St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-08-28

TONG. PAk-suk AND THE DEVIL

TONG. PAK-sUK AND THE DEVIL
Corean Legend - to How Their No
thusaleh Beat the AAveFsaPy.
The Coreans have an interesting le-
zend concerning the manner In which
Scng- PAX -Suk, the Methuselah Of their
ANTHOLOGY, got the better of Satan.
Tong lived 1000 years. and acquired
great wisdom. The latter years Of his
life were spent in fishing, but not wish
Ing to diminish the stock of fish in the
river, he used q straight piece Of ,sire
Instead of q hook. Thus he was able
to enjoy the excitement and pleasure
of fishing for several centuries without
catching q single fish.
Realizing that sooner or later the
devil who did deaths errands would be
looking him up, he changed his name
and abode with each generation, and
thus eluded him. In the meantime
the evil one disguised himself in .
flowing Corean robe which covered up
his tail, concealed his horns under .
mourner's hat three feet in diameter.
and wrapped his legs in curious padded
stockings, 50 that he easily passed for
q native. He heard that Tong was
fishing in the Hau river. So he col
lected quantity Of charcoal and
washed it in that stream. This, Of
course, blackened the water, and Tong.
being surprised and annoyed. went up
to discover the cause. Finding the
devil washing the charcoal, he asked
what he was doing. The devil replied
that he was trying to make it white.
Old Tong, in his astonishment, was
thrown OF his guard, and said: ''Ihavs
lived in Corea hundreds of years, and,
Of course, have met many fools, but I
never saw big enough fool to try 70
wash charcoal white"
The devil at once knew his man, and
unfolding his tail by way Of exhibit
ing his warrant of arrest, seized Tong
and hurried him along In the direction
of the dark portals through which all
mortals must pass.
On the way the devil, being In good
humor over his success, chatted pleas
antly with Tong. who ventured to ask
him what he most abh0rred and was
most afraid Of. The devil made ia
tal blunder-one which might have
been excusable for = mortaEhe told
the truth. He said he hated and feared
but four terrestrial things branch Of
a thorn tree, an empty salt bag. .
worn-out straw sAdal of an OK and .
particular kind Of grass that grows in
Corea-the foxtail-and that when
these were put together he could not
60 within 80 feet of them.
In return the devil asked Tong what
he most feared. Tong, being wise and
experienced, lied and said he was In
mortal terror of . roasted OK head and
mackalee-a kind of beer.
Shortly after the exchange Of conf
dence Tong noticed that they were
passing a thorn tree. around the roots
of which foxtail grass was growing,
and, curiously enough, under. 1t was an
old salt bag and a cast-oh OK candal;
so. making a sudden spring from tho
side of the devil, he gathered up the
bag. the brass and sandal, and hanging
them on the branch Of the tree his
charm was perfect. The devil could not
come within 80 feet.
OF course the devil used every In
ducement to get Tong to come forth.
but the old fellow stuck to his post. At
last the devil went OF and got roasted
OK head and cask Of mackalee and
rolled them in to Tong, confident from
what he had told him that Tong would
be driven outside the magic circle. But
when he saw Tong eating heartily OF
the beef and drinking the mackalee
with gusto he realized that the game
was up and despairingly departed.
Tong's long life was due to the acci:
dent by which his page in the Book OF
Fate stuck to the next one, 70 that his
name was overlooked. When ultimate
ly the complaint was made that Tong
had lived too long. it took the registrar
of the lower regions 346 years to hunt
up his name in the archives.--Chicago
Record.