Page:Village life in Korea (1911).djvu/105

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The Village Boy.
91

arises (and he will not have to wait long), he will be convinced that these Eastern children are in about the same state of civilization as their cousins in the West. Let him who doubts this statement try his hand with the village boy at some point where he wants to go the other way.

All the boys in the same home do not have an equal chance, the oldest one always having the advantage of his younger brothers. His name is never called by his younger brothers, but he is addressed as "my honorable elder brother," this even when the boys are put at play. In the family circle he stands next to the father, and he lords it over his mother from the time he has the power of speech to command her. If our boy belongs to the higher class, he will not be expected to work, but to study as soon as he is old enough to take up that duty. If he belongs to the middle or lower class,, he will be compelled at an early age to take part in the struggle for rice. This may be much against his nature, but it must be done all the same, since the living of the family as well as his own may depend upon it. So we find him taking care of his little brothers and sisters while he is only a very small boy himself. It is no unusual sight to see him with his baby brother or sister strapped hard and fast on his back, while he is engaged with the other boys of the village in the most exciting games of the season. The game may be "pitch penny," which is a sort of a gambling game played with small coins. Thus our village boy gets his first lesson in gambling, which is such a curse to his father and