Page:Village life in Korea (1911).djvu/119

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The Village Gentleman.
105

and of better construction, it is much the same in style. The rooms will be of the standard size of eight by eight feet, as stated in another chapter.

Our gentleman is very particular about his appearance. If he can afford it, he always dresses nicely and is usually clean. Clothed in his spotless robes of white or in his sky-blue silk of a texture much like that of a spider's web, his appearance is dainty, not to say "dandy." His feet and hands are small and trim, his hands soft, and the nails on the little fingers allowed to grow long as a sign that he does no manual labor. In the summer season he always carries his fan, with which he shades his eyes or fans as he may wish. He wears spectacles of a huge size. These are for show rather than for service, though he may have a pair that will be useful in reading.

In conclusion, let me say of our village gentleman that, with all his faults and shortcomings, he has much that is not altogether bad and a little that is good, with the ability for development in all that is best. What he needs and must have is the gospel of Christ. This, and this alone, will enable him to break loose from the past and the superstitions that bind him, and bring him out into a large place where he can breathe the atmosphere of freedom and realize his possibilities. The gospel has done this for his cousins of the West, and it will do the same for him.