Korean Fairy Tales

“In 1898, in September and October, I traveled from Vladivostok to Port Arthur—mostly on horseback, and partly by boat: by boat along the Yalu (Amnoka-gan).

I didn’t go straight; I made detours—sometimes to Korea, sometimes to Manchuria.

During this journey, I collected the accompanying tales.

Twenty or thirty Koreans, in their ladies’ white blouses, in ladies’ hats with wide brims and tall narrow crowns, surrounded us, sitting on their heels. And the best storyteller told, while the others smoked their thin pipes and listened attentively…”