they care for me ? 
 
MITTOME 
 
 O LD man Ye sat on the floor of the nar- 
 row veranda outside the one small 
 room of the little mud house which 
 was his home. His feet were doubled under 
 him in the manner peculiar to the Korean gen- 
 tleman; the baggy trousers which had once 
 been white were the color that only white 
 material can assume after many weeks of serv- 
 ice. Mr. Ye’s horsehair cap was very much 
 awry, and he puffed the smoke from his long- 
 stemmed pipe somewhat faster than usual. 
 But from the expressionless stolidity of his 
 face one would not imagine that he had just 
 eaten the last bowl of rice in the house, and 
 that he had not had any wine that day. The 
 studied calm of his countenance was as serene 
 as usual. 
 
 Mr. Ye was in trouble, however, despite his 
 unruffled exterior. A Korean gentleman parts 
 with his dignity the last thing. He may have 
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
54 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 to starve, but he cannot work; and Ye Kung 
 Su was a gentleman. A year ago he was liv- 
 ing in comfort, if not in plenty. His worldly 
 possessions he had inherited from his father, 
 just how much he did not know; but now, 
 as he gazed into the blue rings of smoke curl- 
 ing upward from the small bowl of the pipe, 
 he wondered what had become of it all. 
 
 “Yet,” thought he as his conscience gave an 
 uneasy quake, “I am really not to blame, for 
 what gentleman is supposed to know the sor- 
 did details of business?” 
 
 If Mr. Ye was taking reverses calmly, there 
 was another, however, who was less philosoph- 
 ical, never having read Confucius. His wife’s 
 mind was very much disturbed, neither was 
 her disposition sweetened by the present state 
 of affairs. It had been only through her con- 
 tinuous labors and the sale of all their per- 
 sonal and household property that she had man- 
 aged to keep the pot boiling during the past 
 year. Now there was nothing left in the house 
 except the large iron rice pot. 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 55 
 
 Two girls and three boys had died in in- 
 fancy, and only one child, a daughter ten years 
 old, was left. This child, being a girl, had 
 no other name than “Agie,” meaning “baby.” 
 So, according to ancient custom, her mother 
 was known only as “baby's mother,” Agie 
 Omanie. 
 
 Mr. Ye slowly and deliberately shook the 
 ashes from his pipe and opened his tobacco 
 pouch to refill it; but lo! it was empty. This 
 was a calamity and filled his heart with more 
 dread than his wife’s mournful announcement 
 that there was no more rice. For an unguarded 
 moment the calm expression of his face 
 changed to one of dismay. Just then Agie 
 Omanie came into the court, bearing a large 
 stone jar of water balanced on her head. 
 
 Unceasing toil from early morning until late 
 at night was all she had ever known. It had 
 never entered her mind to question the right of 
 her lord and master to idle his time away while 
 she slaved for him and his family. She was 
 only a woman, and ever since her little boys 
 
56 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 had one by one passed away and left her hus- 
 band without a son, she lived daily in mortal 
 terror of being sent away. Her husband had 
 threatened several times to take another wife, 
 and well she knew he would not support two. 
 Perhaps it was hunger, however, that drove 
 fear from her thoughts to-day, and as she saw 
 him seated so comfortably on the veranda her 
 anger waxed hot. 
 
 “Here’s your supper,” she snapped as she 
 set the water pot down with a bang. “Winter 
 is coming on fast; and if you live on gruel as 
 thin as this all winter, you won’t be very fat 
 next spring.” 
 
 Mr. Ye looked at her in great surprise, for 
 this was an unusual outbreak. Others had felt 
 the sting of her tongue, but never had she spo- 
 ken in this tone to him. Without answering 
 or showing any sign that he had heard, her 
 husband slowly rose, wriggled his feet into the 
 straw sandals sitting on the steps, and with 
 much dignity passed out of the courtyard into 
 the narrow street. “Certainly she is right,” 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 57 
 
 soliloquized the gentleman of leisure. “Things 
 are getting to a bad state at my house. No 
 wine to-day, and the rice all gone. What can 
 I clo ? I can’t work, and there’s nothing left to 
 sell. O yes! I forgot Agie. She is ten years 
 old and a very nice-looking girl. Hum-m ; I 
 wonder how much she would bring. Guess 
 I’ll go see.” 
 
 We will not go into the harrowing details 
 of that sale — the parting of mother and child 
 and little Agie’s broken-hearted departure 
 from her house to the great, strange city of 
 Seoul. Two weeks after she is carried in 
 bonds from her father’s house we find her a 
 slave in the house of the rich Mr. Na and a 
 maid to Lady Na. It would be impossible to 
 describe the torture and agony endured by the 
 timid, shrinking girl during this time. Her 
 fate, however, might have been worse. Had 
 Agie been pretty, she might have been sold for 
 a dancing girl, as many girls are. These girls 
 are taken too young to know or give assent to 
 their dreadful fate, being secured by purchase 
 
58 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 or trickery, and are trained in all the nefarious 
 arts of their degrading and degraded occupa- 
 tion. 
 
 Had Agie’s eyes been beautiful and straight 
 instead of crossed and crooked, had her skin 
 been smooth where the pox marks were left at 
 the time her little brothers and sisters had been 
 taken away by the smallpox demon, had her 
 short, scraggy hair been thick, long, and glossy, 
 she might have brought a bigger price and have 
 found a worse fate than that of a slave to a 
 wealthy lady. To be sure, Lady Na might 
 have been far kinder; for she was capricious, 
 cross and fretful, and very difficult to please. 
 She did not like the new slave girl. She failed 
 to see underneath the unlovely exterior the 
 sweet, gentle spirit so anxious to find a place 
 for herself in the heart of her cold, selfish mis- 
 tress. Had the lady seen, she would not have 
 cared. The child’s ugliness was the call for 
 many rough, coarse jokes; and she took no 
 thought of the slave girl away in her dark 
 back closet of a room after the hard day’s 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 59 
 
 work was over, though the child’s heart was 
 sore and bleeding. Many times she was beat- 
 en for trivial faults, but it was not because of 
 bruises on her thin little body that Agie sobbed 
 herself to sleep at night. 
 
