The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-05-01
QUEER P|NG-YANG
AND ITS LEGENDS
PeopIed by Beings Who Won.
der Concerning Things That
Never Happened
Copyright, New York Herald.)

.
lies upon one Of the great roads which
radiate from Seou-Seoul means lit
orally "capitar'-and is as much south
of Anju as Anju is south of VIII. 1t
is a strategical point of first impor-
lance, an admirably situated base of
supplies and point of concentration.
Yet would forget all this for a moment
in recalling an hour-long talk with one
OF its people.
He was an old man, bearing a well
thumbed book, and. Master" he said,
word has been brought me that you
come questing knowledge of our city
and its stories.''
I disguised my joy and told him it
was even so, whereupon he subsidized to
the mat-covered floor, crossing his legs
like Turk or a tailor.
Many have asked" he said, mot de-
string the truth which lives, but rather
the dust of that which is gone. For
does not the thing decreed happen and
pass, leaving only the mark upon the
book which says Upon day this thing
befell? 2 Now this that I shall tell you
Of men and women and wonders-lives
forever in the hearts of our people, and
is never stale in the telling through all
the twenty and four seasons. 1t is with
US always, as the rain, the snow, the
dew, the heat and the cold. We do not
forget You, master, know that war is
in the land"
"Ay," 1 said. st am of those who
come to watch and to write"
"Ai-go!" The old Korean eiacula-
ton rose to his lips. 'sThe marks open
the book-you also! But master, set
down this which I relate, that many
may know"
l promised, and what the old Korean
told l have here written, knowing, how
ever, that 1t is not given to the white
man to see and understand the truth.
Portents of Carnage.
War is in the land. as NV old friend
said, but before war came there were
many who would have given much for
true forecast. Yet the very children
OF Plng-yang looked for war as certain.
Did not, some moons past, the waters
OF the River Taidong-which flows by
the city walls-run red and turn bitter
TO the taste, so that no man might
drink? Here was proof positive a
pofteht nothing new. Red is the war
color. More than 800 years back, in
the tenth moon of the third year of the
reign of Pc Chang, the king. the very
snow became encarmined-an in the
eleventh moon there was war with
emma. In the seventh moon of the
nineteenth year of that same king the
river ran blood for three whole DAYS.
and again war came. Who, then. shall
doubt the warning of the most wise
river, given in this forty-second year
OF the reign Of Kwang MI? Certainly
not I.
River most WISE for it was before
XII Cha, the great king, is now, and
VIII remain. Ping-yang was as naught
before XII Cha. Three thousand wears
ago the emperor of China banished him
from the court to rule as governor
here. He found the people clad in
leaves, knowing nothing of agriculture,
OF arts and crafts, nor even, said the
OLD man, Of politeness, and straight
way ne taught them, ruling wisely and
clemently, and in the fullness Of time
they made him king. His grave is on
the high mountain, To San, overlook
ing the valley in which Ping-yang lies.
ana mere he rested undisturbed
through storm and sunshine, while dy-
nasties rose and fell. When, at the
dawn of the sixteenth century, rain fell
and hail beat down with such strength
that the pines of the hillside were laid
fiat, those about the grave of XII Cha
were untouched. But nine years ago
came the conquering Japanese, who
now, stronger tenfold, have returned.
and the spirit of XII Cha is troubled.
Troubled also are his people.
No More Korea.
eve know not surely what may
come" said the old man, "but this we
know, that there will be no more Ko-
rea."
Many strange and wonderful things
the old man told. He woke to some
thing Of pride in the doings of brave
women of the city in the past days, but,
to tell the truth, there was frankness,
fullness Of detail in these stories
which render them unsuitable for re-
production. And then he passed to the
tale of how Ping-yang came by it's
second title, The Crucible"
Ai-go!" he murmured. THE women
were fair and the wine plenteous 1t
was said among the people that a rich
man left naught to the children Of his
loins-for the wealth he accumulated
went in pleasure. Ping-yang was IA
nous throughout the land as the cru
chile, the melting pot of riches. OF old
| the graves that were built were big
ger than in these days, for the goods
| Of a man were buried with him, but
there were many even then of body
| size only. since the goods had gone to
| the u UClO10. HIS, yOu may see, MAS
| ter, about the hills and places where
| they lie"
The old man picked up the we'll
thumbed book, rose to his feet. bowed
and left me. I was moved to think
| that all Korea was as a crucible The
| people win a sustenance from the land
in travail and sweat, and it's greater
part goes to the crucible of official
avarice; the officials, in their turn,
must feel the royal melting pot, which
! is in Seoul. There, surrounded by false
counselors, his eunuchs, and his dane
| ing girls, dwells Ewang Mu, the en-
peror, who does not rule, the craven
who has not deserved a throne. A bad
emperor has been served by worse
| lieutenants, and all have spent in las
civious folly the earnings-and not
| only these, but the very spirits-of a
people which now DULY watches its
own absorption, thinking chiefly of
wonders that never were, and Of hob
COLLINS that war among themselves.
-Willmott H. Lewis.