New York: E. P. DUTTON & CO.1913
[4]
TO
MY LITTLE SON
GEORGE JAMES MORLEY
THE DAYS OF WHOSE YEARS
ARE
TWO EASTERN SPRINGS AND AUTUMNS [7]
PREFACE
To any one who would like to look somewhat intothe inner soul of the Oriental, and see the peculiar spiritualexistences among which he lives, the following stories will serve astrue interpreters, born as they are of the three great religions of theFar East, Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
An old manuscript copy of Im Bang’s stories cameinto the hands of the translator a year ago, and he gives them now tothe Western world that they may serve as introductory essays to themysteries, and, what many call, absurdities of Asia. Very gruesomeindeed, and unlovely, some of them are, but they picture faithfully theconditions under which Im Bang himself, and many past generations ofKoreans, have lived.
The thirteen short stories by Yi Ryuk are taken from areprint of old Korean writings issued last year (1911), by a Japanesepublishing company. Three anonymous stories are also added, “TheGeomancer,” to show how Mother Earth has given anxiety to herchicks of children; “Im, the [8]Hunter,”to tell of the actualities that exist in the upper air; and