 One warm afternoon, while Agie sat fanning 
 her mistress, a friend of the family, Lady Paek, 
 called with her retinue of servants. After a 
 while the conversation turned to the Chris- 
 tians in the city and the missionaries. “Have 
 you heard of their queer doctrine — the Jesus 
 doctrine?” asked Lady Paek as she nibbled a 
 rice cake. 
 
 “What is that?” queried Lady Na; and she 
 leaned forward, anxious for a dainty tidbit of 
 gossip. 
 
 “Huh, I’m sure I don’t know,” answered 
 Lady Paek; “but they do tell awfully strange 
 stories about those foreign people — Americans 
 they are — and they have come here to contam- 
 inate our people. Worse still, many are fol- 
 lowing them and believe their strange doctrine. 
 One of my women tells me that they actually 
 
GO 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 catch little children on the streets and put them 
 in dungeons under their houses, where they 
 pluck out their eyes and make medicine of 
 them. There are women among them, too; and 
 do you know, they are as bold as the men. 
 They go on the street without a veil, eat with 
 the men, and even talk and laugh with them,” 
 and she settled herself back in virtuous content 
 to select another cake. 
 
 “Have you seen them?” asked her hostess 
 with much interest. 
 
 “O', no, of course not! Would I associate 
 with such vileness ? But here is that servant of 
 mine who knows something about them. Here, 
 you ; come here,” and she raised her voice to a 
 call, and the woman indicated came forward. 
 “Come tell us more about those serpents, the 
 missionaries. What do they look like?” 
 
 The woman, glad of such advancement and 
 of preference above her fellow-servants, was 
 delighted to tell all she knew and more. “They 
 are awfully queer-looking creatures,” she be- 
 gan. “They don’t dress like we do, nor look 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 61 
 
 like us. Some folks say that they are not hu- 
 man.” Seeing- the interest of the ladies in her 
 dramatic tale, she continued impressively : “No 
 one knows what they may be. They have 
 queer green eyes, yellow hair that stands out 
 like cotton, not slick, black, and nice, like yours. 
 They are funny-shaped, too 1 — just like a wasp 
 in the middle — and the men have their hair 
 cut short, without a topknot. They said there 
 would be a meeting in the chapel to-night. 
 Wouldn’t you like to go and see for yourself? 
 They are very kind.” 
 
 Lady Na wanted to go, but Lady Paek 
 thought it would be a disgrace. Finally, how- 
 ever, her curiosity got the better of her digni- 
 ty, and they went. 
 
 The preacher was just in the middle of his 
 discourse. The small chapel was full of inter- 
 ested listeners when a great bustle and hurry 
 at the entrance announced the arrival of two 
 great ladies in their bright-colored closed 
 chairs, carried by four coolies. The slaves and 
 servants of each were running by her chair, 
 
62 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 and among these was little Agie. Amid much 
 noise and confusion they entered and were 
 finally seated like the rest on straw mats on 
 the floor. The speaker stopped several times 
 and asked them not to talk out loud, but to lis- 
 ten quietly like the rest. But they had come to 
 see, not to hear. 
 
 At one side of the chapel, by a small organ, 
 sat an American lady, the subject of their in- 
 terest. One of the ladies rose and went over 
 to her, examined her clothes and her figure, and 
 asked many personal and embarrassing ques- 
 tions. The American lady was used to this 
 sort of thing, and took it very quietly, trying 
 to satisfy their curiosity and also to keep them 
 from disturbing the service without offending 
 them. Finally they got so noisy that she told 
 them if they would sit down and be quiet she 
 would talk to them after service. Then they 
 were highly indignant, for they are used to be- 
 ing first and to having people stop anything 
 they may be doing to wait on them. So' they 
 passed out of the chapel in high dudgeon. The 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 63 
 
 missionary followed to explain, but to no use. 
 They were much offended, and refused to lis- 
 ten to explanations. The servants saw the la- 
 dies leave and followed — all but little Agie. 
 She had gotten so much interested in the beau- 
 tiful story the man was telling that she heard 
 nothing else. It seemed as though he looked 
 and talked just to her, and as she gazed into 
 his kindly eyes and heard the message of love 
 and hope, she knew the stories she had heard 
 of these people were false, and that what the 
 man said was true. Surely he knew how 
 wTetched and unhappy she was, and how she 
 longed for some one to love her, for his sub- 
 ject was, “God so loved the world, that he gave 
 his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
 on him should not perish, but have everlasting 
 life ! ,? The minister was inspired by the eager 
 little listener. She had never heard such words 
 before, and she listened with her heart open to 
 the truth of the message. With eager attention 
 she drank in every word, and the new light in 
 her face told of hope and faith born in her 
 heart that day. 
 
64 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 After the service she went forward and de- 
 clared her intention of becoming a follower of 
 Jesus Christ from that day. The missionaries 
 gave her a little red hymn book and a Gospel of 
 John, and she started home with a happy heart, 
 not knowing what awaited her there. The re- 
 frain of one of the sweet hymns still rang in 
 her ears, 
 
 “Yes, Jesus loves me; 
 
 Yes, Jesus loves me;” 
 
 and a sweet, soft voice in her heart that she 
 had never known before echoed the same beau- 
 tiful truth as she remembered the missionary’s 
 words not to deny her Master, though she 
 might have to suffer for it. 
 
 When she reached home she found her mis- 
 tress in a raging fury, and her declaration that 
 she was a Jesus believer now did not help mat- 
 ters. 
 
 “You little rat! Well, we will fix you. 
 Easy enough to beat that notion out of your 
 tangled head.” 
 
 Then a man was called to beat her until she 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 65 
 
 took back such foolish words. But to all ques- 
 tionings the child answered : “I can’t deny my 
 Lord.” Pale and trembling, she bore the lash 
 until she fell in a dead faint. 
 
 When she regained consciousness she was 
 lying on some straw in an outhouse. An old 
 servant woman who had been kind to her be- 
 fore was bending over her, and it was almost 
 dark. “There, you foolish child ! I thought 
 you were dead. Well, you will be soon enough 
 if you keep this up. Mistress says she will kill 
 you if you don’t give up your stubbornness; 
 and she will, too.” 
 
 The frightened child sat up and tried to rec- 
 ollect where she was. “O, yes, I remember 
 now ! I still have that sweet, happy feeling in- 
 side me that came when ‘Jesus loved me,’ ” 
 and then a sharp pain in her left arm drew her 
 attention to this member, hanging limp and use- 
 less by her side, broken. 
 
 The preacher was going to chapel for even- 
 ing sendee, and with him walked his faithful 
 
 5 
 
66 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 class leader. As they neared the building he 
 saw in a heap by the door a strange, forlorn 
 little figure which he did not at first recognize 
 as the child convert of the morning. Soon, 
 however, he drew from the poor, agitated lit- 
 tle creature the whole sad story, and that, not 
 knowing what to do, she ran away and came to 
 ask him. The courageous faith of the child 
 filled him with awe, and he wondered while 
 he rejoiced. Calling to him a Bible woman, 
 he sent Agie to the mission doctor for care 
 and treatment; and soon she was comfortable 
 and happy because she knew that all that was 
 possible would be done for her. 
 
 The class leader, Mr. Cho, was dispatched to 
 the house of the rich Mr. Na with money to 
 bargain for the little slave. This was easily 
 done, for she had ceased to have any real mar- 
 ket value elsewhere; and since it seemed that 
 she would rather die than give up her faith, 
 they decided it would be best to sell her for 
 a good price to the Christians. This they did, 
 and Agie was free. 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 67 
 
 The child got well fast. Her home was with 
 the kind class leader, and she was soon happier 
 and brighter than ever before. She went to 
 the mission school and learned quickly to read 
 the new Bible and hymn book Mr. Cho gave her 
 in place of the one she left at Mr. Na’s in her 
 hurry the night she ran away. 
 
 Each Sunday after that she came to the lit- 
 tle chapel, always eager and earnest in her de- 
 sire to know. She quickly memorized many 
 passages of Scripture, and loved to sing the 
 sweet old hymns from the red hymn book. The 
 pale, gentle girl won the heart of all; she was 
 one of Christ’s own little ones, and seemed to 
 give her life into his keeping as soon as she 
 heard of his love for her. But she was not bap- 
 tized because her time of probation was not 
 passed. 
 
 Mr. Cho, Agie’s adopted father, noticed one 
 day that something was weighing on the child’s 
 mind ; and calling her to him, he said : “Come, 
 little one; tell me what makes you so sad and 
 unhappy when the other children are playing 
 around.” 
 
68 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 Then, seeing his kind and loving interest, 
 she told him what saddened her heart — how 
 she loved her tired, overburdened mother, and 
 how ever before her came the mother’s worn, 
 haggard, sorrowful face, telling the story of a 
 life without God or hope in the world. 
 Then, breaking down, she cried, “O, tell me, 
 could I be happy in heaven without my moth- 
 er? She does not know about Jesus, and O, I 
 must go tell her about this peace and rest in 
 here!” and she placed her hand on her heart 
 while the tears ran down her cheeks. “Then, 
 Mr. Cho, I always pray for my father, too. I 
 was always afraid of him, but I try to love him 
 because it was the 'wine that made him bad 
 and so cruel to mother and me.” 
 
 The kind Mr. Cho promised to assist her in 
 the search for her parents ; and one bright day 
 in early winter he came home with the happy 
 news that he had been appointed to preach on 
 a certain circuit, and within this circuit, fifty 
 miles to the south, lay the little village of Cam- 
 borree, Agie’s home. 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 69 
 
 The fact that it was very cold and that the 
 snow lay thick upon the ground made no dif- 
 ference to the little heroine of faith. “Yes, 
 yes!” she said; “I must go with you the first 
 trip, for I want to be the one to tell my mother 
 about Jesus’s love for her.” 
 
 So it came about that on a bright, crisp win- 
 ter morning We find Agie and her adopted fa- 
 ther facing the cold to walk the long, weary 
 miles between the city of Seoul and the little 
 village of Camborree. He was a poor man; 
 and since walking is the principal and almost 
 the only mode of traveling known to the mid- 
 dle class of people, Mr. Cho and Agie were 
 thankful and overjoyed to be allowed to go on 
 this mission. They had their feet well bound 
 with cloth over the straw sandals. Extra san- 
 dals were thrown over their shoulders, while 
 Mr. Cho carried the large bowl of rice which 
 Mother Cho had prepared for the first day’s re- 
 freshment; for Agie was not very strong yet, 
 and it would take two days for her to walk this 
 distance. 
 
70 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 The evening of the second day finds the trav- 
 elers nearing the little village among the hills. 
 The child forgets her tired back and blistered 
 feet as she sees only the beloved mountains and 
 well-remembered scenes which she had feared 
 she would never see again. There on the hill 
 is the place where she often picked berries; 
 here on this side of the brook is where she came 
 so often with her mother to wash clothes. This 
 is the well she once dropped the bucket in; just 
 around the turn of the hill is home. O, can it 
 be? Yes, that is the house. Home! Home at 
 last, and her eyes are bright with tears! But 
 how changed ! It is as she feared. It has been 
 sold and her people gone. Yes, it must be ; for, 
 see, it has a new roof. There is a new room 
 added to the old shed, and everything wears an 
 air of respectability which the old place had 
 long ago lost under her father’s shiftless ways. 
 With her heart bleeding and sore she sits down 
 by the wayside and bursts into sobs and uncon- 
 trollable tears, while the kind-hearted man 
 stands by helpless. 
 
WOMAN CARRYING WATER. 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 71 
 
 A sweet-faced, gentle woman, bearing a wa- 
 ter pot on her head, opens the gate ; and at the 
 familiar click Agie lifts her head, expecting to 
 see an utter stranger. Then with a cry of 
 “Omanie! omanie” (“Mother! mother !”) she 
 rushes forward. The water pot, unheeded, is 
 broken into a hundred pieces, and mother and 
 child are again united. 
 
 That night, as the reunited family sat on the 
 floor of the now comfortable home, Agie 
 learned from her parents that several months 
 before her father had heard the gospel of Je- 
 sus, and he and her mother had joyfully turned 
 to Christ; then came the transformation in 
 their home. Peace and hope now reigned 
 where once were strife and desolation. The fa- 
 ther told in an agony of tears how he had 
 sought everywhere for his lost child without 
 finding a trace of her. He showed with much 
 pride his rough, brawny hands, the proof 
 of honest toil; and no one would recognize 
 in him the cold, hard man of a year ago. 
 
KIM SU BANG 
 
 What had wrought the change? That power 
 which is the unanswerable argument of Chris- 
 tianity— Christ Jesus in human hearts, trans- 
 forming the unlovely, miserable human life 
 into the lovely, happy life of a child of God. 
 Not only is this man a completely changed crea- 
 ture; but the home, where joy and love now 
 reign, is but an illustration of how all else is 
 changed with the entrance of Christ. 
 
 As the father finished his story he cried: “O 
 Father, help me to serve thee fully for all thy 
 great love and wonderful gifts!” Then the 
 break in the voice and the tears, more eloquent 
 than words, told of deep, earnest feeling. 
 
 Before many months had passed the fond 
 parents saw that the child they loved more ten- 
 derly than ever was slowly fading away. She 
 grew sweeter, dearer every day, seeming truly 
 to live in the presence of the Lord whom she 
 so lovingly served. Soon she was unable to 
 leave her room, but she had for her constant 
 companion her little red books. 
 
 “Father,” she said one day, “won’t you send 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 73 
 
 for Mr. Cho? I have never been baptized, and 
 I have no name but ‘baby.’* I am going to 
 leave you soon, and want to be baptized with 
 you and mother.” 
 
 So the pastor at the time of his next appoint- 
 ment came into the humble home to bring the 
 seal of the Church to these faithful followers 
 of Christ. “What name do you want to be 
 called, Agie?” asked the pastor, bending over 
 to catch the faint answer, for she was very 
 weak now and could not speak above a whis- 
 per. 
 
 “Faith,” she answered, which in the musical 
 tongue of the Koreans is “Mittome.” A look 
 Qf joy and triumph came into her face as she 
 answered. 
 
 Mittome was no longer nameless, but had 
 the name of God’s elect, and soon after passed 
 away with a smile to where “beyond these 
 voices there is peace.” 
 
 In the plain, unpainted coffin, with the little, 
 
 *According to Korean custom, girls and women have 
 no individual names. 
 
74 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 wasted body, they placed the Bible and worn 
 red hymn book she loved so much. 
 
 While their hearts ached, the parents re- 
 joiced at God’s goodness as they listened to the 
 Christians singing: 
 
 “Safe in the arms of Jesus, 
 
 Safe on his gentle breast/’ 
 
 Safe, safe at last, thank God! The mother 
 realized as she never had before what unutter- 
 able danger her child had been subjected to 
 and the blessedness of safety she had found in 
 Christ. With this realization of what Christ 
 and his love had meant to her came the over- 
 powering sense of debt to him. Then, falling 
 prostrate, she lifted her heart and voice to her 
 Lord. “O Father in heaven, thou didst save 
 my child from an awful fate; thou didst save 
 us all through Jesus, and now Mittome is hap- 
 py in glory. I want to thank thee, dear Lord ; 
 but I am only a poor Korean woman. I can- 
 not read or write; but if thou canst use me, I 
 give myself to thee, for that is all I have. It 
 isn’t a very nice gift, O Lord, I know; but use 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 75 
 
 me, poor creature that I am. Use me to help 
 save other girls as mine has been saved. ,, 
 
 Such was the bereaved mother’s prayer of 
 consecration. And within a few days she start- 
 ed to walk the many miles to the great city 
 where lived the American ladies who had in 
 charge the school for training Bible women. In 
 her heart was much anxiety, for she had heard 
 that there were many applicants, and room for 
 but few. Will there be room for her? 
 
 As she neared the great city the twilight 
 deepened. The long, thick shadows lay dark 
 across her path. The purple mountains seemed 
 far away and grew faint and dim. 
 
 Soon in the distance, from an elevation over- 
 looking the city, Martha (which was now her 
 name) saw the twinkling lights through the 
 smoke from the evening fires. Now soon she 
 would stand in the presence of those women, 
 who might open for her the doors to knowl- 
 edge and help her to fulfill her cherished mis- 
 sion to the daughters of Korea. “O, is there 
 
76 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 room for me?” she' cried; “or will they tell me 
 that they have turned many others away?” 
 Darker, deeper grew the evening shadows; 
 and the lonely, tired woman lingered still on 
 the brow of the hill, watching with unseeing 
 eyes the lights of the city below, while in her 
 heart burned the question, “Is there room for 
 me?” 
 
COME UNTO ME 
 
 G OOD morning, teacher ; have you come 
 in peace ? I am so glad that you came 
 to see me. I am all alone to-day, and 
 now that you are here I will not get lonely. 
 
 You say that you want me to tell you my sto- 
 ry. O yes, I will be glad to tell you all about 
 my life; but first you must eat something. 
 
 This is a very humble fare ; but knowing that 
 you were coming to our village, I made these 
 rice-flour cakes specially for you. This “kim- 
 chi” [pickle] is made from new turnips. Won’t 
 you have some? No? Well, I know that, as a 
 rule, Americans care little for “kimchi it has 
 too much red pepper and garlic in it, I sup- 
 pose. 
 
 Now I will tell you my story. I suppose a 
 part of it is not unlike that of a great many Ko- 
 rean women, for many of them have very sad 
 lives. 
 
 My father died when I was only eight years 
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
78 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 old ; and though many years have passed since 
 then and I am no longer young, I can still re- 
 hear the shrill, unearthly, hopeless mourning at 
 his funeral and remember the horror and fear 
 with which I observed the preparations to keep 
 the evil spirits from finding and disturbing 
 him. 
 
 It seems that I can hear yet the wails of my 
 mother, morning and evening, as she set the 
 sacrificial bowl of rice before my father’s tab- 
 let. I did not fully understand the meaning of 
 these offerings before the ancestral tablets. I 
 only dimly felt that in some mysterious way it 
 would make my father happier in the shadow 
 land of spirits. So, partly from sympathy and 
 more from fear, I lifted my voice with my 
 mother’s to that hopeless wail of despair every 
 morning and evening. 
 
 My mother was very poor those days, and it 
 was difficult for us to get even enough to 
 eat. She often talked of my marriage, and I 
 knew that event was not far off. I was very 
 much interested in my fate, I will confess, 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 79 
 
 though, according to good Korean custom, I 
 could ask no question ; and, to appear properly 
 modest, I had to seem very unconcerned and 
 indifferent. 
 
 The boy to whom I was finally betrothed, 
 and of course whom I had never seen, was three 
 years older than I, and was said to be a very 
 nice fellow. The bridal gifts were exchanged 
 to the great satisfaction of my mother and the 
 rest of the family; and while I was more con- 
 cerned about my future mother-in-law and was 
 wondering what she was like, my childish fancy 
 was well pleased with the bright-colored 
 clothes and specially the silk (which I had nev- 
 er owned before) sent me from my future hus- 
 band’s home. 
 
 The wedding day came ; and I left my moth- 
 er and the only home I had ever known, 
 which I have not seen since. The long jour- 
 ney to my husband’s house in the city seems 
 like a dream now. The bright plush chair, the 
 chair bearers in their blue uniform, and even I, 
 too, with all that gorgeous red robe, seem a 
 
80 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 part of a long-past dream. The family I was 
 entering was well-to-do ; and although we were 
 so very poor, my mother had managed to make 
 a very fine match for me because I was consid- 
 ered quite pretty in those days. I had always 
 been a delicate child, and I suppose it was that 
 fragile beauty which was in demand. 
 
 During the wedding ceremony, which was at 
 the groom’s house, and which consisted simply 
 of the bride and groom bowing to each other, 
 I had to appear as much as if I were made of 
 wood as possible. My mother and the other 
 women at home, who, according to our cus- 
 tom, never attend the marriage of a girl of 
 the family, had given me special injunctions 
 as to my behavior on this great day, and I 
 knew that if I spoke cn that day for any rea- 
 son it would be a disgrace. 
 
 Home and all of my kin were left behind. T 
 was in a new world, and must learn to adjust 
 myself to it without outside help; and yet T 
 was only nine years old. 
 
 Although I had never seen Ye Tai Ya, the 
 
BRIDE AND GR001V 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 81 
 
 groom, it was not good manners for me to 
 look at him then. He never said a word to 
 me, and I didn’t dare look at him ; but in some 
 way I felt that he was sorry for me. He was 
 not rude, but rather gentle, and I liked him 
 right away. As soon as the ceremony was over 
 he went back to the men’s quarters to the feast, 
 and the women took me to the inside part of 
 the house — the women’s quarters. There I sat 
 all day, not moving, not speaking, to be gazed 
 upon and criticised. O how lonely and dreary 
 I felt in the midst of that crowd of careless, un- 
 sympathetic women ! My mother-in-law was 
 determined that I should not be vain; and if 
 any one said I was pretty, she would reply: 
 “Pretty? O, no! Her eyes are not a good 
 shape, and she is too thin.” Through all the 
 comments, favorable or unfavorable, I was ex- 
 pected to sit with downcast eyes and seem not 
 to hear. Then they discussed my family — our 
 poverty and position — until it seemed my heart 
 would break, and I thought if I could just run 
 away and go home again I would be happy, 
 for I would rather die than be there. 
 
 6 
 
82 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 O the days of unhappiness and misery that 
 followed ! My mother-in-law was cruel, heart- 
 less, and irritable. She decided that I was 
 spoiled and vain, and that it was her duty to 
 straighten me out. For several weeks the rel- 
 atives and neighbors came in to see the bride ; 
 and I was dressed up to be shown off, much as 
 though I were a new pony or an image. 
 
 Ye Tai Ya I seldom saw. He was going to 
 school, and his mother was so very cross that 
 he never liked to come inside our court; and 
 I did not blame him, for I would gladly have 
 stayed away had it been possible. He paid 
 very little attention to me, but went his way 
 much as though I did not exist. However, he 
 was the only one who was not really unkind, 
 and I often felt that he would have been very 
 kind if he had dared. 
 
 We had plenty of this world’s goods, and 
 kept several servants, and it was not necessary 
 for me to work hard ; but my mother-in-law did 
 not want me to be lazy ; and while she did noth- 
 ing at all, I had to take my place in the kitchen 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 83 
 
 with the hardest work. Often at night in the 
 summer, after a hard day's work, I had to sit 
 and fan her to sleep. If I stopped fanning, she 
 would wake up and scold me; so many nights 
 I sat by her on the floor until dawn. 
 
 Thus the years passed by. O, no ! they were 
 far from being happy. I had always been del- 
 icate, and the hard work and unhappy sur- 
 roundings were telling on my health. Many 
 times I thought of suicide, but every means 
 seemed so hard. Many women I had heard 
 of had drunk lye, but death by that means is 
 so slow and painful. If I had been able to get 
 some powerful, quick drug, I would have killed 
 myself; for life held no joys and few promises 
 of better things. 
 
 Ye Tai Ya had taken to drink. He was 
 home but seldom, and then very often he was 
 drunk. I can look back on those days, how- 
 ever, and truly say that he w r as never cruel to 
 me. His mother was the great thorn in my 
 flesh, the great burden of my life. Had I been 
 a slave, my life would have been no harder. 
 
84 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 Through a neighbor who moved from my 
 home village I learned that my mother was 
 dead and the home sold for debt. I might 
 have run away if I had known where to run, 
 but where could I go? There seemed nothing 
 to do but patiently endure till the end. 
 
 Many times the heartless old woman beat 
 me cruelly for mere trifles. It seemed that she 
 was tired of me, and would gladly have had me 
 out of the way. It was on my twentieth birth- 
 day that she gave me an unusually hard beat- 
 ing; and for some time after that I was uncon- 
 scious, and this was followed by native fever, 
 from which it seemed for a long time that I 
 would not recover. I was not conscious, how- 
 ever, much of the time, and remember little 
 save that one of the old servant women cared 
 for me during this time. 
 
 After my recovery from this illness my 
 mother-in-law told me without much mercy 
 that she had decided to get a second wife 
 for her son because I was so puny and 
 good-for-nothing. She already had the girl 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 85 
 
 selected. Of course I could stay. Certainly I 
 was the first wife ; but I had a bad temper and 
 was not kind to her, though if I had had a son 
 it would have been different. 
 
 Then came the time I never can forget. It 
 seemed that the old tiger was not satisfied with 
 what she had done, but made up her mind to 
 get rid of me altogether. That night she pro- 
 voked a quarrel over something I had done 
 about the work — done as best I could, but not 
 to suit her fancy. Then she scolded and abused 
 me until midnight. I stood it as long as I 
 could, and then did what she hoped I would do 
 — lost control of my temper, and answered 
 back. Ye Tai Ya came in just then, and I ap- 
 pealed to him; but he was too drunk to under- 
 stand, and went staggering into his room, 
 chanting a drunken song. His mother then 
 waxed furious. “Never let me see your face 
 again!” she screamed, and in her rage pulled 
 me to the high wall, thrust me out of the big 
 gate into the narrow street, and fastened the 
 ponderous bolts. 
 
86 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 There, alone at midnight, unprotected on the 
 streets of that great city, I stood dazed and hor- 
 rified. The loud voice of my mother-in-law 
 and her abuses came to me across the wall, and 
 I started to run — where? I did not know, but 
 anywhere to be rid of her eternal nagging and 
 persecution. 
 
 Did I think then of my husband? O, yes! 
 That was a sore place in my heart, for I had 
 learned to love him as much as was natural. 
 I did not know him very well, yet he had al- 
 ways been kind to me in a way ; and he was the 
 only one left in all the world who had been 
 kind except the servants; they were sorry for 
 me. 
 
 That night, alone in a great city, I felt 
 that life was truly worth very little. Afraid 
 and terror-stricken, I knew not where to go. 
 Some men passing me laughed and followed. 
 With a great horror coming over me, I turned 
 into a narrow alley. Fear lent wings to my 
 feet, and I sped away like the wind. I heard 
 the men coming, and faster and faster I went 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 87 
 
 through alleys and streets until they were far 
 away and lost in the distance. But I did not 
 stop until I dropped exhausted by the way. 
 In my despair I thought of only one thing — 
 the river. I did not know where it was, nor 
 in what direction, for I had been out only in 
 a closed chair; but I would find it somehow, 
 and there end my sorrow with my life. At 
 last I found strength to move on, and as I 
 was passing slowly down a side street I 
 saw an old woman sitting in an open door. 
 She saw me too as I was trying to slip past, 
 and called to me. Her voice was kind, and, 
 not knowing what else to do, I stopped. Al- 
 though I had on no veil, she must have seen 
 from my clothes that I was no slave, and she 
 probably guessed what had happened. Finally 
 she drew from me my story, which is not an 
 unusual one, you know. Then she said : “You 
 are too good-looking to kill yourself. I 
 wouldn’t do any such thing. You stay here 
 with me until morning, and then we will see 
 what can be done.” 
 
88 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 I was then so tired and withal so glad to get 
 any shelter from that awful street and its dan- 
 gers that I stayed. 
 
 The next morning I found that the old lady 
 was trying to make some money for herself 
 and not simply kind for the sake of goodness. 
 She was a matchmaker, and would manage so 
 as to get a husband for me and a fee for her- 
 self. There was a rich man in a village near 
 the city who had commissioned her to find him 
 a pretty concubine. She liked my face, and 
 thought I would do well. 
 
 At first I would not hear to it. Of course I 
 knew that I could never go back to Ye Tai 
 Ya’s house, anyway, and he would have anoth- 
 er wife. It was true that many of those I 
 knew did this very thing. No, I did not know 
 that it was wrong; but my very soul shrank 
 from it. “I would rather die,” I said. But the 
 old lady argued and persuaded for some time. 
 
 I stayed there several weeks. I had no oth- 
 er place to go. It was this : be a concubine or 
 — the river. The more I thought of the river 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 SO 
 
 the more awful it seemed. I would die then, 
 and what becomes of one after death? Would 
 my soul go into a cat or dog? Perhaps I 
 would be born a woman again and live the 
 same life over. I did not know. 
 
 So I listened to the old woman’s arguments, 
 and gradually my resolution wavered. I was 
 so unhappy that it made no difference, I 
 thought, what happened to me. 
 
 Then I yielded, though my first venture on 
 the matrimonial sea had not been a pleasant 
 voyage. 
 
 Mr. Sung was not a good man in any sense 
 of the word ; but for a while he was very kind 
 to me, and I had everything to make me com- 
 fortable and a home separate from the other 
 wife. No, I was not happy; I soon grew to 
 hate that wicked old man, and was sad and sor- 
 row-stricken. Perhaps if I had been vivacious 
 and interesting, he would not have grown tired 
 of me before a year had passed; but I was 
 grateful for a comfortable home and because 
 I had no mother-in-law to beat me. 
 
90 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 Then my baby came. How I had hoped it 
 would be a boy ! Many times I had walked to 
 the top of the mountain and made sacrifices to 
 the spirits there and prayed to them to send me 
 a boy. Mr. Sung had no son, and above all 
 things else he wanted a son to inherit his prop- 
 erty and worship him when he was dead. So 
 if my baby had been a boy I would always have 
 had a home at least. But the gods were deaf ; 
 it was a girl. 
 
 Mr. Sung was in the city when the little girl 
 was born, but he came home when she was 
 three days old. I shall never forget how that 
 man raged. He raved and swore at me, tore 
 his hair, and I believe he would have killed the 
 baby if I had let him get his hands on her. 
 '“Go,” he cried ; “you are nothing but a pretty 
 beggar. Go, and never do I want to see you 
 again!” Then he kicked me out of the door 
 into the street, and it was a cold, chilly day in 
 March. 
 
 The poor baby fretted and cried ; and I tied 
 her on my back, not feeling the cold, scarcely 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 91 
 
 thinking at all. And that was the last that I 
 knew or remembered for many days. 
 
 After a long time I opened my eyes and 
 looked around, though I was so weak I could 
 not move. I was in a tidy, comfortable room, 
 lying on a nice, hot floor. It was night, and 
 a candle flickered in a tall brass candlestick 
 by my side; and near by sat a sweet-faced 
 woman. She had a book in her hand, and was 
 reading aloud. I listened in wonder : “ ‘Blessed 
 are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom 
 of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn : for 
 they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek : 
 for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are 
 they that hunger and thirst after righteousness : 
 for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merci- 
 ful : for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are 
 the pure in heart : for they shall see God.’ ” 
 
 What strange, sweet words those were! I 
 felt a dim, unknown sense of peace and securi- 
 ty. I moved, and the woman stopped reading 
 and looked up. “Am I dead?” I asked. “I 
 
92 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 feel so strange and unnatural; and what are 
 those beautiful words you are reading?” 
 
 “No,” she said, “you are not dead; but you 
 have been very, very sick. You are with 
 friends, but you must not talk now. No, you 
 must not talk any more ; but take this medicine 
 and go to sleep, and when you are stronger 
 I will tell you about what has happened.” 
 
 So I fell asleep again with a strange sense 
 of rest and security I had not known before. 
 
 When I next waked up, I was stronger; and 
 the Christian woman, Louis, told me what had 
 happened. She said that some of the 'Chris- 
 tians found me wandering about the city streets 
 with a high fever and delirious. The little 
 baby tied on my back was dead. These Chris- 
 tians had taken me to the home of this good 
 woman, and she had nursed me day and night 
 through four weeks of fever and sickness. 
 
 Slowly life and strength came back to me 
 through the nursing and care of Louis. She 
 ministered gently unto me, and not only nour- 
 ished my body, but my starving soul as well. 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 93 
 
 I begged to hear more of the Book I heard 
 her reading while I was sick, and she gladly 
 gratified me. The sweetest words that ever 
 mortal heard are in that blessed Book. 
 
 At first I could not understand why these 
 people took me, a stranger, into their home and 
 cared for me, and I was inclined to be sus- 
 picious. But gradually, as I heard more of 
 their religion, of Jesus Christ and his work on 
 earth, of how he even died to save others, I be- 
 gan to understand that it was not through any 
 hope of receiving pay but simply for the sake 
 of this Saviour and his followers, that they 
 had taken me in, a stranger, and sick unto 
 death. 
 
 Many hours I would sit while Louis read 
 wonderful things from the Book. Especially I 
 loved to hear the words of Jesus, and one verse 
 I would have her read time and again to me. 
 It was : “Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
 are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” My 
 “rest verse,” I call that. 
 
 I could not read then ; but I was so anxious 
 
94 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 to read the Bible for myself that Louis kindly 
 offered to teach me, and so I followed my teach- 
 er eagerly when she had time to instruct me. 
 These people were not wealthy, but rather poor. 
 They often had to scrimp to make ends meet; 
 and while I knew that I must be an added care, 
 they always made me feel that I was one of 
 them and no burden. All the housework was 
 done by Louis and her young daughter, so I 
 gladly gave my time and energy to the house- 
 work with a much more willing spirit than 
 wLen under my former mother-in-law as task- 
 master. 
 
 Whenever I said anything about going aw 7 ay 
 (for I felt that it was not right to stay thus), 
 Louis always said: “No, you are not strong 
 enough yet. Stay as one of the family until 
 the Lord sends something better. Pray for 
 guidance, trust the Lord, and w^ait until he 
 leads you out.” 
 
 So I waited and prayed and studied while 
 another year passed aw 7 ay. 
 
 The little chapel in the city was the place I 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 95 
 
 loved best to go. Its peace filled my soul with 
 a holy calm, for it was there that I gave my 
 heart to God. I could trust him afterwards to 
 give what was best. 
 
 It was in June of that year that we had a great 
 revival. Many were the confessions made and 
 the experiences told during that meeting. Many 
 were born into the kingdom. You know how 
 the chapel is divided — a high board partition 
 through the middle, the men on one side, the 
 women on the other. Well, one night several 
 had spoken, and it was growing late when on 
 the other side of the partition a man arose. I 
 could not see him, but at the first sound of his 
 voice I grew cold from head to foot. Was I 
 dreaming? No, it was truly the voice of Ye Tai 
 Ya. I listened with amazement. Could it be 
 that he was talking about me? He told how 
 the morning after his mother had driven me 
 away he awakened from a drunken sleep to 
 realize what had happened, but too late to find 
 me. He told how he had searched the city 
 over, but no trace could be found. Then he 
 
96 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 realized, when too late, that he loved his wife; 
 and to all his mother’s propositions about a 
 second wife he stormed and raged until she 
 grew to fear him. He drank more and more 
 wine, and grew so cross that all thought he 
 was going crazy. Then one night he drifted 
 with some others into the little chapel and grew 
 interested in the Jesus doctrine. Every service 
 found him at the chapel, eager to learn more. 
 He told at length how he had found Christ as 
 his Saviour, but could not be happy until he 
 found his young wife and righted her wrongs. 
 
 What did I do ? I felt that I could not move, 
 but sat like one in a trance. The congregation 
 was dismissed, but still I sat there with my 
 face in my hands. The others thought I was 
 praying; but Louis, who knew my story, came 
 to me after a while. “Was that your hus- 
 band?” she asked. And when she found that 
 it was, she knelt down, and we thanked God to- 
 gether while our hearts overflowed with joy 
 and praise. 
 
 How I loved him ! I had never thought be- 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 97 
 
 fore that the world could hold so much joy and 
 happiness, and I wondered why my heart didn’t 
 burst, it beat so hard and was so full of joy. 
 
 Louis’s husband was not long in finding Ye 
 Tai Ya and in telling him where I was and all 
 that had happened to me since I was driven 
 from home. I felt that God was indeed lead- 
 ing me out into the way of happiness. He 
 came to me, and yet I did not feel worthy to 
 be his wife, though he said that I was such be- 
 fore God, and that he too had sinned. 
 
 This man, so good, so humble — could he be 
 the same I had half loved and half feared ? 
 
 Of course I was his wife yet in the sight of 
 God, as he said; but I felt that in view of all 
 that had happened we should be married with 
 the Christian ceremony now. So we were, 
 in the little chapel where we had found each 
 other. The old preacher’s voice was husky, 
 and tears come to my eyes yet as I recall the 
 beautiful words of that ceremony: “Wilt thou 
 love, honor, and keep her in sickness and in 
 health, and, forsaking all others, keep thee only 
 
98 
 
 KIM SU BANG 
 
 unto her, so long as ye both shall live?” Then, 
 feeling the strong, firm pressure of my hus- 
 band’s hand when the minister said, “Join right 
 hands,” I thanked God again that he had been 
 so good to us as to cleanse us from sin and 
 make us pure in heart. I felt that truly we were 
 never married until that hour. 
 
 Yes, this is our home. He has gone to the 
 city to see his mother to-day. We don’t live 
 with her any more. She is very much opposed 
 to Christianity, and calls us both fools ; but her 
 son is very patient, and believes that sometime 
 she too will be saved. 
 
 Yes, teacher, we are trying to help save the 
 people in our village. My husband is class 
 leader, but we feel very weak and ignorant. 
 
 O, happy now ? Yes, indeed. The world is 
 so bright and my heart is so full of joy and 
 gladness that it is just running over to others 
 with a desire to help them to the same great 
 joys. 
 
 Do you see the little girl there in the court- 
 yard? She came to me homeless a few weeks 
 
AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 99 
 
 ago, and I am trying to do for her as was done 
 for me. 
 
 Why, here comes your chair ! Must you go 
 so soon, teacher? It is not late yet. 
 
 The parting salutation of the two women 
 has been said: “In the midst of God’s grace 
 may you go in peace.” The chair bearers are 
 carefully picking their way across the rice field. 
 But the little woman in the gateway is looking 
 in the other direction, down the valley, where 
 the golden rays of the afternoon sun fall on a 
 man coming toward her. Her face is lighted 
 with joy and happiness, and her lips part in a 
 smile of love and welcome. Slowly she turns 
 her head and looks up the valley as the chair 
 disappears around the hillside. The beautiful 
 brown eyes are filled with tears now, though 
 there is infinite peace in their depths as she 
 tenderly repeats the words: “Come unto me, 
 all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I 
 will give you rest.” 
 

 
 
 
 I